If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 108

“…”

 

“He was originally a brilliant strategist who had earned great trust, but at the final moment, he betrayed that trust and defected. They say he opened the castle gates, the last line of defense, from the inside and surrendered, even personally handing over the Lohengrin royal family.”

 

“Lonheng…rin?”

 

“Yes. The greatest contributor to that achievement is a noble of Lohengrin.”

 

The name was carefully engraved into my ears.

 

“The eldest son of the Viscount Hwibrik, Emilio Hwibrik. Truly an extraordinary man.”

 

“…”

 

Nanaen’s light green eyes, always as fresh as green apples, darkened. My own gaze was probably similar at this moment.

 

“You mean Marquis Emilio Hwibrik. That’s a very nice name. Once you hear it, you can’t forget it.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

The enemy of my personal knight is also the enemy of Nanaen’s personal knight. Our emotions couldn’t help but resonate.

 

I continued explaining. “From now on, Lohengrin is likely to be elevated from a subordinate territory to a self-governing domain. To govern a domain at the young age of twenty-five, Marquis Hwibrik seems just as capable as the rumors say.”

 

“You even looked up his age?” The one who cut in was Lilliana. Strangely enough, her question sounded genuinely curious rather than accusatory. “Sasha, how do you know so much?”

 

“Aah.” There seemed to be no point in hiding it. Smiling softly, I confessed as if declaring to my sisters. “I’m interested. In the man named Emilio Hwibrik.”

 

✦

“How is it? Is it pretty?”

 

Fall is the season when colors grow deeper and richer. As if imitating the leaves turning red, I changed into a deep wine-colored dress. The lower part of the dress was filled with abundant lace, curled in such a way that it looked as though countless red rose blossoms had been gathered together. The hem of the skirt was also uneven in length, shorter in the front than in the back. When climbing stairs, the structure inevitably revealed my legs up to the precarious area above the knees.

 

Overall, the outfit was alluring and provocative, so I kept the accessories to a minimum. I left my neckline bare, so only my neat collarbones showed, and wore simple pearl-drop earrings.

 

“This should be pretty enough, right?”

 

I turned away from the mirror and looked directly at Regen. Although he seemed to be focused on me, he hadn’t responded to anything I’d said for a while.

 

“Regen?”

 

“…Sasha looks beautiful no matter what you wear.”

 

Only after my urging did he answer, as if forcing something caught in his throat out. For some reason, it felt like I had dragged out the words I wanted to hear, so I wasn’t very satisfied. I fell into thought.

 

“The reaction is weaker than I expected. I heard men are instinctively drawn to red, but maybe that’s not always true.”

 

“…Who told you that?”

 

“The women in the harem palace.”

 

During my childhood growing up in the harem palace, I had unintentionally gained quite a lot of knowledge. The women who adorned themselves with every kind of coquetry and seduction to attract the emperor had once been beauties capable of toppling nations, commanding men beneath their feet before being brought to the harem. They liked to show off their extensive knowledge.

 

“Apparently, about half of men are simple enough to react to red, though there are individual differences. So they said if you want to catch a man’s attention, it’s good to wear red clothes or accessories. Ah, and they said it doesn’t work on women.” I could see the handsome man wearing an expression of disbelief.

 

“Didn’t you say you only lived in the harem palace until around ten years old?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“And they said things like that in front of a child…”

 

“I just happened to overhear it. And I was precocious, so it was fine.”

 

Regen slightly opened his lips and then closed them. Was it my imagination? It looked as though he had swallowed a sigh. “You were precocious, Sasha.”

 

“Of course. I have been mature from a young age.”

 

“But did you know?”

 

“Know what?”

 

“I know what Sasha was like at thirteen.”

 

“…”

 

Though he didn’t elaborate further, I could read everything in Regen’s eyes. He clearly wanted to say I was still just a child back then.

 

Feeling oddly annoyed, I shot back. “Just forget about that time. You’re going to say I was shabby.”

 

“It was night, so perhaps I saw wrong. You were beautiful and elegant.”

 

“…Your night vision is good, though.”

 

Even though I knew Regen was just saying empty compliments to placate me, the cave-like depth of his voice rang sweetly in my ears and lifted my mood.

 

“Sasha.”

 

The way he called my name sounded unusually deep. Thinking he was about to say something important, I focused.

 

“There’s something I’m curious about.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“How was I?”

 

“What?”

 

“Sasha knew me in my boyhood as well, didn’t you? I’m curious about your first impression of me.”

 

“…”

 

I almost inhaled sharply by accident. Because what he had essentially asked about was my thoughts on my first love. And I had already confessed honestly to him once before.

 

“He was a wonderful person. I had only ever heard stories about him, but meeting him in person, he was even more impressive. I think it was love at first sight.”

 

“Of course, being a prince of an enemy nation, I couldn’t even dare to hope.”

 

The information about my first love that I impulsively revealed back then now severely restricts what I can say to him. If I repeated the same impression, it would go beyond a confession and become a full admission.

 

As if feeling, I turned my gaze away. “My night vision isn’t good.” Of course, that excuse was ridiculous.

 

“But you recognized me, didn’t you? That I was the prince of Lohengrin.”

 

“…”

 

“Ah, come to think of it.”

 

“…”

 

Regen spoke as though he had only just realized. “From Sasha’s perspective, that makes me the prince of an enemy nation too.”

 

“…”

 

The clues about my first love connected together. At this point, I really wanted to run away.

 

Resenting my past self for speaking too carelessly, I tried to salvage the situation. “Shall we talk about something else? Something more interesting.”

 

“Very well. How about talking about first love?”

 

“But…”

 

It was sudden and bewildering. After all, it was the same topic.

 

Being cornered this much made a bit of stubbornness rise in me. I put strength into my eyes and voice. “Alright, fine.”

 

“Then…”

 

“Let’s talk about Regen’s first love.”

 

“…”

 

“What about you, Regen? Do you have a first love?”

 

“Later. I’ll tell you when I get the chance, someday.”

 

I brought up the topic he had awkwardly avoided before. It must have been a good move, because he looked quite flustered, like someone caught in a counterattack.

 

As expected, putting oneself in the other’s position worked best. Wait, thinking about it, this wasn’t even truly putting oneself in the other’s position. The relationship between him and me was emotionally unevenly tilted. When I teased him, it could simply be dismissed as a joke. But when he, my first love and the object of my unrequited love, teased me, it was a cruel thing that stirred up my feelings, no matter how innocent his curiosity might be.

 

“Go on. Tell me about your first love. Hurry.” A little resentment crept into my voice as I demanded it strongly.

 

By then, Regen had already erased his embarrassment and calmly began speaking. “I don’t have one.”

 

“You don’t?”

 

“There is no woman I could reminisce about like that. I’m sorry I can’t give Sasha an interesting story.”

 

“…”

 

That was unexpected. Last time he seemed extremely uncomfortable with the topic of first love, so I wondered if he had left some tender love behind in his homeland.

 

“You’re not lying, right?”

 

“I swear I’m not. More importantly, Sasha.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“If I upset you, I hope you will forgive me.”

 

“…”

 

Suddenly, he changed the subject, striking directly at the heart of the matter.

 

“Upset? Me?”

 

I pretended not to know, but he only returned a faint smile as if he understood everything. He changed his expression to a solemn one, almost as if confessing, and continued. “I asked something unnecessary. It seems I did it out of spite because I wanted to hear Sasha say just once that I was impressive too.”

 

“…”

 

“It feels like I’m receiving punishment for calling Sasha a chick. I will reflect on it in many ways.”

 

“…”

 

Once again, I realized something. When it came to Regenhart Lohengrin, I was an incredibly easy woman. The resentment in my chest melted away. Taking its place in the empty space were pounding heartbeats and fluttering excitement. They urged me forward. My lips opened on their own.

 

“Regen… is wonderful.”

 

“…”

 

“Out of all the men I’ve seen…”

 

“…”

 

“You’re the most wonderful.”