人与ZO〇交

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and I were also summoned to the King\'s office.

His Majesty beckoned me to sit down on the sofa beside my father.

The King sat at his massive mahogany desk, his face ashen.

"Now then, Richard, Prime Minister Paulford. Explain this matter to me."

The crown prince and my uncle stood in front of the desk, looking rather awkward.

"...... I made a request to the Prime Minister. I would like to be engaged to Katariona-sama......."

His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, was the first to speak up.

"So, you didn\'t go through the head of the Marquis de Grandeur, and you even skipped the protocol of approaching the royal family and conspired with the Prime Minister?"

His Majesty the King fixed his gaze on the Crown Prince as if trying to see through him.

"Conspiring!? It\'s not the Prime Minister\'s fault. He just gave in to my own personal demands!"

"No! Your Majesty, I am the one who violated the national law to surprise my niece!"

The two of them defending each other doesn\'t appear lovely in the slightest to me ....... I do not want them to proceed with my engagement talk without my knowledge.

"Fumu. But did you consider the feelings of Katariona-sama, the one who had suddenly received a very public declaration of her engagement?"

"That\'s ......."

The Crown Prince glanced over at me. But, I pretended to be oblivious to it and focused my gaze on His Majesty the King.

"Did you not even consider that? If you had thought about it and behaved accordingly, you wouldn\'t be facing this kind of situation."

"............"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince fell silent and clenched his fists tightly as he was struck by the truth.

I knew that the crown prince had taken a liking to me, but unfortunately I am unable to respond to his feelings.

Even if the royal family had asked for my hand formally, I would still refuse.

d.

"Richard, you are the Crown Prince. What does a Crown Prince do when he breaks the laws of this land?"

"I\'m......sorry."

"You are apologizing to the wrong person. Marquis de Grandeur, Katariona-sama, I\'m very sorry for what my son caused you."

His Majesty the King stood up and bowed deeply to Father and me.

"Your Majesty, please raise your head. There is no need for you to apologize."

My father also got up from the sofa and urged the King to look up.

"No. It\'s my fault for not checking with Richard when he told me about the engagement, and for taking his word for it."

As I suspected, it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who told the King about the engagement.

The Prime Minister is my uncle, and he had given his permission, so the King must have been reassured.

It would have been different if it was someone else, but the Prime Minister is my uncle. Naturally, it would not be surprising if he had assumed that my parents\' permission had been obtained.

"Marquis de Grandeur, Katariona-sama, I\'m terribly sorry for what happened!"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had remained silent until then, knelt down and apologized.

"Richard, Prime Minister Paulford. I\'ll send word to you later. For the time being, you may leave."

Once the Crown Prince and my uncle had left the room, his majesty bowed to me again.

Being bowed to like this by royalty, I felt a pang of fear.

On the carriage ride back to the townhouse, the air was filled with a torrent of tirades aimed at my uncle and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"I didn\'t expect him to use such forceful methods. Putting aside the prince dumcrap, I didn\'t expect my brother-in-law to be in cahoots with him. ......"

"To make a surprise engagement on his own, is he an idiot? I take that back; he is an absolute imbecile. Shall I disown your brother now?"

My parents were particularly upset. No wonder they were so upset, especially since he had chosen to disregard them and announce the engagement without their knowledge.

"Oh, by the way, that was very impressive of Rio. You know the law of the land. When did you start studying?"

My brother patted me on the head as if he was praising a child.

"I learned it in my previous life as a queen. Will you be able to continue to be friends with the Crown Prince?"

My brother put his hand on his chin and pondered for a while.

"To be honest."

"Yes?"

"When they announced the engagement, I wanted to kill the Crown Prince."

"Eh-?"

My brother smiled as usual, but there was a murderous intent in the air behind him.

"But you know, it would be a shame if we gave up on the crown prince at this point. You know, the matter with the escort knight. So I will treat him as a friend as I always have."

"Bi, big brother ....... tha,that..... please be careful...... th,that......."

I just barely swallowed the words "don\'t kill the crown prince by accident", lest I inadvertently cause him to die.

"What\'s wrong, Leon?"

"Nothing. I just thought that even if we\'ve lived completely different lives, we still share the same soul and behave in similar ways."

"Are you talking about Marion-san?"

I was a little annoyed.

I am indeed the reincarnation of Marion, but it still irks me when Leon mentions Marion\'s name.

"Don\'t be angry, Rio. I will say it again and again, the most important thing to me is Rio, the one who is living in the present."

He said such a thing with his odd-eyed eyes gently narrowing. It is illegal for someone dressed as a young man to speak like that.

To hide my embarrassment, I quickly turned my head away.

"You! So, what\'s the matter with Marion-san?"

Even though I was annoyed, I was curious about what Marion had done, so I urged him to continue.

"Marion was once almost made the prince\'s fiancée, just like Rio."

"What? Really?"

"Marion was a rare human being who possessed all the magical attributes. Do you think the royal family would leave such a person alone?"

─ Come to think of it,...... you\'re right. It\'s rare enough to possess light or dark attributes.

According to Leon, who knew her at the time, it went something like this.

Marion was the female head of the Marquis de Grandeur. Naturally, many men wanted to be her husband.

Among them was the second prince of the royal family at the time, who was around the same age as Marion. The royal family had repeatedly asked Marion to marry him, but she stubbornly refused.

But one day, the second prince forced his way into the Marquis de Grandeur residence. After giving the second prince a bit of a hard time, Marion resolutely resisted and protested to the royal family.

"Hurting the prince....... I\'m surprised they didn\'t charge her with impudence."

"This was a time of war," he explained, "The nobles guarding the border were stronger than the royalty."

The Marquis de Grandeur lies at the foot of the mountain range that borders the neighboring country. In times of war, Marion protected it with her formidable barrier.

"Are you aware that Marion had a sister?"

"Yes. I saw it in our family genealogy. But her name was never mentioned."

"Her name was Fredericia Elina Grandeur. Fredericia is, well, the female version of Hikoshiro."

With that comment from Leon, I think I know what kind of personality Fredericia had.

"When the second prince barged in, Fredericia was the one who got the angriest."

"What was she like?"

"Fredericia was of Hinoshima descent. She had dark hair and eyes the same color as Marion\'s. She was one year younger than Marion and they grew up like twins, so they were very close. They were like Rio and May. They were great sisters who cared for each other."

Tojurou\'s ancestor was married into the family. That ancestor was Marion\'s grandfather. Fredericia inherited a great deal of her grandfather\'s genes.......

In the Kingdom of Findalia, where blondes and silvers are common, black hair is rare. But if the blood of the Hinoshima nation is strong, then it is understandable.

While we were talking about this, the carriage passed through the gates of the townhouse.

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