5. A Disturbance

5. A Disturbance

As the Aurantian crown prince’s welcome ceremony continued, it stretched on late into the night. But even so, Mr. Fisalis must’ve still been busy, because I hadn’t seen him at all. The (probable) Royal Guard Captain was still standing behind His Majesty’s seat.

Since it was so late, I was getting... No, I was already super exhausted. After saying goodbye to my friends as they started their socializing rounds again, I met up with my in-laws.

“Cercis must be busy. Let’s just leave him and go home,” Father Fisalis said, since he understood how much effort I was putting in. If I had said that, Mr. Fisalis would’ve gotten pissy, but it should be okay if his father was the one to suggest it. Since I was utterly pooped, I was all for it!

“Yes... It’s late, and Vi must be tired,” Mother Fisalis agreed, looking to me for an answer. Thank you!

“You’re right—I’d love to go home.”

“Then let’s say goodbye to his Majesty and get going.”

“Yes.”

And with that, the three of us headed to the King of Flür’s seat to say goodbye. Mr. Fisalis? He’s a big boy, he can get home by himself! He’ll probably complain about it later, though.

As I followed my in-laws over to where His Majesty was seated, we found him seemingly in the middle of a talk with the Aurantian crown prince. I really didn’t want to see the prince again. His clingy gaze really bothered me... And so, I tried to hide behind Father Fisalis so he couldn’t see me, but he immediately locked on with his sharp eyes. Seriously, that’s scary!

“Your Majesty, we’ll be taking our leave soon.”

“Ah, Duke Fisalis. Leaving alr—”

And without letting the king finish responding, “Oh, Viola! So you’re the Fisalis daughter!”

“Huh?” I blurted out in shock. What did he just say? And you can’t go interrupting the king!

...No, that’s not the important thing here. He said this incredibly loud, so everyone around heard it clear as day. The buzzing hall suddenly went dead quiet.

The crown prince had seen Father Fisalis when he saved me from more dancing, but it seems he only just found out that he was (the former) Duke Fisalis right now... But enough about that.

He thinks I’m their actual daughter?!

“...”

My in-laws and even the king himself were all stunned. And because of how loud he was, everyone around us was staring too. While everyone else was busy being dumbfounded, the crown prince was disgustingly happy.

“Having your parents here makes things easier. I want your daughter for my queen. All right?”

His words echoed in my head. What? Me, his queen?! Is he serious?!

It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Of course it would be. A country’s crown prince had just made a public proposal. To a married woman.

Taking no notice of the silence around him, he continued, “I’d planned to search for a candidate for my queen during our stay, but I fell in love with Viola at first sight. I completely missed my chance to ask who her family was, but I see now! So she’s the daughter of Duke Fisalis! That would mean the current duke is your older brother, right? You’re the spitting image of your mother, so I knew immediately! If you’re the daughter of a duke, and the most prominent one in your country at that, then there’s no problem having you become my queen! Ah, this must be fate!”

“...”

He was rattling off on his own. Okay, just wait one minute. First of all, you didn’t miss your chance to ask, you specifically didn’t listen! There are so many points I wanted to refute that I didn’t know where to start!

First of all, I’m not Duke Fisalis’s biological daughter, but his daughter-in-law! And I look like Mother Fisalis? How in the hell does my plain face look like her beautiful one?! It’s like he’s insulting me, seriously! Mother Fisalis does look like someone: her son, my husband! Line ’em up beside each other—you’ll go blind from their beauty! And my hair color is completely different from theirs! If we were related, we’d have similar coloring, wouldn’t we?!

And his babbling about me becoming his queen... Saying I’m “from a prominent family” and it must be “fate”? Are you nuts? I’m the daughter of a poor, declining, very-in-debt earldom! Though, it’s true that the Fisalis family really deserves all those superlatives! (They’re the true super-elite, super-rich duchy☆) But I only became duchess because of a contract marriage with Mr. Fisalis, you know!

...

...Okay, I got a little worked up. Just calm down, Viola. Take a deep breath, and then let it out. Iiiiiin... Oooout... Okay, I think I’m good.

“Um, Your Highness? I’m actually...”

Just as I was about to tell him I was already married and thus there would be absolutely no wedding in our future...

“If you become my queen, don’t worry—I promise I’ll never take any concubines or lovers!”

Listen when people talk to you already!

...I’m sorry, I’m losing my temper here. This guy interrupted me again! You’re an adult, man, calm down a bit! Although the whole “no concubines or lovers’’ bit is the exact opposite of my marriage... Or at least it was the exact opposite of my marriage. Sorry, Mr. Fisalis☆

After taking a deep breath, I began. “Not about that! Listen very carefully, all right?! I am Duke Fisalis’s wife! W-I-F-E—wife! I am not the biological daughter of the former Duke Fisalis, but the bride of the current one!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. It might’ve been the loudest I’d ever been in my life.

Whoo, I said what I wanted to say! I finally finished a sentence in front of him! Did you hear that?!

The crown prince, for his part, looked shocked at hearing the words “wife” and “bride”. “Huh? That Duke Fisalis? His...wife?” The forcefulness he’d displayed up until now was gone as he stared at me like an idiot. His eyes were still pretty scary, though.

The only thing you could hear in the hall was some quiet background music. Everyone was watching us. Ugh, I want to disappear! Unable to take the atmosphere anymore, I resolved myself to running out of the hall in anger, but..

“Yes, Your Highness. That is indeed my wife, Viola,” a beautiful, dignified voice echoed through the room. All eyes moved to see who spoke, and it was none other than Mr. Fisalis, who had appeared in the doorway without anyone noticing. His long strides quickly closed the distance between us where he put himself between the crown prince and I as if to protect me.

That wasn’t all. Noticing someone behind me, I turned—only to see Corydalis. I guess he’s bringing up the rear.

Mr. Fisalis stared straight at the crown prince. “I’ve heard everything, but I’m sorry to say that since Viola is my beloved wife, she will be unable to accept your proposal. Please look for your queen elsewhere.” On the surface, he was using his usual soft voice, but I could see the black aura radiating off of him. He was (very quietly) raging!

“I see, so Viola wasn’t your sister, but your wife! I see—she is quite beautiful!”

I’m sorry, Prince, I really have no idea what you mean.

I don’t know if he was intentionally ignoring the mood, or he really didn’t realize how angry Mr. Fisalis was, but he let out a hearty laugh as everyone held their breath.

“Your compliments are too kind,” Mr. Fisalis said, giving him a knight’s salute. He wasn’t backing down, though!

“Duke, it seems you’ve become an even better man than you were when we met in my country.”

“Really? Thank you for saying so.” You’re saying you’re thankful, but your voice is saying anything but!

I heard Corydalis quip behind me with a wry smile, “No one’d be happy having that compliment them.”

I agreed completely.

Curious as to what kind of face Mr. Fisalis was making, I sneakily peeked at him from the side. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were glinting angrily as he glared at the crown prince. The foreign royal’s gaze was clingy, but Mr. Fisalis’s was like a sharp blade. The two of them were glaring straight at each other, neither looking away. Seriously...what’s happening?! I was starting to get nervous just watching them.

The entire hall was filled with a tense silence. Shockingly enough, the one to break off the spark-filled staring contest was the crown prince.

“I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you take one for your country?” He was looking as if he’d just thought of something great, but what had he actually come up with?

“Take one for my country?”

No one knew what he was talking about. While everyone listened on, puzzled, Mr. Fisalis repeated his question in a lower voice.

“You and Viola will divorce.” The prince was saying something absolutely crazy.

“What?” Both Mr. Fisalis and I harmonized in our shock. Huh? Us, get divorced? And he thinks he’s going to make us do that? For our country? What? What the heck is this guy saying?!

The moment he heard what that idiot said, a freezing aura that would shake even Bellis started emanating off of Mr. Fisalis. It was about five times worse than the atmosphere a moment earlier!

This is bad. Mr. Fisalis has a sword... Yeah, he’s got to—he was working up until just now. No, Mr. Fisalis, we’re in the palace right now! I’ll have to hold his sword back.

The atmosphere around us and the feeling Mr. Fisalis was giving off had changed, but the crown prince didn’t seem to care (or did he just not notice?).

“You two will divorce, Viola will become my queen, and the Duke can marry my younger sister Orangé. Our countries’ friendship will be cemented. Isn’t that a perfect idea? You agree—right, Orangé?” With a self-satisfied face that just screamed, “Damn, I’m smart☆,” he loudly called out to his sister.

When Mr. Fisalis had finally shown up to the party, Princess Orangé (who had been in the center of the hall until then) had locked her gaze on him as she approached. Rather than being summoned by her brother, it was more like she just wanted to get closer to Mr. Fisalis. What is my husband, a magnet?

But this guy is missing a few very important screws. Everyone is glaring at him and he doesn’t even notice. I could only stare at him disdainfully, but then...

“Wow, what a wonderful idea, brother! I’m definitely much more of a catch than your wife, aren’t I, Duke Fisalis? Right now I’m dressed in Flüran haute couture, so I look completely different than when you saw me back at the palace, right? I do admit that your wife is beautiful enough for my brother to fall in love with her at first sight, but she’s just a frail stick. Women should have a little meat on their bones...”

His dumbass sister... I mean, Princess Orangé was all for her brother’s suggestion. They really are related! And is “meat on their bones” the norm in Aurantia? Ah, that’s not the issue here. And who are you calling a stick?!

Seeing as they were trying to make a couple divorce for their own benefit, I was starting to doubt Aurantian morals. Is that really something royalty should be saying?! Take a cue from our king here!

While I was busy being irritated by Princess Orangé’s words, Mr. Fisalis cut her off.

“No—how wonderful Viola is can’t be described by shallow words like charming or beautiful. She’s dainty, but lively, and not only is she lovely to look at, but she’s amazing on the inside, too. Really, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that her inner beauty shining out helps make her more physically beautiful. She has the strength to properly manage and protect our manor while I’m away, and she’s also kind enough to consider other people. She’s the owner of a gentle heart that can cherish and love everyone around her.”

Here Mr. Fisalis was going off on one of his “I LOVE MY WIFE” spiels! Stop! We’re in the palace right now! If I didn’t get him to stop soon, things’d end up like they did back with Miss Verbena that one time! I’m glad he’s talking back to Princess Orangé, but please just stop!

I grabbed his arm, crying out, “Mr. Fisalis, please, stop right there!”

“Why? I need the Princess to understand just how wonderful you are...”

“If you appreciate my good points, that’s enough!”

“Hmm... That’s true. I’d actually want to keep you all to myself.”

“Right?!” I was desperate to get him to quit talking. Ah, Corydalis is laughing like mad! Oh, this is humiliating!

While Mr. Fisalis and I were arguing and forgetting our surroundings...

“I told you, didn’t I? Duke Fisalis dotes on his wife, and as you can see, they’re very happy together. We couldn’t force them to divorce for the sake of our country,” the queen told the Aurantian siblings, driving the point home.

But...

“Really? I thought it was a great idea.” The crown prince still thought he was brilliant.

“It was. Both of us would have been perfectly happy...” Princess Orangé did too.

You guys may have been happy, but your abuse of power would’ve been unbearable for the two of us!

“Well, that’s that. Please forget about both of us,” Mr. Fisalis said flatly as he pulled me close and planted a kiss on my cheek. Trying to take advantage of the confusion, huh! But it’s important for us to show exactly how happy we were.

Ignoring my own embarrassment, I cuddled right up to him. Yes, we’re a lovey-dovey couple!

“Let’s head home, Vi.”

“Yes!”

Mr. Fisalis had switched from his severe look to his usual sparkling smile, and I gave them all my best twenty dollar smile, too.

And so, we were finally able to leave the exhausting party. My energy was just about zero.