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

“Your Majesty! I just heard that His Highness Cyrus and Miss Atoir have gone on a trip together, what is the meaning of this!”

When Count Lemone came to visit the King with a bright red face, Duke Atoir, Olivia’s father was there as well.

As soon as the count spotted Duke Atoir, he immediately bit down his lips as though he’s just seen a bitter enemy.

“What were you thinking, Duke! Don’t you feel any shame? Sending your daughter away together with His Highness Cyrus right after His Highness the Crown Prince broke off his engagement like this.”

“I’d like you to refrain from phrasing it as such a bad thing. You were there too when His Highness Cyrus proposed to my daughter. You wouldn’t say that you do not remember it now do you?”

Duke Atoir mockingly replied.

“Before Olivia and His Highness Cyrus went on this trip, they had already reported and received permission from both myself and His Majesty. Besides, they have no obligation to notify you of anything.”

“However, the place they are heading to is Deborah! That town is located within my territory. Shouldn’t I have been informed about such a visit!?”

“They were heading to the royal villa. That place just happened to be nearby Deborah. Isn’t that so, Your Majesty?”

“Yeah. That’s what I heard as well.”

The king grinned.

“Cyrus seems to be head over heels for Olivia so, as his father, I just want to support my hardworking son. Is there a problem with that, Count?”

“As I’ve been saying, that place is my—–”

“It’s just a simple trip, not a formal royal visit. If I told you beforehand about their visit then the atmosphere would be too stiff for them there so I gave them my permission. Or perhaps you have some reason that you don’t want Cyrus and Olivia to visit the villa in your territory?”

Count Lemone was silent. After glaring at the duke, he left the room with a bow.

When Count Lemone was gone, the King groaned while stroking his chin.

“Hmm, maybe I said something unnecessary just now?”

Hearing that, Duke Atoir replies.

“What, if something does happen and it turns out that His Highness Cyrus is not capable enough to protect my daughter, it will just be a matter of turning down his proposal, Your Majesty.”

“Now that would be a problem!”

The King happily laughs.

Almost as soon as Ritzberg crossed over to Winbal, Olivia and Cyrus started their trip back to the capital.

Like when they headed to Deborah, the trip will take about 10 days via carriage.

A while after they left Count Lemone’s territory, they reach a peaceful road lined with only vineyards and autumnal mountains in the background.

As Olivia was gazing at those mountains from the window of her carriage, she started speaking in a depressed tone.

“……this, I think it will be hard to report our findings to His Highness Edward.”

This is Prince Edward they are talking about. He must have already had some suspicions before he came to visit them. That’s why he deliberately brought it up to Prince Alan. And if their side didn’t make any move, Prince Edward would have. In such a case where someone needs to bear the responsibility, the amount of compensation that he would request of Brior would be tremendous. It just happened that Olivia was called over and realized that something is going on. Thinking of it now, that was quite a close call. That being said, she doubts that Prince Edward realizes the true scale of the problem here.

“About that, once everything comes to light, I think that Father would be able to handle it. It will be okay. He’s the expert when it comes to such theatrical stuff so it won’t turn out that bad. I plan to do the best I can too.”

When they talked to Prince Edward, it didn’t seem like the prince wanted to make this matter into a big deal. Certainly, neither country will profit from a diplomatic problem from this kind of matter. That’s why things should be relatively peaceful.

Olivia shifts her gaze from the window to Cyrus.

Cyrus did not dismiss Olivia’s suspicion. Rather than interfering with her actions, he lets Olivia do whatever she wants and even lends her a hand.

If it’s together with this person then they might be able to support each other for life, thought Olivia.

Is this her answer?

Instead of for the benefit of her house, it will be a relationship where they both can respect each other. Is this a good enough reason to take his hand?

(Is it………?)

Is this a [appropriate] response to Cyrus’s proposal? Will her answer be worthy enough of his proposal? As time went by, she started to think harder and harder about it. However, the more she thinks about it, the more she feels like she is getting farther away from the answer she needs.

When her eyes turned toward him, Cyrus gently looked back with a gentle smile. His smile made Olivia’s heart fluttered a bit, but what does this feeling mean?

“Your Highness——-”

It was when Olivia felt like calling his name for no apparent reason.

That their carriage was greatly shaken accompanied by a high-pitch neigh of a horse.

Olivia was thrown off her seat and was caught by Cyrus who stretched out his arms to protect her.

“WHAT’S GOING ON!?”

When Cyrus shouted so while still hugging Olivia, Colin tensely shouted back from the driver’s seat.

“BANDITS, SIR!”

Inside Cyrus’s arms, Olivia lightly gasped. The security in this area should be good and there was no significant change in the damage caused by bandits in the last few years.

“Your Highness—–”

“It’s okay. We have Colin and the other soldiers with us, even I can decently use a sword. You don’t have to be afraid.”

Cyrus strokes Olivia’s back to calm her down. However, the screams and loud noises outside were anything but reassuring so Olivia tightly clung to Cyrus.

This is the first time in her life that she felt so scared.

Cyrus stroked Olivia’s platinum blond hair and sat her down in her seat before grabbing his sword.

After checking the situation outside through the window, he lightly clicked his tongue.

“There’s a lot of them. Olivia, lock the door behind me once I jump out okay. Also, I want you to stay as close to the center of the carriage as possible.”

Olivia’s eyes opened in surprise. Does Cyrus plan to go outside in a situation like this?

Cyrus still wore his usual smile but feeling something tightly gripped down on her heart, Olivia reflexively reached her hand out and grabbed his sleeve.

“It’s okay.”

Saying so, Cyrus opens the carriage door and jumps out.

“Your Highness!”

“Lock it!”

Biting down on her lips, Olivia locked the door as she was told.

(What should I do—–)

Her heart is beating noisily in her chest. What if something happens to Cyrus? How many bandits are there? Is everyone safe? What about Taylor? Colin and the soldiers, are they injured? They might—-

After shaking her head to dispel the bad thoughts, Olivia tightly shut her eyes.

How long has it been—–

The noises from outside began to grow quiet and eventually, a knock came from the carriage door.

When she looked out through the window, she was greeted by Cyrus’s smile.

With a sigh of relief, she unlocked the door and her eyes widened in surprise.

Cyrus’s left sleeve was torn and it was dyed bright red.

“Your Highness! Your blood…..!”

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s just a small graze.”

“That’s true but it’s going to be bad if it gets infected isn’t it. Olivia-sama, my apology but may I trouble you to tend to His Highness’s wound in the carriage? I need to clean this up after all.”

Said Colin who appeared behind Cyrus who listened to his words with a bitter expression.

After handing Olivia a bandage and medicine, he pushed Cyrus inside the carriage and closed the door.

“About half of them escaped. We should be stuck here for a while since we have to deal with the one we captured and calm down our horses. I’ve already sent a messenger to a nearby town but I think it will be some time before they can send a carriage to pick us up too.”

Cyrus explained the situation but Olivia didn’t pay attention to it.

After she carefully took off Cyrus’s shirt, she furrowed her eyebrows at the wound on his left arm. It certainly is not deep but it is still a big wound.

(It should hurt but…….why is he smiling?)

Whether when Olivia disinfects the wound, applies the medicine, or wraps the bandage on his wound, Cyrus only frowns occasionally while looking completely calm.

After the treatment was finished, Cyrus took out a new shirt from the trunk and changed his clothes. After that, he asks Olivia who’s cleaning up the gauze she used to disinfect his wound.

“Are you injured anywhere?”

“……..”

That’s a matter of course. Olivia was inside the carriage the whole time. When Cyrus was risking his life, she was just trembling inside this carriage.

(Unbelievable. Rather than me, His Highness’s well-being should be more—….)

Olivia stopped her hands.

She doesn’t understand. She doesn’t really understand it but tears well up in her eyes.

When she felt a mild pain on the back of her nose, the tears that welled up began to spill.

“Eh! Olivia? You are hurt!?”

It’s probably because Olivia suddenly started crying that Cyrus got panicked and grabbed her shoulders and arms to make sure that she’s okay.

“You’re, unbelievable……”

Olivia put her thoughts into words.

It was Cyrus who got injured but he was still worried about Olivia who has only been protected.

If something went wrong then he might have died.

Unable to think anymore, Olivia leaped at Cyrus and hugged him.

Cyrus was stiffened for a moment but he soon wrapped his right arm behind Olivia’s back.

“Olivia……were you scared?”

Perhaps she was scared. No, she was scared. She was scared that Cyrus would be gone. When she saw his injury, she realized that such a thing was possible. It could happen. It was so scary that her vision turned pitch black.

She doesn’t want Cyrus to disappear. Just the thought that he might disappear from her life terrifies her.

———-Olivia-sama, sometimes it is important to take advantage of the momentum you know.

Ahh, that’s it. This might be what Taylor was talking about. Finally, she felt like she understood the meaning behind her words.

Olivia doesn’t want to lose Cyrus. She wants him to be with her, always.

“Your Highness, I—-, I, like, you.”

In the end, it amounts to those words.