39 – That prince is right (1)
***
When Maru revealed his identity, the king could not hide his excitement for a long time.
They stared at her face in disbelief and out of the blue asked about terms and etiquette used only in the court.
In case you don’t know, it seems like you’re going to check carefully.
After a while, he was barely able to calm his racing heart.
“When a letter comes from the Queen, somehow you are the first thing that catches my eye. I’ve been suspicious ever since.”
“I apologize for causing concern.”
The king said, ‘I’m glad you’re the crown prince!’ and laughed out loud.
It was as if he could feel the spirit of his youth, who was a leader in his hearty laugh.
“Since you already know our situation well, it’s convenient that you don’t have to cover your eyes with ostentation. Anyway, how did your precious body end up traveling alone?”
“The situation is complicated to talk about here.”
“Yes, yes, leave it. Let me know if you feel like talking later. The wind is cool, but let’s talk about something else.”
The king called the maids standing around the carriage.
Soon a table was set up and two chairs were placed.
I was going to stop by for a while, but it seems to be a bit long.
The ladies-in-waiting made a fire on the spot and brought it by car.
There were also snacks prepared in advance, so I added those too.
“I will.”
“I will drink well.”
“I see all the crown princes in my lifetime.”
The king smiled all over his face and took up his teacup.
“I got another call saying that the empire sent an envoy to promote the wedding. We haven’t made any decisions yet.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll show you later, so you can see it too. I wonder if this side’s thoughts are one-sided without asking. The work progress is also fast. Do you know why?”
Maru narrowed his eyes and was lost in thought.
‘A delegation? suddenly?’
Anxiety rises from a corner of your chest.
What else is the mother up to?
I was worried about whether a pure envoy would be right.
It’s annoying in many ways because the location is discovered.
“Because of me.”
After taking a breath for a while, Maru continued to speak quietly.
“It’s because I fell in love with Princess Audrey.”
In an instant, the blue eyes of the king were blue.
And the eyes soon fell silent.
he laughed out loud.
“ha ha ha. I understand everything now. Was that the reason the queen wanted to get married? It was meant to separate you and Audrit.”
Maru admired inwardly.
“How did you know?”
“It would be obvious if I left you alone and sent the portraits of the others.”
“But I don’t know exactly what my mother is thinking. Are you trying to separate them or are you testing the princess? I guess you have to ask yourself to find out.”
The king made a sound, thinking for a moment.
“How is Audrit feeling?”
“When I confessed, even the princess was delighted. He readily accepted my heart.”
“haha.”
The king drank tea gently and put it down again.
“I heard that the two meet often, but I never dreamed that it had already reached that stage. Amazing, amazing… ”
The king, who was looking up at the cloudless blue sky with his words at the end, lowered his gaze again and asked.
“By the way, didn’t you say you would only look after Edward until he got better and then leave? Do you intend to continue wandering from place to place in the future?”
It sounds as if you are going to take Audrey and lead a wandering life and only make her suffer.
Actually, I’ve been thinking about this problem all night.
It’s also a matter of our lives, and I couldn’t sleep because I was struggling in the swamp of troubles.
And as a result, I decided on the answer and was able to clearly assert it here.
“If you allow me to marry the princess, I will stop here.”
The topic of marriage is sudden, but as long as the princess’s virginity is taken away, he intends to take responsibility until the end.
If she is not responsible, the princess can no longer even marry another nobleman for convenience.
It was an era when noble women had to keep their chastity until marriage.
In addition, in Kiera’s case, although she was not a noble, she took her virginity to herself.
At that time, after defeating the demon king, he had the heart to propose.
In the end I didn’t…
Maru continued with a light heart.
“Originally, it was my purpose to defeat the demon king.”
To be honest, I was going to be at the party of warriors who didn’t know each other, so I was going to be alone at the scene, but I was in front of the king, so I wrapped it up a little.
“But after meeting the princess, my thoughts changed. It hurts my heart to think that the princess will be alone while I go on a long journey to defeat the demon king. So it was fixed. I plan to return to my hometown after having my wedding here. I will formally introduce you to my mother and hold another ceremony there.”
Thinking of that day brought a smile to my face.
“As for the demon king, the warriors will take care of it. I will support them in my hometown and live our own life alone with the princess. So, Your Highness.”
Maru grabbed the king’s wrinkled hand and gently wrapped it with both hands.
“Please allow me to marry you. I will never put the princess in danger. I will not leave you alone. I will always be by your side and live happily ever after. You should see your grandchildren soon.”
When I said it with sincerity, the king met his eyes and smiled.
“I have nothing more to say about quitting my life as a stranger. In Jim’s mind, you are already son-in-law.”
A surprisingly pleasant answer came back.
“thank you!”
Maru was very heavy in fear that he would not be allowed, but only then did he feel relieved.
He smiled brightly and clasped the king’s hand tightly with both hands.
“Thank you so much for your permission!”
“The prince rolled in on his own, but who would refuse unless he was an idiot. I caught it with a net, swung it around and stunned it, threw it into the princess room, and even if I locked the door, the hat was still on the board. chuckle Please convince the queen well. Oh. If we hold a formal ceremony here, the Empire will express regret. It’s customary that it doesn’t look good, so let’s have an engagement ceremony in our kingdom and have a formal marriage in the empire.”
“yes. I’ll keep that in mind. And leave it to the delegation to come. I will solve it.”
“I have no doubt that everything will work out if you step forward. Judging from the way you’ve been handling things, you’re smart and smart, so you’ll be able to do it well.”
The king nodded and put his hand on top of Maru’s hands.
“But I also have a request.”
his eyes grow sad
He seemed to have mixed feelings when he heard that his daughter was suddenly getting married.
“If the princess goes to the empire, she will not be able to promise to see her again because the distance is so far, she has to give birth to a child and take care of her husband. maybe 10 years? Or forever? I won’t see him for a long time. Please. Give me time to build memories for the rest of the year. Instead of leaving immediately after the ceremony, I want you to stay here for a few more months.”
There was nothing to think about.
Maru also actively sympathized.
“Of course it should. I will stay one more year.”
“Thank you.”
The king was delighted and emptied the cup cleanly.
Then, with a happy expression on his face, he immediately stood up from his seat.
“In two months, a meeting of tribes in the Western Continent will be held in a place called Narundra. Elves, dwarves, fairies, beastmen, and all races against the devil will gather to listen to the speeches of the two warriors who deliver a message of hope in this gloomy era. Let’s go there with our princess, you, Edward, the queen, and Jim and make memories. It’s just a visit, but I’m sure it will be a good experience for you too.”
“Looks like fun.”
“It will be quite enjoyable. Besides, it’s an elven kingdom. There must be many strange things.”
The king beckoned as he walked to the carriage.
“I have a lot of work to do from now on, so let’s get on. When I arrive at the palace, I plan to hold a welcome ceremony for state guests. From today, our kingdom will treat you not as a simple guest, a wandering knight, but as a state guest among state guests.”
At that, Maru suddenly stopped walking.
Are you the prince again?
Is it finally going back to the life of a well-to-do prince?
‘The prince must be more skillful than the queen.’
‘The Queen was amazing at her age.’
‘Look, what did I say? Because there are no better children than good parents. Family glory always ends with the second generation. Because the children are stupid or shoveling.’
The anxious days when I felt like I had to do something as a prince, weighed down by my mother’s feat.
The weight that I put down for four years following Keira.
If it was like before, I would have refused and ran away, but once I made up my mind, I felt so relieved.
I will eat well and live well for the rest of my life while doing trade work with Audrit.
Even if she took up a sword, she would never be able to catch up with her mother’s status.
Let’s put down the assari sword and become a husband and wife trade king.
Maru moved vigorously.
***
around sunset.
The palace was noisy.
“They said they found the crown prince! There’s a welcome ceremony in the evening!”
“what? Good job! Where are you now? No, where have you been?”
“I don’t know the details! I’ll find out when the welcome ceremony is held later!”
Audrey was calmly walking down the hallway.
Everyone passing by was smiling brightly at the story of the prince.
“I’m glad I found you early.”
She opened the restaurant door muttering as if she didn’t care.
Maru came first and was waiting.
A smile spread across Audrey’s lips as she saw him sitting at the table.
“Where did you and your highness go?”
“It is my spirit. I have a manor.”
“Ah, you brought the earth down. that is great.”
Instead of sitting facing each other across the long table, Audrit took out a chair right next to the floor and sat diagonally close to it.
Maru glanced at it and said.
“People notice if you stick too close.”
“I’m just sitting there noticing. I was sitting down to spread rumors.”
Maru laughed a little at her cheerful reply.
Soon after, the ladies-in-waiting came out of the kitchen with food.
Delicious food was placed on the table.
Maru moved the dishes he liked to the plate one by one as if he were having a buffet meal.
“Would you like a drink?”
“No, you can’t drink alcohol.”
“why? Let’s drink together.”
Audrit put down the bottle he had picked up.
she asked, holding a fork.
“Is it because of the welcome ceremony for the crown prince?”
“yes.”
Audrit naturally reached for the plate on the floor.
He picked up the meat and brought it to his mouth.
“Well, we can just sit down and come back anyway, so what does it matter? Your Highness and the Crown Prince will do everything.”
She stretched out her arms again as she chewed on the meat.
I picked up the grilled asparagus from Maru’s plate with a fork and put it in my mouth.
“It is strange. Are there ghosts in the restaurant? Why does the food keep disappearing?”
Maru muttered so as if to hear Audrey, who was chewing the food deliciously.
Regardless, Audrit took another bite of the food off his plate.
“Mmm, delicious.”
“Eat that. Don’t eat it.”
“Surprisingly, it tastes better that way.”
“Then take it over there. There are a lot of the same things.”
“I do not like it. Even though the dishes are the same, the taste is different.”
Audrit smiled and held out her plate.
“Let’s change our plates. The food I chose is also delicious. See you. If you add sauce like this… ”
She fed the dishes on her plate to Maru and looked at the reaction.
“how about it? Is it delicious?”
“Mmm.”
Maru raised his thumb while chewing.
“It’s fine.”
“Look. You eat mine and I’ll eat yours. Is it good?”
Looking at her pretty smile, Maru nodded as if he couldn’t win.
So we started swapping plates with each other.
“Eat well and go. If the prince is talkative, he might have to sit still for a long time.”
At Audrey’s words, Maru swallowed the things in her mouth and wiped her lips with a towel.
I looked at her seriously.
“Audrit.”
“Audrey.”
“Audrey, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Food goes into her mouth as she asks innocently.
Maru quietly confessed while watching her eat.
“I am the crown prince. I want you to trust me.”
“ha ha ha! Coke! Coke!”
She laughed and then got caught in the trap.
He hurriedly vomited his food and frowned.
“Will you keep doing that? Coke! It will be revealed in a few hours. Is it fun to lie? ‘Cause now I’m not slowing down Coke! Coke!”
Apparently, he became a shepherd boy after he lied about leaving the other day.
Maru smiled and swept her back as she continued to cough.
“I see. I won’t do it anymore.”
I can’t help it.
If words don’t work, you have to show it yourself.
Maru focused on eating while chatting with her.
***
The day was dark, but the wide and large hall was as bright as daylight.
At the news of the appearance of the crown prince, a greater number of nobles were overflowing than when the hero had arrived before.
In the center, a long red carpet was spread as if waiting for the prince to appear.
“Did you see the face of the Crown Prince?”
“exactly. He was tall and handsome.”
“Someone? Was it someone we knew?”
“You’ll see in a while. chuckle.”
While the king and queen, seated in the innermost seat of honor, were conversing, Audrit, who was sitting side by side next to them, was eagerly scanning the seats where the principal ministers were standing.
‘Where did you go… ?’
I was thinking of smiling happily at Maru standing among the people, but no matter how much I look for him, I can’t find him.
I was a bit anxious when I didn’t show up where I was supposed to be.
The welcome ceremony hasn’t started yet, so it might appear right before.
Still, my heart was a bit disturbed.
Maybe it’s because I became sensitive when I first dated a guy.
‘Secretly with another woman… No, did you go to the bathroom?’
She sighed briefly and bit her lip.
‘Did I get a stomach ache because I only fed a lot of my favorite foods? I don’t usually eat… ‘