I Just Wanted to Call Off the Arranged Marriage With the Princess—Someone I Could Never Possibly Be a Match For—But for Some Reason, She Took a Liking to Me and Is Now Closing in on Me
“Is it okay if I do this?” Aisia asked for confirmation, so I nodded for the time being.
Her smile never wavered, and from somewhere in the cafeteria, a soft “Ooh…” of admiration drifted over. Glancing sideways, I saw the female students at a nearby table blushing as they cast feverish glances at Aisia.
“It seems you’re still quite the ladies’ man.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh, really?”
While her modest attitude isn’t exactly annoying, the fact that she’s actually popular is still a bit irritating. When I pulled the corners of my mouth down as far as I could, Aisia gave a wry smile. Even that looks picture-perfect—dashing one’s really have it easy.
“You’re the daughter of the Duke of Snowtea, right? Do you know her?”
“Don’t you sound a bit prickly?”
“Not really.”
Her voice was low and heavy.
She rested her chin on her hand on the table and turned her face away. Yet, despite that habit, her dark eyes darted over to look at me from the corner—her words and attitude were at odds, and she wasn’t being honest.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Her Royal Highness Princess Iris.”
“Nice to meet you.”
It was a response that fell below the bare minimum.
Iris took a sip of the fruit wine the waiter brought over, still looking away. Just as I thought—she really is a capricious little cat.
“Did I offend you?”
“I’m fine. Being grumpy is this kitty’s default setting.”
“Who’s in a bad mood all year round?”
When I pointed at her with my index finger, she hissed, bared her fangs, and almost bit me. See? She’s in a bad mood. I looked at Aisia for agreement, but she just narrowed her ice-clear blue eyes with a playful smile.
“You two get along well, don’t you?”
“Those eyes of yours are made of ice.”
“You think they’re beautiful? Thanks for the compliment, Lucian. I’m flattered.”
If even my sarcasm gets turned into a compliment, I’ll be completely powerless against this exquisite beauty. “Man, this is such a drag,” I muttered, feeling down, as I took a sip from my glass of fruit wine.
It tasted unusually sour today.
“So, what is it? You didn’t just come by to say hello to an acquaintance, did you?”
“……If I said that was the case, would you feel remorseful?”
For the first time, her thin lips stretched into a sideways smile, and her half-closed blue eyes flickered with discontent.
“I was so happy to hear you’d enrolled, but you never came to see me. Do you have any idea how lonely I was?”
In stark contrast to her androgynous features, Aisia placed both hands on her full, rounded chest.
My gaze was skillfully drawn there. I looked away, amazed she’d managed to hide this all along, only to meet a pair of black eyes brimming with contempt and lower my head. No, I wasn’t looking at her that way, really.
She made a soft “mm, mm” sound in her throat.
“But I didn’t know.”
“I sent you a letter last year, didn’t I?”
“…I don’t remember what it said.”
“Heartless.”
I can’t say a word in response to Iris’s cold rebuke.
But you know what? We weren’t exactly close. I can easily imagine myself when the letter arrived, probably thinking, “Oh, really?” and then closing it without a second thought—and I’m still just as uninterested now.
Maybe it showed on my face, because Aisia looks as sad as if she’d just been dumped by a boyfriend.
“……I see. I guess I was the only one who thought we were friends.”
“We’ve only met a few times.”
Even though the depth of a friendship isn’t measured by the number of times you meet, can you really call that kind of relationship a friendship? Isn’t it just an acquaintance?
“It was three times.”
I’m not exactly thrilled to be corrected so seriously.
Does it really matter if we’re off by a meeting or two? Am I just too laid-back, or is Aisia just too sensitive? …No, wait, sorry. Don’t both look at me like I’m hopeless. Are we already close friends or something?
“We’ll see each other every day at school from now on. Even if you forget about me, I’ll be happy just knowing that.”
“…Um, I’m sorry. Could you please stop smiling so sweetly? My tiny shred of conscience is throbbing like crazy, I’m telling you. Please, I’m begging you.”
Her lonely smile is incredibly alluring, and it breaks my heart. Plus, the hostile vibe from everyone around me—like, “You made Lady Aisia sad”—is getting stronger by the second.
Just the princess declaring me her property was bad enough, but making the beautiful older sister I admire sad? That’s on a whole other level—I can practically see a young lady with a knife in her hand right now. School is a scary place, isn’t it?
“I’ll pop in every now and then, so cut me some slack.”
I raise both hands in surrender.
Aisia touches the back of her index finger to her lips and chuckles softly.
“That’s nice. Actually, today’s story is related to that.”
“It took a while to get to the main point.”
“Because I finally got to meet you outside of my dreams.”
I wish the young ladies who are head over heels for Aisia would save those cheesy lines for her. If she says them to me, all I can manage is a lukewarm response like, “Oh, that’s nice.”
Her radiant smile turns toward Iris as well.
“This is a story that concerns you as well, Lady Iris.”
“After using Lucian as a sacrifice…”
“Meeeh.”
“Hah.”
When I imitated a sheep’s bleat, Aisia let out a small chuckle. I don’t think it was that funny, but maybe she just doesn’t have a sense of humor.
Aisia’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Her cheeks were flushed, but she seemed to have calmed down somewhat and offered a single word of apology: “My apologies.”
“This matter also concerns my position, you see.”
After a brief pause, Aisia flashed the biggest smile of the day.
“—Would you like to join the Student Council?”
“Absolutely… no way.”
I gave her a look of utter disgust in return.