Ch.296Chapter 296 – We Need to Come Up with a Plan Quickly!

The sound of birds chirping in my ear and warm sunlight coming through the window.

“Damn it.”

Unlike the peaceful scenery outside, my mind is chaos itself.

I thought my head would clear up a bit after sleeping, but no such luck.

The question “Where did it all go wrong?” still wouldn’t leave my mind.

‘What was the problem? It was a perfect plan…’

No matter how many times I went over the plan, I couldn’t figure out where it had gone wrong.

The plan itself was extracted from the essence of countless people’s experiences.

Therefore, the failure of this plan meant only one thing.

‘Lack of information about the target.’

When I made this plan, I had assumed that Princess Karen had ‘no romantic interest in me.’

The reason was that ‘the points of contact between Princess Karen and me were extremely limited.’

I had met Princess Karen only twice: at the National Foundation Day banquet and at the princess’s invitation banquet.

Come on, how could someone develop feelings after meeting just twice?

There’s an old saying that “even brushing sleeves creates a connection,” but the “sleeve” here refers to the part of clothing that extends from the nape to the chest.

In other words, for sleeves to brush, people would have to embrace or be embraced by someone.

At that point, they’re practically lovers even without saying it!

But Princess Karen and I don’t have that kind of connection.

No, really! I’ve only met Princess Karen twice! Well, three times counting this time.

But the princess and I have only met; we don’t have the kind of connection where our sleeves would brush.

In other words, Princess Karen must have developed feelings for me due to some trigger.

‘But I have no idea what that “something” might be.’

Stay calm. I need to handle this situation calmly and carefully.

First, I need to deal with the most important thing.

I took out a communication crystal from my pocket and requested a connection with Sister Regina.

[Pathos~ Did you enjoy the New Year’s banquet? I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you.]

Phew… hearing Sister Regina’s voice helps ease my tension a bit.

“Sister, there’s been a bit of an incident. Can we talk about it?”

[An incident? Did someone pick a fight with you? Should I drop a meteor on their house?]

Sister, if you did that, we’d all be branded as traitors and arrested. Or the Empire might collapse.

I explained to Sister Regina everything that had happened.

Meeting Princess Karen at the New Year’s banquet, the Crown Prince asking me to seriously meet with Karen, and how I had devised a plan to distance myself from Princess Karen but failed.

“And now she’s sending people to arrange time for us to meet alone.”

[Really? I didn’t expect Princess Karen to react that way…]

Sister Regina’s voice revealed her considerable surprise at this unexpected situation.

“I don’t understand either. I’ve only met Princess Karen at those two banquets, so why would she develop feelings for me?”

[Hmm, I’ll need to investigate this. For now, don’t create any bad blood with Princess Karen. Can you just deal with her appropriately?]

“Do you have some kind of plan?”

[We need to make Princess Karen lose interest naturally. Momentary emotions tend to fade with time. If she meets you and finds that the real you is different from what she imagined, wouldn’t she lose interest and easily end the relationship?]

“That makes sense.”

Indeed, there are many cases where people fall in love, but once they become a couple, they break up after seeing flaws that weren’t apparent before.

I could only hope Princess Karen would be that kind of person.

I’d prefer if Princess Karen would keep her distance rather than cling to me.

She treats me as a princess, and I treat her as a princess. That’s the extent of our relationship that I’m comfortable with.

Emotionally, I can only handle up to three people. Beyond that, my capacity is too limited.

The two people already connected to me can’t be helped, so I plan to give my all to them.

But what about those who come after? My time and effort are limited, and I’m not amazing enough to satisfy everyone.

So, forming connections only with the number of people I can focus on is good for both me and them.

“I’ll try my best. To make Princess Karen lose interest in me.”

[Alright. But don’t be disheartened if you fail. Even if things don’t go as planned, I’ll turn a blind eye if you add one more person.]

“What should we tell Cheon Hyeryeong?”

Sister Regina is considering the worst-case scenario, but I’m not sure how Cheon Hyeryeong would take this.

[With her personality, wouldn’t she be pleased? She’d probably say her man is so charming that he even seduced an imperial princess.]

“Hmm.”

With Cheon Hyeryeong’s personality, that’s likely true. She might even be pleased, saying it’s satisfying that her future husband is attractive enough to charm even an imperial princess.

“Alright then. I’ll stay in the capital for a while and do my best to make the princess lose interest in me.”

[Good. I’ll come to the capital as soon as I finish things here. Make sure to eat well and get plenty of rest, okay?]

“Yes, Sister. See you later.”

After ending the communication with Sister Regina, I put the crystal back in my pocket.

While Sister Regina is considering the worst-case scenario, I also find Princess Karen a bit burdensome.

You ask if the Archmage and the Heavenly Horse aren’t burdensome? Those two have been with me for at least a year, so they’re practically family now.

We’re not quite at the level where we wouldn’t be embarrassed seeing each other naked, but we’re comfortable enough to be around each other in light clothing.

But Princess Karen is different. To me, she’s a “stranger.”

If I had met her first instead of Sister Regina or Cheon Hyeryeong and built a connection, who knows?

Maybe Princess Karen would be by my side now instead of Sister Regina and Cheon Hyeryeong?

Hmm, come to think of it, the first person I met in this world was actually Epitrina, wasn’t it? Well, she’s a goddess, not a person.

“Hmmmm.”

But how can I make Princess Karen lose interest in me?

After pondering for a while, I came up with an idea.

Having grown up as a princess, Karen probably takes it for granted that others speak to her with honorifics.

So, what if I attack that aspect?

‘Karen would dislike someone of lower status addressing her casually by her name.’

In fact, she once snapped at a young nobleman who didn’t show her proper respect.

So then…

‘When I meet Princess Karen, I’ll address her very intimately by her name, treating her as Karen the person, not the princess.’

Then, out of pride as a princess, she wouldn’t allow it, and if I keep trying, she’ll become serious and push me away, right?

‘How insolent. Are you daring to trifle with me? It seems I was mistaken about you.’

Yes, this time I won’t fail. I’ve made this plan based on Princess Karen’s background, so it shouldn’t fail.

But a corner of my heart feels uneasy. What if even this fails?

‘If this fails too, should I just accept it as fate?’

All I can do is try a plan that I believe has the highest chance of success.

I don’t know. A way to gather information about Princess Karen… wait, there is one!

‘That’s right, the Black Feather!’

It’s been so long since I met them that I’d almost forgotten.

I took out my crystal and contacted Justin, an old connection of the Black Feather.

“Mr. Justin. It’s been a while.”

[Marquis Severio. It’s been a long time since you contacted me. What can I do for you?]

“Could you send information about Princess Karen to where I’m staying?”

[Of course. I’ll have someone deliver it to you this evening.]

Oh, as expected of Mr. Justin. He’ll have someone deliver it this evening, so I can adjust my plan based on that.

So I stayed at my lodging, waiting for the person Mr. Justin would send.

How long did I wait? Finally, evening came, and there was a knock at the door even though I hadn’t ordered room service.

“Who is it?”

“I was sent by Mr. Justin.”

Hearing the mention of Justin’s name, I opened the door to find a person concealing their identity with a black mask and hood.

“Here’s the information Mr. Justin asked me to deliver. Please continue to use our Black Feather services in the future…”

With those words, the person disappeared like smoke. I closed the door after watching them vanish.

In my hands was information about Princess Karen.

Using this, I must ensure that she loses interest in me.