My Engagement was Cancelled so I will stop Pretending to be a Fool

“Are you okay?”

Shortly after Olivia returned to her room in the castle, she was visited by Cyrus.

After Taylor prepared tea and left them alone, Cyrus asked her that with an anxious look.

Then, something came to Olivia.

“Perhaps, the one who brought Miss Tiana to Her Majesty’s room was—”

“I didn’t bring her there. I only gave her the information that my mother and Olivia were having a private tea party.”

“…..Your Highness.”

“Sorry. I was panicking.”

(Panicking?)

Olivia cocked her head in puzzlement.

On the other hand, Cyrus picked up a scone, split it in two, and applied some cream to them. As expected of a parent and child, even the method he eats them is the same as the queen.

“I will be frank. [What] did you think about Mother?”

“I think that Her Majesty is a smart person.”

“And what do you truly think of her?”

“…..a person that I can never fathom what she’s thinking.”

“That’s right. You are exactly right!”

Cyrus snapped his finger.

“Mother is a cunning fox you see. Ever since a long time ago. Moreover, she always dotes on my brother.”

“Dote?”

“Yes.”

Cyrus chewed the scone and started pouting.

“See, My mother will not allow the foundation of my brother’s future to be shaken even a little. In other words, she doesn’t find this engagement annulment or my brother’s relationship with Miss Lemone amusing at all.”

“Uhh, meaning?”

“If possible, she wants to get you engaged with my brother again.”

“Eh…..”

That’s ridiculous. A prince does not simply break off his engagement just to re-engage himself with the same woman without a good reason. With the annulment, people started to criticize the Crown Prince. If he tries to push for a re-engagement with Olivia in this situation, the parliament will not have it. Handling this poorly might even result in him losing the position of the crown prince.

However, as Cyrus said, the queen will not allow the foundation of my brother’s future to be shaken even a little. It’s possible that she has found a way to avoid Alan getting dismissed from the crown prince position.

Cyrus shrugged his shoulders.

“If you pretended to be a fool in front of Mother then things may have been different but……..since I think you won’t be able to do that, I sent Miss Lemone to get you away from her.”

Yes. The right choice back then was for Olivia to pretend to be a [Fool]. She should have just failed the queen’s test……..since she was clueless about the queen’s intention, she made the wrong choice.

(I’ve always played a [Fool] but to think that I failed to do that when it matters most…….)

The queen was testing her earlier. When she answered that [the Crown Prince needs someone to compensate for his shortcomings], the queen intended to make her the one who does that job.

On the other hand, Cyrus tightly bites down his lips and grasps Olivia’s hand.

“Engage with me.”

“Your Highness.”

“I was planning to wait but if I take my time, everything will be taken away by Mother.”

Cyrus’s expression distorted. Is the queen that much of a troublesome opponent?

If Cyrus seriously proposes to her, Olivia can’t refuse. After all, you won’t be able to turn down a proposal from a prince so easily.

However, Olivia still can’t understand why he did not do that in the first place. Political marriage is common for aristocrats. For a ducal house, there’s no marriage that’s better than this. Since Prince Alan rejected her, then—-

“Wait right there.”

When Olivia was about to agree, the door was quietly opened and a low voice rang out.

Seeing the person that entered her room with a smile, Olivia stopped breathing for a moment.

“…..Your Majesty.”

“Cyrus. You can’t be forceful like that right.”

Seeing the King who calmly entered the room, Cyrus’s expression turned bitter.

Olivia stands up and uses a bell to call Taylor in to prepare tea for the King.

The King sat down next to the bitter Cyrus and poked his son’s forehead.

“Did you forget about your bet with me? Seriously.”

“….a bet?”

Olivia tilted her head and the king began to explain with a grin.

“First of all, didn’t you wonder why I allowed Alan to break off his engagement with you?”

The king gracefully carried the teacup to his mouth before saying that with a mischievous expression.

“Well, yes……”

A prince annulling his engagement, thinking about it normally, that can only spell scandal. She was also a little curious why the king allowed such a thing to happen. Olivia did pretend to be a fool but she did not make any big mistakes in her time as the Crown Prince’s fiancee. In other words, there was no justification for Alan to break off his engagement with her.

Breaking off such an engagement without a good reason is obviously bad. In the first place, the excuse he brought up to break it off was pretty strange if you just take your time and think about it.

(Rather, the whole content was strange. I wonder if it was His Highness or Tiana that came up with it.)

Referring to Olivia using the wrong pronoun, or having her own father call her [well-educated]. Many of the ministers that were present back then were probably doing their best not to burst out laughing. Certainly, there were not that many ministers presented back then but at least the core members of the parliament were there. In other words, no one said anything because the King didn’t. Conversely, if the King even uttered a single word, the room would have been filled with jeers back then. They were that ridiculous.

That’s why the King who saw that ridiculous act and did nothing must have been [Planning something]. Still, Olivia did not intend to ask him about it as she thought that it had nothing to do with her.

(Since he brought this up, does this mean that it involves me…….?)

Without her knowledge, it seems that the King has involved her in something troublesome. What a pain.

“Before we get to that, let me tell you about my conflict with the queen.”

“Conflict?”

Although it should be something unpleasant, the King said that with a smile.

Seeing his father like that, Cyrus tiredly sighed.

“Even if he dubbed it a conflict, it’s only some ridiculous couple quarrel though. To put it simply, my parents are betting against each other. They both love gambling you see.”

“Don’t call it ridiculous. This will affect the future of this country you know.”

“It’s exactly because you two put such an important thing on the line that it’s ridiculous right.”

Cyrus is not speaking with his position as a prince but as a son to his father. Normally, he would never stop using polite language when he addresses the King in public. In other words, there’s a public conversation and a non-public one. So, this should not be the kind of tone that they should use in front of her. Or that’s supposed to be.

“Don’t be like that. So, Olivia, to put this briefly, the queen wants Alan to be crowned king while I want it to be Cyrus instead.”

“……..eh.”

That’s not something that you should say with the same tone as [Today’s weather is nice isn’t it] right?

Olivia was stunned.

“But, as you may already know, Alan [Alone] is not suitable to be king. At least as he is right now. On the other hand, there was Cyrus who didn’t want to be king. Since Cyrus was like that, I gave up because the queen would have won. But you see, things have changed.”

“Was it because His Highness Alan broke off his engagement with me?”

“That’s right.”

So that’s it. This means that the King [Purposely] allowed the Crown Prince to cancel the engagement. As a result, the bet he had already given up was reset. But that alone would not give the King an advantage. After all, Cyrus still doesn’t want to become king. In other words, no matter how much Alan is labeled as someone who’s unsuitable for the throne, the King will never win as long as Cyrus refuses to be king.

When Olivia asked him about that, the King replied with a grin.

“You would think so right? Still, the goddess of victory smiled at me.”

“…….what goddess of victory.”

“Don’t say that. It was you who brought up this bet with me right.”

Bet again. Olivia was tired of hearing that word but she urged Cyrus to continue.

After staring at the King, Cyrus reluctantly opened his mouth.

“I told Father that if a certain condition is met, I will agree to be king. That’s how I got my permission to propose to you back then.”

“A certain condition……”

Olivia slowly opened her eyes thinking [No way]—–

“That’s right. If I can marry you, I would agree to become king. But I can not forcefully make you agree to the marriage. I must make you willing to marry me out of your own free will.”

Olivia turned bright red.

And seeing that, Cyrus smiled.

“I told you right. [No matter what I have to do, I will definitely make you mine]. If I can get you then I couldn’t care less about my future.”