I was twenty-four years old.
As the empire’s First Imperial Princess and commander-in-chief, I, Victoria von Argenheim, had one very firm, long-held conviction.
‘I will never marry unless the man is stronger than I am.’
It was not something born of arrogance or empty bravado.
I said it because, in all my life, I had truly never met anyone stronger than me.
Ever since I first took up a real sword and stepped onto the battlefield at sixteen, my life had always been covered in blood, torn entrails, and the metallic stench of dusty earth.
Each time I returned drenched in blood after taking an enemy commander’s head, people feared me and called me the Reaper of the Battlefield, or the Blood-Red Rose.
To me, men were nothing but lumps of meat whose heads flew off because they could not stop my sword on the battlefield, or weak cowards who prostrated themselves at my feet and trembled.
That hostage from the Kingdom of Sterling, the one who had supposedly clouded Imperial Father’s eyes in the Grand Audience Hall yesterday, would surely be no different.
How dare he deceive the emperor with that bewitching little tongue of his?
With the sole thought of ripping out that insolent tongue at once, I kicked open the door to the guest palace room where he was said to be staying.
Kwaaaaang—!!!
The thick oak door was far too feeble to withstand my kick.
“Which bastard is it!!! The wicked tongue that deceived Imperial Father!!!”
Exuding killing intent, I stormed into the room with a sharply honed real sword drawn in my hand.
And I intended to make an example of that rat-like hostage sitting before the reception table by the window—Ian Sterling from the Kingdom of Sterling.
Ah, of course, I had no intention of killing him.
I was only going to break him around the waist.
Considering the military strength of the Kingdom of Sterling that I had seen with my own two eyes, I doubted they would have the guts to protest even if their hostage was left half a cripple.
“…….”
However, the moment I came face-to-face with Ian Sterling sitting inside the room, my thoughts came to a complete halt.
‘…H-he’s handsome.’
Ian Sterling was sitting by the sunlit window.
In my desolate world, filled only with the rough scent of blood and dirt, there sat a man who seemed to live in a different flow of time, as though he had stepped right out of a painting.
Unlike the stiff, coarse hair of imperial men, his soft dark-brown hair caught the sunlight and glimmered faintly with gold.
Beneath naturally tousled golden bangs, transparent, deep amber eyes, as though steeped in honey, curved gently toward me.
Instead of thick armor or gaudy accessories, he wore only a luxurious silk shirt that draped lightly over his body.
Though his figure was long, slim, and free of excess, his straight, broad shoulders and noble neckline overflowed at once with a suffocating decadence and intelligence.
“They say this is the finest pudding in the capital, Your Imperial Highness. Thanks to His Imperial Majesty’s generosity, I was granted permission to go out, and on Sir Amber White’s recommendation, I went out just now and bought some. As it happens, there is rather too much for me to eat alone.”
At that gentle voice, my shoulders jerked up before I even had time to react.
“Would you care to… have some with me?”
A soft, low voice that rang tenderly in my ears.
The moment he looked up at me and smiled with ease, my thoughts stopped.
Before I knew it, I had hurriedly hidden the real sword I had been raising behind my back.
“……I-I’ll eat.”
The voice that squeezed out of me sounded so thin and bizarre that even I got chills hearing it.
As I dropped my sword to the floor with a clang and approached like a stiff block of wood, he rose from his seat with perfect naturalness and pulled out the chair on my side for me.
“Please sit here, Your Imperial Highness.”
“Ah…….”
Not a single one of the empire’s ignorant generals had ever pulled out a chair for me first.
When I sat down with a foolish look on my face, he picked up a silver spoon and placed it in my hand.
His long, straight, delicate fingers lightly brushed the back of my rough hand, covered in sword calluses.
My heart thumped against my ribs and began to race like mad.
Heat rushed up into my face.
“I do not know whether sweets will suit your taste. Sir Amber recommended it as the finest pudding in the capital.”
Ian Sterling.
Sitting across from me, he began to lead the conversation in a very relaxed and pleasant voice.
It was strange.
Most noblemen either wilted in front of me and could not even meet my eyes, or were busy flattering me, but this man was different.
He did not bring up philosophy or all manner of gossip from high society, as nobles who met me often did.
Instead, he brought up, with astonishing skill, topics I would find most comfortable and enjoyable, such as recent cavalry deployment tactics in the imperial army or stories from my childhood.
“I see. So the reason the empire’s cavalry possesses such devastating breakthrough power lies in Your Highness’s tactical insight.”
As he looked at me wholly with those amber eyes and responded warmly, I fell into the terrible illusion that I had become the most special and respected person in the world.
Enchanted by his elegant eloquence and consideration, I found myself nodding mindlessly, and before I knew it, that sticky caramel pudding—which I normally would not have touched because it was too sweet—was constantly entering my mouth.
‘…Am I eating this lump of carbohydrates?’
I, who on the battlefield chewed on jerky with bloodstained hands, was now licking up this sweet lump of sugar?
“I am glad it seems to suit your taste. Here, please try the fruit tart as well.”
“Uh, mm. Th-thank you…….”
I even accepted the tart he pushed toward me with his long, elegant fingers as though bewitched.
I was so intoxicated by the tenderness he exuded that I did not even notice the cream on the corner of my mouth.
It felt like being drunk.
Of course, that was a metaphor.
I never get drunk.
And yet, in front of this person… I wanted to be drunk.
#
How much time had passed?
After confirming that the plates had been cleanly emptied, the fog in my head finally cleared, and I realized what insane thing I had done.
I had come in to beat him senseless, only to be enchanted by his manners as he obediently pulled out a chair for me, sit beside him, chat, and devour dessert!
“I-I should get going now! N-no, I shall take my leave! I-I am busy!”
I sprang up from my seat like a coil.
I heard the chair topple backward, but I had no time to care.
“Ah, yes. Take care on your way, Your Highness. Thanks to you, I had a delightful afternoon. Please come again anytime.”
Ian Sterling waved, his eyes curving softly.
The moment his hair sparkled in the sunlight, my heart dropped once again.
Red all the way to the tips of my ears, I bolted out of the room like a hunted beast.
#
“…….”
In the hallway outside the door, which had been ripped off its hinges and smashed apart, I ran into the very last person I wanted to see.
“…Amber, why are you here?”
“Well, Your Imperial Highness was the one who sent me here herself.”
“No, why are you standing here in the hallway!”
“Well, because I am Prince Ian’s escort?”
Amber, who had spent years rolling around with me on the battlefield as my direct adjutant, was leaning against the wall and staring at me with an utterly bizarre expression.
Normally, she would have joked with me without reserve, but now her mouth was hanging open as if her jaw had dropped, and it showed no sign of closing.
Amber’s gaze was fixed on my face, which looked ready to burst red.
“…Y-Your Highness. At the corner of your mouth, there.”
“Huh? Why? What?”
“Tart cream…”
“Uh, uhh…”
I unconsciously reached out and wiped it away, and at Amber’s dumbfounded expression, embarrassment and irritation surged up inside me.
“What are you staring at?!”
I shrieked and glared at her, then immediately clapped a hand over my mouth.
The thought flashed through my mind that Ian Sterling, inside the room, might have been startled by my booming shout.
‘You’re insane, insane, Victoria! After acting so demure until just now, how could you shout so vulgarly here!’
“Y-Your Highness……? What in the world is that expression…….”
“Mm! Mmmph!”
With my mouth covered, I cursed Amber with my eyes and stamped my feet in place.
Crack!
“……”
The marble beneath my feet failed to withstand my strength and shattered on the spot.
What kind of stone is this weak???
“……”
“Your Highness…”
“Sh-shut up! Get lost! I-I’m leaving first!”
Trying to get out of the residence as quickly as possible, I accidentally ripped the door out along with its handle.
Amber stared at me in astonishment when she saw the broken door handle dangling from my hand.
“……Damn it!”
Never in my life had I resented my own strength so much.