Contender #4 - Prince Christopher

That’s right, the big favorite to win all this, as I’m sure you all know. The guy has spent four long years battling for her affection. Not surprising it took him so long; the object of his desire doesn’t exactly have a sense for romance. Even after she arrived at the palace, she spent all her time in the archives reading or at the Pharmacy Lab making merry with the crackpot old men who fawned over a burnt monkey’s skull.

Even when Lady Elianna did have some free time, she spent it attending the queen’s tea parties. It was no wonder the prince felt so irritable. He could never find time to spend just the two of them.

Fortunately, His Highness is a tenacious individual. He kept doggedly chasing her like some kind of crazed—oh my, how rude of me. Ahem. What I meant to say is, our handsome prince displayed impressive determination and, through hard work, finally won the fair maiden over.

Yeah, see, the whole world thinks of him as some kind of natural-born genius, but I think he just works hard to make it seem that way.

Hm? You want to know what happened to those researchers in the lab?

Weeeell... You see...

~.~.~.~

I’d escaped from the scene, so I had no idea how the disaster had played out after that. According to what I heard from Scarecrow, the researchers finally discovered Lady Elianna’s true identity. Granted, they were still pretty dense when it came to the ways of the world, so those idiots didn’t comprehend what a fiancée was at first.

“Fiancée? That some kind of fancy foreign delicacy or something?” they had asked.

To make matters worse, one of the younger researchers blurted out, “Huh? But Miss Elianna told us she didn’t have a lover.”

The man was never seen or heard from again.

Just kidding! Not that it’d be any laughing matter if it were true. At any rate, the man was transferred to a different department. By the time he finally returned to us, he’d become a holy man, having shaved off all his hair and freed himself of worldly desires. What in the world could have happened to him? For as curious as I was, I sensed the danger that snooping might entail and abandoned any effort to find out. Even now, the details of his absence from the lab remain a mystery.

Lady Elianna became a frequent visitor to the lab. In turn, that meant the prince and his inner circle began stopping by as well. Their periodic appearances reinforced the weight of Lady Elianna’s status among the researchers.

Soon, the Pharmacy Lab went from a department operating in the shadows of the palace to a prominent division receiving the attention of the crown prince and his betrothed. That also contributed to Lady Irene’s misunderstanding about Lady Elianna drugging the royal family this past spring...but I’ll spare you the details of that.

I’m sure you’re all already aware of the most recent happenings in the lab as well. At the beginning of summer, the researchers began their quest to produce ink. It was shortly after Lady Elianna returned from the Autumn Hunting Festival that rumors of a phantom in the lab began to spread.

After Prince Chris explained it was the ink, the very lady responsible for its creation furrowed her brows, puzzled. “We weren’t able to create such a thing with fireflies. How did this combination manage to produce such ink...?”

“Perhaps a lucky boon,” shrugged the prince. “I digress, Eli. Are you sure I can have this? It could be very valuable depending on how it’s used.”

She tilted her head, thinking. “I’m not sure how you could possibly use it when you can’t write with it.” As a book enthusiast, it was pretty well cemented in Lady Elianna’s mind that ink’s only purpose was to write with.

“Hmm,” His Highness spoke with amusement. His lips quirked, and his eyes shone with an affection that seemed to beckon her closer. “I’ll have to find some way to convey my gratitude for this, then.”

“Pardon? No, you don’t have to do that.” Lady Elianna seemed to realize where this conversation was going and took a step back.

Prince Christopher’s eyes wandered over to the table. His smile grew wider. “You had some cacao brought in, I see. Going to drink some hot cocoa with Alfred again?”

“Oh, um, yes. Though, cacao also has some medicinal uses as well.”

“Hm, you don’t say,” he remarked absently. “Well, I do know how much you dislike sweet things.”

As his smile grew bigger, the prince pressed in closer. Everyone else in the room watched as he cast his spell on her to keep her from moving. “Say, Eli, there’s something else that tastes sweeter than candy and will bring you even greater happiness. Tell me, do you know what cacao means in the language of flowers?” His hand ghosted over her cheek before his fingertips stopped to caress her lips.

Lady Elianna turned bright red as she stammered, “Y-Your Highness, I don’t think...”

She was trying to tell him this wasn’t an appropriate time since there were other people present, but Prince Chris was definitely doing this on purpose, knowing they were watching. The whole lab was their audience—the same people she’d been working closely with just days before to create the ink. They all knew her status by now, but four years had cultivated a close, relaxing atmosphere between them and her.

The researchers watched from the sidelines with frustration and sadness. Some even lamented quietly.

“It wasn’t like this four years ago!”

“So this is what it feels like to watch as someone violates your precious, adorable granddaughter.”

“Chief, you said you read about meridian channels. Is there anything in those eastern medicine books that could help remove this curse from her?” another of the researchers asked in desperation.

The researchers were all on the same page about one thing at least: the demon lord had taken their beautiful Fairy Princess hostage.