Chapter 97: Practice

It was an ordinary bakery.

A modest, yet charming bakery that could be found anywhere.

Since it was well past lunchtime, the scent of freshly baked bread had long since dissipated, but the characteristic nutty aroma still lingered in the air.

“Bread! Breaaad!”

“…What are you so excited about?”

Isaac followed Sharen as she entered the bakery with quick, light steps.

Given her fondness for snacks and cookies, he could guess that she also liked bread, but…

He wondered if it was something that she liked this much.

Well, it could be that she’s just happy to be out after being cooped up in the palace for so long.

I haven’t been able to look after her lately, have I?

Indeed, he had been so focused on Clarisse and Raphael to the point that he hadn’t had time to pay attention to Sharen.

The fact that Sharen didn’t have much role to play in this operation didn’t help either.

She was just there as a Helmont. Maybe.

“Welcome.”

When they entered, the woman manning the bakery counter greeted them with a smile.

According to Heyrad’s investigation, this woman, Del, ran the bakery with her parents.

“Bread, bread.”

…Interesting.

As he calmly looked around at the bread selection, Isaac pondered.

He had heard of how beautiful she was and sure enough, for a woman running a small bakery, her beauty could be considered excessive.

But if one were to say that she had the kind of beauty that would make a prince fall in love at first sight, then it wasn’t it.

She’d need to be at least on Rianna’s level for that.

He was aware that his standards of beauty were excessively high, but he didn’t care.

Great men rule countries, and beautiful women rule such great men, that was what he believed.

So, he wondered if this woman was truly worth giving up a kingdom for.

Well, whatever romantic narrative existed between them, for now, what he had to do was to pick up some bread.

“I want this too.”

Sharen quickly put what she wanted to eat into the basket.

“There isn’t much variety here…”

Hearing that, Del approached Sharen, who looked disappointed, with a gentle smile.

“I’m sorry, Miss. Most of the bread has already sold out.”

“Oh? Shall we come again tomorrow then, Isaac?”

“Sure.”

Isaac nodded calmly.

Thanks to Sharen, they had a good reason to come back tomorrow. As he was about to pay for the bread…

“Excuse me, Sir?”

Del called out to him with a somewhat dark expression.

“You’re from the royal palace, aren’t you?”

“…Is it that obvious?”

He had tried to dress in a way that was similar to his commoner days and give out a similar atmosphere, but…

“I heard that a princess from the Albion Kingdom has arrived. Since I’ve never seen you around here before… I thought you might be from the palace.”

The prince must have told her quite a bit.

She’s also quite perceptive in her own right, though.

He had suspected that she wasn’t an ordinary woman from the fact that she managed to seduce the prince, but from this, he found out that she could be considered as halfway through extraordinary.

“Since I’ve been found out, I’ll be honest. I’m Baron Logan. I’ve come to see you as the princess’ escort knight.”

“What? Aren’t we here to buy bread?”

Hearing his words, it was Sharen who stared at him in surprise.

Immediately, Isaac stuffed one of the breads he had bought into her mouth, and she chewed it while rolling her eyes.

I need to be careful with my words.

He had to assume that everything said here would reach Prince Raphael’s ears.

Right now, Raphael believed that Isaac was acting under Princess Adeline’s orders to ensure the marriage went through.

So he needed to speak accordingly.

“Do you really think your relationship with Prince Raphael is going to work out?”

He said in a cold voice.

Del flinched, her head slowly dropping.

“Your actions are threatening the kingdom. Prince Raphael needs to be clear about his role.”

“…”

“You might find my words cruel, but it can’t be helped. I know love isn’t something you can control, but—“

Actually, it wasn’t just cold, but also cruel.

But that was the image that he needed to build here.

“Your love is a sin.”

Hearing his declaration, Del’s eyes trembled.

“Ugh…”

She began to cry.

Tears like pearls rolled down her cheeks in drops.

Isaac stared at her calmly. He felt sorry for making her cry, but this was a necessary—

Gulp.

“Ah, ah! Isaac made a woman cry!”

“…”

He stuffed another piece of bread into Sharen’s mouth.

“Isaac made a woman cryyy—mmph!”

Behind the shop.

After receiving glares from Del’s parents, Isaac was waiting for her to calm down at the back door.

“Feeling better now?”

One thing to note.

Isaac was weak against crying women.

Partly because Rianna never really cried.

For a good while anyway.

He remembered that she cried quite often during the divorce proceedings.

That was the first time he found out that Rianna would cry so easily.

“Y-Yes… I’m sorry, sniff!”

He turned his head to look at Sharen.

Munch, munch.

He had deliberately given her a large piece of bread, and she was eating it while glaring at him.

As if to say that she was gonna watch how he’d handle this.

I shouldn’t have brought her.

After giving Sharen, who had suddenly turned into his opponent, a reproachful look, he spoke to Del again.

“Haa… Miss Del, I know my words were cruel, but this is also for your own sake.”

“…”

Del, now a bit calmer…

Took a deep breath and listened attentively to his words.

“I’ve gone through a similar experience as yours. I believed that love could help us get through all kinds of obstacles no matter what. But then I realized that we need to look at things realistically at some point.”

“A similar experience?”

Her eyes, perhaps because of the tears, seemed to sparkle especially brightly.

After pondering for a moment, Isaac spoke as if he had made up his mind.

“I’m of common birth. Though I’m a baron now, I was originally a ferryman who rowed boats across the river.”

“A ferryman…”

“And just like you, I fell in love with someone I shouldn’t have reached for.”

“…”

“I know how it feels. Love comes at the most unexpected moments and shakes you. No matter how much you try to control your hearts, you can’t help being swayed by that poignant emotion.”

“…”

“When she’s not there, I think only of her. When she is, I look forward to the next time we’ll meet. I won’t deny that I became greedy.”

“…”

“But now we’re divorced. It’s too late to figure out where things went wrong—“

In the end…

“We had no choice but to cut the thread.”

Isaac continued, his tone was filled with his sincerity.

“Love alone doesn’t solve everything. At some point, the wall of reality will block your path.”

“…”

“Don’t become someone like me.”

After saying this, Isaac patted her shoulder and then turned away.

Saying they would overcome everything with love alone.

Seeing her challenging stance reminded him so much of his past self.

And that was why, he couldn’t bear to look at her any longer.

That night, inside the princess’ room.

Everyone had gathered.

Clarisse was glaring at Isaac with her arms crossed.

“I received a report.”

Heyrad and the Grandmaster tilted their heads, looking at Isaac.

But he had no idea what she was on about.

“I heard that the worst and craziest operation in human history is underway. You’re planning to seduce and steal lovers from both sides.”

“Ah, that…”

“Sir Isaac.”

Seeing the Grandmaster and Heyrad sighing at the same time, Isaac blinked several times.

It took a few seconds for him to realize that their sighs were directed at him.

Flustered, he stood up abruptly.

“What are you talking about?! That’s not true! At all!”

“But, Sharen told me…”

Suddenly, Clarisse raised both hands to part her hair into two sides.

She was probably trying to imitate Sharen’s pigtails.

“’So, Isaac went to this woman called Del and made her cry! He gave her this intense stare and even talked about his past!’ She said.”

“Oh, that’s a good impression of her!”

“…She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t seduce her.”

“Nah, the moment you gave her an intense gaze, you already did. So, you did that, did you?”

The Grandmaster immediately nodded.

“…I did.”

Heyrad added while scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

“It’s the same as us men when a beautiful woman gives us a flirtatious look, giving such a gaze at a woman would make their heart flutter.”

“…Look, we don’t have time for this nonsense.”

That was when Isaac realized that they were making fun of him, so he let out a sigh. Clarisse just chuckled before letting her hair down.

“Anyway, today’s operation was a complete success! So, I figured that we should keep the mood light among us!”

The garden outing had been truly excellent. Thanks to it, her distance with Prince Raphael had become much closer.

Clarisse raised her hand in a ‘V’ sign.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to the Brentarion Exhibition Hall. Is there anything I should know?”

Clarisse struck a cute pose, sticking out her bottom and leaning forward.

She had been trying to naturally incorporate such cute gestures into her usual behavior so that she could seduce Prince Raphael easier.

“Trying to create something ‘natural’, huh? Interesting.”

Noticing that, the Grandmaster muttered in wonder.

Isaac, seeing Clarisse’s efforts, began to talk about tomorrow with a satisfied smile.

“You don’t need to worry about the history or authenticity of the Brentarion Kingdom, Princess. That’s something you know well already, no?”

“Oh, of course.”

“But some preparation might be necessary. I heard that there’s a painting called ‘The Vase of Remelon’ that creates an optical illusion.”

“I know. It’s a painting by Saint Polute where the view changes depending on whether you look at it from the left or right, right?”

“We’ll use that.”

With that, their practice began.

They divided up the roles.

Heyrad would play as Baron Logan, glaring at them from behind.

Clarisse would play as herself.

Isaac would play as Raphael.

And lastly, the Grandmaster would play as the painting.

“Is a role for the painting really necessary?”

Sitting in a chair, the Grandmaster asked.

But, they ignored her and started their practice immediately.

“Wow! Look at this! I heard that this painting would have a different look when you view it from the left!”

As discussed before, Clarisse deliberately positioned herself on the right. Then, she moved to the side in a hurry to see the painting’s so-called ‘optical illusion’. At the same time, she’d be creating a situation where she’d fall into Raphael’s arms.

Thump!

And so, she let herself fall into Isaac’s arms.

She looked up at him and swallowed hard.

Isaac, holding her, clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Your acting was too obvious. It felt like you’re going to fall into his arms on purpose from the start.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes. It’ll probably be better if you just stumble to the side, then expect him to catch you.”

“Hmm.”

Isaac slowly let go of Clarisse.

“Still, your shy expression was excellent. Your facial acting is improving day by day.”

As he gave her a thumbs up with a smile, Clarisse shrugged and replied.

“Well, that’s just me being me!”