"Congratulations on your engagement your majesty Prince Erik. And to you Miss Rosalia."It"s official. the day has come.
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The same date, the same grand hall, the day we"re promised to each other to be married.
A deadly domino game has been set up in place. The question now is not if I can stop it or not, it"s if I can avoid personally being knocked down myself.
It"s already a little different, the pieces I"ve set up showing itself. For one there"s a lot more witnesses, a result of grampa"s and his troop"s presence. In a way that"s on me, the one who first set up those pieces.
Prince Erik still stiffly bows to me while I reluctantly curtsy in front of the elders. But it"s more sure now compared to the first time around, less awkward since we know each other. He does not go straight to ignoring me this time, instead, I"m being looked at with very visibly nervous eyes.
I"d like to think it"s because of the beating I gave him the other day. Ah, I"d like a rematch to beat out the stress that"s gnawing up inside of me. It"s going to be a long and painful next few years being the stupid prince"s fiance, a lot of troublesome years.
At least I get some cake after this, yes I"ll stress eat at the tea party or whatever they set up for us. I don"t mind if the stupid prince will sit there in awkward silence, I just want to enjoy something sweet!
"Wheee, mama, papa, will Rosa get marwied?"
""Yes Lilyanne, an engagement means a promise to be married."
"An Rosa will wear a pwetty dwess an we can have a big pawty!"
There are a lot simpler ways to have a big party and wear pretty clothes. No arranged marriages necessary. But Lilyanne is a simple little girl. It will be good if she stays relatively innocent, just not stupid. This world is too politically complicated.
"I"m so happy! Will Ewik come live with us too? It gonna be sooo fun!"
"Err young Miss Lilyanne that won"t be how it works."
"I can"t wait!~"
Lilyanne is a lot more talkative this time around, maybe since we"re all familiar with one another due to our sped up meeting. Children are meant to be seen not heard, but as always no one can really fault Lilyanne. She"s just too small and cute.
Besides, it"s not like she"s the one in the center stage.
I can feel the gaze of the foreign queen, Erik"s mother, examining me for any weaknesses. My silence and straight posture a contrast to both my sister and my now fiance.
"As expected, they make a graceful pair. May this be a fruitful union between us."
"Yes...a fruitful union indeed."
Father"s smile is perfect but the line of his lip is stiff. He looks to be holding back his s.h.i.+t mouth, of course only those close to him would be able to tell. He"s a n.o.bleman with a perfect public face after all.
Grampa is, to no surprise to us but to the scandal of others, sitting perched on the side. Instead of leading this introductory ceremony, or even watching from the central circle, he"s saying that he"s not involved in all this. As the head of the Ventrella family, as the figure that he is, for him to not take an active role is a sign of disapproval. Still, since he"s not interfering or stopping the informal introductory ceremony, that"s a good enough go ahead as anyone"s going to get.
Honestly, he looks like he"s enjoying a bad movie, the so bad it"s good kind of films.
Hey, wait am I the bad movie in this a.n.a.logy!?
How dare he use me as cheap entertainment!
The situation can"t be helped but I should at least be a quality show. I"m not expecting my life to be a blockbuster movie but I"d at least be a semi-popular series on the internet.
Still, it would be unwise to make a ruckus in front of all these people. My every move is being watched and a.n.a.lyzed here.
Children don"t need to do much but they have their roles to play. To stand out in any way, especially the wrong way, will not benefit me in any kind. In fact, I may even be forced into some h.e.l.lish "etiquette "training as compensation for my behavior. The average commoner in me, which is essentially all of me, shakes in fear at the memory.
So I grit my teeth and match my father in the following procedure. You can curse all you want to yourself but not in public.
Eventually, it"s finished and prince Erik and I are herded into a little room for tea, to get to know one another better. It"s our first official meeting otherwise I would try to drag along Lilyanne. As much as I dislike those two getting along, it would make things less awkward. Besides, it"s not like I can stop this stupid couple from the inevitable.
At least there"s sweets to drown in. It"s only some cookies and some type of dense candied fruit and cream cake. It"s nothing compared to my old world but it"s something.
"Um, Rosalia..."
Oh, that"s new, the stupid prince is making to speak to me first. Well, I don"t mind the background noise as long as I"m eating.
"Um... I"ll get stronger as I grow so....since we"re promised to one another, I promise to try to be a good husband in the future."
HAHA!!! What a laugh! I spat out the bite of cake I just had lest I choke on my own laughter. The confused look on the stupid prince"s face is making it even worse! I can"t stop laughing. It"s just too funny.
I died by your hands, not directly but I died because of you. Is this dark humor, I"m not sure? You get some leeway after dying right?
Prince Erik"s face keeps getting worse and worse, and the maids are frozen in fear in the background. For their sake, I should say something. I wouldn"t want them to stop bringing goodies.
"Pffft, hic, don"t mind me, often hahaha. Don"t mind me at all!"
Oh dear, this isn"t working, my laughter can"t be contained. When I can roughly breathe again I"ll try talking.
"Please excuse my outburst, I just wasn"t expecting that. Ah, I haven"t laughed that much in a while, that felt good."
"I really will get stronger...."
Did I hurt his fragile little ego? Such a child.
"Haha don"t feel bad, I wasn"t making fun of you. I have no doubt about that Prince Erik, we"re both very very young. There"s a lot of time for us to grow and change."
I"ve been meaning to have this private interrog- I mean talk, with him anyways. Why not clear the air here? After all, if you can"t beat them, then gain their trust or blackmail to the point you have them wrapped around your finger like a slave.
That"s not quite how the saying goes but it works for me!
"You will get much stronger as you grow older and become a very capable prince, that I"m sure."
A stupid one but it worked enough back then. He wasn"t unlearned towards his lessons or abusive towards his citizens, he"s just stupid in a lot of other ways. Say making friends or not killing off his fiance when things don"t go his way, those social skills kind of things.
My words cheer him up rather quickly, I suppose it"s the most praise he"s heard from me. He"s heating up rather quickly.
"Thank you, I"ll be sure to work hard and fulfill everyone"s expectations. Of course I return to sentiment to you too Rosalia. You"re already strong and cool, I"m sure you will grow to be a good queen."
This is also the most that the stupid prince has ever praised me. Funny how it takes a rebirth to get to this point.
"It doesn"t disturb you then? That we"ve been engaged so young."
"No-no! Not at all!"
"It"s alright to admit it, after all, we"ve just met not too long ago."
"Well, I am a little surprised. But I"ve been told I was going to be engaged to someone soon. I"m glad it can be with someone like you!"
"Oh, Is that so."
"Mmm! Even though you"re younger than me, you speak very well and you"re fast at the sword."
While I do like praise as much as the next person, with my status as a time-hopping reborn person these things aren"t really praiseworthy. I can speak with decent grammar and beat up a 3 year old, whoopie me.
"Those things really are nothing."
"Mmm not at all Rosalia, I"m sure you learn things really fast! You"re a really suitable princess candidate!"
That will true for a while but then what? What was that phrase again? Genius at what 3 or 5? Prodigy at 10 and a common man after 15? Something like that.
That"s what I"ll be.
It won"t be good for people to keep getting fooled by me in the long term when the jig is up. But that doesn"t matter with my life on the line. As long as I survive, anything goes. And part of that is coming clear enough to have a working relations.h.i.+p with the stupid prince here.
I"ll never like him.
It"s out of the question, let alone love him. In a way, I"m still kind of scared of him. Or well the cruel man he will grow into becoming. Even if I can"t bring myself to like this person, I don"t have to be his enemy, at least not outright.
"It"s really nothing Prince Erik. I"ll soon be out shadowed. "
"Whatever do you mean by that Rosalia?"
"It means. you dumb boy, that I won"t matter much in the long term. Do you think I"m strong?"
"Yes! And cool! I never saw a girl ouR age as strong as you!"
Ohohoho I can live with this opinion. Shall this be my image for this lifetime? The cool one? Oh dear, that laugh earlier sounded like mother"s though.
"And what do you think of say, my sister Lilyanne?"
"Ack, um...she"s much more. Hmmm, it"s hard to say it out."
"Go ahead, I won"t get mad and hit you for it or anything. "
I"ll hit you for lots of entirely different reasons, You won"t get out of being my sandbag that easily oh stupid prince.
"Well...Lilyanne is a lot more babyish. You"re twins but she seems so much, smaller.... I know you"re the same age but it"s as if she"s the softer one, the one that needs to be looked out after."
"You think she"s cute don"t you?"
"Eep! What!? No! I mean yes, wait. I mean of course she"s cute. You both are, with the same face and all. Is this a trick question?"
"I know what you"re already thinking."
"What are you even talking about? I"m confused."
"Of course you are. But I already knew that too ."
"What-"
"I"ll be out shadowed soon if I"m not already. Your family made the wrong choice and picked the wrong twin. You"ll see it soon, maybe you already do."
"Rosalia, don"t tell me you"re feeling -"
I stuff a forkful of non choking hazard attempt at cream cake into his open mouth hole, the unfortunate one he uses to talk. Don"t you dare finish that d.a.m.n question stupid prince, don"t you dare say jealous. Rosalia had a whole lifetime to be jealous and it had little nothing to do with you.
"I"ll tell you a secret prince Erik if you promise not to tell anyone else. Come closer if you want to hear it."
The stuffy little prince is confused, it makes his face even stranger as if he needs help going to the bathroom. But he readily nods and agrees, even though getting closer makes him nervous. As if I"m a beast he"s not sure how to approach let alone attack.
I meet him halfway across the dainty sweets covered table, beckoning him even closer. I can only whisper it into his reddening ear, so no one, not even a fly could hear.
"Don"t worry, you and I won"t ever be married."
Not in the last life and definitely not in this one.
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