As she contemplated, Princess Deborah, who had a particularly sharp expression, slowly opened her mouth. Isidor’s white fists suddenly became tense while anticipating her answer.
***
The morning of their first date. Ahead of the meeting with Princess Deborah, Isidor threw his gold coin several times as if to test his luck.
In front of his clients, he used defective coins embossed only with heads to convince the other party.
However, when he was alone, he habitually flipped coins with heads and tails when he was unsure or there were variables.
‘I thought the Princess would pick that play, but I’m at a loss.’
In fact, the play titled ‘The Secret of the Grand Duke of the North’, which wasn’t even funny, was chosen by Isidor and put in the theatre because he wanted to use the fact that a person in a similar situation appeared in the scenario to ask Deborah her opinion.
He was the owner of the theatre in the heart of the Yones District, so changing the play schedule was a breeze. In addition, the play was also a kind of preparation for him to reveal his secrets.
‘Because she said she wanted to know about me…’
He was a little nervous, so he fiddled with the coin with a pale face.
“I want to know more about what kind of person you are, and if you are someone I can give my heart to.”
‘I didn’t expect to hear that.’
“Let’s try it. Getting to know each other.”
He didn’t expect to feel the urge to show everything about himself at that moment either.
She wanted to get to know each other and build a bond, and Isidor was attracted to such prudence. He thought it was just like Princess Deborah.
‘I also like that she doesn’t take me at face value.’
He fell for her again when he saw that side of hers.
At the same time, however, Isidor realized that he had been caught in a trap he had laid himself. Should he say he brought this upon himself? He easily bought other people’s favor by using his plausible appearance, and behind the scenes, he moved others as he intended, holding on to their weaknesses through the huge amount of information in his hands.
It was always Isidor who set the trap and waited for the opponent to take the bait. However, the relationship with the Princess went the opposite way compared to the relationships he had had so far. It was different from the information he had about the Princess. Isidor approached her while concealing his identity, but in the process, his feelings grew regardless of his will.
He couldn’t control it at some point. Let alone control it, the leash was now held by her.
‘I didn’t think I would like her more, the more I knew about her.’
In Blancia, he watched her struggle to get what she wanted, and in the academy, he discovered her human and lovely sides. On the other hand, the Princess only knew half of him.
He flipped the coin lightly with his fingers, then snatched it on the back of his hand.
‘Tails.’
He flicked his finger again.
‘Heads.’
Like the two different sides of a coin, she recognized Isidor and the Master as two different people. But it was the same coin after all.
‘If I tell her we are actually the same person even though we look completely different…’
He couldn’t imagine her reaction at all. Isidor, who was always relaxed and indifferent to other people’s feelings, suddenly felt a slight tension trapped inside him, which was unlike him.
But if he keeps hiding it, he’ll think he’s deceiving her and be even more disappointed in himself.
‘I don’t know if I want to keep hiding it to the end or just tell her everything.’
If it was something related to the Princess, he couldn’t clearly distinguish the color of his heart, whether it was black or white.
‘It’s hard.’
He flipped the coin meaninglessly several times and then prepared to go out. Among the various plays contained in the letter, she had picked ‘The Secret of the Grand Duke of the North’, as expected, so it was easier to start the conversation.
‘If I get tails… I have to tell her today.’
If he kept hiding it, he would only show half of himself to her until the end.
‘She wants to know, and I’m not confident that I can keep hiding it either.’
He tossed the coin for the last time, reflecting on it as if he were determined, before putting it down.
‘It’s tails.’
… But did he really have to tell her today?
Ahead of the date, he began to get excited.
‘If Deborah comes wearing purple clothes, I’ll tell her.’
The Princess came exactly in a purple outfit. At that moment, he felt like he had to tell her, so he moved his mouth slightly; but then, his throat tightened, and he bit the flesh inside his mouth.
‘It would be better to see her reaction to the play and tell her than to decide it based on the color of her clothes.’
But he was distracted by her glittering eyes the whole time, as she was completely absorbed in the play. Looking at her ever-changing expression, he fell in love with the sweetness of this moment.
‘If the Princess says she’d rather go for a walk, I think it would be better to tell her then.’
Walking alongside her on the stone wall path, he thought that if the Princess climbed up on the wall, he would tell her while looking at the scenery, so he organized the lines in his head. However, while they were sitting on the stone wall, he couldn’t open his mouth.
Suddenly, Isidor felt that his indecisive self was unfamiliar. Whenever he saw those people drunk in love and faltering, he thought they were pathetic. But now, he was wavering and didn’t know what to do.
In the end, Isidor opened his mouth as his lines coincided by chance with those of the male protagonist.
“What do you think, Princess? About the Grand Duke. Someone with a lot of secrets…”
He asked, swallowing his nervousness. The Princess thought for a moment before answering with her peculiar blunt voice.
“I don’t like him.”
“…”
At that moment, Isidor felt a cold sweat on his palms.
“The truth is, from the perspective of the audience watching the play, the Grand Duke is as mysterious and charming as he has many secrets.”
But as if that wasn’t all, she had a cold expression.
“But he was never a good person for his lover.”
“…”
A corner of his heart sank at the Princess’ cold expression, as if those words were about him.
“In the end, the female protagonist was betrayed by the person she liked, unannounced.”
She had a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
“I don’t really like that he betrayed her all of a sudden.”
She was not the kind of person who would ever be stabbed in the back by anyone, but she spoke sourly, as if she had gone through that several times. Isidor hesitated for a moment, then carefully raised a counterargument.
“But if the Grand Duke had approached her with his identity exposed, he wouldn’t have even had a chance to get close to the female protagonist.”
“Hmm.”
She slowly waved her legs back and forth and gave him a strange look, but Isidor didn’t notice and continued to speak slowly.
“The Grand Duke never acted with a particularly bad intention towards the female protagonist…”
“But Sir Isidor is surprisingly sympathizing with the Grand Duke. I thought you were speaking on his behalf for a moment.”
“…”
“I thought you would take the side of the female protagonist. Since you are considerate and have a strong chivalry.”
“I’m not that considerate. I’m not kind either.”
When he uttered those words like a sigh, a rough wind passed between the two. Her long purple hair fluttered around and grazed Isidor’s cheeks. Isidor’s blond hair was also messily scattered over his whiteish forehead.
“You’re lying.”
At that moment, she reached out her hand and kindly arranged his scattered hair, and Isidor forgot to breathe. Looking at her red eyes, he tried to grab the hand that was lingering around his forehead as if he was possessed, but then bit his lips.
“I’ve never seen anyone as attentive and thorough as you.”
“Isn’t this a given? Since the other person is you.”
If she hadn’t appeared in front of him, he wouldn’t have gotten up at dawn to check the schedule of their date. It had been a long time since he broke off the ability to sympathize with someone, and both his kindness and attentiveness had frozen to death.
‘I’m being like this because it’s you. It’s you. Dummy.’
He was so frustrated that he inadvertently treated her in an intimate manner.
“Ah…”
Deborah, who let out a short sigh, rubbed her red cheeks, but Isidor couldn’t see it because it was dark.
He felt like he wanted to do something greater for her, but he didn’t really know what. In the meantime, the woman he approached had been trying hard to avoid him, and Miguel was an amateur when it came to love. So, he was acting as he wanted each and every moment.
“You even practiced cutting the steak. Who will believe you if you say you’re not kind?”
“Everyone will do that much.”
Isidor was thinking that what the knights jokingly said was the truth.
“No way. Ah, it’s gotten late. I have to go now.”
She slowly dropped her body down.
“Careful. Step here.”
Jumping off the stone wall in a hurry, Isidor quickly let her step on his boots so that her feet wouldn’t hit the ground.
“Here.”
While she was stepping on his feet, he arranged her shoes neatly and placed them on the floor.
“I had a good time today.”
She smiled lightly as she put on her shoes.
“…”
Seeing her smile in front of him made him even more unable to say anything. It was all a self-inflicted situation. The intelligence and wealth he always boasted about were useless.
‘This is insane.’
After taking her to her carriage, he frowned slightly and roughly swept his hair up.
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