Chapter 97: Stepping stone or harm?

“…Where did you hear that?”

“Ah, so it wasn’t just a rumor after all.”

He showed no particular joy at the change in her complexion.
Nor the satisfaction of a successful ambush.

He simply nodded, as if confirming his own knowledge, satisfied that the answer was correct.
With a carefree abandon that felt like he had abandoned all normal human communication, he toyed with her.
She no longer had the composure left to feel anger.

What Yulan had so casually thrown out was, to Rosette, her most critical secret.
Not as an individual, but as someone tied to the summit of a nation; information that should have been absolute state-level confidentiality.

“Secrets are heavy.
Heavy things make people want to share the burden.
The stricter the guard, the more important the secret, the more brittle it becomes.
Breaking something sturdy is far easier than one imagines.”

Easier than imagined, perhaps, but still not as simple as Yulan made it sound.
Mouths are always waiting for the chance to speak.
The heavier the secret one tries to bear alone, the more desperately one wants to share it, to divide it.
Those who clamp their lips shut the tightest are actually the easiest to loosen.
The soft ones who let everything slide are, ironically, the ones who never spill anything.

And Yulan knew exactly how to untie those tightly bound hearts.
Not a natural talent, but survival wisdom hammered into him after being trampled into the mud.
That was why he never hesitated to use it.

Feeling her body temperature drop, she refused to lower her gaze.
That would be exactly what he wanted.
She forced herself to meet the eyes of this unreadable man.

“It’s little different from a rumor.
No formal vows have been exchanged.”

Even if the truth spread, there would be no proof.
Only the rulers of two nations; Rosette’s and Claudia’s fathers; understood that it would benefit both countries.
A royal marriage where each side saw the greatest profit and the least disadvantage.

In the not-so-distant future; unless someone better than Rosette appeared; their marriage would be publicly decided.

That future certainly existed.
But it was not the present.

Interference from others, vulgar curiosity from third parties, the discord and distrust that would arise; all of it was unbearably annoying.
If it remained mere rumor, it would be manageable, but people like Yulan who came directly to confront her would increase.
Denying it was easy, but lying while hiding the truth was troublesome.
Especially when Rosette already carried the extra burden of an “ideal” that was not her own.

“I would be troubled if such an uncertain story were spread around.
Exactly who did you—”

“Ah, it seems there’s a misunderstanding.”

Yulan bent slightly at the waist; their eyes now level, his expression became clearer.
Even though he had lowered his tall frame that had been looking down on her moments ago, she felt far more provoked than before.
As if he were deliberately showing her the distortion in that smile from much closer range.

“I honestly don’t care.
It makes no difference to me who he chooses, or whether that person is you.”

As long as it doesn’t interfere with his plans.
As long as it doesn’t obstruct his goals.
As long as it doesn’t get in the way of her happiness.

“I have zero interest.
The prince’s marriage, the interests of this nation; do whatever you like.
That’s not what matters to me. That’s not the issue at all.”

When Claudia becomes king, the person standing at his back will be of utmost importance.
Even for Yulan, who would likely support that man in the future, it should not be something he could remain indifferent to.
He should at least show some concern, even if he had no right to interfere.

That was why Rosette had assumed he had approached her in this manner.
She knew nothing about the man before her, but just looking at those eyes, that color, she could easily guess his position.

Yet leaping beyond all her guesses and imagination,
the thing Yulan was truly looking at;
the thing of utmost importance to him;
was the possibility that she might hurt Violet because of this knowledge.

“I will ask only once.

Was your meeting with her; with Violet-sama;
truly nothing more than pure coincidence?”