When the Female Lead Went Off-Script, the Main Male Lead Became the Tyrant's Empress - Chapter 14.2
“I thought you would be with a woman.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not.”
At Arden’s answer, Haster made a faint humming sound.
Arden looked as neat and tidy from head to toe as he had inside the banquet hall.
In that case.
“Haven’t you found one yet? Or are you restraining yourself tonight?”
“Do I look like someone capable of restraint?”
“Of course not.”
Even at Haster’s sarcasm, Arden’s expression didn’t change as he swung his long legs over the gazebo railing.
It was common knowledge that the Crown Prince searched for women to spend the night with at balls and banquets.
Even though such rumors circulated throughout the Empire, Arden himself didn’t particularly care.
His attitude was that there was nothing remarkable about two adults who understood exactly what they were doing spending a night together after finding each other agreeable.
“Want some?”
Sitting on the railing, Arden pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out.
A quantity of raisins smaller than a handful peeked out from between the folds.
“No.”
“They’re good.”
“Where did you even get those?”
“I grabbed a handful when I ate oatmeal this morning.”
Shrugging as though to say he would eat them all if Haster didn’t want any, Arden began chewing the raisins.
The Crown Prince was sitting carelessly and munching on dried fruit.
A reproach resembling a sigh naturally escaped Haster.
“Do you have no intention of maintaining your dignity?”
“You’re so strict, Your Highness the Grand Duke. No one is watching, so what does it matter?”
“I am telling you to maintain the dignity appropriate for the Crown Prince regardless of whether anyone is watching. Who would feel affection for a member of the imperial family who behaves in such a manner?”
“It would take me all night to list every name. Are you sure you want that?”
Three or four raisins floated mockingly through the air before falling into Arden’s mouth.
Haster didn’t know who had been responsible for Arden’s etiquette lessons as a child, but he was certain that Arden must have tormented them terribly.
“By the way, aren’t you curious why I came out here?”
Without even turning his head, Haster answered with an indifferent face as though he had no interest.
“Is there any need to ask? You are wandering around alone without a woman, and you asked whether I had run away too. Clearly, you escaped after being harassed by people pursuing the hopeless position of Crown Princess.”
“Well, something like that. Except I was running away from my imperial father, not a group of nobles.”
Arden poured the remaining raisins into his mouth all at once.
“Why? Did His Majesty say that he intended to pursue the position of Crown Princess himself?”
“Cough!”
At the unexpected joke, Arden swallowed the raisins whole.
He began coughing after they went down the wrong way.
Haster clicked his tongue quietly, then roughly patted Arden’s back as he bent deeply at the waist and coughed violently.
After coughing for a long while, Arden’s shoulders shook as he laughed almost like he was sobbing.
“Say that again. Who wanted to do what with whom?”
“If you didn’t hear it, forget it.”
“No. I heard it clearly. Please say it just one more time.”
“If you heard it, isn’t that enough?”
After laughing so hard that his ribs hurt, Arden wiped away his tears and looked at the man before him.
It was rather irritating how Haster had nearly made someone faint, yet stood there with a composed face and feigned innocence.
“So whom did he recommend as a marriage candidate?”
“I don’t know. I left without listening.”
“…….”
“But do I really have to get married?”
There could hardly have been a more pathetic question.
Haster closed his mouth.
Expecting a proper answer from a man who lacked even the slightest trace of seriousness was unreasonable from the beginning.
Arden was hardly the only person who entered an imperial marriage for political purposes.
Members of the imperial family married for the benefit of the nation rather than for love.
As the Emperor’s legitimate son and the Crown Prince, Arden had an obligation to form a marital alliance.
It was necessary to establish friendly relations between nations, benefit from the other nation’s advantages, and strengthen imperial authority.
If the Emperor had gone so far as to raise the subject, he must already have someone in mind.
He wouldn’t mention an imperial marriage without having a specific candidate prepared.
“Should I just pretend not to notice and hold out until Father passes away?”
Haster didn’t even move his lips at the absurd remark.
This wasn’t some trivial matter. The next ruler of the Empire was whining like a child because he didn’t want to undertake an imperial marriage, one of the most important obligations of human society.
……Should he go back to Clary?
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