I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 14: Having a bad time (2)

The words came out of Charlotte’s mouth without warning, and instantly the atmosphere around me became chaotic.

Amidst the uneasy air, I rolled my eyes and quickly assessed the situation.

“Oh, sorry, now that I think about it, you’re not trash, you’re Prince Alexandros.”

“…….”

“Oh, well, why do you have to be so confused? Take care next time.”

Charlotte’s irritation with Alex doesn’t stop at the first time.

No words were exchanged between the two of them, and the atmosphere was tense, as if a fight was about to break out.

It was Alex who broke the silence and spoke up again.

“…Yeah.”

It was a short word, sounding tired.

“I’m sorry for being an asshole. I’ll try to be more mindful next time.”

And then, without a word of apology in response to Charlotte’s accusation, an apology came out of Alex’s mouth.

“…Chet.”

Charlotte gave him a look that said something hadn’t gone as well as she’d intended, then covered her face with her fan and made a light tongue-clucking sound.

There were so many emotions bouncing around between the two of them at the same time, it was like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

“Oh, that’s right, Charlotte!”

I realized that this was going to continue if I left it like this, so I called out to Charlotte in a slightly louder voice on purpose as a diversion.

“What is it, Ariana?”

“Eh, what about Prince Aemon? Isn’t Charlotte supposed to be having dinner with Prince Eamon?”

It was Charlotte and Prince Eamon’s relationship that they tried to spend as much time as possible with each other while they were at the academy, since they were both busy and didn’t see each other very often.

I felt the worst thing was that they were constantly at odds, so I suggested a topic to Charlotte that would somehow bring them apart.

“Eamon told me he’s having a luncheon today with some of the newly admitted foreign student nobles, and while I’d be very sorry to miss it, I can’t interfere with his affairs.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, I remembered Arianna’s face, so I came to see if we could have a meal together.”

“I see….”

“Ariana’s been eating alone almost every day since she lost all of her followers and her fiancé, thanks to someone, right?”

“…….”

My attempt to change the subject was interrupted by Charlotte, who took another turn and attacked Alex.

…I guess nothing I could say would work in front of Charlotte.

“I did, and what happened was entirely my fault.”

“If you understand, why don’t you leave Ariana to me and go dine with the prince’s followers, there are plenty of people who would rather spend time with you than Ariana anyway?”

“No, I should be spending time with my fiancée, all the more so after the wrong I did to Ariana.”

“…….”

“I’m going to do everything in my power to help Ariana from now on, because standing still won’t solve anything.”

Charlotte’s face was once again obscured by her fan.

“…I realize in my bones the wrongs I have done to Ariana and that you, Charlotte, the one closest to her, naturally harbor ill feelings against me.

I know you’re probably asking what right I have to come back to her when I neglected and abandoned her instead of protecting her in her time of need, but she’s what I need, and I can’t replace her with anyone else.”

“…….”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I want you to watch how I treat her, for the love of God, and if there’s anything you don’t like about it, then I’ll stop making excuses and distance myself from her.”

The sash covering Charlotte’s face folded back up.

“Seven points.”

“…….”

“I’m not thrilled with it, but at least it’s a little better than the unanswered garbage from before.”

“You’re being generous with your assessment.”

“Don’t be too happy, the perfect score it’s 100.”

“…I guess.”

“Well, it was a negative score before, so the increase is not that high.”

The skill of squeezing and releasing Alex to say a single word was excellent. Even me, who is beside me, feels like my heart is bursting and shrinking repeatedly.

“So, are you going to give Ariana to me for mealtime today?”

“…Well, I’ll allow her to eat.”

“Thank you. Ariana, the meal the chef has prepared will be cooling down, so….”

“But, I never said I’d let you two have some alone time.”

“…….”

Charlotte crossed her lower arms and opened her mouth as if to inform Alex.

“You asked me to watch how Prince Alexandros treats Ariana, didn’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll join you for the meal, because I’d like to see how good the prince is with Ariana, too.”

Looks like the uneasy times aren’t over yet.

* * *

The three of us sat down at the round table, and somehow, just barely, the meal began.

I say we were seated, but the three of us were spaced a little too far apart to be called evenly spaced.

Alex and I were almost next to each other, and Charlotte was sitting on the other side of the table, watching the two of us as if she were observing us.

I guess that’s what happens when someone else joins your fiancé at the dinner table, though I’m a little embarrassed that Charlotte is still watching.

“Ariana, open your mouth.”

“I, I’ll feed myself, Alex.”

“Don’t be sad, you used to do this all the time.”

“Well, well, well, but Charlotte’s watching now!”

“When have you ever seen me care what anyone thinks of me?”

“Well, well, well, you’re right, you’re right!

Please consider my feelings of not knowing how to react to an overwhelming display of affection that I can’t imagine ever cooling off!

…Not that I hate it or anything.

“Ah, ah….”

As I swallowed my embarrassment and opened my mouth to speak to Alex, a forkful of dried oil pasta slid into my mouth.

It’s definitely delicious, coming from a royal chef, and the noodles were cooked to my favorite al dente style, with the flavors of the sauce and garlic really permeating the noodles.

Considering that most young people don’t like garlic because of the smell, this dish was made entirely for me.

“Now, open your mouth again.”

“Aaah….”

Alex, who hadn’t even eaten himself, just watching me eat, quickly brought the next bite in front of me, matching the pace at which the contents of my mouth were disappearing.

The bite-sized garlic baguette was a fantastic combination of sweet and salty.

“…I used to be able to look at something like this and just smile.”

Charlotte, who had been watching me and Alex eat wordlessly, spoke up.

“I guess I can only look at you with suspicion now, because I’m afraid that one minute you’ll pretend to be friendly with Ariana and the next you’ll abandon my best friend for another woman like you did last time.”

“Rest assured, that will never happen.”

“Well, you can’t say anything.”

With that, Charlotte gracefully popped the contents of the lunchbox she had packed into her mouth.

There were enough ingredients to make a meal for her if she wanted to, but Charlotte had rejected Alex’s offer with a bang.

With an expression that still left a lingering, blatant suspicion of what Alex might have done to the food she was serving her.

“Ariana, do it.”

Of course, it’s admirable that Alex doesn’t give in to Charlotte’s stares and continues to show his affection.

In the end, the silverware never touched my hand during the entire meal. I mean, not once.

* * *

After a stormy meal, it was time to part ways with Alex again.

“I’m sorry, Ariana. I’ve got a meeting with the new students this afternoon that I can’t miss, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave you with just the meal today. I would have loved to stay for the tea party afterward if possible, but….”

“…Uh, whatever, I’m sure Alex is much busier than I am.”

I replied, trying my best to avoid Alex’s gaze, unable to look up from the embarrassment that washed over me as soon as the meal was over.

…Which is honestly a good thing, because if this had continued into the tea party afterward, I don’t think I would have gotten anything done today in the heat of the moment.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ariana.”

“Yeah, yeah….Bye….”

I waved at Alex as he walked away, watching him until he disappeared down the hall.

…You’re not going to do this tomorrow at mealtime, are you? I really don’t think I’m going to make it through at this rate.

“Ariana, we should probably get going, too, so we can get back to our plans.”

“Is it okay that we somehow ended up taking a little longer than planned, and did it affect Charlotte’s schedule?”

“I knew this would happen, so I purposely scheduled the appointment with a little extra time.”

As it turns out, there’s no replacing Charlotte when it comes to being prepared.

“I just need you to do what I told you last time, Ariana’s first impression is important to the new students.”

“Yeah. You said I just need to be as cultured as possible in front of them.”

“That’s right.”

With a soft smile, Charlotte and I walked to the tea party set up in the Academy gardens.

It was a rather uneasy tea party, with Miss Sierra’s entourage in attendance.