MTST 05

Chapter 5

Up until the moment they arrived at the museum, the prince’s expression had remained stubbornly locked in a grim, ice-cold scowl. It was an atmosphere so tense you could practically hear the frost forming.

Yet the moment they made a brief stop in the village along the way, he had started grinning like an absolute maniac…………!

To be precise, the exact moment he read a letter from an unknown sender!

Faced with this entirely unprecedented side of Theodore, Victor had been seized by a sudden, chilling panic.

Even so, as the prince’s loyal and dedicated aide, he managed to muster up his courage.

“Brilliant? I’ve seen plenty of those women. They say they’re wise and virtuous, but do you honestly not remember how they used to swarm me like wild dogs?”

Victor clamped his mouth shut.

“What guarantee do I have that Lilian Carpena won’t be any different?”

The prince’s logic was sound. That reputation for wisdom might very well be nothing more than a flattering illusion conjured up by the gossip mills.

Especially in high society, where scandalous rumors flowed like water.

Though Lilian was renowned for her brilliance in such circles, no one truly knew what kind of person she was until they met her face-to-face.

“I’ll eat my hat if that woman doesn’t start yapping about love the moment she lays eyes on me.”

At that exact moment, the brush rustled.

“Who’s there!”

Raising his voice, Victor scrambled frantically toward the thicket where the noise had originated, but whoever had been there had already vanished without a trace.

“…………Ah, well. I suppose it was just the wind.”

Rubbing his face roughly in frustration, Theodore left his aide behind and strode forward.

‘You are to go and meet Lady Carpena. If you dare return empty-handed, I won’t sit idly by and forgive you.’

The Empress’s furious voice was still echoing mercilessly inside his head.

‘Just how grand of a woman is she supposed to be, anyway?’

Yet Theodore felt not a shred of anticipation.

His mind was entirely occupied by Laura.

That brazen woman who had dared to talk back to him right to his face.

Laura, who had looked him dead in the eye and casually declared that she loved cute things.

‘I’d probably be in a much better mood if I were going to meet her instead.’

If that were the case, he likely would have forgotten his mother’s nagging in an instant.

What a ridiculous woman.

The mere thought of her coaxed the corners of Theodore’s mouth upward.

Though the amusement was short-lived.

“Lady Lilian.”

Hearing a familiar voice drift from nearby, Theodore brought his strides to an abrupt halt.

It was his intended bride.

“I heard the news. They say you’re to be married to the Second Prince this time.”

Just as he was about to step closer to catch a glimpse of Lilian, the sound of her voice reached his ears, causing him to instantly slip behind the cover of a stone pillar.

Hidden by the thick surrounding foliage, Lilian’s figure remained obscured from view.

Only the members of the Hwadam Association were visible.

Damn it, what an absolute rat I’ve turned myself into.

Theodore cursed his own pathetic reflection as a petty eavesdropper and contemplated turning back, but instantly thought better of it.

After all, they say a person’s true nature only reveals itself when they are gathered among their trusted companions.

Thus, resigning himself to the role of a spying rat, he decided to stay and peer into her unfiltered character.

“………………Yes.”

A gloomy, disheartened voice drifted across the lawn.

“What are you going to do? I hear he’s a bit…………”

“A bit?”

Since this was the first time Theodore was ever hearing unfiltered external evaluations of his character firsthand, he pricked up his ears.

“You needn’t trouble yourself. I’m already well aware of His Highness’s temperament.”

“Lady Lilian, will you truly be alright…………?”

“I’ll manage. After all, I must fulfill my station.”

It was a voice dripping with such profound misery, one would think marrying him amounted to a death sentence.

Even though he was the one who wanted this marriage least of all!

She sounds like she’s being sold off to a ninety-year-old geezer on his deathbed.

Next came Lilian’s heavy, echoing sigh.

“Though goodness knows if even that will be possible.

Since His Highness is a man so entirely consumed by superficial aesthetic trivialities that he lacks even the most basic moral decency expected of a human being.”

Translation: A handsome, crazy piece of trash.

Veins bulged sharply across Theodore’s temples as he crouched in hiding, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Oh, come now, don’t be so terribly pessimistic. He’s bound to change after marriage!”

“Haha, I’ll wager fifty thousand crowns on ‘not a chance in hell’.”

Hearing Lilian declare this with absolute conviction, he ground his teeth together.

………………Wise and brilliant?

Utter madness.

Judging a man behind his back like a common gossip gave him a crystal-clear look at her true caliber.

He barely managed to swallow down his boiling fury.

I’d sooner spend the rest of my life living with Victor than marry a woman like that.

And just like that, his first impression of Lilian Carpena plummeted straight to rock bottom.

Nothing more, nothing less.

A week had passed since that day.

[To my dear Laura,

Is it a fundamental rule of your personality that you simply cannot ignore someone in distress?

I passed along your regards to Beatrice, and she was absolutely thrilled. I’d wager she plans on throwing tantrums non-stop until she gets to see you again.

The frequency with which she wreaks havoc has spiked dramatically, too.

The weather today is exceptionally lovely. It’s the kind of perfect day to stretch out by the lakeside and read someone’s reply.

Did you know? I’ve discovered that I actually rather enjoy waiting for your letters.

Though you likely haven’t experienced this particular joy just yet.

This coming Thursday, 11:00 AM.

This isn’t an order, mind you. If I don’t write it down like this, I have a nasty habit of forgetting my walking schedule.

Feel free to drop by whenever you have a spare moment.

—Yours, Noah, who is learning to enjoy the wait.]

I absentmindedly twirled a lock of my hair around my finger as I surveyed my surroundings.

Did I arrive a bit too early?

10:40 AM.

Checking the time, I tried to suppress a fluttering sense of excitement that felt entirely uncalled for.

This is just because Betty is adorable, that’s all.

Anyone else in my shoes would look forward to seeing Betty just as much as I did.

Right on cue, I spotted Noah scanning the park as if searching for someone.

Just as I moved to make my presence known, Betty caught sight of me and came barreling over in a frantic sprint.

Only then did Noah notice me, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Betty!”

Wagging her tail as if she meant to launch herself straight into the sky, the puppy had visibly grown larger since our last meeting.

Babies really do grow up in the blink of an eye.

It was a genuine shame I couldn’t capture this stage of her life with a photograph.

As I knelt down to greet Betty, Noah stepped up quietly beside me.

“Betty seems to have beaten me to the punch.”

“It’s fine. Next time, I’ll make sure to find you first.”

Noah offered a soft smirk, before leaning in with a teasing lilt in his voice.

“More importantly, how did you know I was going to be here today?”

“Hmm, I hardly think someone who wrote the exact date and time right there in the letter has any room to talk.”

Though it had been quite a while since my last meeting with Noah, thanks to the steady stream of letters we’d been exchanging, it didn’t feel the least bit awkward.

And, truth be told, I felt a good deal closer to him now, too.

“Ah. I suppose I meant to write that in my calendar and accidentally put it in the letter instead.”

“I take it you’ll keep accidentally doing that in the future, then?”

“Seeing as I’m remarkably clumsy by nature, most certainly.”

Chasing after a fluttering butterfly, Betty scampered off onto the grass with rapid little steps.

I followed after her, and Noah naturally fell into step beside me.

“Still, seeing Betty again has lifted my mood quite a bit.”

“Oh? Did something happen?”

His question instantly brought my encounter with Theodore rushing back to mind.

“I’ll eat my hat if that woman doesn’t start yapping about love the moment she lays eyes on me.”

That infuriatingly arrogant remark!

“Ah, well. Actually, I had a rather unpleasant encounter recently.”

Noah’s expression tightened instantly.

“An unpleasant encounter? Did someone try to give you trouble—”

“No, no, nothing like that………… Um, I just happened to run into a terribly insufferable person.”

“Just how obnoxious did they have to be? If they managed to ruin your mood, the fellow must have had quite a remarkable personality.”

Remarkable was certainly one word for it.

“He had some completely delusional misconceptions about me.”

Delusional enough to blather on about how I might fall head over heels for him!

At my indignant tone, Noah clicked his tongue sympathetically.

“There are certainly plenty of those types around. As it happens, I ran into someone rather insufferable myself recently.”

“………………You did?”

“Yes. Some individual who doesn’t know the first thing about me running their mouth and talking trash as if they knew me inside and out.”

Seeing the dark shadow cross Noah’s features, I felt a genuine jolt of shock.

“They had the nerve to say those things right to your face……………?”

“Not to my face, no. Behind my back.”

“That’s practically the same thing!”

Besides, someone like Noah was a genuinely decent person.

Sure, he tended to be a bit prickly with his teasing, but it was obvious he didn’t have a malicious bone in his body.

You could see that just by watching how tenderly he cared for Betty.

Just what kind of blind, clueless idiot could he have possibly run into?

With absolute seriousness, I declared,

“Don’t worry, if I ever run into them, I’ll give them a piece of my mind for you.”

At that, Noah let out a bewildered, disbelieving huff of laughter.

“Look at you. Who exactly is planning on scolding whom?”