“…Isn’t the rumor completely different from reality?”
“In what way do you say that?”
“In the boldness of ambushing the princess, of course. Without permission—packaging it as a bad deed.”
As Miragen, covering her upper body with a blanket, spoke, Robert, wearing a gown, chuckled softly.
Though she said that, isn’t it true that Miragen didn’t refuse from the beginning?
He casually placed his hand on his stinging back, frowning slightly as he glanced at the blood that seeped out.
“You seemed to enjoy it. More than I thought… don’t you think?”
“It’s because it hurt. It was my first time, you know.”
“It was my first time too. I’ve never been intimate with a fiancée before.”
It wasn’t a lie; he hardly had any deep relationship with Teresa.
Isn’t it funny? Despite claiming they loved each other multiple times, they had never actually shared the same bed.
This was his first time with Miragen and, at the same time, Robert’s personal first experience.
But why was he so skilled? Pondering for a moment, he quickly shrugged it off and turned his head.
It might just be a matter of compatibility. In this case, one could say their physical connection was rather good.
Staring intently at the numerous bite marks on the nape of his neck, Miragen noticed his gaze and pulled the blanket up to her neck.
Wearing underwear, what was there to be so embarrassed about? They had seen it all, anyway.
It did feel a bit sudden, but now… they could say it was a completely different relationship than yesterday.
He had confirmed a heart that he thought was uncertain, realizing that this feeling was no mere momentary illusion.
He liked her. The woman named Miragen and the man named Robert.
It all started with just a fleeting encounter, but what does that matter?
For Robert, who led this meeting to utilize her, it was truly a funny matter.
“But isn’t it all over now?”
“What do you mean by ‘all over’?”
Collapsing onto the bed, Robert patted Miragen’s shoulder.
Now that she had stopped hiding her body under the blanket and was wrapping her gown around herself, she flinched at his gesture and looked at him.
What did he mean by it being all over?
Did he think just because they spent one night together, everything was finished? For a moment, her heart raced as she wondered, but Robert’s mouth opened as he gazed at Miragen.
“I’m talking about the love game. We can’t just watch each other to see whether we like one another indefinitely, right?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Are you serious?”
The suggestion to end their love play sounded, to her dismay, like an implication to finish this relationship as she had feared.
The hand that tightly grasped her sleeve began to tremble.
In disbelief, she hesitated to answer, her lips parting several times, before she finally swatted away Robert’s hand that had reached hers.
“Miragen?”
“Are you saying we should end our relationship right now?”
“… yes, since we can’t go on like we used to. Isn’t that obvious?”
That was anything but obvious. As Miragen’s brow furrowed, Robert, realizing there was a misunderstanding, chuckled softly.
It seemed he had unintentionally worded it in a way that could lead to misunderstanding. The phrase about ending the relationship didn’t mean they should stop seeing each other.
So, perhaps it was more about moving toward a better relationship.
Now, seeing Miragen nearly on the verge of tears, Robert grabbed her wrist that was trying to swat him away and pulled her into an embrace.
As her body, which had been trying to distance itself, relaxed, Robert sighed and moved his fingers through her hair, his lips parting slightly.
“I must have spoken in a confusing way. I’m not suggesting we erase everything that happened until now. So…”
“So, what?”
“I’m suggesting we date officially. To be honest, we’ve only expressed our feelings; we haven’t been in an official relationship, have we?”
Miragen blinked rapidly in Robert’s embrace.
Once, to see if what she just heard was really true, and again, to register the fact that he said he wanted to officially date her.
Perhaps because the sharp emotions she had felt just moments ago melted away in an instant, realizing that she was nestled in Robert’s arms made her heart begin to race again.
“Officially date…”
“I probably can’t announce it to everyone right away. There are things we need to do first, and well… if we begin dating like this, His Majesty the Emperor wouldn’t look kindly upon it.”
“That’s probably true?”
“I want to be a little more confident. I want to be recognized by my family, and ideally, it would be better to gain favor from His Majesty or Crown Prince, wouldn’t it?”
Why is he only having such clever thoughts? As Miragen locked eyes with Robert, she instinctively averted her gaze.
She never expected he would say they weren’t ending things, but that they were beginning an official relationship.
Struggling to suppress the smile that kept escaping her, Miragen gently pushed Robert away and took a step back.
I was thinking about what to say. Just a moment ago, I was genuinely ready to get angry.
Now that it ended so blandly, I had no clue how to face him.
“I didn’t know you were thinking that way.”
“That’s why you were going to get angry.”
“How many women wouldn’t misunderstand when told to end a relationship? Robert said something strange.”
“I do think it was a mistake. I didn’t say I wanted to date from the start because I was afraid you would be surprised. Isn’t it the same now? With your face all red like that, I feel embarrassed.”
I hadn’t even blushed – but that momentary rebuttal was quite embarrassing, as Miragen faced her completely flushed reflection in the mirror beside her.
It’s not easy to hide one’s feelings.
If Robert couldn’t easily do it, could Miragen really manage? When she turned her head while caressing her cheek,
their gazes met, and Robert chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. Whenever he saw the embarrassed Miragen, a smile would inadvertently escape him.
No matter the situation, having taken the Princess’s first experience—indeed, a rather significant and dangerous situation too—
it felt weird that he could just laugh it off comfortably.
Though he briefly harbored a crush on Teresa, calling it first love would be difficult.
After all, it wasn’t a mutual relationship, was it? So, what should he call the feelings directed towards Miragen?
As Robert pondered this for a moment, he chose to move forward instead of seeking an answer.
He hugged the hesitating Miragen from behind, gently lifting her chin and quietly opening his mouth.
“Please take care of me moving forward. I may be a bit lacking, but since it’s the first time, I hope you understand.”
“…Is it really the first time? You talked about a fiancée just last time.”
She grumbled, but there was no genuine dislike mixed in her tone.
It’s not as if she would hate him just because he mentioned a fiancée. From the very moment he approached,
perhaps even more so afterward, Miragen’s feelings had deepened.
There was no way she would waver now because of the existence of his fiancée.
“Though it’s not your first love, it’s still your first, right?”
Very few women could resist smiling at those words.
Ultimately, when Miragen burst into laughter and looked at Robert, he could only let out a small laugh in return.
#
So, what should I do now? I had already done quite a bit of pondering about what comes after officially dating.
Although I tried to resist, I can confidently say that I’ve clearly achieved the goal of becoming lovers.
After pondering for a while, I realized that I had to act for any path to show itself.
Robert’s proactive actions could only be described as unstoppable.
It took a few months to solidify his position at Taylor,
and it didn’t take long for him to willingly accept Teresa’s request to break off their engagement.
Before the annulment was even finalized, rumors spread that he was officially dating the princess,
but it was Miragen who managed to quell those rumors.
As all eyes were drawn to the unconventional relationship between the nobles represented by Taylor and the princess,
Miragen appeared alone on the dais and simply stated,
“I would like to address the rumors that I am dating Robert Taylor.”
Initially, she thought it should remain a secret.
If such rumors spread immediately, it could only bring trouble to both of them, and they could potentially be used to put Robert or Miragen in a precarious situation.
She considered the existence of Robert’s fiancée somewhat dangerous, as they had promised to exercise restraint until Teresa’s affairs were settled.
But now Teresa was gone.
Robert had no fiancée, and there was no potential issue with dating anyone.
If the problem lay in dating a princess, Miragen was prepared to assert her authority from the imperial family to control the situation.
The stage was set; why not take the chance?
If they were to reveal their relationship someday, Miragen planned to make sure as many people as possible found out all at once.
If the emperor himself denied the love story that everyone in the empire knew about, even the common people regarded as gossip,
the number of those who would look favorably upon him would be minimal.
“You can’t stop it; if you want to deny it, you’ll have to deny the illusion that the people of the empire hold.”
People are often drawn to fateful encounters. Especially if it’s a love story between a prince and a princess who share similar circumstances.
How many would look at it negatively?
As Miragen surveyed the countless audience members, she smiled and flicked her lips.
“We.”
Just imagining the impact of this one step sends shivers down the spine.
“We are officially dating.”
This was just the beginning. The story that would unfold between Robert and Miragen as lovers was still far from over.
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