I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 17 - Raphael’s Resolve

— It doesn’t have to be something you can hold. It could be something else… like you—… No, never mind.

Raphael, who had come to the art gallery with Rose, remembered the words he almost said earlier and gave a faint, self-mocking smile.

(I said something like that… but Rose would never want that.)

Right now, Rose was completely absorbed in the paintings at the art gallery. Her beautiful tanzanite-colored eyes sparkled with curiosity, and her small, well-shaped face was full of a smile as she stared closely at the paintings—she truly looked like an innocent angel.

Though she was completely unaware of it herself, Rose was surprisingly beautiful.

She had translucent white skin, large, bright tanzanite-colored mysterious eyes. Her straight, deep indigo hair reminded one of the bottom of the deep sea and shone beautifully. Her arms and legs were slender and long, and her waist was so thin it looked like it could break. People often compare beautiful girls to dolls, and Rose was exactly like a finely crafted doll.

You never knew when someone might kidnap her. Watching her made Raphael nervous because she was so beautiful, yet she was very innocent and careless. Honestly, Raphael was worried about her.

The first time Raphael saw Rose at the art gallery, he was truly surprised.

At the same time, he felt a strong stirring in his chest, an urge to get her no matter what.

At that time, Raphael didn’t even know that Rose was the princess of the Gridor Kingdom. She was someone unknown from anywhere. But he remembered how strongly he was drawn to her, so much so that it felt like nothing else mattered.

At first, he thought his heart was just rough and tired, and Rose’s purity simply dazzled him. But before he knew it, he was drawn in by Rose’s expressions and gestures and seriously wanted to have her, no matter who she was. As the crown prince of a country, that was probably a failure on his part.

(I never thought she was that Rose…)

Of course, Raphael had heard rumors about Rose. Or rather, he had been told many things through Lea, his fiancée. Now that he thinks about it, it was foolish to have believed all those stories.

Rose, without knowing it, calmed Raphael’s frustrated heart that sometimes wanted to hurt anyone, and at the same time planted an irresistible love in him. But she kept smiling happily by Raphael’s side without realizing it, which was frustrating. Raphael was always ready to push her down, but she was so defenseless he couldn’t make a move. It was really troubling.

If only she showed any sign of noticing Raphael even a little, he would immediately want to steal her beautiful cherry-colored lips, but he couldn’t. Rose still saw Raphael only as Lea’s fiancé, nothing more. So they hadn’t even started.

(Well, none of that matters now.)

Raphael no longer plans to let Rose go. He will get her no matter what. But just having her isn’t interesting. Rose isn’t a doll, so Raphael wants all of her—her heart too.

(If only I had known that Rose’s true nature earlier, I could have handled things better…)

Raphael sighed quietly, thinking back to the past.

☆

Raphael first learned about Rose when he was attending the Royal Academy of the Martan Kingdom.

At that time, he believed the first princess of the Gridor Kingdom, Lea, whom he met at the academy, was a beautiful, wise, and kind woman like a goddess.

Raphael quickly became close to Lea after she began studying abroad, and during his time at the academy, they got engaged.

His younger brother had already chosen a fiancée, but Raphael, as the next king, had trouble deciding on his. Even after entering the academy, he had no fiancée or promise of marriage.

This was because of disputes among the noble factions over which family would provide the queen. Although Martan Kingdom allowed polygamy, the “queen” was treated specially. Having grown up with a strong-willed older sister, Raphael publicly declared he would only have one wife, as having many would break his spirit. This caused more arguments. If the queen couldn’t bear children, a favored concubine might become the queen mother. But Raphael’s words ruled that out, so the nobles fought fiercely over which faction would offer the one queen.

Raphael knew this problem was caused by himself. If he didn’t decide on a fiancée soon, after graduating he’d be forced into endless arranged meetings, which he dreaded. So Lea’s arrival was a godsend.

No one would complain about marrying a princess from another country. Faction politics didn’t matter then. It would also strengthen ties with the Gridor Kingdom. Lea had a good personality—modest and smart—making her perfect to solve Raphael’s problem.

One day, just as things were progressing smoothly with the engagement to Lea, Raphael found her sighing with a worried face.

When he asked what was wrong, Lea said she was troubled by her younger sister, the second princess Rose.

Rose, the second princess, had an ordinary face and was average at everything.

Lea, the first princess, was beautiful, elegant, and full of many talents.

Raphael had heard servants Lea brought with her gossip about Rose before, but he had few chances to know what Rose was really like. Rose never appeared publicly, and her existence was so hidden that some even doubted if the second princess really existed in the Gridor Kingdom.

According to Lea, Rose was very selfish and arrogant, hurting anyone she disliked. She had no interest in studying and spent her time playing, and wouldn’t study abroad in other countries because of that.

Because she thought her own face was plain, Rose was jealous and resentful of Lea, and was always cold toward her.

When Raphael heard this, he was truly angry.

He thought Rose was a terrible villain who abandoned her royal duties and behaved selfishly, even arrogantly toward her sister.

Lea’s worries about Rose continued until she graduated from the Royal Academy, and Raphael kept listening to her concerns.

Sometimes Lea’s maid joined and spoke in detail about how awful Rose was. Since Raphael didn’t know Rose personally, it was natural he believed those stories. In his imagination, Rose looked like a very unpleasant monster.

Since he was formally engaged to Lea, Raphael expected to visit Gridor Kingdom more often. He thought he’d scold Rose when he saw her.

However, no matter how many times Raphael went to Gridor Kingdom, Rose never appeared. For a royal princess to ignore the sister’s fiancé without even a greeting made Raphael think worse of Rose.

Then one day, Raphael and Lea went to see the Princess Lea ship under construction in Gridor.

Lea looked serious all the time, and when Raphael asked if it was about Rose again, Lea suddenly said she wanted to cancel the engagement.

It was like a thunderclap.

Even if the engagement was between the two people, it was a matter between the countries. It couldn’t be broken easily and would come with a big cost.

Raphael refused immediately.

Then Lea started crying and said she had fallen in love with another man and couldn’t forget him. She begged Raphael to break up.

She even said she would offer Rose in her place to settle the matter.

Raphael was stunned. It was such a selfish demand.

Breaking the engagement was one thing, but falling for another man? Offering Rose instead? Did Lea really think that was acceptable?

When Raphael didn’t agree, Lea suddenly got angry and shouted insults at him. She yelled if he had no heart. Raphael was shocked past anger. Lea’s hysterical shouting reminded him of his older sister, whom he disliked, and made him feel sick.

Since then, Lea became cold toward Raphael.

She only acted like a fiancée when others were watching but wouldn’t even speak to him alone.

Raphael started thinking that marrying such a woman as queen would be the ruin of his life.

Around that time, a one-month cruise on the Princess Lea ship was planned to celebrate their engagement.

Honestly, Raphael didn’t want to go, but since it was said to be a celebration of their engagement, he couldn’t refuse. No matter the inside story, they were fiancés, and this engagement was important to strengthen ties between Gridor and Martan Kingdoms.

So the cruise started, and Raphael met Rose by chance. He thought it was a divine blessing.

When Lea disappeared leaving a letter, Raphael tried to use it for his advantage. He thought if he claimed it was Gridor Kingdom’s fault and demanded Rose as the letter said, the Gridor king wouldn’t refuse. They might even be grateful for settling the matter.

Everything seemed to be going well.

Raphael never expected Rose would say she wanted to look for Lea. But even if Lea was found, the fact of her disappearance would remain. Raphael had evidence, so he thought he could handle the rest.

Raphael’s focus was not on finding Lea but on winning Rose’s heart.

He happily moved Rose next to his room—the room Lea had used—and there he became angry at how Lea’s maid, Surin, treated Rose. At the same time, he wondered:

Why did Rose never show her face in public?

Why were rumors so different from her true appearance and personality?

And Rose said she had to wear a wig to hide her face when going to Lea’s room, and the king ordered her not to leave her cabin for a month.

Something was strange.

(What kind of treatment was Rose receiving from her country…?)

Raphael somewhat understood that Rose was not treated well. But he needed to investigate properly. Depending on the results, he might have to change his approach.

Raphael consulted one of his friends, Count Sedoc Charleston Molt. Sedoc had been a good friend who secretly helped Raphael from the start, and when Raphael met Rose, Sedoc was enjoying walking around the ship pretending to be him.

When Raphael explained the situation to Sedoc, he said it would be best to make the captured maid, Surin, talk. Raphael agreed with this. Surin was a maid who had accompanied Lea when she studied abroad in the Martan Kingdom, and she was the woman who had been spreading bad rumors about Rose. Since Lea trusted her, and because her family was important, it was safe to say she knew a lot about the country’s inside affairs.

Sedoc acted immediately.

He was Raphael’s friend, his cousin, and also a skilled aide. Unfortunately, since this was a cruise that doubled as a vacation, Sedoc didn’t bring many of the usual tools he carried. Still, he quickly went to ask the ship’s doctor if he could prepare a truth serum.

Since accidents and crimes could happen on a ship, the ship had patrol guards, and among the medicines the ship’s doctor kept, there were drugs to be used in case of emergency—for holding criminals or making them vomit.

“I brought some simple torture tools, but obviously those are a no-go. I’ll use truth serum to make her talk.”

“Don’t overdo the dose.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful about that. Well, I can’t promise she’ll come out completely unharmed though.”

Sedoc laughed, saying that her mind would probably break a little, which sounded like he was enjoying it. Raphael felt a little sorry for Surin, but since Surin failed to prevent Lea’s disappearance, she was a criminal.

If Lea was never found, the Gridor King would clearly blame Surin, and depending on Raphael’s actions, execution by beheading was very possible.

More than that, Raphael had no intention of forgiving Surin for being rude to Rose. No matter what methods he used, he planned to punish her properly. Even if she suffered from the truth serum, that would just be the preparation.

Using the truth serum to make Surin talk about Rose, Raphael asked about Rose’s situation and was shocked.

He never imagined that Rose was told by the king she was not his child, hated even by the queen who gave birth to her, and was forced to live locked away in a room in the castle.

It might not be so rare for a king to ignore his children in other countries, but usually, princes and princesses are surrounded by trusted aides and live somewhat comfortably, even if with some restrictions.

But around Rose, there were only Mira and her mother, and even the servants looked down on her. She lived quietly, holding her breath to survive. It was hard to believe.

However, hearing this, Raphael understood many things. Since Surin, who was made to talk with truth serum, wouldn’t lie, it was definitely true.

Anger boiled up inside Raphael.

He was so furious he wanted to execute everyone in Gridor Castle.

“So, what now?”

Sedoc asked, glaring at Surin who had collapsed with vacant eyes.

Raphael clenched his fist tightly and said firmly,

“I will bring Rose back to my country. Absolutely.”

Knowing how she was treated, he would never send her back to Gridor Kingdom again.

Raphael left the cleanup of Surin to Sedoc and hurried to Rose’s side.

He wanted to see Rose as soon as possible.