A Fake Marriage? Sure! …Wait, Is It Actually Fake? Something’s Not Right Here! - Chapter 5

It had been one month since Lidoria and Alex made their promise of engagement.

Crown Prince George and Alex arrived at Crown Princess Sophia’s office.

Well, to be more accurate, George had dragged Alex along.

George was a handsome young man who exuded an air of refined upbringing. At 24 years old, he was four years younger than his wife Sophia. His brown eyes were as sweet as tea with several sugars stirred in, and his hair, as if sprinkled with gold dust, held the same gentle warmth as melted honey.

As for Alex.

He was as black as if all the evil in his master had been extracted and poured into him.

His appearance was exactly the same as when they first met a month ago.

His clothes, his hair, his eyes. Even the scabbard of the sword he wore was pitch black.

To make matters worse, today he wore the same sour expression as if he’d bitten into a bitter bug. Lidoria wondered if he had ever smiled even once since being born into this world.

“My apologies for the sudden visit, Sophia.”

After politely apologizing, George scanned the office.

Inside were Sophia, who was working, Lidoria assisting with administrative tasks, and the maid who had announced their arrival.

“Your Highness. I shall wait outside the door.”

Perhaps reading the atmosphere, the maid bowed deeply and withdrew. Lidoria hesitated for a moment but bowed as if to follow the maid’s example.

“You must be Lidoria?”

When George addressed her, she looked up in confusion, still bowing.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“I must apologize for Alex’s terrible rudeness.”

Lidoria’s eyes widened at this unexpected statement.

“Whatever do you mean?”

Sophia rose from her chair.

At 28 years old, she was an exceptionally beautiful woman who had come alone from a neighboring country to marry. With hair the color of the sunset and eyes the color of young leaves, she asked in flawless, unaccented language of this kingdom.

“Has something happened to my Lidoria?”

The way she immediately said “my Lidoria” to protect her was so characteristic of her.

Not only that, but Sophia moved away from Lidoria’s desk and came to stand beside her.

“No, that’s not it. Rather, I’ve come to apologize for my subordinate’s misconduct.”

George looked genuinely sorry; his demeanor somehow reminiscent of a puppy drenched in rain.

Whether this touched Sophia’s maternal instincts or not, her expression immediately softened.

“My, what a troublesome subordinate to cause His Highness such concern. What exactly has he done?”

She said this while glancing at Alex.

Then she suddenly fluttered her long eyelashes.

“Oh my. Aren’t you Sir Alex Reading, who became engaged to Lidoria?”

Sophia smiled as if relieved.

“Thank you for saving my precious Lidoria. Come to think of it, I haven’t even properly thanked you. I’m the rude one here.”

“Not at all, Your Highness.”

Alex said expressionlessly, placing his clenched fist over his left chest in a salute.

“That’s precisely the matter, Sophia.”

George frowned with his well-shaped brows, looking displeased.

“I was the one who suggested to Alex that he should become engaged to Miss Lidoria.”

“Yes, I heard about that clearly.”

Sophia said, looking puzzled.

Seeing her mistress like this, Lidoria broke out in a cold sweat, thinking “Oh no.”

The day after that incident.

Sophia had immediately summoned Lidoria and demanded an explanation of what happened.

While expressing her gratitude to Sophia and the Crown Prince, Lidoria had said, ‘Sir Alex Reading has made a proposal, and we are considering engagement.’

Upon hearing this, Sophia had smiled and said, ‘Oh, congratulations.’

At the time, Lidoria had thought, “Huh?”

If she had said, ‘Well, let me know when the engagement is decided,’ that would make sense, but saying ‘congratulations’ suggested she might have misunderstood that Lidoria and Alex were already engaged.

But when Lidoria had previously mentioned having a matchmaking prospect, Sophia had also said ‘congratulations.’

So Lidoria had speculated that this Crown Princess might say ‘congratulations’ whenever there was ‘potential for progress.’

There was a language barrier. Lidoria had wondered if it would be appropriate to clarify the true meaning and had decided to let it pass.

“At the time, I truly hoped there would be a suitor. But I worried that if this was someone’s prank, Lidoria might be humiliated. So, I consulted with His Highness, and he immediately summoned Sir Alex and said, ‘Since you’re unmarried anyway, why don’t you take Miss Lidoria as your wife?’ No, of course—”

Lidoria, who had been rapidly constructing various predictions in her mind, suddenly found Sophia’s gaze on her and hurriedly focused her attention back.

“I intend to respect Lidoria’s wishes? What? Don’t tell me… Did you accept this engagement unwillingly? Or perhaps Sir Alex was forceful and something irreversible happened, forcing you to accept this engagement…!”

“No, nothing like that.”

Alex and Lidoria spoke in unison, cutting off Sophia’s wild imagination.

“That’s not it, Sophia. They’re not engaged, according to Alex.”

George complained to Sophia while pouting angrily, like a child tattling.

“Although I suggested he become engaged to Miss Lidoria, I received no report afterward. Even when I tried to casually ask Alex about it, he kept evading the question. Sophia, you know I’m in the position to receive reports about noble marriages and such matters, don’t you?”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“Yet a month has passed with no official documents submitted. So earlier, I caught Alex as he was heading out on a mission and questioned him. And then, he said they haven’t made it official yet.”

“What? Lidoria. You are engaged, aren’t you? Or is there some misunderstanding with Sir Alex?”

Sophia asked anxiously.

Lidoria explained with deep regret.

“We reached an agreement with Sir Alex Reading that we would consider engagement going forward.”

It sounded somewhat like a politician’s response. Indeed, Sophia furrowed her willow-leaf brows.

“What difficult phrasing. So, as His Highness says, you haven’t actually become engaged?”

“We made a promise of engagement. But when to execute that promise will be determined after a grace period.”

“In other words, that means it could be today, right?”

The Crown Prince cheerfully cut off Lidoria’s explanation, smiling like an angel as he looked at his death-reaper-like subordinate standing behind him.

“Become engaged right now, Alex.”

“…If that is your command.”

“Wait a moment, Sir Alex. Do you intend to become engaged to my Lidoria with that attitude?”

The voice containing a chilling cold seemed directed straight at Alex.

With a sharp gaze, Sophia glared at Alex.

“You’re not planning to marry Lidoria just because the Crown Prince ordered you to, are you?”

“…That is absolutely not the case.”

Alex groaned out the words.

“Good. That’s a relief. I wouldn’t want to see my Lidoria become unhappy.”

Sophia smiled brightly. George also deepened his smile.

“It’s fine, Sophia. There’s no way my trusted Alex would make your important maid unhappy.”

“Of course. My apologies, how could I have thought such a thing.”

“Not at all. It’s Alex’s fault for behaving in a way that could be interpreted that way. And it’s the duty of those in leadership positions to correct their subordinates’ mistakes.”

George told Alex with his angelic smile once more.

“Become engaged. Right here. Sophia and I will serve as witnesses.”

“…Miss Lidoria.”

After a silence that seemed like it might last several minutes, Alex looked at Lidoria with an expression as if he’d seen hell.

“W…would you become engaged to me? Formally?”

“I… don’t mind.”

Though she felt sorry for him, there was nothing to be done. The second-highest authority in the kingdom had commanded it, and his wife supported it.