Chapter 11 (1/2)

Chapter 11

Was there anything in this world that is more vexing than this?

The effort that I put into coming to the Imperial Palace with Dorothea—despite not wanting to come in the first place—was all in vain. My face crumpled in despair.

Oh, do I just wait now for him to say something along the lines of “You’re so beautiful. Please marry me!”?

Or will he ask for her name, like he did in the original novel?

Or will he omit all middle steps and skip straight to marri— ah, I think that’s a bit too much of a stretch.

“Yes?” Dorothea’s face was as pink as a peach. As I watched her face light up with glee, I felt immeasurable despair.

Oh no… did I fail to change the storyline of the novel? Was my plan about to crumble to ruins?

Just as I was panicking inside, Xavier’s baritone voice reached my ears.

“Pardon me for asking, but what is your relationship with Lady Maristella?”

Wait, the handsome man remembered my name— no… more importantly, why is he suddenly asking her that?

I anxiously glanced back and forth between Xavier and Dorothea.

I didn’t seem to be the only one who was taken aback by that question. Dorothea gave a few owlish blinks.

“…Pardon me?” she said after a short while.

“I asked about your relationship with Lady Maristella.”

Although he was polite, his manner of speech was slightly stiff. Even I could hear a strange sense of distance in his tone. Dorothea tilted her head, seemingly not understanding his question.

“She’s my friend,” she answered.

Friend, my ass, I cursed internally. Never could I ever say such a thing in front of a member of the royal family.

However, what Xavier said next was a moment of reckoning.

“She couldn’t be.”

“…P-pardon me?” Dorothea stuttered.

“I find it extremely hard to believe that you two are friends,” he replied.

Dorothea and I simultaneously made dumbfounded expressions at his outright rejection.

What the heck is going on right now?

“If you were truly Lady Maristella’s friend, you would never belittle her with such insulting words,” Xavier continued smoothly.

“Excuse me? When did I—”

“You just asked her ‘how dare she’ be with me.”

“I did…?”

“I clearly heard it twice, My Lady. As long as my ears are working well.” His entire speech was in monotone, and anyone from my world would have mistaken him for a robot.

And, to be honest, although this may not be the greatest thing to admit… I was actually kind of intrigued by this situation.

No—amused, even. No matter how anyone saw it, this was not at all a positive first encounter between the male hero and the female heroine. I might be able to achieve what I wanted without even having to go between them.

“Such expressions cannot be possible between individuals of a horizontal relationship, My Lady. Even in a vertical relationship, such phrasing… forces me to believe that you are very rude and insulting.” Xavier turned his head towards me as he finished his sentence.

Ah, that surprised me.

To describe his handsomeness and otherworldly would be an understatement. I gasped before I could stop myself.

Your Highness the Crown Prince, please at least give me a warning before you do that!

You probably don’t know how handsome you look now, but it’s kind of bad for my heart.

“Lady Maristella,” he said to me.

“Y-Yes?” I managed to clumsily articulate.

“Is she truly your friend?”

“…”

Tears suddenly pooled in my eyes.

No, she’s not my friend! I’d never be friends with someone so selfish!