40 – That prince is right (2)
Audrey hurriedly called Baroness Osmond, who had been mingling with the ladies.
The two whispered into each other’s ears.
“What are you doing?”
“ma’am. Go outside and find Lord Maru.”
“What are you looking for? You will come on your own.”
“I’ll go look for it anyway.”
“This is an important moment. I mean, I need to see the prince’s face.”
The baroness shook her hand and returned to her place.
“It’s really too much for someone who has a husband to do something by looking at the prince’s face. I’m afraid they’ll change to a lady-in-waiting younger than me.”
While Audrit grumbled, Edward, who was sitting next to her, spoke up.
“Audrey, what do you think the crown prince would look like?”
“It must look like a person.”
“Huh, that’s normal. I think he’s probably bald.”
Edward brushed back his shiny blond hair and crossed his legs.
“I heard that Imperial men have a lot of bald heads. Prince Bonama, too, must be bald, and he will surely be jealous of my flowing blonde hair. Ahh. that would be dangerous I’ll have to take good care of my hair in case it’s stolen.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“It is not nonsense. According to ancient times, hair is a noble gift from the gods that cannot be obtained even by the mighty power of the crown prince. It is impossible to have it in this life unless you are born again. Therefore, we have no choice but to covet others.”
“Can I plant it even if I steal it?”
Audrit snorted and turned her head away.
Her gaze at the crowd moved busily again.
Far away from the entrance, the chamberlain was entering the hall with a tall, muscular woman.
“It is an honor to have a warrior who travels with a warrior visit our kingdom again. Please follow me this way.”
Natalie, who was following the chamberlain, looked around with a puzzled expression.
The room was crowded with people without even a chance to set foot.
“Is there an event today?”
“Yes, there is a welcome ceremony for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince will be very happy if you welcome Natalie too.”
Natalie snorted inwardly.
‘Prince of the Empire? huh. It must be that some chintzy bastard has arrived who is only complacent in a comfortable place. Anyway, thank you. I was able to easily enter the palace when it was crowded with people.’
she asked.
“Then is Lord Maru here?”
“Are you talking about the King’s Flag Guardian? Of course, he must have come too. You will be in that front seat where only major ministers can stand.”
Natalie immediately turned her gaze to look straight ahead.
The hall was wide and there was some distance, so it was not easy to find a person who looked like Maru.
“Everyone has arrived. This is your seat. Foreign guests can see it here.”
The chamberlain stopped and pointed to her seat.
Only merchants and adventurers stood around.
“I ask of you one thing, please give me a big round of applause. The Crown Prince will like it very much.”
The chamberlain smiled and left.
Natalie stood still and looked ahead.
“Maru, I came. come out quickly I will hug you until your body breaks.”
Behind her, grinning, stood two women wearing robes and hoods covering their faces.
They gave off a gloomy atmosphere.
The tall woman was Luciella, and the one with a shorter head was Lucy.
“Look with your own two eyes. How great was the ruler you abused.”
Luciella knew what was going to happen because Maru told her in advance before the welcome ceremony.
There was a deep trust in each other.
She turned to Lucy, curling up her lips moistened with purple lipstick.
Lucy stood there staring blankly ahead.
The eyes were dull and cloudy.
His expression was empty and cold.
she answered softly.
“… yes.”
At the same time, outside the entrance, people were making a big noise.
There were people cheering and screaming until their throats were split.
The chief chamberlain standing at the entrance shouted loudly.
“The Crown Prince is entering!”
The noisy hall suddenly became quiet.
Everyone held their breath and looked towards the entrance.
And right away, the prince appeared.
It was a floor that was dressed up in a golden mantle.
He walked slowly over the red carpet in the center.
“I-that person… !”
“The Crown Prince was Lord Maru… ?”
“Unbelievable! You were right next door!”
People recognized Maru and couldn’t shut their mouths in disbelief.
“I’ve been with you for several months, how could I not know! We were fools!”
Lucy’s eyes, which had lost their light in surprise, came alive and her pupils moved.
He muttered in a trembling voice as he moved his gaze along the floor as he walked inward.
“… Was it the crown prince? uh, how… ?”
Natalie, who was standing in the front row, also stood firm with her eyes wide open in disbelief.
“Am I drunk… ?”
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
No matter how you look at it, the person walking on the red carpet was Maru.
“Is it a dream?”
She slapped her cheek with her hand.
slap!
slap!
sick.
It was not a dream.
“What is that sight? What the fuck.”
Audrit, who was sitting in the innermost seat of honor, jumped up without realizing it.
The eyes of her staring at the floor shook greatly.
“That was true… ?”
Surprise and joy mixed together, and exclamation burst out.
Ever since I was little, I respected and longed for the Queen of Alexandria of the Iskan Daria Empire, and right in front of my eyes, Maru was walking with her scent.
He had a soft smile, but it didn’t look like his usual expression, it looked unspeakably great.
Her lover was the son of the Queen of Alexandria, an unimaginable combination that she couldn’t stand sane, no matter what.
The urge to run right away and give her a passionate embrace boiled over.
Beside him, Edward was laughing brightly and talking.
“You mean you were the crown prince! I knew it would! If it were you, I would admit it!”
Eventually, Maru stopped walking.
It was in front of Audrit, not in the center of the podium.
Audrey was so good that she couldn’t hide her laughter.
Looking up at the floor with a smile, he opened his mouth.
“I didn’t want to live as the crown prince, so I hid for four years, but because of you, I finally revealed it. What do you think I will do now?”
“Did you ever tell the hero?”
“yes.”
“Did you want to hide that much?”
“yes.
“Did it come to light because of me?”
“I had to reveal it because of you. So I ask. What should I do now?”
“Are you going to nag me in the room later?”
Maru burst into laughter at her erratic answer.
“What are you talking about, you should get married.”
Maru held her hand and turned back.
He raised his clenched hands high and shouted loudly to the crowd.
“everyone! That Hanmaru will marry Princess Audrey sooner or later!”
When the crown prince suddenly announced his marriage, the hall was enveloped in silence in an instant.
People looked at the person next to them and made blank faces.
“Wow, get married… ? Did you just say you were married?”
“I heard that too. He raised his hand and said he would marry the princess.”
Everyone seemed dubious, probably because it was such a sudden announcement.
At that moment, the sound of applause echoed through the hall.
was the king
he stopped clapping and said.
“Listen, everyone! Jim promised to marry Audrit, the princess of our kingdom, to the crown prince of the Raiskan Daria Empire!”
“Oh oh!”
Cheers and applause erupted from the ministers.
“Wise decision!”
“You have done great things for your country!”
“Wouldn’t it be a great advantage if you were the crown prince instead of the people in the portrait!”
The applause that started from that gradually spread and soon covered the entire hall.
“Why did you decide without consulting me?”
“that is… So there was no time.”
“what?”
Amid the cheers of the people, the king was sweating as he listened to the nagging of the queen, and Prince Edward was delighted and congratulated Maru and Audrit.
“I thought the two of you didn’t get along, but when did you become close! What a surprise! In any case, Maru has a lot of hair, so you don’t have to worry about the 2nd generation!”
Maru and Audrit had a brief conversation with him and then looked into each other’s eyes.
Honey dripped from the eyes of the two as they looked at each other.
“Will you marry me?”
Audrit nodded with a happy face at Maru’s proposal.
“You already ordered me to be yours. So my answer is definitely yes.”
The two casually hugged and kissed.
The cheers of the people grew louder.
Lucy, who was standing in the middle of it, looked at the floor in the distance and made a futile expression.
“… Kiera, that bitch, was a complete asshole.”
I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought of Kiera, who was trembling all over the world at the thought of receiving sponsorship from the Duke of Toledo without seeing the treasure in front of her.
Lucy laughed as if she had lost her mind for a long time.
The laughter was mixed with self-deprecation.
Natalie was already outside.
The night wind was chilly.
“To think that Maru was the crown prince.”
Laughter flowed out at the completely unbelievable reality.
She stood in the garden and looked at the building with the floor.
The interior light was leaking from the windows of the magnificent exterior building.
I could hear people applauding and the band playing.
There it was endlessly bright, and here it was endlessly dark.
like light and dark.
“Did we bother you and hide it?”
I didn’t want to celebrate Maru’s marriage.
Because he was so shabby compared to Maru.
I was jealous and angry.
A question came to mind.
if you hadn’t abandoned it.
If only we had warmly embraced him.
Did Maru reveal his identity?
I do not know.
Because it was a stone head, I felt like my head was going to break because I thought complicatedly.
These were the words that finally came out of his mouth.
“I want to apologize to Maru quickly.”
I wanted to go on an adventure with him again.
This story gives off the feeling of having an ending written for it instead of the author winging it.
Tsk
I feel like this was supposed to be some big reveal but it just comes off as meh.