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“Uhh, uhh…”

Right now, Elena’s face is as red as a beet.

On the table between Elena and me, there are only two empty teacups and a plate with some cookie crumbs left.

But as mentioned earlier, I don’t really enjoy sweet things. I can barely manage to eat a small piece of cake.

So what could be the reason that everything on my plate has completely disappeared?

What else could it be? The lady here must have eaten it all.

Have you ever seen a hamster eat sunflower seeds? When you give a hamster seeds, it nibbles away at them with its tiny mouth, making it so adorable that you just want to keep giving them more. For me, Elena Edelweiss was a hamster.

If this world were a cartoon, there would surely be a munch munch sound effect next to her as she ate her snacks. She would slowly pick up the cookies with her fork and eat them, reminding me of a tiny little animal.

Seeing her cute face, I set the desserts I had on my plate onto hers, just like I would have done when I used to feed sunflower seeds to my hamster. She didn’t even notice, enjoying the treats on her plate with a happy expression.

It was only later that Elena realized the truth, her face flushing even redder in embarrassment.

“It seems that Lady Edelweiss enjoys sweets more than I thought. I’m glad I prepared in advance.”

“Uhh, umm! Thank you… I’m sure the prince liked these a lot too, but you let me have them all… I-I promise that next time I come, I’ll bring one of each kind from the famous parfait shop in our territory!”

No, that’s fine. I can’t eat that much sweet stuff…

She seemed a lot more embarrassed than before, but she had definitely improved from the stiff, speechless state she was in earlier.

“I’ll gladly accept your kind gesture. By the way, if you enjoy these, our chef would be very happy to hear that. If you want more, just let me know anytime.”

“Really?”

At the thought that she could have as much as she wanted, Elena beamed brighter than I’ve ever seen her. The strange feeling bubbling up was just an added bonus.

Perhaps the fullness and satisfaction from the dessert made her look so bright, it was hard to believe she was the same person fidgeting with her teacup earlier. Maybe it was because we found a common ground in our shared love for sweets.

Did I say I liked it too soon?

Anyway, this is a good development. Now we can actually talk to each other.

If we had remained in that earlier state, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hear her thoughts even if I stayed up all night.

Most likely, I would have ended up talking to myself.

I wanted communication between us, not just a one-sided notification.

What I hoped for in this situation was for both of us to become one in heart and soul and nullify this engagement. For that, a basic communication method like conversation was required. Honestly, if I simply wanted to break off the engagement, I could just say, “Let’s break our engagement,” endlessly without any reason, and it would be done.

She tends to have difficulty asserting herself and often gets led by others, so unlike the original Damian, if I asked her to break the engagement, she might hesitate, but ultimately go along with my wishes, even if it bruised her pride.

But it shouldn’t be like that.

I might be overreacting, but even if it’s something trivial, I don’t want to do anything that might negatively impact her.

This place is fundamentally the world of a novel I was reading. And in a novel, the story tends to center around the protagonist. This means it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she is the center of this world.

Of course, not every novel is like that, and there are differences depending on the genre or the author’s style, but at least the story of <The Princess is Loved> I read focused on Elena Edelweiss as its central figure.

This is just my opinion, but what if any action I took caused her harm and this world viewed me as the villain towards her? Of course, this is just an unproven delusion, but if that were the case, I would inevitably face misfortune in some form or other.

Maybe I would fall short of a male lead who loves her, or somehow, Count Kraus House could face ruin, or something like that.

So, for me, keeping things amicable with her seems to be the best approach.

If the engagement can be broken, she won’t have to meet me, and anyway, once the original story starts, there will be so many events that she won’t even think about her former fiancé, or rather, her old acquaintance. If that happened, I could automatically escape her story.

Moreover, the more I got close to her, the more it felt like my body was trying to break free from my control.

For the past five years, my body had obeyed me very well, but the moment I met her, something began to feel off.

Especially my emotions. They began to stray in weird directions.

It’s a good thing that my area of concern is centered around Elena Edelweiss; if I had acted freely like usual and this phenomenon happened, I would have surely been dominated by those emotions.

The fortunate thing is that this only happens concerning Elena.

Actions driven by uncontrolled emotions are nothing short of madness. Of course, it’s not to the extent that I can’t control them at all. Like mold, they pop up and interfere with my rational thinking, but if I focus, I can manage.

However, spreading my attention too thin might lead to me developing mental illness someday. At that point, I would truly become a bonafide lunatic.

I didn’t want to become a lunatic, and I especially didn’t want to harm her and face destruction because of this madness. So, no matter what happened, I shouldn’t get too close to her.

After completely organizing my thoughts, I asked her,

“Um, Lady Edelweiss. May I have the honor of addressing you by your name?”

“Oh, yes! Of course! Then can I call you Prince Damian as well?”

“Yes. Certainly. For now, we are fiancés, so feel free to call me anything as long as it’s not rude.”

“Ah, engagement… yes. We, um, are engaged, aren’t we?”

Elena seemed to be recalling what relationship she and I had and how she ended up here as she bowed her head and answered in a tiny voice.

Well, I understand how she feels, but it’s a bit disheartening to see her sulking right in front of me.

I could just tie her up and keep her in a room…

Whoa—

Whoa, quit that, you pervert. Who do you think you’re trying to make an SM player?

This crazy impulse just erupts out of nowhere, making my thighs suffer.

It’s not that I don’t understand why Elena is sulking.

Marriage in general happens once in a lifetime. Whether for men or women, the romantic notions surrounding marriage differ from person to person, but that doesn’t apply to her right now. However, unlike a typical political marriage, she and I at least had the chance for a choice.

We could either maintain this engagement and formalize it, or revert back to being nothing.

I would, of course, choose the latter, and judging by her earlier reaction, it seemed she wanted the same. Still, given Elena’s personality, there’s no way she would say that in front of me, so I needed to guide her to express that herself.

“Elena. I understand how you feel right now. An engagement with someone who is essentially a stranger like me is understandably something you would hesitate over.”

“Ah, n-no, that’s not it!”

“There’s no need to say that. I feel the same way as well.”

“What?”

Her expression stiffened as I struck a nerve.

With that much showing on her face, how could I believe otherwise?

“So, what you mean is that Prince Damian doesn’t want to be engaged to me…”

“No. That can’t be right. I wouldn’t hate being engaged to Lady Edelweiss. Marrying you is a dream that all the men in the Empire hold.”

I, of course, would be thrilled. If this were a world without the original story, I would be doing three somersaults right now. Who would dislike having the most beautiful person in the world, known for her good nature, as a wife?

The problem is that this is a world that has a predetermined story, and in that narrative, my separation from her is essential. Our engagement, wrapped in such fate, could hardly continue normally. All I could do was try to end this relationship as differently as possible from the original story.

So, I spoke carefully, selecting my words to avoid upsetting her while conveying my values regarding marriage.

“However, I desire a happy marriage not just for myself, but one where my partner will also find happiness. Please be honest with me, Elena Edelweiss. Do you love me now?”

“Th-that’s…”

She stuttered and couldn’t answer my direct question.

This was to be expected.

We were practically meeting for the first time today, and we had never exchanged messages before, so it would be impossible for her to confess her love for me unless she was in a serious crush phase.

“I don’t believe that not loving each other means marriage has to be unhappy. My parents were like that, and other families as well. But unlike them, we can make a choice.”

“What do you mean?”

“Choosing a partner to spend a lifetime with when you’ve never even spoken to them is a daunting task. No matter how popular political marriages are among the nobility, our relationship isn’t merely a political one, is it? Unlike those who were forced into engagement by their families, we, Elena and I, have the right to choose each other.”

So there’s no need to select some unknown person you barely know.

Elena Edelweiss.

This engagement is not something imposed by someone else; it’s a matter for you to decide. So choose the answer you desire most.

Thinking this way, I spoke to her, who seemed to be deep in thought.

“I will respect whatever answer you choose, Lady Edelweiss. Please don’t feel burdened and share your thoughts. Our meeting today is not only to get to know each other before the engagement but also a chance for us to express our feelings about it.”

The answer was practically predetermined, but I forced her to make a choice even on that.

Finally, her expression seemed to reflect a newfound resolve as she addressed me.

“Then, I will accept the engagement! Formally.”

“Huh?”

 

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