Chapter 172 - The Negotiation

At that point, I smiled and spoke to him, “Everyone starts out as a pawn. Then you become something else when you reach the end. Don’t worry too much. If you’re a pawn, then you can reach the destination to power up your ability, and if you’re something else, then you just have to do your job.”

The heaviness from my back disappeared, probably because Rey held his head back up at my answer. Then I heard a calm voice.

“Yeah, I got it. I’ll keep that in mind.”

At that, I spoke to him teasingly, “And don’t be too cold to Beth! Confidence is what draws women, alright?”

“It’s not confidence. I’m just worried that I would get in her way with her nobility. Didn’t you become all squeamish even when you like His Highness?”

My face blushed as he pointed that out. Ah, it’s a relief that he’s behind me. If he was right across, he would’ve seen my face blushing red. “I don’t like anyone!” I answered, trying my best to stay calm, and I heard Rey laughing.

“You were always bad at hiding your feelings once you liked someone. I can see it in your eyes.”

Do I? I have to admit that I do. I always become so soft towards a person I like.

“Yeah, you were like that when you told me you fell for Kyles. Your eyes revealed those feelings.”

I was about to become angry at Rey for bringing up the story of my ex-fiancé when he continued on. “But this time it’s different from Kyles. Honestly, the way you looked at him doesn’t feel much different from how you looked at me or Chelleno. It was an eye of friendship, no matter how I interpreted it. So I was confused, if you really liked him at all. But you’re different when you look at His Highness.”

It seemed my knight who had grown up together knew about me as much as I knew him. But… “Is it okay to have these feelings?”

At my question, Rey hesitated a bit before he answered it. “I knew about Beatrice long before you did. That’s why I kept my distance from her while I questioned myself. Was it really okay for me, a mere knight of a noble family, to dare have these feelings towards the Princess of the Grand Duke? But you can’t control your own feelings. Honestly, it’s not like our feelings are a bad thing. It’s just the noble hierarchy that’s getting in our way…”

I sympathized with his words and became depressed, when I saw a familiar sight. I also saw a familiar face on the horse as well.

“But Rey, you and I are different.” Yes, he is different from me. He is…

“REYAN!”

A familiar voice called Rey’s name. As I stopped my horse, Rey immediately jumped down from the horse. Then, to his embrace with a look of disbelief, his loving woman jumped in.

“You fool! I was worried to death about you!”

My snobbish friend in tears made even Rey become quite shocked that he couldn’t find what to do with his open arms. That’s when Beth ordered him angrily, “What are you doing?! Are you just going to watch while I cry? Come on and hug me!”

At that point, Rey hesitantly wrapped his arms around her back, and Beth pushed her face into his embrace. “I was just… I hated you for hating me. I hated my own nobility because you put some distance from me just because I was a princess! So I tried to forget about being a coward like you and find someone else. But I couldn’t forget you. I couldn’t, because there’s no one around who’s as good as you!”