I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 14 - Searching for Lea – 4

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The opera was held in a theater located at the back of the second floor.

The theater had seats arranged in a fan shape, and the second floor had private rooms.

Raphael had already reserved one of those private rooms, and Rose went in with him.

Count Molt and the others said they weren’t interested in watching the opera, so it was just Raphael and Rose alone in the room made for four people.

Raphael gave Rose opera glasses. Since it was her first time using them, she was confused, and he gave a small laugh before showing her how to use them.

“You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m not blaming you. I just think it’s a little dangerous.”

No one had ever said something like that to her before. Rose had lived quietly in a room of the castle, cut off from the outside world. People had scolded her for being ignorant, but no one had ever called her “dangerous.”

“I’ve never met someone like you before—someone I can’t take my eyes off.”

That line felt strange. In Rose’s memory of the future, Raphael didn’t pay her any attention at all.

(This whole situation—being here with him—is strange to begin with…)

Why was he being so kind to her? Why was he taking care of her?

Lea had disappeared, just like in her memories. But maybe the future was starting to change in a different direction. If so, would they be able to find Lea safely? And what would happen to Rose?

(What will happen to me?)

In the memories of the future inside her head, if time went as planned, Rose would be locked away in a tower as Raphael’s neglected wife.

But if that future where Rose and Raphael get married disappears, what kind of fate would await her instead?

Thinking it over, even if that cold and lonely future as a neglected wife disappears, it doesn’t mean Rose’s life would get any better. Her parents and siblings still hated her. Would she just go on living locked up in the castle again? Or would she be forced to marry some random man? She didn’t know. For some reason, she just couldn’t imagine a happy future.

(I see… no matter what, maybe I’ll end up with the same kind of fate.)

Whether she was Raphael’s wife or not might not make much of a difference.

If that’s true, is what Rose is trying to do meaningless? If no matter where she goes, a future of being ignored awaits her, then maybe staying by Raphael’s side is fine. That kind of thought shocked Rose.

After all, Raphael is kind now. Maybe, as a neglected wife, he would visit her once a month… or once every six months.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Raphael asked as he touched near Rose’s eye. She shook her head a little. He pulled his hand back and showed her a single eyelash—it must have been stuck to the corner of her eye.

“Good thing it didn’t get into your eye.”

Because he smiled like that, Rose’s chest ached a little.

She wanted to find Lea and change the future, yet the fact that she even thought maybe it’s fine not to find her for just a moment made her feel disgusted with herself.

If they found Lea, Raphael would go away.

He wouldn’t take care of Rose anymore.

Feeling sad about that might mean it was just too comfortable being near him.

Except for Mira and her mother, no one had ever shown interest in Rose. But Raphael looked at her, and was kind.

“Oh, look. The opera’s starting.”

When Raphael pointed toward the stage, the lights were slowly dimming. Once the show started, only the stage would stay lit while the audience seats became dark.

“This opera is about a love between people of different social ranks. A common man falls in love with a princess, and after facing many trials, they run away together.”

“That sounds romantic.”

“Does it? Well, in an opera, maybe. But not in real life.”

“Why not?”

“Think about it. If he runs away with a princess, can he really be happy? He’ll have to run for the rest of his life, always worried about being caught and executed. He won’t be able to stay in one place, so he won’t be able to get a proper job. The princess lived a life of luxury and knows nothing about poverty. Their life will fall apart. And maybe the princess would be forgiven and allowed to return to her country. But if the man doesn’t want to be executed, he’ll have to run until he dies.”

“…That’s really sad.”

“Haha. Did I ruin the dream? But that’s how reality is. That’s why this story is only beautiful as a story. That’s why people long for it… Now, it’s time to begin.”

Raphael smiled slightly and brought the opera glasses to his eyes.

Rose followed and looked through her own. On the stage, the main actor and the actress playing the princess were just meeting.

The actor playing the lead role was named Paul Rawson. Mira had shown Rose the opera pamphlet that Raphael had bought for her. It said he was a famous actor from the Kingdom of Gridor.

The princess, secretly walking among the people, fell in love with Paul’s character, a commoner. But theirs was a forbidden love, as the princess was already engaged. Still, her feelings grew stronger every day, and she began secretly meeting the man again and again. Then one day, the man asked her to run away with him and live happily together.

Paul’s acting, as expected from someone so famous, had a strong pull that made people fall into the story. The scenes and direction were very romantic. But Raphael’s words from earlier echoed in Rose’s mind, and she couldn’t stop worrying about what would happen to the two characters later.

The more she remembered Raphael’s somewhat cynical tone, the more it felt like he didn’t like this opera.

If that were true, then maybe he was only here to make Rose happy.

When Rose took her eyes off the stage and looked at Raphael, she saw he wasn’t even looking at the stage. He had his opera glasses pointed somewhere else entirely.

Maybe he really wasn’t enjoying the opera.

Rose felt a little sad, but she couldn’t leave in the middle of the performance.

Looking back at the stage, she saw Paul spreading his arms and hugging the princess.

“Ah, I will never let you go!”

The actor’s strong voice echoed through the theater.

When Rose was little, she had dreamed of falling in love with a wonderful man like that—someone who would one day take her away from the castle. But after she came to understand how everyone in the castle—and maybe the whole country—looked at her coldly as a failed princess, she stopped having dreams like that. Still, once upon a time, she had wished for it.

(The world is… so cruel.)

Rose once thought that if she could just change the future, she might find happiness. But maybe… she had always been incredibly foolish for believing that.