There was a reason of its own for why things had flowed this way.
‘No, even if we agreed to persuade them as quickly as possible, it’s not like we wanted to act this recklessly, you know?’
It wasn’t as if two little toddlers were wearing a tablecloth over their heads and playing wedding with wild flowers picked from the garden!
Furthermore, time wasn’t so pressing that they had to resort to such a last resort.
In other words, neither of them had the intention to ‘cause a scene on the same day as the proposal,’ at least not in their heads.
That is to say…….
“Beatrice Hartwell!”
“O-oh? Mother? Father? What are you two doing here……. Ah, hello to you too, Uncle and Auntie! I heard you were out, but you’re back quite early!”
“Since Beatrice of all people is visiting, we had to hurry back. Let’s see, you look even prettier than last week, don’t you?”
As luck would have it, both sets of parents had gathered in one place, and to top it off…….
“Bea! Have you been well? I was already happy to have run into these two while on a date with my dear, but I’m truly glad to see you too after so long.”
“Your Highness……?”
“Why the ‘Your Highness’? How disappointing. I told you to call me ‘Sister’ comfortably in private.”
If only they hadn’t run into ‘that person’ so suddenly in this spot!
Beatrice’s eyes wavered slightly as she looked up at the person holding her hand affectionately.
Silver hair, the symbol of the Imperial Family, and beautifully shining gold eyes. An elegant and noble atmosphere and grace.
‘Elodie Alberose Edvane.’
The First Princess of the Empire, she was the fiancée of Clyde’s older brother, Kaylan, and at the same time, she was ‘that person’ the two had spoken of.
‘That person who destroyed my house and Clyde’s house, and killed me in the end.’
Her final memory surfaced in her mind as if a locked door had been flung open. No, to be precise, it was the last conversation she had heard.
‘This child, who has lost family, relatives, wealth, and even…, is still a risk factor…….’
‘Lady Elodie.’
‘There’s no need to persuade me. Why hesitate after coming this far? It’s only right to… cut off the sprout that might become a weed. Do hold a funeral for her. There is no need to report separately.’
Seeing as she could remember it down to every word, it seemed it was certainly an intense memory.
‘…I wonder if she actually held a funeral for me.’
Beatrice, having chased away the tension that lightly swept over her with a pointless thought, habitually pushed up the corners of her mouth and spoke.
“Yeees, that’s right, indeed. Well, since I only have two older brothers, the word ‘sister’ feels a bit ticklish, so I just…”
She felt Clyde secretly poking her in the side. Although she tried her best to hide it, it seemed obvious.
However, even before Beatrice could collect her expression, Princess Elodie laughed adorably and lightly tapped the bridge of her nose with a finger.
“How cute. Bea, you really are the same as ever!”
“Haha.”
“This won’t do. I think I’ll have to stick to Bea’s side for a while. Once she gets used to being together, Bea will feel more comfortable with me than she does now, right?”
“Um. I didn’t mean that Your Highness was uncomfortable….”
“Oh, of course, of course! I know. I just want to get closer to Bea, that’s all.”
Pausing for a moment, the Princess glanced shyly at the person beside her and spoke again.
“Once I marry Kaylan, I’ll become a member of the Ducal family, too. And Bea is honestly someone who is no different from being family to the House of Dalton.”
“Um….”
“So, if possible, I want to become as close as family with Bea too.”
We’ll see about that.
‘I’d prefer it if you woke up from that dream, at least in this life.’
Beatrice didn’t have the slightest intention of getting close to Princess Elodie. Nor did she have any intention of letting her marry Clyde’s brother, Kaylan.
Of course, those who had no way of knowing what the Princess had done in the future were looking at the two with pleased expressions.
Seeing the warm atmosphere around her, she recalled the sensation of the nudge in her side from Clyde and squeezed out a voice as affectionately as possible.
“Wow. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Does Bea think so too? What a relief!”
A tall man with a sturdy build approached the joyful Princess. It was the eldest son of the Duke’s family, Kaylan.
“Seeing you smile like that, I suppose you’re finally at ease. You practiced saying this to Bea so many times, didn’t you?”
“Kaylan! H-how can you say such an embarrassing thing! What will Bea think of me?”
Beatrice narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched the Princess, whose face was flushed red, argue with Kaylan.
‘No, but seriously, she’s acting creepily familiar. Since when were we on such terms?’
Was it even like this before the regression? They might have maintained courtesies, but she didn’t remember her pretending to be this close……
‘No, wait, did she?’
Pausing for a moment, Beatrice carefully combed through her memories. Now that she thought about it, it seemed there were such times. Times when the Princess had looked after her like a younger sister.
‘Tsk… When was that? Back then, I just brushed it off, wondering why she was suddenly acting like that, so I don’t remember it well.’
Anyway, it seemed it had been like that all the way until the wedding with Kaylan.
Beatrice, casting a glance at the Princess, lightly rubbed her arm. This was because the way the Princess appeared to genuinely hold goodwill toward the House of Dalton and the House of Hartwell felt entirely awkward.
‘Hmm. If I keep watching, I won’t be able to control my expression. I’d be better off thinking about something else.’
For example, why the Princess was acting so friendly.
‘The answer is obvious.’
In the beginning, the Princess also wanted to have a good relationship with the two families… no, beyond that, she wanted to form a ‘family-like relationship.’ Something must have happened, and she changed her course later.
‘Oh, wait. If that is the Princess’s current stance right now….’
Having thought that far, Beatrice turned her head toward Clyde and blurted out.
“Hey. What do you think.”
There was no specific subject in her words, but Clyde seemed to immediately understand her meaning. Narrowing his eyes as if thinking about something, he gave a slight nod.
“I think it’s not bad.”
“Right? It seems like ‘that person’ would push for it, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.”
At Clyde’s affirmation, Beatrice’s eyes sparkled. Though they hadn’t made a single proper preparation, no matter how much she thought about it, now was the best timing.
The perfect timing to push their marriage onto their families!
‘To the current Princess, who wants to become close with both families, this will be like a windfall. Since this is a rare occasion where the elders of both families and even her fiancé are all present…’
She would think of it as a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Not knowing that this choice would later hold her back when she tried to destroy the two houses!
‘Damn, I was kind of smart just now. Is this what it feels like to be a genius?’
Well, even though she was using a cheat called regression.
Thinking it was fine as long as it was the price for her life, Beatrice scanned the surrounding atmosphere. It was to aim for the right moment to speak.
It was then.
The Duchess, who had been watching the four of them with a pleased expression, glanced at Clyde and joked.
“Count Hartwell’s family and ours are indeed as close as family. It would be wonderful if we could welcome Bea as real family this time, but that boy over there can’t even make use of the handsome face he was blessed with, truly….”
“Oh, Evelyn. If Clyde were to become Beatrice’s partner, we would be more than happy as well. But Beatrice is so…”
Hearing the words of the Duchess and the Count, the two simultaneously met each other’s eyes.
‘Now!’
Beatrice and Clyde stuck to each other like burnt sugar on the floor, and then, like merchants advertising a new product, they spoke at the same time.
“Mother, I shall fulfill that wish right this moment.”
“Mom, don’t worry about such useless things. That kid already fallen for me.”
Beatrice naturally accepted the gaze of her family, who looked as if they were wondering what on earth she was talking about, and raised her hand, which was clasped with Clyde’s.
“We’re getting married!”
“…W-what did you say?”
“Wow, I mean, Clyde said he likes me so much he could die, you know? He cried and proposed, saying that if it wasn’t for me, his home would crumble, society would crumble, and the world would crumble, so I said okay. Right?”
“…That’s right, haha.”
The two, having roughly glossed over the truth with instigation and fabrication, drove in the final nail.
“So, let us get married. Uh… sometime soon.”
“Considering the minimum preparation time, how about a month from now?”
Even in the surrounding atmosphere filled with silence, Beatrice and Clyde stubbornly stuck to their nonsense.
It was a sudden change of plans, but wasn’t it difficult to persuade them with logic and reason anyway? And sometimes…….
‘Sometimes, being shameless works better than being rational.’
Originally, the one with the loudest voice won.
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