CH 14

“Could it be that His Majesty, Yuri-sama, likes me?!”

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Margaery blushed and waited for an answer. Julius’s reaction, on the other hand, was terrible.

“…Huh?”

At first, he muttered absentmindedly, looking like a prince from a fairy tale—in fact, he was a member of the royal family, and even a king. His beautiful face, lost in thought, was quite a sight to behold.

He pondered for a while, looking up and then down. After much deliberation, he muttered again, “Huh?”

Perhaps he didn’t hear the question well. Margaery thought so and tried to repeat the same line again.

But as soon as she opened her mouth, Julius stopped her with one hand.

“Wait, huh? What?”

While pointing one hand at Margaery, he covered half of his face with the other and looked down. After a moment, he looked at Margaery with an incredulous expression.

“What was going on in your head? Why do you think I care so much about you?”

“Maybe because I’m the daughter of the Prime Minister of the Noel family, and you saw some value in me.”

“That’s ridiculous! Is that the only reason I would show myself like this?!”

Margaery froze at the line that made sense only because she had read the novel.

Come to think of it, it was true. If he hadn’t inherited the power of the first king, Julius had always thought of the Wolf King’s appearance as a kind of curse.

That’s why he had been hiding his ears and tail, even if it meant consuming some magic, and he never transformed in front of anyone close to him. It was abnormal for him to be showing his wolf form so easily, like in the garden the other day and now.

However, Margaery’s confusion didn’t subside.

Throwing away the mask of a “perfect lady,” Margaery confronted the king.

“S-so, but but but! Yuri-sama and I, we didn’t talk until that night, right?! We were just acquaintances, right?!”

“…At least we spent a night together.”

“That’s true, but?! Of course, it was important to me?! It was my first time, after all?!”

“W-what, it was my first time too!”

After shouting, Julius quickly covered his mouth in panic. But once the words were out, they couldn’t be taken back. Now it was Margaery’s turn to stare at Julius in disbelief.

He awkwardly lowered his ears and stubbornly turned away.

Margaery stared at him intently.

“H-His first time? Yuri-sama’s?”

“…”

“Even though he’s the king? Even though he’s so wonderful? Even though it’s rumored that princesses from various countries are constantly proposing to him?”

“Oh, yeah! It was my first time! Sorry about that!”

Finally, Julius gave up and got angry.

Ignoring Margaery, who muttered “Seriously?” unintentionally, he absentmindedly stroked his own tail. Then, as if giving up, he muttered to himself.

“…It was my first time sharing a bed with a woman like that. In the first place, I don’t have a hobby of bringing anyone to my bed except for the women I truly want to be with.”

“…”

‘What was that? It was cute.’ Unintentionally, her heart was pierced with a pang.

Upon closer inspection, Julius’s white skin had a slight redness to it. It couldn’t be seen because of his beastman style, but his ears were probably also tinged with red. When she thought that she was the one making him show such an expression, she couldn’t help but feel her heart beating faster.

Hesitantly, she reached out her hand. She lightly tapped his hand on the sofa, and Julius immediately placed his hand on top of hers.

His red eyes glanced over at her. There was a slight blush and a tinge of regret in his eyes. The latter was probably because he knew that Margaery didn’t remember anything from that night.

(To forget everything like that…)

Margaery’s grip on Julius’s hand tightened. She looked back into his eyes and took a deep breath.

(I feel so guilty for forgetting everything…)

Apart from the fluttering feeling in her chest, she also felt a nauseating sense of guilt.

He had feelings for her that went beyond that night. On the other hand, she was just a mess. She didn’t even remember how it happened, let alone the details. This was the worst.

However…

She took a deep breath. Inhale, exhale. Then Margaery looked at Julius.

She had made up her mind.

It was her fault that she had built a relationship with him, who was a death flag. It was also her fault that she had unintentionally charmed Julius.

Above all, she wasn’t so rotten as to push away someone who was directing their feelings towards her so honestly with, “Please ruin yourself alone because I don’t want to die.”

“I understand how you feel.”

As a lady of the Noel family, Margaery straightened her back and placed her other hand on top of Julius’s. When she enveloped him with both hands, his fingers twitched.

Looking straight at the king with deep, profound blue eyes like the ocean, Margaery spoke.

“However, I have a condition.”

“A condition?”

“I want Yuri-sama to become a king that everyone loves.”

When she said that, Julius furrowed his brow slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. Yuri-sama has too many enemies. Even if I marry him, I won’t be able to sleep at night because I’m afraid of being killed. To start, please reconcile with Serge-sama. If you can do that, I will consider accepting Yuri-sama’s proposal.”

“…Is that the only way you’ll consider it?”

Julius looked thoughtful. She thought he might get angry or shake his head immediately, but he seemed to be seriously considering it.

But then Julius let out his true feelings, as if they were spilling out of him.

“…It’s impossible. Serge probably doesn’t even want to talk to me.”

“In that case, let’s forget about this conversation. I’ll immediately ask my father to arrange a marriage proposal between some princess and His Majesty.”

When Margaery waved her hand with a smile, Julius fell silent. The king seemed to deeply understand that, as a daughter-loving prime minister, he might actually do it.

——Margaery wasn’t being mean when she suggested this. It was a serious proposal that she had thought about.

In the novel, Julius was lonely. He was in conflict with the queen and her followers, and the other vassals didn’t truly believe in him. He had no one he could call a friend, and he couldn’t connect with his sibling either. On top of that, his fiancée was a villain. That’s why he broke down.

If Julius wasn’t lonely, if he had reconciled with Serge earlier and could truly trust him, if he knew that he wasn’t alone, then things might have been different.

It may seem like a small mistake, but by pressing the right button, the future can be changed.

“Let’s call it the Beloved Plan of the Wolf King.”

Margaery declared with a strong voice and shining blue eyes. She would successfully avoid the destruction route and survive her school life. Her heart burned with the same passion as when she made a firm pledge three years ago.

She elegantly placed her hand on her chest and smiled like a true villainess.

“Don’t worry. I will train Yuri-sama so that everyone will love him!”