His golden gaze had settled calmly, and no emotion was visible in his chilly look.

Simon muttered in a dry voice,

“Rejection.”

He took off his monocle that he had placed on the bridge of his nose and put it in the pocket of his shirt.

As if he didn’t want to take a closer look, Simon lazily cast his eyes downward and stared at Luina while standing on the stairs.

“I’m not sure why I should hear the word ‘rejection’ from Princess Luina. What relationship do you claim we have?”

Luina felt a shiver in the barren gaze, but she straightened her back, insisting it was a misunderstanding.

She believed that no man could resist her allure.

In that sense, had Simon Terroan not ignited a flame for her?

She raised her chin even more to hide her shriveled self and spoke confidently,

“No. We have met before. During the last naval battle in Oceania, you saved me, didn’t you? And we met again yesterday.”

“Ah, did we? I had no idea.”

Simon squinted his eyes and laughed as if he was hearing it for the first time.

It was a twisted smile that didn’t feel warm at all.

“But what does that have to do with me?”

“It matters. I must marry you. And this proposal wouldn’t be bad for you either, right?”

“Whose thought is that?”

“It’s my thought, but I believe you would think so too.”

This woman named Luina had an absurd ignorance of the atmosphere.

She raised her chin arrogantly and confidently responded.

Simon looked at the woman who had made him lose all his arrogance in just 10 minutes with a mix of curiosity and disdain.

‘Such a woman thinks the world revolves around her.’

Even though she was a soldier of the enemy country, she was miles apart from Kalia who had once offered him water as she was dying in front of him.

It felt like a waste of time to deal with her.

Simon despised wasting his time on something that wasn’t even enjoyable.

He felt that if he continued to speak any longer, it would be an insult to the wonderful moment he woke up a while ago.

“I apologize for being rude, but I don’t see the need to continue this conversation. Since you visited rudely, I won’t see you out. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Simon turned around leaving the Princess, who was trembling her lips in shock.

As he lazily yawned and leisurely climbed the stairs, Luina shouted from behind him,

“Duke Terroan! Aren’t you curious why I came to propose to you?”

“Not at all.”

Upon hearing Simon’s firm reply, Luina’s face turned beet red in an instant.

“Ha!”

Watching Luina’s face turn red and blue in disbelief, Simon let out a laugh resembling a giggle.

Just when he was about to shrug his shoulders and climb the stairs again, he seemed to recall something and asked Luina.

“Ah, I did have one thing I was curious about.”

“Hmph! I’m not in the mood to answer anything obediently.”

Luina turned her head away with her arms folded, and Simon asked as if it didn’t matter.

“You said you saw Kalia this morning, but did Kalia also see you?”

“I don’t understand why you’re curious about that.”“Of course, I’m asking because I’m worried.”

Simon reassured her in a very soft voice, despite the princess’s contorted face.

“I just wonder if you’ve been telling her unnecessary things like you did to me.”

He coaxed in a sweet voice as if he was a man begging for a response to his confession of love.

“Princess Luina, would you answer me?”

“…How absurd. You have no interest in my proposal, yet you’re curious if Kalia saw me or not?”

Her slightly lowered voice was filled with suppressed anger.

“Oh… Did you notice? You’re right. The thing I’m most curious about in this world is her.”

Simon replied with a regrettable voice and expression.

“Embarrassingly so.”

He added with a chuckle, his demeanor so unexpectedly gentle and kind that Luina’s gaze wavered slightly.

But that didn’t mean her anger had subsided.

Biting her lips, she hastily gathered the book she had brought, stood up abruptly, and attempted to recover her fallen pride by raising her chin high.

In the most arrogant voice she had ever heard, she said.

“Ha! If you’re so curious, why don’t you ask her yourself? It didn’t seem like you two are particularly close…”

With a cold sneer, Luina bent her knees lightly, then straightened them.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”

With a firm salute, she slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

* * *

In front of the Crown Prince’s office.

Before opening the heavy door, Simon stood still in front of it, frowning and rubbing his chin.

No matter how clueless and foolish she was, only knowing battles, even after reconsidering, ‘that’ was Kalia’s mistake.

Sending an apology note saying ‘I’m sorry’ to the man she spent the night with!

Even thinking about it now, Simon felt a surge of rage.

In the years that he had known her, this was the first time he was so angry at Kalia.

‘I’m sorry?’ ‘I’m sorry?’ ‘Sorry?’ It’s as if…

‘As if the two of us did something we shouldn’t have done. Kalia.’

As if she had done something she should be sorry for.

He bit the inside of his lips bitterly, and massaged the furrow in his brow with his fingers.

“Sigh.”

Even now, when he thought about her words, he sighed.

He didn’t know how to wake up this dull woman.

He admitted it.

In the past, he was stupid. He was dumb, arrogant, and lazy.

Even when he was at the academy, Simon was busy denying that he liked her.

He constantly wanted to see Kalia, dreamt of her, and even when he had his first wet dream, he thought he was cursed.

To fall in love with a woman who had no hint of delicacy, who was incredibly rough…!

But thinking about it now, it seemed that he had loved her from the moment he first saw her.

‘But it took me 5 years to realize that, 1 year to deny it, and… 1 year to admit it, wasting a total of 7 years.’

But after acknowledging that he loved Kalia, just like discovering a wound in a part he didn’t know was hurting, he was only conscious and concerned about her.He loved Kalia.

‘I love Kalia… No, do I really love Kalia this much?’

It was a surprise and at the same time, an extremely interesting self-discovery.

Simon wanted to tell Kalia how much he loved her.

If only that damned Salt War hadn’t broken out!

‘Another 7 years!’

Because Kalia was always placed at the forefront, Simon always volunteered to be at the forefront too, and he returned as an unexpected war hero.

Just, solely, purely to protect Kalia…

Starting with the Salt dispute with the island nation of Tolia, the war with the pirates in the Oceania Sea, and the invasion by Nathan taking advantage of the situation.

For 7 years, wars broke out incessantly, and if he let his guard down for even a moment, she would come back covered in blood.

In such a situation, a confession of love was a luxury.

Every time Kalia shed blood, Simon was focused on ending this damned war even a day sooner.

Kalia’s safety was far more important than the Empire’s.

Thanks to the monster-like warrior, General Kalia, and the overwhelmingly talented silver haired Archmage participating in the battle, the war could end with minimal bloodshed in 7 years.

People said that a war that could have lasted 100 years ended in 7 years thanks to them.

“…So what, the man who hears an apology the next day.”

Simon muttered cynically, and the eyes of the guard who heard his words turned towards him.

Regardless of the guard’s reaction, Simon glared at the closed door, persistently biting into the lingering unease.

It seemed like Princess Luina said something to Kalia… but what exactly did she say?

Even when he asked Kalia if she had met the princess last time, Kalia looked a bit strange but didn’t show any particular disturbance.

He was relieved for a moment at Kalia’s words that they just greeted each other.

“Simon, I think I’ve done something really terrible to you. I’ll apologize again for what happened that day…”

…Before Kalia’s words could finish, his eyes rolled back and he was busy shooting fireballs again, so he didn’t ask in detail.

Simon, who was often told to be cold and calm, lost his rationality when it came to Kalia.

All his nerves were focused on her, so he got excited easily and became hot easily.

‘I need to fix this irritable temperament first. And reduce teasing Kalia… No, but does that happen as I want it to? It’s really tricky… Should I try to be more indifferent?’

Somehow, when he thought about Kalia, he felt like he should reduce this craziness a little bit.

If he resolved and tried, wouldn’t this intense concern for her lessen a bit?

He furrowed his brows and solemnly shook his head, then opened the door to the closed prince’s office.

But his cousin, who he thought would be immersed in work until late, was sitting on the terrace railing drinking whiskey.

In this unusual atmosphere, Simon squinted and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

Louismond glanced at his beautiful cousin.

Without saying anything, he beckoned Simon over with his hand.

‘Why is he doing this?’

“Come here, let’s have a drink.”

“What? Why are you like this all of a sudden, Your Highness?”

Louismond shrugged without answering.

At his somewhat disturbed gaze, Simon stood by him in silence and then asked sharply.

“Did you have some bad conversation with Kalia?”