Ending Conditions of the Princess and the Knight

But in that, Taeri saw a glimpse of a side of Claude’s nature that Bridget had been bugging him to reveal.

‘Hey protagonist, you’re quite moody, aren’t you?’

As expected, if someone is a tsundere, they tend to be moody. The perfect compatibility of these two traits was not surprising.

“I’ll remember.”

Even though it was taken lightly, the moody tsundere smiled with satisfaction.

He lightly patted the hand of anyone nearby and gave them instructions. That person was neither an employee nor an official here, yet the task was carried out swiftly and without any disturbance.

“I will prepare immediately, Your Excellency.”

Wondering what was going on, he returned and requested a private meeting.

“I have something to discuss. Do you have a moment?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

“I asked for a separate room, so please follow me in that direction.”

“Alright.”

As it was uncomfortable to have a conversation in such a public place, Taeri casually placed her hand on Claude’s outstretched arm without any hesitation.

Everyone watched with curious expressions as the young man and woman disappeared into a separate space. Bridget, blazing like a volcano, burst into the scene.

“Are you crazy? What are you two going to do alone, having a secret rendezvous?”

Determined to separate them no matter what, she grabbed Taeri’s other wrist and tried to pull it away, but Claude overtly expressed his annoyance and forcefully pushed it back.

“Don’t meddle.”

“It’s not me who’s meddling, it must be you. She’s my friend! She’s our princess, not yours! How dare you try to steal her away from me, do you really want to die today, do you think I can’t do it, I’m the one with nothing in sight!”

“I knew from the start that you couldn’t see me. But now it seems like you’re not in your right mind and lacking in discernment. The princess doesn’t belong to anyone.”

Saying that, this time he forcefully pulled Taeri’s arm towards himself, leaving Taeri hanging in between the two.

“Don’t act all high and mighty and just back off.”

“Just let go of that hand.”

“I won’t do anything that goes against the princess’s honor.”

“How can I believe what men say? No matter how much of a eunuch you are.”

“I’ve said it multiple times, I’m a perfectly healthy adult man with no issues in my body.”

“Hmph, then why don’t you just cut off those perfectly healthy limbs and go?”

“Are you going to be her guardian? Why are you preventing us from meeting?”

“Why would I let you meet?”

“Am I lacking something?”

“You are lacking! By a long shot! How dare some punk from the neighboring town think he can disrespect our princess? Does that make any sense? Stop talking and get your hands off!”

It’s so childish, why are you all acting like this? Taeri made it clear that she was extremely uncomfortable by inserting herself between them.

In life, one experiences all sorts of strange situations where people fight over you (?).

However, rather than finding those experiences intriguing, it’s just painful. When she tried to twist both her arms to escape from both of them, Bridget, who had been engaged in a fierce staring contest to the point where her veins were about to pop, gritted her teeth and shouted.

“Me or him? Choose!”

Choose what?

Why are you trying to crush my small and precious existence with your enormous whale-like fight?

Taeri sent a desperate signal to Claude with her eyes, asking for help, but the whale didn’t give a damn about the feelings of a littlr shrimp like her.

“That’s not a bad idea. Let’s teach that crazy woman a lesson and quickly get rid of her.”

……Ah, the only protagonist in this world is of no help at all.

Unbeknownst to Taeri, the fear she had laid on the wine bar had completely vanished, and only excited spectators filled the atmosphere.

Neither of them was the type to surrender in defeat, so no matter whom she chose, she would step on a landmine with the same result.

Feeling a strong intuition about it, Taeri wanted to just stop and shout.

Ah, let’s just get along, please.

* * *

‘It seems I don’t have a chaperone.’

Claude crossed his arms and watched as the princess earnestly whispered something into Bridget’s ear, trying to persuade her.

He witnessed her offering a pouch filled with coins, saying, “You can eat something over there, you can spend all the money in here,” and he also noticed her comforting touch that patted Bridget’s excited back multiple times. After a while, she finally succeeded in convincing the interrupter.

As soon as Bridget reluctantly let go of the princess’s wrist, Claude immediately caught her and headed towards the room.

Bridget, who was chasing after them with frustration, could only glare at them and couldn’t separate them as before. In the situation where she had to push the meddler aside and close the door, Claude felt an incredible sense of satisfaction.

What is this? It’s not that he just won……

Is it the pride of protecting the princess from a woman who’s lacking common sense? The sense of accomplishment from obtaining what he desired? No, it’s not.

As he engaged in a fierce staring contest until the moment the door closed, his mind filled with complex thoughts. But as soon as the secret room was completely sealed off from the outside world, he let go of all distractions and spoke the most urgent words first.

“I.”

“……?”

“I’m not a eunuch.”

* * *

I’m not a eunuch, he said.

Crazy.

This crazy person.

Immediately after throwing out a sentence without passing through any filter, Claude regretted it in less than a second. He cursed himself inwardly.

Why did I have to say it as if I were crazy? Couldn’t I have used a more refined expression with cultured vocabulary? Why did I hastily blurt it out without thinking even once beforehand…?

Instead of biting his tongue, he clenched his lips tightly.

“You don’t need to explain that.”

“I’m perfectly normal…”

“No, no, I mean, I know it’s not true even without an explanation. Of course, it couldn’t be. I guess I worried over a baseless rumor. Even if the whole world insists that the viceroy is a normal man, I believe it. So you don’t have to worry about unnecessary things.”

The princess promised to believe him unconditionally, without a hint of doubt, even when people around them raised suspicions, asking, “Are you sure?”

In a somewhat ambiguous state, Claude hesitated whether he should be grateful for her unwavering trust or sulk because he seemed so pitiful. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel relieved.

Even without words, the princess seemed to read a similar message from his expression and casually smiled, turning around first to explore the room.

‘Why are you so fearless.’

She readily believes and, in turn, easily exposes her back. Claude couldn’t even think that it was a behavior born out of her comfort with him.

He was clearly in a position where he could harm the princess right in front of him, and he had enough reasons to do so.

If the princess regained her position, the one who would end up empty-handed and returning with nothing would be himself.

Just cleanly here… At the moment when the mind was about to get caught up in futile plans, a calm and clear voice shattered his idle daydreaming.

“You knew I was here, right?”

Gesturing for him to sit, she spoke as she took a seat by the window table.

“I guess they were worried I was up to no good. In the end, it was fortunate that the viceroy came.”

Following her instructions and sitting obediently, Claude felt ashamed inwardly. The woman’s gaze upon him, who unexpectedly hit upon his inner thoughts, remained calm and unruffled like a gentle breeze.

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine.”

“I guess you’re not good at lying. Honest people are generally good people, after all.”

No, why do you keep saying that I’m a good person? Although it was brief, I just thinking about what bad thing I might do to you just now.

Annoyed by the unnecessarily restless heart, he deliberately grasped at the tail end of the conversation.

“You seem honest. Are you expecting a fair fight from me?”

“No, I don’t have the intention to fight.”

“I might actually be a remarkable fraud. Behind my neat appearance, I could be hiding unimaginable and dreadful secrets. My character could be despicable, and my personality could be utterly reprehensible… In fact, it’s true.”

I tried to tell her with all the conviction in my voice that he should be scared of me because you don’t know that, and that I’m actually a worthless scoundrel and a piece of shit.

But the look on her face showed that it didn’t work. In fact, the princess even gave him some advice.

“Do you want to become a bad person? Then you shouldn’t casually reveal that you have such a significant secret. If it were me, I would never tell. I would tightly hide it, not showing it to anyone or even giving a hint.”

“Do you have a secret?”

I ask, feeling like I should, and get a cute little nose scrunch and a wry smile in the corner of my eye, like I’m watching an innocent lamb.

“No, I should say no.”

Her reaction makes it even more confusing as to which side is the truth. Claude’s expression grew more serious and he closed his mouth with a complicated look on his face.

On the other hand, the princess examined the wine and snacks arranged on the table, picked up a cookie, bit into it with a crunch, and cut a big piece of cake with a fork before swallowing it with a loud ‘Ahn.’

One bite of this, one bite of that, sipping wine in two sips, she enjoys eating deliciously. Holding it in her hands like a squirrel nibbling on acorns, she eats so well that I stared at her intently. Sensing my gaze, she giggled and pushed the dessert basket she had been eating on her lap towards me.

“Do you want to eat together?”

It’s not like I specifically wanted to eat with her.

However, today, the smell of chocolate feels unusually sweet. Claude finally realizes that he has been fasting all this time. He threw away the breakfast that was prepared and ran here, sweating profusely.

Unable to refuse, he picked up the smallest piece of chocolate and put it in his mouth. Then he chewed with his molars and wrinkled his brow.

‘It’s tasteless.’

Tasteless. After chewing, he doesn’t feel like doing anything. The chocolate is mixed with dried fruits and alcohol. For someone who can’t drink alcohol, it becomes a struggle, so he couldn’t chew any further and simply had to swallow it down.

‘Is this supposed to be tasty?’

Come to think of it, the culinary skills of that hotel weren’t anything to scoff at. Claude suddenly wondered if the princess could manage to eat and live there.