Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

My friend, who was supposed to be sleeping on the second floor, had somehow ended up on the first floor... Lord Cyrus was not surprised by this at all. Rather, he let out a sigh without even smiling, as if this was the usual occurrence.

"You did it again. Stop with these pranks—it's cruel to the shopkeeper caught in the middle."

The shopkeeper was bowing low behind the counter. Oh, I see now—that's why he was so nice to me. Lord Ruifeng shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I just wanted to talk with Marie-chan once when you weren't around. I actually planned to speak up earlier, but some unrelated pick-up guy beat me to it."

"...Pick-up guy? You were following us?"

"Yeah, from the moment you left the carriage. That place is the Granado Family's preferred spot, so I figured if I waited from the morning, you'd definitely come."

Wait, does that mean you were there all day!? I had no idea. With Lord Ruifeng’s looks, he should have stood out like a sore thumb...

Sensing my thoughts, Lord Ruifeng pulled a brown wig out of his jacket pocket. At the same time, he brushed back his gleaming silver hair.

"When someone has striking features like these, people focus on that. On the other hand, if you hide just that, it’s harder to be recognized."

"...Such an elaborate prank... is this really something a twenty-four-year-old man should be doing?"

"If you say that, then be ashamed you didn’t notice I was tailing you, Cyrus. Well, you were pretty distracted and caught up in the moment, so it’s understandable."

Hearing that, Lord Cyrus groaned deeply and fell silent. Oh, so if he was following us the whole time, that means he saw us shopping and holding hands... wow.

Suddenly, my face flushed red.

Lord Cyrus cleared his throat, then pointed toward Lord Ruifeng with his palm.

"Marie, let me introduce you properly. This man has been my friend since school. Officially, he is the knight commander. His full name is—"

"Ruifeng Sandalqia! A knight commander in name only, really just a poor minor noble. Nice to meet you, Marie-chan."

Lord Ruifeng interrupted Lord Cyrus and extended his hand. I widened my eyes, repeatedly checking his hand, his face, and the name I had just heard.

Ruifeng... the knight commander. There was no way I could shake his hand, so I pulled back.

"Minor noble, but, uh—well—the kingdom’s knight commanders have traditionally come from the royal family, right? Currently, the post is held by the crown prince’s brother. So that means Lord Ruifeng is..."

"Ah, you know already? Too bad," said Lord Ruifeng with a carefree laugh as he withdrew his hand.

Wait. Lord Ruifeng Sandalqia Dirts... a prince!

"Ah... whoa...!"

Meeting a royal for the first time in my life, all my strength drained away. I sagged to the floor weakly, and Lord Cyrus caught me by the shoulder to support me.

"Don’t be nervous. While we’re here today, he’s just a man. No need to be so formal with royalty. Besides, being a knight commander, Ruifeng can’t exactly go around causing trouble."

"R-Really? Is that so...!?"

"Yeah. The real problem is his personality—he’s a terrible prankster with a strong streak of mischief."

I honestly have no idea how to handle that either.

But at least for etiquette, it seems anything goes. The prince even interrupted my curtsey. Smiling brightly, he said,

"Being the third son, I don’t wield much power. I’m harmless—just a prankster who loves mischief."

"I-I see..."

"And, by the way, don’t take seriously what I said when I flirted with you earlier."

"Flirted?"

Lord Cyrus’s brow twitched. He apparently hadn’t seen most of that interaction. I wondered how to explain, but he quickly understood the situation. Hands on his hips, he sighed deeply.

"You did it again... even though it’s unnecessary now. I’ve grown better at judging people since school."

"School days?"

"Cyrus has always been popular with girls. Unfortunately, it was always 'those kinds' of girls, so he ended up distrusting women."

I didn’t understand what "those kinds" meant. Seeing my confused look, Lord Ruifeng kindly explained.