After patiently enduring his fussing with an expressionless face,
“Let's slowly get to the point.”
I tried to appropriately change the subject.
“No, not yet. Let's skip the stiff talk and hear more about you.”
Unlike him, who usually preferred getting straight to the point, Arikx waved his hand and tried to continue the current topic.
“How did you meet your wife? Rose Vikander. That was her maiden name.”
Did he already do a background check?
To gather this much information about Rose in just a single day. It would be impossible without an immense interest in her.
“You attended the Academy together, right? I remember most undergraduate students, but my memory of your wife is blurry. Quite strange.”
“She was in the Magical Scholar Department. She kept a low profile at the Academy.”
“But how? Did you two have a separate connection?”
“Collateral relatives proposed a marriage, and I accepted. That's all.”
“Hmm?”
Arikx tilted his head in puzzlement.
“What's this? You never treated your previous wives who came to you that way as people.”
That was true. But everything changed once I realized Rose had regressed.
Since I couldn't tell Arikx such facts,
“Rose is different.”
I just replied briefly.
“Well. To my eyes, you seem different.”
Arikx said in a meaningful tone.
“To be honest, at first I thought you just picked a suitable woman to use as a nominal wife.”
The insight hidden within his golden smile flashed sharply.
“The Vikander family? They wouldn't dare say a word to Schmaichel. And even if they tried to interfere, you aren't one to sit by and let it happen.”
“…….”
“Your wife is also far more beautiful than the rumors said. She's docile, listens to you well, and seems to support you quite ably.”
Arikx's long fingers tapped against the railing.
“It prevents annoying marriage proposals from other families, and you two look so harmonious that your vassals would feel reassured.”
“…….”
“Furthermore, a Magical Scholar talent? You already have Andersen, but you can never have too many talents.”
Having finished speaking, Arikx stared straight at me.
“It's a fantasy combination. An utterly perfect marriage. Wouldn't you agree?”
It was the gaze of a born ruler, meticulously examining and piercing through my inner self.
“But...”
Over the golden eyes that had flashed sharply like a beast of prey,
“You can't fool my eyes, friend.”
A warm satisfaction slowly spread across them.
“You're the guy who absolutely can't lie. You couldn't even pull it off as an act.”
“…….”
“So... this is, well. You could call it magic. To think a woman would appear who could melt my friend's icy heart.”
Tuk, tuk.
Arikx lightly patted my shoulder with a bright laugh.
“Congratulations. Sincerely.”
With him genuinely rejoicing and congratulating me, I actually felt weird.
“…….”
What did the original Dane reply here?
No, actually, a scene where Arikx congratulated Dane didn't even exist.
Dane treated Rose strictly as a contract wife, and that attitude didn't change even when he came to the harvest festival.
‘May I rest in the garden for a moment?’
‘Do as you please.’
That was the starting point where Arikx and Rose met alone.
Arikx, feeling fatigued amidst the glamorous party, had escaped to the garden,
‘There's a circuit inside? Ah, so the fountain is created by following this flow!’
and found Rose, who was marveling at the fountain, almost sticking her nose into it.
Pongdeok!
Then, as Rose lost her balance and fell into the fountain, Arikx ended up rescuing her.
Rose's face, which had been as beautiful but lifeless as a well-kept doll when she was with Dane,
‘Th... thank you.’
bloomed like a shy flower in front of Arikx.
‘My friend doesn't know how to appreciate the jewel that you are.’
Arikx felt his heart pound, yet he tried hard to turn away from Rose because she was his friend's wife.
However, that ironically became the catalyst that ignited Dane's feelings, and Arikx ended up saving Rose from Dane, who had become obsessively fixated on her.
‘...That was how the original story was supposed to flow.’
But what about now?
Not only did I absolutely never leave Rose alone, but I also evacuated her from Arikx's line of sight in advance. I completely eradicated any point of contact between them.
‘Is this enough to feel safe?’
However, I couldn't let my guard down until the very end. I needed to keep my guard up until the day I left the royal palace.
As I made that resolution, I missed Arikx's murmur.
“I wonder who Betty is going to marry now.”
“What?”
“It's nothing. So it's a tender rose, not a fierce sun, that melts the winter after all.”
“Arikx.”
“What, are you embarrassed because I hit the nail on the head? To change the great Duke Schmaichel like this. I'm getting curious about your wife's skills anew.”
Arikx let out a kideuk kideuk laugh and casually asked.
“I'll invite you to the palace later, so come together. I want to have a talk with her.”
“No.”
The answer popped out before I even had time to think it through.
“...Huh?”
At the swift and firm answer, the smile momentarily disappeared from Arikx's face.
“She's my wife, Arikx. Don't show interest in her so lightly.”
I didn't realize it at that moment.
That my tone sounded less like a husband simply trying to protect his wife, and more like the growl of a beast terrified of having its most precious treasure stolen.
Arikx stared at me blankly for a moment,
“Wow... look at this.”
He soon let out a laugh, sounding intrigued.
He seemed to interpret my reaction as nothing more than the cute jealousy of a man in love.
Completely oblivious to the fact that I was desperately trying to prevent the original novel's fate.
“Don't worry, don't worry. I'm not shameless enough to covet my friend's wife. But...”
Arikx trailed off meaningfully, jerking his chin toward the powder room where Rose would be, beyond the terrace.
“Seeing you circle around her so defensively makes me even more curious. What kind of woman could have changed that Schmaichel like this.”
“…….”
I looked at Arikx and clenched my jaw.
‘Not shameless, my foot.’
Of course, he only extended a helping hand out of pity for Rose's desperate situation.
The more I thought about it, the more insolent Arikx seemed. Even if it was an event that wouldn't happen in this world.
It also felt unpleasant that my action, intended to block his curiosity, had instead piqued his interest.
“Now, let's get to the main point.”
Arikx swept his hair back with one hand. The face of a friend instantly morphed into that of a prince.
“Rumors have been reaching me lately that you've been working hard on cleaning.”
The topic had finally shifted to a satisfactory one.
Satisfied with that fact, I silently nodded my head.
“I plan to do a deep cleaning soon.”
“Hmm?”
Arikx looked at my expression and frowned, seemingly catching on to something.
“Are you, by any chance, planning to do that deep cleaning tomorrow?”
“Correct.”
“Hey... you, really.”
Arikx rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
“Are you saying you'll cause an incident at the royal hunting festival, right in front of me, a prince?”
“Isn't this exactly what 'for a friend' is meant for?”
“You only talk about friends at a time like this?”
Arikx held back a laugh and crossed his arms.
“That'll be hard to block even on my end. The bereaved families will rise up like a swarm of bees, asking how such an accident could happen at the royal harvest festival and demanding an investigation into the incident.”
“Can you really not stop it?”
I looked straight into Arikx's eyes and asked.
“You, who are the ‘Crown Prince’?”
“…….”
Arikx's gaze completely changed. He had understood what I was saying.
“Think carefully, Arikx. This is a chance to acquire the sturdy shield called Schmaichel.”
I also muttered coldly, no longer wearing the face of a friend, but the face of Schmaichel.
“Package tomorrow's events well as an ‘unfortunate accident’. To become a king, shouldn't you start by learning how to bury corpses?”
“…….”
Arikx remained silent, his eyes narrowed thinly. His attitude was cautious, as if trying to grasp my true intentions.
Baseurak.
To him, I pulled out a few pieces of paper from my coat and offered them.
“Ha.”
After checking the contents, Arikx's lips twisted into a sneer-like smile.
“An assassination request. It's amazing that you secured this. Did you raid the guild yourself or something?”
“I'm going to dig out the bastards who requested it from the noble registry.”
“Even so, they're count-level. If you dig them all out, there'll be a loss in territory management.”
“It's enough to fill their spots with southern nobles. If necessary, I can incorporate them into other territories.”
“Hmm...”
Perhaps he was only pretending to stop me, as Arikx fell quiet. His power and territory were expanding, so there was no reason for him to hate it.
“What about your uncle? Are you planning to clean him up tomorrow too?”
Even while wearing an expression that was already halfway convinced, Arikx didn't readily give me the answer I wanted to hear.
“My uncle is the last supper. I won't be eating it tomorrow.”
“Really? You know your uncle is hooked up with our younger brother, right?”
“Of course. I've secured the evidence as well.”
“What? Something like that exists?”
Arikx finally leaned in toward me, looking completely awakened.
A sinister figure like Henrik would never try to die alone. In preparation for a rainy day, I had fabricated evidence that Prince Cassian had commissioned my assassination.
And that would become the decisive weapon to bring Cassian down.
“I didn't say I'd give it to you yet.”
“This guy, seriously...”
“It's up to you, Arikx.”
“...Dane, did you really prepare this thoroughly?”
Arikx looked me up and down with renewed admiration.
His expression looked exactly as if he were saying,
‘I thought you were only playing love games... but you're pulling off such adorable schemes behind the scenes?’
—or so it seemed.
Actually, the evidence that Henrik and Prince Cassian had colluded wasn't in my hands yet.
However, I clearly remembered that in the original novel, Arikx had struck Henrik and discovered the evidence, using it to attack Cassian.
Since I was going to attack Henrik anyway, it was only a matter of time before it fell into my hands.
“Certainly, with that... I could shut ‘Mother's’ mouth.”
Arikx stroked his chin and smiled. It was a laugh mixed with a low growl, like a hungry beast of prey.
“She's been running her mouth so much lately that there's nowhere I can't hear Mother's news.”
Though his mouth was smiling, Arikx's eyes were terrifyingly cold.