Home/The Prince died, so we're starting over!/ch6

Episode 6

"Don't lie to me."

He was terrible at lying.

The Third Prince's tiny hands were trembling.

Anyone—not just a genius like me—could tell he was saying something he didn't mean.

The Third Prince was such an easy boy to read. Though, given that he was only eight years old, that was only to be expected.

But considering his position as a prince, it was utterly incomprehensible.

There were many strange things about him.

Was this what being a sub-male lead meant?

Perhaps there were all sorts of minor settings attached to him that I didn't know about.

"Whatever the reason, I won't hold it against you. So please, speak honestly."

"Honestly..."

"Yes, honestly. How can we be engaged without trust between us?"

The Third Prince's lips moved soundlessly for a while before he finally answered in a low voice.

"...Because only you, Lady Lulupel, would never love me."

Wait, isn't that plagiarism?

I felt like the Something-or-other Baron's Daughter had said something similar...

Was this some kind of dialogue recycling?

"By any chance, is that a catchphrase around here?"

"...Excuse me?"

Perhaps that sort of line was just fashionable in this country.

Such an absurd thought crossed my mind—that's how preposterous the Third Prince's confession was.

Of course, I already knew that the Third Prince didn't stand to gain much from a marriage alliance with Lulupel.

Lulupel was a great lord's house, but its territories were located on the Empire's frontier, so it wasn't exceptionally wealthy.

Among the elite noble families, the only thing Lulupel could truly boast about was its legitimacy.

Not a single Count Lulupel in history had ever been a second-born son from a lawful marriage. That was Lulupel's greatest source of pride.

For that reason, the Count and Countess Lulupel believed the Third Prince was seeking an engagement with Hariella in order to shed the stigma of being born to a lowly mother.

In short, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement: the Third Prince would grant Lulupel the honor of becoming Imperial in-laws, and Lulupel would grant the Third Prince the honor of legitimacy.

Of course, knowing that this world was the setting of a third-rate romance novel, I hadn't thought the Third Prince's intentions would be that calculating.

But even so, I hadn't expected an answer like this.

"Why would you think I could never love you?"

After all, who's to say we couldn't come to like each other?

They say you can never predict what will happen in life.

Especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Emotions aren't something you can control just because you want to.

It wasn't normal to make such definitive judgments about someone else's feelings—especially a complete stranger.

If I already knew the contents of the novel, that would be one thing, but the Third Prince was merely a character in it; there was no way he could know.

"Lady Lulupel is—"

The Third Prince, about to bring up that Cal-something name again, gasped and slapped his own lips with his tiny hands.

"Ah, I see..."

It seemed he still couldn't let go of the theory about Hariella's crush on the young duke of Cal-pay-me-back-my-money.

I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, wondering why the Third Prince had such a misunderstanding.

Perhaps, without my knowledge, rumors had spread throughout the Empire that Hariella was pining after that Something-or-other young duke?

Come to think of it, that was how it had been in the original story too.

Hariella couldn't bear it when another woman approached the Northern Grand Duke, who was rumored to be hers.

Given the circumstances, it seemed clear that there was already some kind of history between Hariella and the future Northern Grand Duke.

The Third Prince clearly had no intention of explaining, so I'd have to ask Anna about it later.

"Well, that reason is enough for now. ...May I ask just one more thing?"

"Of course. Ask me anything."

"Your Highness, why do you wish to be engaged to someone who wouldn't love you?"

"That is..."

It was a question I'd tossed out carelessly while forming hypotheses about Hariella and the young duke's relationship.

But unexpectedly, the Third Prince trailed off with a look of profound loneliness on his face.

A deep sadness spread across his pale, childlike features.

"...Because I don't want anyone else to be made unhappy because of me."

The Third Prince's eyes looked as if he might cry at any moment. Yet he never let a single tear fall.

His current struggle not to cry was even more pitiful than when he'd been stifling his sobs.

It was so heartbreaking that I couldn't bring myself to offer any words of comfort.

The Third Prince hung his head low and said nothing.

Though I knew the general plot of the novel, I didn't know the details of the Third Prince's circumstances, so I had nothing to say. I awkwardly darted my eyes around.

Another silence fell between us, all too easily.

By the time the cool evening breeze had turned chilly, I could see flickering lights here and there leaving the banquet hall.

"Ah! It looks like the banquet is ending."

I deliberately spoke in a bright voice to break the mood.

Sir Peter was probably frantically searching for me, circling the banquet hall.

Of course, he must have known I'd left the hall with the Third Prince.

But it wouldn't be proper to return too late.

"We should head back now. Your attendants must be looking for you, Your Highness."

The Third Prince's retinue was remarkably small. Ten knights and three attendants, if I remembered correctly?

It was a suitable number for attending a noble child, but rather lacking for an Imperial prince.

The more I learned, the more mysterious this prince became.

"Shall we go back then?"

I rose from the bench first and brushed the dust off my dress. Then I extended my hand to the Third Prince.

This time, too, he hesitated without taking my hand.

"Um, the engagement..."

"Ah, the engagement? I'll speak to my parents about it tomorrow."

"...To Count Lulupel?"

"Yes. I'll put it in a very positive light."

During my conversation with the Third Prince, I had come to a certain resolve.

He didn't seem to have any intention of harming me, nor did he appear to bear any grudge against me. Moreover, he seemed to know a great deal about me.

He even seemed to be hiding some kind of secret.

I was increasingly convinced that my suspicion—that the Third Prince might be the cause of this inexplicable regression—was close to the truth.

Now was the time to be brave.

"...Is this acceptable to you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you sure you don't need to ask anything else?"

"Well, like what?"

But the Third Prince seemed to have no idea what had led me to this decision.

He tilted his head in bewilderment.

"...I thought you might ask something different, Lady Lulupel. For example..."

The Third Prince reached into his jacket and fumbled around.

Soon, he handed me a crumpled piece of paper.

"Something like what benefits this engagement would bring to you."

I took the paper he offered without hesitation.

Its first line read:

1. If Saphirus Aiden Detemir maintains his engagement to Hariella Liberati Lulupel until the day he comes of age, Saphirus Aiden Detemir shall transfer ownership of Delique Port to Hariella Liberati Lulupel.

"No, this is...!"

It was a contract!

A single crumpled piece of paper handed over by a mere eight-year-old boy had taken me completely by surprise.

And not just because the contract the Third Prince had drawn up looked superficially plausible.

"Del-Del-Delique Port?"

"Yes, Delique Port."

"You mean the Delique—the ice-free port in the North?"

"Yes, that's correct."

It was because the terms the Third Prince had proposed were so shockingly generous.

In this world, where overland transportation was poorly developed, the value of a port was immense.

Almost every port was a hub of Imperial trade, and the tax revenue from a single port city was at least three times that of a similarly sized inland city.

Even an ordinary port would have been astonishing enough, but what the Third Prince had laid on the table was Delique—the only year-round ice-free port in the North.

The one port in the frigid North that never froze over, even in winter.

The Delique that even I, who sometimes confused the Empire's very name, could never possibly not know.

"Um... are you feeling unwell by any chance?"

Among Lulupel's territories, there was also a river port.

Though it was narrow and shallow, preventing large ships from passing, a port was still a port, and the taxes collected there were considerable.

The reason Lulupel had suffered during the drought eight years ago wasn't so much the drought itself, but rather the fact that the river's water level had dropped because of it.

When the harvest failed, grain had to be imported from other cities, but the dried-up river had made that impossible.

"This really is the Delique I'm thinking of?"

"Yes. It's the Delique you know."

If even a tiny river port in a frontier territory was this valuable, the importance of Delique—the heart of northern trade—need hardly be mentioned.

I doubted and doubted again whether this clueless Third Prince might have simply misspelled it.

But the Third Prince, showing no sign of being flustered or annoyed, nodded obediently again and again.

Why was he offering me Delique? Did Lulupel look that poor to him? Had the lavish welcome banquet I'd thought so splendid failed to impress the prince?

Question marks floated all through my mind.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

Filled with doubt, I furrowed my brow and asked.

"...Because I thought you might need it."

The Third Prince gave an unexpected answer.

"Me? Delique?"

"...It's embarrassing to admit, but I know that this engagement could leave a mark on you, Lady Lulupel."

"A mark?"

"Because the fact that you broke off your engagement with me would become an obstacle in your path."

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