Chapter 9: TWOCM

After that, Reyna started eating the Mont Blanc with her fork one bite after another, as if she had never hesitated at all.

Kaiden, who had been quietly watching her, took a sip of his coffee and chuckled.

"It seems you like it."

"Yes! It's delicious. You should have some too, Duke."

"I don't like sweet things."

When Kaiden flatly refused with a look of distaste, Reyna blinked in confusion.

"Then why did you prepare so much?"

"I didn't know what you would like, so I told Ben to prepare one of every kind."

"All of this... was prepared for me?"

"Yes. So, Princess, you may eat all of it."

Kaiden smirked as though wondering why she was so surprised.

With unsteady eyes, Reyna looked over the tray piled high with layers of desserts.

"But it's far too much for one person."

Even eating just one tier looked enough to fill her stomach.

When she looked at him as if asking whether he intended to make her eat until she burst, Kaiden tilted his head.

"I don't know. From what I can see, Princess, it looks like you should be eating much more from now on."

Then he held up his hand as if measuring her height.

Reyna immediately protested.

"I'm fully grown."

"You are? It looks like you still need to grow more."

Kaiden muttered with a serious expression.

Since he seemed completely sincere, Reyna looked as though she might cry.

Am I really that skinny?

Come to think of it, in her previous life he had often compared her to a cucumber dried up by a drought.

Reyna looked down at her wrist and became even more depressed.

She had gained more weight than in her previous life, but compared to his large wrist, hers looked as though it could fit in one hand.

On top of that, he was incredibly tall, so whenever she stood beside him, she looked even smaller.

With quiet defiance, Reyna muttered,

"...You're really rude as naturally as you breathe."

"I hear that quite often."

When even that was calmly accepted, Reyna found herself speechless.

"What are you doing? Eat."

Unable to win a single exchange against Kaiden, Reyna returned her attention to the desserts.

By the time she felt too full to eat another bite, Kaiden finally got to the main subject.

"I think it's time we talked in detail about our married life. I'll warn you in advance—the North is a much harsher place than you imagine."

He was probably telling her not to expect to be treated like a princess.

But before her regression, Reyna had spent ten years living underground, surviving only enough to avoid dying.

All she wanted now was freedom.

"I don't mind."

"That's not something you should decide so lightly—"

"If food is scarce in the North, one meal a day is enough for me. I can even go several days without eating."

She answered casually.

The atmosphere instantly turned cold.

Only then did Reyna realize something was wrong.

When she looked up, both Kaiden and Ben were staring at her with stiff expressions.

Kaiden asked coldly,

"Did they starve you in the Imperial Palace?"

"Huh?"

"No. As far as I know, they did not."

Ben answered firmly.

Kaiden turned an even colder gaze toward Reyna.

"Did you think I would starve my own wife?"

"Oh, no. I was only trying to show you my determination..."

Reyna hurriedly explained after realizing what he had misunderstood, but it was already too late.

"I don't need that kind of determination. What kind of lunatic tells the woman he's going to marry to survive on one meal a day?"

Reyna almost admitted that she had even fasted before, but she tightly closed her mouth.

She felt that saying so would only make him angrier.

"...I'm sorry."

When Reyna apologized with her head lowered, Kaiden's expression softened.

"Anyway, before we leave for the North, discuss everything you need with Ben and prepare it. Fortunately, His Majesty has permitted you to leave with me. If there's anything else you need, let Ben know in advance."

"Then when should we perform the oath?"

"That can only be done in the North anyway. If you change your mind before then, just tell me."

"If I change my mind?"

"If you do, what can you do about it? By then, even if you wanted to return, you wouldn't be able to travel back to the capital alone. Either way, I lose nothing."

The moment Kaiden answered casually—

Reyna's mouth fell open.

"Does that mean... you'll trust me even without making the oath?"

Seeing the look of genuine emotion on her face, Kaiden frowned and looked toward Ben.

Her reaction was completely different from what he had expected.

With uncertainty written across his face, Kaiden asked,

"Didn't I just threaten her?"

"You did."

Ben answered immediately.

"It was a very frightening threat."

He looked as though he couldn't understand why such an obvious question had even been asked.

He had threatened her.

Yet she was happy.

Is she crazy?

Unable to understand Reyna's reaction at all, Kaiden tilted his head.

"Then what's with that reaction?"

At his sincere question, Ben smiled kindly.

"Well... perhaps Her Highness enjoys being threatened..."

"...Just kidding."

Naturally, he couldn't finish before Kaiden shot him a glare.

Ben quickly changed the subject and pretended nothing had happened.

Kaiden let out a sigh.

Whatever the case, there was no denying that her reaction was strange.

So threats don't work on her? Or was the oath simply her way of showing her determination? Was she trying to earn my trust?

Whichever it was, her resolve was desperate enough to seem reckless.

It felt far too heavy to belong to someone who merely wanted to escape because she could no longer endure being bullied by the imperial family.

Kaiden quietly studied Reyna.

She was certainly different from ordinary noble ladies.

Most women either tried to impress him or were afraid of him.

In the first place, she had marched up to him without an appointment and proposed marriage.

She had never fit into the category of "normal."

There was something different about Reyna.

She even seemed to feel an odd sense of familiarity toward him.

It was enough to leave him bewildered.

"Anyway, until the farewell banquet, I plan to visit you from time to time so we can pretend to be dating."

"Sounds good."

"And with people I'm comfortable with, I speak informally. Since we're going to be married, it would be natural to do that. Is that alright with you?"

"That's fine... Huh? Wait a minute. You use informal speech with people you're comfortable with?"

Reyna had been agreeing automatically like a parrot before her eyes suddenly widened.

In her previous life, Kaiden had spoken informally to her from the very beginning.

Her surprised expression made her look like a rabbit caught in fresh snow.

She was rather adorable.

Hiding the smile creeping onto his lips with one hand, Kaiden said,

"Yes. If we're going to fool the Emperor, we have to fool everyone else first."

"Alright. Let's do that."

"Then you should start speaking informally to me first."

"No. I'll do that once I feel more comfortable."

"...Don't tell me I'll be the only one using informal speech?"

As Kaiden asked with a doubtful look, Reyna made another suggestion.

"Then... may I call you by your name instead of 'Duke'? And I'd like it if you called me by my name too."

"If that's what you want."

"Yes, Kaiden."

The moment Reyna immediately changed the way she addressed him, Kaiden's eyes widened.

She had always wanted to call him by his name before her regression, so she did it without hesitation.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that.

"...You're surprisingly good at that."

Kaiden let out a disbelieving laugh.

She insisted she couldn't speak casually to him yet, but calling him by his name came so naturally.

It was strangely amusing.

Then Reyna continued,

"And regarding the monsters..."

The moment monsters were mentioned, Kaiden's expression immediately turned serious.

* * *

After that day, Kaiden frequently visited the Imperial Palace to see Reyna.

They took walks together and spent time enjoying tea and desserts, making a convincing show of being lovers.

As a result, everyone openly accepted that their marriage was inevitable.

Moreover, once the Emperor himself began openly looking after Reyna, the princess who had once gone completely unnoticed suddenly became the most talked-about princess in the Empire.