In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 31

Chapter 31: The Birdcage at the Sickbed, and the Graceful Keeper

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(Lilianna’s POV)

Outside the window, everything was wrapped in the deep darkness of night. My room, located in one corner of the royal castle, was utterly silent. The only sounds were my own faint breathing and the steady, rhythmic operating hum of the magic device placed beside my pillow.

“…Alto.”

With a fever-clouded mind, I stared blankly up at the ceiling. The days spent in the underground archive resurfaced like a distant dream. They had been so much fun. I had been so happy.

And yet, I had broken my promise again. I had said it was a promise when we parted, but the very next day, I was unable to go to the underground archive. Worse still, I had already been bedridden for three days.

“I’m sorry… For taking time off without permission…”

Had he waited for me? There was no way to even contact him. Even when I asked the maids, they told me, “Please focus on your treatment for now,” and would not allow me to send even a single letter.

I regretted my own weakness—being too afraid that my unauthorized visits to the underground archive would be discovered to insist any further. The head maid had also been summoned by Father and was not here right now.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. At this hour? Was it a maid?

“…Yes.”

“Excuse me, Lilianna.”

The one who entered was not a maid. It was a blond young man dressed in an evening outfit adorned with luxurious embroidery, holding a large bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“…Leonardo-sama.”

My fiancé… Was he? He entered the room with graceful movements and placed the bouquet beside the bed. Deep crimson roses. Their intense fragrance seemed to repaint the air of the room, making it slightly hard to breathe.

“Sorry for coming so late. On my way back from the academy, I simply had to see your face.”

“…Thank you for your concern.”

I replied with all the courtesy I could muster. He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out toward my cheek. His fingers were exquisitely well-shaped, yet they carried a coldness reminiscent of porcelain.

“Your complexion is poor… How pitiful. As I suspected, that power is far too heavy a burden for a vessel like you.”

His words sounded as though they carried concern. But deep within his eyes lay still waters. He was not looking at my suffering. He was inspecting the condition of his possession.

“At the academy as well, many are worried about your health. They keep asking, ‘Is Her Highness the Princess truly alright?’”

“…”

“Ah, don’t worry. I explained everything properly. I told them, ‘She is the woman who will become my wife. The Falkenberg family will support her with all we have.’”

Leonardo smiled gently. I never wanted to become Leonardo’s wife. Yet his words carried an inescapable pressure.

“…Leonardo-sama. I am still—”

“I know. You are a strong-willed person”

He cut me off and gently, but firmly. He grasped my thinning fingers tightly, so I could not pull away.

“That is precisely why I have resolved myself as well. …Lilianna. I intend to move up the ceremony”

“What…?”

“Next spring… No, even sooner would be fine. While your condition is even slightly stable, we should make our relationship something certain. I have already suggested as much to Father”

To make our relationship certain. Sensing the meaning behind those words, a chill ran down my spine. He was in a hurry. Because he did not know what would become of my body, he was trying to solidify—before that—the bond with the Falkenberg family and the royal family, to establish an “irrefutable fact.”

“Please wait… Please wait, I’m still a student—”

“A student? This is hardly the time to be saying that, is it?”

Leonardo’s voice took on a tone that sounded admonishing, yet brooked no refusal.

“Your body does not belong to you alone. It is a symbol of this nation and the foundation of its future. …If something were to happen, it would be too late. To ensure the royal bloodline and proof that you lived… We need to procure the future generations. That is your duty, and my role.”

It was a sound argument. As a noble, as royalty, it was an argument with no room for rebuttal. And yet, there was no place in it for my “heart.”

“…I refuse.”

“Hm?”

“I… I don’t want to give up yet. Marriage, my future… I want to choose them by my own will.”

My voice trembled, but I spoke clearly. Alto’s face came to mind. If it were him, even at a time like this, he would surely look at me not as a “role,” but as “me.”

“…Heh. Your own will, is it..”

Leonardo let out a small laugh, as though looking at a troublesome child. Then he turned a probing gaze toward me.

“You’ve changed a bit lately. You used to be more obedient, more understanding.”

“…”

“Whose influence might that be? …Surely you didn’t pick up some strange bug at the academy, did you?”

—!?

My heart leapt. Had he figured it out? No, he had not. His eyes were merely testing me. He did not know any specific person.

“…No. I’ve just been thinking on my own in my sickroom. About my life..”

“I see. Then that’s fine.”

Leonardo, as if he had lost interest, twined my hair around his fingers absentmindedly.

“Well, even if there were someone, it wouldn’t matter. The only one in this country who can shoulder your unbearably heavy destiny is me.”

He declared this with absolute confidence. It was as if Alto did not even exist within the realm of possibility. It was as if saving me was something Alto could never do… So much so that he was not even considered an option. Leonardo stood up and headed for the exit of the room.

“Get plenty of rest. Once the date of the ceremony is decided, I’ll inform you immediately. …Sweet dreams, my lovely princess..”

Bang.

The door closed. Once more, only silence—and the suffocating scent of roses—remained in the room.

“…Ugh…”

Clutching the sheets, I cried silently. It was frustrating. It was frightening… The way my fate was being hemmed in without giving me any say. And more than anything, the fact that the door of the birdcage was about to close without me ever being able to tell Alto anything.

Alto… I want to see you… Where are you now?

Because I didn’t go again, had I already become meaningless to you? Or, just as Leonardo said, did you regret ever getting involved with me?

“…Please help me.”

In the empty room, I whispered as if praying. The red moon outside the window looked down on me coldly. At that time, I still did not know. That even now, he was risking his life for me, racing through the forbidden forest.

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