Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

A certain autumn day, early morning, clear skies.

“Hmm…”

I stood in front of the mirror.

“…What should I wear for today’s date?”

I groaned over such a girlish dilemma.

No, this was by no means because I was giddy from first love. There were many thoughts on my mind, and I was seriously agonizing over it.

It had already been a month since that wedding. Anastasia and I were formally married—yet since then, we hadn’t met even once.

It’s not that we were neglecting each other. Both of us were simply busy.

Right now, I was the only prince in the royal palace, running around assisting my father who had just returned to the throne after several years. In my free time, I was relearning politics, economics, and imperial studies, plus I had duties as the knight commander.

Anastasia was in a similar situation. Taking over for the blind Norman, she was handling the application to grant him the count title, procedures to adopt herself, essential etiquette for high nobility, learning Flarian—the continent’s lingua franca—ceremonies for joining the royal family as the Third Prince’s consort, greeting rounds, memorizing history and personalities… In addition, she had work as a clothing artisan.

According to Reimia and Mio-chan, who supported her, she was so busy she nearly got dizzy—but she completed everything without a single complaint.

If she had let out just one word of weakness… one line saying she wanted to see me… I too would have dropped everything and rushed to her side. Honestly, I wished she had done that, and I wanted to as well. But since she was holding on, I gritted my teeth and endured for a month.

Finally… really finally, we wrapped up our respective work.

So today was our long-awaited reunion, our date.

Yes, our first date. Even though we were married. Because our marriage was a love marriage with zero days of courtship, this happened.

Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a proper date with anyone except Anastasia.

The princess of Flaria always stayed indoors, and those were short times. Social etiquette was a nobleman’s education, escorting a noble lady was an obligation, not something for mutual enjoyment.

But this time it was a date as lovers… and the destination was to be decided by Anastasia’s wishes. I didn’t know where we were going, so I couldn’t prepare an escort plan.

“…She said not to go somewhere dangerous, to keep the guards to a minimum, and for them to stay away as much as possible. And to come in ordinary clothes so we don’t stand out too much.”

Ordinary… what does that even mean?

I’m a prince with my natural silver hair and no makeup!

“Uuuuuh…”

“What are you groaning about, Brother Richard?”

Reimia popped her head in casually. My sister often forgot to knock, so I didn’t scold her and just replied.

“Well, I don’t know what kind of outfit is suitable for a date with Anastasia.”

“If you’re walking around town, wouldn’t the citizen clothes you wear when you sneak out be fine?”

“That’s a disguise with a wig, glasses, and other accessories. If I just wore shabby clothes with this silver hair and the face known as ‘the most beautiful prince in the world,’ I’d stand out even more.”

“You said it yourself. Then wear the wig and glasses.”

“No way. Anastasia dating ‘some other man’—I’d be jealous even if it were disguised me.”

Reimia shrugged.

“Then there’s nothing to worry over. Just put on the most elegant coat in the closet that suits you best.”

“They told me not to stand out. And if I try too hard, I might embarrass Anastasia next to me. She barely has dresses; she’ll probably come in simple citizen clothes—or maybe even dressed as a man.”

“Oh, you worry too much! Whatever you wear, Kami-nee-sama would surely praise you as wonderful.”

“Kami-nee-sama? Ah, what am I going to do? There are too many options, and that makes it harder to choose! Reimia, help me out—I’m seriously stuck. There’s almost no time left before the meeting!”