I'm Not Sorry But The Prince Will Marry Me Anyway

Chapter 4

Tristan bit the rim of his glass, recalling the first drink of January.

He had fled from the tiresome royal New Year's event and raised his glass with his friends, shouting,

"This year, I will be free of Doris Redfield!"

It didn’t seem like it would be difficult.

After all, it was a long-neglected engagement. If he could just bring in a suitable noble lady and push it forward with her family, the royal family and the Redfields would likely give up on the engagement before things became any more troublesome.

But from the time the social season began...

Something started to go wrong.

There was something, even with his old friends, that he couldn’t bring himself to say.

As Alex refilled the brandy, he asked,

"What’s with the expression? Do you think breaking off the engagement is going to be difficult?"

"..."

"Maria Meyer finally accepted a dance, huh? I don’t think that woman has the courage to accept the prince, but with her beauty, she could make a scandal and take down your fiancée with it..."

"No, that’s not what I mean."

The sound of the brandy glass clinking as it hit the table made Tristan pause, before he added,

"Why are you asking about this? It's still early in the season. Is my name already being tossed around as a topic in the salon?"@@@@

"I can’t say it isn’t. Everyone knows you’re not fond of your fiancée."

"Ha, now you’re selling me out too."

"Back when you were running wild and roaming the streets, how many times did you sell my name to Queen Mother, huh?"

"..."

Tristan couldn’t help but chuckle.

Well, it didn’t matter. After all, the royal family’s glamorous life existed for the enjoyment of the masses. This much was nothing to give up for others to tear apart.

"Maria will come around eventually. I’m betting on my success."

"Yes, I believe you."

"But, does the salon allow for rigged bets?"

"If Madame Abigail catches you conspiring, you’ll be kicked out of the membership. But romance isn’t something that can be rigged, right? Even with your status, all you managed to do with Maria was get one dance."

"..."

It seemed Alex really believed Tristan would fail to seduce Maria.

Tristan gave a wolfish smile and said,

"Forget about your bet. Next spring, if I don’t marry the most beautiful woman, I’ll give you half my fortune and crawl naked to the Redfield estate."

"And then, won’t you get shot at the Redfield estate?"

"I’d rather die naked than choose the worst marriage."

Their meaningless conversation ended when another group of guests entered the club. Having grown tired of the card game, Alex cleaned up and left first.

The waiter placed cigars and an ashtray in front of Tristan and stepped back. But Tristan, with only a cigar cutter in hand, didn’t put anything to his mouth.

It was the question he couldn’t bring himself to ask Alex that was swirling in his mind.

‘Nothing’s happened for five years. So why has Doris Redfield’s attitude changed so suddenly?’

When it came to this engagement, the attitudes of those involved had always been consistently opposed.

First of all, Tristan had always mocked and despised the engagement.

It was laughable. The essence of this engagement was a failed attempt by the Redfield family to marry their second daughter to the first prince five years ago, awkwardly concluded with this.

A union between surplus resources from different families.

Whenever this engagement was mentioned, Tristan always felt like he was being mocked with, "You’re just a child who doesn’t matter to the royal family, so whatever happens to you is of no consequence."

‘There’s nothing about her that’s cute.’

Sure, her dull, faded carrot-colored hair shone somewhat tolerably under the sunlight that day, and her green eyes, usually so stubborn, sparkled with enthusiasm when she grabbed the cookie. Her peach-like cheeks made him want to touch them at least once, but—

As he imagined Doris’s face in his mind, his heart began to beat faster.

It was like thinking of a scary story.

Tristan reached a quick conclusion.

‘The engagement’s been too long. Maybe now just imagining it is enough to make me sick.’

When their eyes met at the last party, his heart had pounded, and he definitely didn’t like it.

He hadn’t felt excited. He just didn’t want to get caught showing how restless he was, so he quickly turned his head.

‘Five years tied down. If I get teased by Alex about developing feelings for her, that’s the real end!’

For a better future.

Muttering to himself, Tristan poured the remaining brandy into his mouth.

***

Early April. The social season kicked off with the debutante ball, and people with money began holding parties to expand their networks in a competitive frenzy. For a lady, attending various parties was both an obligation and a privilege.

But for someone like me, who’s introverted and shy, it was just exhausting.

Once again, I turned to my aunt, who had appeared in a sharp gown.

"Aunt, the prince won't be attending this party, right? Is it okay for me to come out here alone, with my fiancé waiting for me?"

"Of course! If someone asks you for a dance, you should accept. The prince should hear that you're not the kind of person who lacks popularity!"

He doesn't care about that sort of thing!

And what if no one asks me to dance?

Before I could even voice this question, my self-esteem plummeting, my aunt sighed.

"And... just in case the prince finally decides to discard you, you should at least try to find a good man."

"..."

"Good luck."

Her words made my heart ache a little, but after finishing, she disappeared into her group of friends. Was she here to help me? Or was she just out here for fun, using me as an excuse?

Well, it’s a relief.

I headed straight for the dessert table.

Of course, I wasn’t just eating.

‘I can’t escape the social scene, so I might as well get used to it.’

The book on European history was... in the 920s section of the Dewey Decimal Classification. I recalled some of the content from the book, comparing it to this novel's setting.

At first, I should memorize the faces of the people here.

At the entrance, as guests arrived, the servant would announce each newcomer: "Lord and Lady So-and-So entering!"

Then, those who were close to the newcomers would step forward, while people with bad relationships would hide within the crowd.

Watching human interactions was pretty interesting.

By now, the dance songs had changed a couple of times, and the ladies who had just finished dancing giggled as they ran to the next table.

Soon, the gossip began.

"A man with no popularity is really troublesome! He asked if he could have the next dance just because she accepted one dance from him!"

"Oh my, how clueless. That’s basically like asking the lady, 'Are you so unpopular that you couldn’t even get a request for the next dance?'"

"Exactly! It was really bad, but not to the point where she couldn’t get any requests."

"Right. Plus, Maria isn’t here today, and neither is Natalie, right?"

Ah, familiar names. The beautiful heroine and her beautiful villainous sister.

I leaned in, curiosity piqued. It seemed they hadn’t noticed me listening, as they continued to chatter away.