CH 453

Princess Mia at the Edge of the Ring… Takes a Stray Arrow

“Prince Echard! I’m supposed to be marrying Prince Echard!”

“…Huh?”

Mia was stunned by what Esmeralda just said.

H-How? What in the moons is going on?

Before she could figure out what to say, Ludwig spoke up and said, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I should have expected this. This is a horrible mistake on my part.”

He even bowed his head as if he had done something very wrong. This made things even more confusing, and Mia wanted to scream out loud in her anger. She didn’t, which is a miracle. Even though she was teetering on the edge of the ring, she managed to keep her balance and stay in the fight.

Wait! Not so fast! If I say the wrong thing here, I could send Ludwig into a downward slide and make him useless.

Just for a second… Then another… Then another. After many seconds passed, she still couldn’t figure out what Ludwig could have done wrong. So, she told the truth.

“A mistake? I’m not sure I get what you’re saying, but…”

If you’re not sure, ask. She didn’t act like she knew what was going on. In front of Ludwig, that was especially dangerous.

To her shock, he didn’t answer right away. Instead, he closed his eyes and kept his head down, as if he was trying to hold back some strong feeling.

M-Moons… You have to tell me what you did wrong, or else I won’t know! Ugh, I already have too much to do with Esmeralda, this marriage, and the assassination. I don’t need anymore mysteries!

Again, she fought against the voice in her head to give a calmer answer. She put one foot down in the ring and got her balance back.

“I’m depending on you, Ludwig, so don’t let me down.”

It didn’t make sense to cry over spilled milk. She didn’t know what kind of milk he’d spilled, but he shouldn’t have been upset about it. She needed him to be alert and able to do his job. So, that’s what she told him.

She looked at Esmeralda then.

“Okay, well, could you tell me what happened? This time, slowly?”

“Well, yes. Okay.” Esmeralda gave a nod. “So, this morning, I got a message from Count Lampron asking me to come see him.”

“Yes, I remember that.”

It was natural for the count to want to talk to her. Mia could still remember the look on his face when she told him who she was when she went to his house with Sion’s guards. He seemed like he could have passed out right there. Mia’s detective skills kicked in at that moment.

“Aha, I know what’s going on here,” she said to herself. “He is planning something with Esmeralda that he doesn’t want me to know about.”

Since the average response to the princess of Tearmoon showing up unannounced on someone’s doorstep was something close to fainting, it was hard to say how good her detective skills were.

“He said that he wanted to talk to me about some things about the marriage proposal. So I went to him to tell him no. I told him that if he wanted me to marry into the Sunkland family, he should bring me at least a prince. I said that, and then…”

It looks like Count Lampron almost smiled at her answer.

“He said, ‘But of course,’ and nodded. “You’re right on the money. The daughter of one of Tearmoon’s Four Dukes would not be a good match for a simple nobleman. I’d like to set up a marriage between you and His Highness Prince Echard. Both His Majesty and the prince have already given me their blessing.”

Esmeralda made a point of making the same smug face he had made back then.

“I didn’t think they’d really bring me a prince,” she muttered, her face turning red and her hands twitching.

It was clear that the idea of marrying a prince made her feel the same way most girls do when they hear a fairy tale. She was losing her cool because things from fairy tales were becoming a reality. Out with the big sister and in with the young woman who is in love.

“Oh, I see. If Sion becomes king, Echard would be like an Archduke. In that way, I guess you really are being given a title higher than Duke.”

Not only that, but if something happened to Sion, her possible husband could easily become king.

Taking into account what happened in the Princess Chronicles, does this mean Echard did it on purpose? He killed Sion to become king. That could be the reason… Or maybe Echard really doesn’t want to marry Esmeralda and this is a very extreme way for him to say so?

Echard might have been relieved that this incredibly negative picture of his character was soon taken down.

No, that’s not it. After all, Esmeralda is related to me, and she has the looks to prove it. She is a pretty young woman. So long as she stays quiet and keeps her ego in check. But he couldn’t have known that ahead of time…

“Uh… Mia-sama?”

“Huh?”

Mia woke up from her thoughts to see Esmeralda acting so shy that she seemed to be the younger sister.

“What… What do you suggest I do?”

Her usual courage was gone.

“Well, if you don’t want to get married, you should just tell them no.”

Ludwig stopped their talk by shaking his head grimly and saying, “That might be difficult. Could you tell me what His Imperial Majesty thinks about this?”

“Huh?” Mia had stayed inside the edge of the ring, but now a stray arrow went flying straight for her.