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Richard Ertuven.

The boy with scarlet hair talking to Elena was a first-timer for me today, yet I felt an odd sense of familiarity coming from him.

It made sense since Richard Ertuven was one of the male protagonists in the story <The Princess is Loved>, where Elena is the main character. So, it wasn’t strange for me, a reader of the novel, to find Richard’s appearance so familiar.

As soon as I laid eyes on Richard, my mind automatically began pulling up information about him.

Considering it occurred a year prior to the start of the original story, I assumed his rank would be at least level 4 or 5 given the skills mentioned in the novel. His specialties, aligned with those of the Twilight Tower that researched realms beyond the world, were space and summoning magic. His physical abilities were around the average for his age, but as a wizard with quick thought processes, his sensory and reaction times likely surpassed those of ordinary people.

Yet, at some point, that incoming information took a strange turn and started heading in the direction of “how can I definitively kill him?”

By the time I recognized the oddity in my thoughts, my mind had already reached the conclusion of “I can definitely kill him,” and my aura was on the verge of responding to my ring and summoning my sword.

“This is insane.”

I hastily gripped the fraying strings of reason about to snap due to my madness and retracted the aura trying to respond to the ring.

It seemed the madness that had been subdued during my time with Elena was reigniting at the sight of Richard. Perhaps it was because Richard intensified the anxiety lingering in my heart.

My madness, which had remained well-controlled since being with Elena, had exploded unconsciously the moment I saw Richard. I had nearly become something worse than the original Damian, but the memories I had with Elena helped me keep the madness at bay.

Think rationally. Damian Kraus.

I indeed understood why I was feeling so uneasy.

If the other male candidates were to meet at the Academy, which marked the start of the original story, Richard and Elena’s relationship would have begun even before my meeting with Elena, meaning Damian, that is, me.

It was a fact that troubled me to think I had no part in the time Richard and Elena spent together.

I would be by her side in future encounters, but I couldn’t be there for the time before Elena and I met.

I had thought about this before. In fact, hadn’t I been convinced that Elena would break our engagement because of Richard?

But she did not choose to break off our engagement; she chose to stay engaged to me.

Wasn’t that enough?

This decision was solely made by Elena Edelweiss, without interference from anyone else. Therefore, regardless of whatever past she had with Richard, I no longer had any reason to worry about it.

Whatever had happened in the past, it was me standing beside Elena now.

As I recognized that fact, my anxiety regarding Richard eased somewhat.

However, I couldn’t completely let my guard down. After all, there was the Twilight Tower Master who had just appeared in front of me. I wanted to avoid being caught off guard and hit from behind. Silently stifling my presence, I stealthily made my way to where Elena and Richard were.

“Uh, h-hello, Elena. Long time no see.”

“….Hello, Richard.”

Perhaps due to my intense focus on them, despite the music echoing throughout the banquet hall and the chatter of the crowd, their conversation reached my ears distinctly.

Richard’s voice as he spoke to Elena was filled with tremors, and his complexion didn’t seem too great. It was already known that Richard had been harboring feelings for Elena for quite some time. Still, seeing Richard’s current state, I felt neither sympathy nor pity for him.

Instead, my concern was entirely for Elena.

She had a face and voice that suggested she found it difficult to engage.

There was no semblance of such tensions in their conversations from the original story. Even when she was still engaged to me, Elena had been warm towards Richard.

Did Elena sense Richard’s feelings for her?

No, if that were the case, it would completely overturn the foundations of the story. From the moment Elena accepted my engagement, thoughts of her realizing Richard’s feelings would seem unlikely, as her gaze toward Richard felt more like one of vigilance.

“Elena.”

I decided it was time to stop listening quietly to their conversation and called out to her with strength.

Whether my voice reached her safely, she turned her gaze directly toward me. Before their conversation could continue further, I moved to stand next to Elena and held her hand just as I had when I entered the banquet hall.

“I was looking for you since you didn’t come for a while.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was meeting a friend. Did you wait long?”

“Not really. And this friend of yours…?”

I glanced at Richard, feigning ignorance.

Richard seemed quite surprised by my sudden appearance. However, perhaps due to his status as the heir of the Magic Tower, he quickly recovered and greeted me with a calm demeanor as if nothing had happened.

“Greetings, representative of the Head of Kraus. I am Richard Ertuven of the House of Ertuven.”

“Ah, the name of the Twilight holds quite the reputation even in the South. My apologies for interrupting your meeting with a friend.”

I smiled back at him with a similar expression and extended my hand. Richard hesitated slightly at the mention of “friend,” but then smiled as if nothing was amiss and shook my hand.

“No, not at all. If anything, I might have been holding onto Elena too much. Congratulations on your engagement. Elena… congratulations.”

After that, our conversation didn’t continue. Richard released my hand, offered another congratulations, and turned away, disappearing into the crowd.

Unlike the novel, I found it surprising how neatly he stepped back, but now I was Elena’s fiancé. Unlike the story, the rightful place next to her was already taken, so Richard discreetly retreated without making a fuss.

“What was your relationship with him?”

Once I was sure Richard had completely vacated the area, I asked Elena.

Even after talking with Richard, I still couldn’t fathom the reason for her wariness.

If you were to ask me what I gathered from that brief exchange, I wouldn’t have much to say, but at least the Richard Ertuven I knew was infinitely harmless to Elena, and the emotions I sensed from our conversation were feelings of pity and resignation, not anything warranting her wariness.

Despite having read the novel, there was certainly something I didn’t understand. Readers can’t know everything, even if they’ve read the whole story.

There was undoubtedly something that had transpired between Elena and Richard, yet Richard’s mind seemed solely occupied with resignation over my engagement to Elena, indicating he wasn’t considering anything else. Thus, I intended to find my answer regarding their relationship.

However, it seemed that Elena interpreted that differently.

She stared at me blankly for a moment, her expression shifting to one of deep redness, as if she were no longer the one fumbling just moments ago, and asked me.

“Are you… jealous right now?”

“Pardon?”

“Is Damian jealous? Is it because I was talking to Richard? It’s jealousy, right?!”

“No, Elena. What are you talking about? I just wanted to know how close you are with that man, Richard…”

I halted my explanation and began to think again.

How would my actions appear from Elena’s perspective? It didn’t take long to arrive at an answer. Certainly, as she suggested, my behavior did seem to present itself as that of a jealous boyfriend annoyed at seeing her with another man.

To top it off, asking what their relationship was just added to the mix. There was truly no escape for me.

Seeing Elena’s face full of expectations urging me to speak made me let out a hollow laugh.

If we were to be precise, Elena wasn’t entirely wrong.

The anxiety I felt watching her converse with Richard undoubtedly contained the emotion of jealousy. However, for some reason, I felt that merely admitting that would seem like a defeat for me, so I stubbornly decided to deny it till the end.

“I’m not jealous. I was just curious.”

“Ah, fine~ I’ll just believe you this once.”

With a giggle, Elena spoke up, looking as if she had no intention of believing my words. But I found her demeanor enjoyable, so I ultimately stood by my decision not to change my statement.

It seemed I had already lost.

 

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