Chapter 13│Read translated stories and daily updates at: Awebstories.com
“Stephan… That’s not good enough. How can you give such a vague answer when your mother has your back…”
“Hm? Mother?”
Sylvia let out a sigh and looked at Lumina.
“You’re amazing. You know Stephan so well… And of course you weren’t satisfied with the answer, were you?”
Lumina let out an inward sigh as Stephan’s gaze wandered. She nodded with an uneasy smile.
“Yes, I know it’s too good for me to say, but I don’t think that His Highness Stephan will ever love me.”
Words she would rather not have said.
Lumina tried to hold back her desire to cry and said to Sylvia, with sad eyes,
“His Highness is a man who is honest about his feelings.”
Sylvia smiled and said,
“I am becoming more and more eager to have you become the queen. Is it too much to ask?”
Both Stephan and Sylvia dare to ask Lumina how she feels first, although Lumina will not turn her head to the side if the king commands it.
Perhaps they don’t want to create a rift by forcing an engagement with the Duke.
Lumina thought for a moment, and then she said to Sylvia,
“If … His Highness still wants to be engaged to me when he turns eighteen, then I will gladly accept the marriage.”
Sylvia tilts her head at these words.
“Why eighteen?”
“Because when His Highness turns eighteen and comes of age, I think he will become the Crown Prince. That’s why eighteen.”
She can’t say that he will never marry her because he will be in love with Sophie when he is eighteen.
“Well… but I’m not so sure about the no fiancée thing…”
It is also heartbreaking to be engaged to someone and then have the engagement broken off.
Lumina slowly opened her mouth, thinking this would not work anymore.
“Then how about a temporary engagement? I’ll back His Highness until he is eighteen. That would be fine, wouldn’t it?”
At these words, Sylvia thought for a moment and looked at Lumina.
“Is that all right? But what about your dream?”
“A dream is a dream. I do not want to go against the wishes of the royal family.”
Sylvia nodded with satisfaction and stood up.
“All right, I’ll talk to His Majesty the King first.”
Everyone stood up, and Lumina bowed to Silvia.
“With pleasure, Your Majesty.”
“We’ll go over the details, but you can stay here and enjoy your tea.”
Sylvia left the room with Alma, and Lumina glared at Stephan.
Stephan took an involuntary step back.
“W-What, if you didn’t agree with this, you could have refused my mother.”
Lumina bit her lip at his words and held back her anger.
“… Your Highness… that’s not fair…”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She doesn’t love her, and yet he puts this fetter of a fiancée on her.
——I hated myself for not being brave enough to impose a future of broken engagements on someone else when you could simply proceed with the other prospective fiancées.
“Usually a lady would be happy, right? She’s the fiance of the First Prince.The future queen, isn’t it?
At Stephen’s words, Lumina clenched her fists.
Then she managed to open her trembling lips.
“You…don’t love me!”
“What?!… I’ll make a good effort!”
——Effort?
——Really?
——In the future. You’re getting more and more attached to Sophie, though, aren’t you?
——You enjoyed meeting Sophie without knowing what rumors were going around about me at school.
——You made all kinds of accusations about my character, sometimes falsely accusing me, sometimes cursing me for not making an effort to be loved by you.
——And yet…
——Is that what you are telling me?
——How many times do you have to kill my heart?
——Do you think you can hurt me as much as you want?
——I wanted to be loved by you. But you don’t love me.
——Love is not obtained by effort alone.
She slowly opens her fists and looks directly at Stephan.
“Can you swear that you will never love anyone but me?”
“Of course I can. The Crown Prince is not a man of love. I have told you that before.”
Clear words.
With straight eyes.
——I’m sure Stephan believes that now.
——Then you’ll trust him.
——Because you’ll love someone other than me anyway.
“When you love someone other than me, of course, we stop right there, since it’s a temporary engagement anyway. Your highness, remember what you just said. And when you turn 18, put your hand over your heart and remember what you just said.”
“What?”
“You will never love anyone but me.”
Stephen’s eyes widen and a chill runs down his spine at those clear words.
He now feels a fear in front of his eyes that he has never felt before.
——It’s only a fiancée, right?
Stephan manages to put a smile on his face.
“When I turn eighteen, you’ll be the one who regrets it. I’m not a romantic.”
“… I see. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Lumina left the room.
Sharon followed behind her, perhaps worried, but said nothing.
“You don’t have to see me off.”
Sharon said, taking Lumina’s hand.
“Come here. Just for a minute.”
“Eh?”
Lumina was taken by Sharon’s hand and led out into the royal garden.
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