In the Kingdom of Catalonia, which values freedom, there is no such thing as a "royal arranged marriage system."
Typically, royal marriages are arranged in childhood for political reasons, and unless something extraordinary happens, they are carried out as planned. However, in the Kingdom of Catalonia, the royal family members choose their own partners and announce them along with their future close associates at the graduation ceremony of the Royal High Academy.
This system, which allows one to choose a partner they have personally fallen for, is highly envied by royals from other countries. It is also very well regarded by the royal family within the kingdom, but there is one person who finds this system burdensome.
That person is the Crown Prince of Catalonia, Cyril Catalonia.
With his blond hair, blue eyes, tall and handsome appearance, and excellent academic performance, Cyril is seen as a promising future king. Surrounding him, like bees to honey, are the daughters and sons of high-ranking nobles, their eyes gleaming with ambition as they vie for the position of queen or close associate. As a result, Cyril’s school life has become quite restless.
His school day begins with his arrival in a carriage.
When the carriage carrying Cyril arrives at the school gates, a large number of noble daughters and sons are already lined up.
"Good day, Prince Cyril. Your attire today is also wonderful."
"Good morning! Let me carry your luggage."
"Hey, you carried his luggage yesterday. Today it's my turn."
"Wait a minute. You're standing too close to His Highness. Step back!"
As Cyril steps down from the carriage, he is surrounded by the noble daughters and sons, each greeting him or trying to one-up each other. All of them have eyes that gleam in a way that is out of place for a fresh morning, and they wear forced smiles.
In any other country, this kind of proximity to royalty would be seen as disrespectful and could be reprimanded. However, this is the freedom-valuing Kingdom of Catalonia, where discrimination based on status within the academy is strictly forbidden.
As a result, every morning Cyril is forced to move through a crowd of students with a strained smile, making it difficult even to enter his classroom. During breaks, he is surrounded by noble sons, and during lunch, by noble daughters, leaving him with no time to rest either his mind or his facial muscles.
Even after classes, when Cyril, who is also the student council president, walks down the hallway to the student council room, he is surrounded by high-ranking nobles waiting in ambush.
"I've heard that you like art, Prince Cyril. Please do visit our home during the next break."
"Would you join our policy research group next time? I'd love to hear your thoughts."
Surrounded by these nobles, he can hardly move forward.
Eventually, he entrusts the situation to his childhood friends—Samuel, the son of the Prime Minister, and Carlos, the son of the Commander of the Knights—and somehow manages to slip into the student council room, already exhausted.
That day, Duke, the third prince, who happened to be visiting the student council room, looked at Cyril with sympathy.
"I've heard the rumors, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. You have a hard time, don’t you, brother?"
Duke is a first-year student, two years younger than Cyril. With bright brown eyes and hair, and an intelligent, well-proportioned face, he is third in line to the throne, following the second prince, who is studying abroad. From a young age, Duke has loved books and academics, and is considered more promising as a scholar than as a ruler.
Rosemaria, their cousin and the student council secretary, who had brought tea for the two, also looked at Cyril with pity.
"Every day must be tough for a promising and handsome young man."
"You’re as unladylike as ever, Rose."
At Duke’s words, Rosemaria narrowed her emerald green eyes and laughed merrily, her beautiful golden hair swaying.
"It’s fine. It’s just Cyril and Duke here."
"I’d love to let the boys who worship you as a refined young lady hear what you just said."
As usual, Duke and Rosemaria exchanged light-hearted banter. Normally, Cyril would join in, and the three childhood friends would enjoy a casual conversation together, but today, an exhausted Cyril could only watch them.
Noticing Cyril’s fatigue, Rosemaria left early, and once she was gone, Duke spoke in a low voice.
“By the way, brother, have you heard about the Crown Prince of the neighboring kingdom?”
“Oh, the one who’s supposedly caught up in a romance with someone of lower status?”
“Yes. Apparently, the prince is talking about ‘true love’ and causing quite a stir.”
* * *
Currently, what’s being quietly discussed among those in the know is the story of the Crown Prince of the neighboring kingdom. He seems to be infatuated with the daughter of a local baron, neglecting his childhood fiancée, the daughter of a marquis, and even talking about breaking off the engagement.
Duke shrugged, as if to say, “What can you do?”
“He’s always been a bit of a dreamer, but it seems like this time it’s taken a turn for the worse. Even though those around him are reprimanding him, he’s reportedly saying things like, ‘I’ve found my true love, so it can’t be helped.’”
A fiancée chosen in childhood holds great political significance. Ignoring that and becoming infatuated with the daughter of a baron is the height of foolishness. It’s not what a future king should be doing.
Cyril knew this all too well, but in his exhausted state, he couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.
“‘True love,’ huh… How enviable.”
“…What?”
Startled, Duke nearly dropped his teacup.
“Brother? What’s gotten into you?”
It was a statement that seemed out of character for the usually calm and practical Cyril. Seeing Duke’s wide-eyed surprise, Cyril gave a wry smile.
“Do you think the young lady you’ve been getting along with lately would stay by your side if she found out you wouldn’t become king?”
Blinking in surprise at the sudden question, Duke thought of his love interest, the book-loving daughter of an earl.
“…No, I don’t think she would leave. I’ve talked to her about it before, and she said it didn’t matter to her.”
“How enviable,” Cyril murmured.
“Most likely, the moment the young ladies around me realize I won’t become king, they’ll leave. What they’re interested in is my status and the queen’s throne, not me as a person.”
Surrounded by women with gleaming eyes, all vying to become queen, Cyril was feeling utterly weary. Far from being able to choose a partner, he was beginning to develop a distrust of women. He’d lost count of how many times he thought it would be better if he had a predetermined fiancée with whom he could calmly cultivate love.
To Cyril, the neighboring prince’s ‘true love’ seemed blindingly radiant. A ‘true love’ worth choosing even if it meant abandoning one’s title and backing—how enviable
An idea suddenly came to Duke’s mind—a bold and unexpected plan that, if successful, could completely resolve Cyril’s troubles.
With a sly smile, he said, "Brother, I have a plan. If it works, you might just find this ‘true love’ you’ve been talking about."
* * *
About a month later, just before the academy's long vacation, a rumor began circulating among the nobility.
"They say the king is reconsidering the selection of the next crown prince."
The source of the rumor was a group of male students at the academy who claimed to have overheard Prince Cyril and Prince Duke discussing it in an empty classroom.
At first, the nobles who heard this rumor all reacted with the same slight smile. Cyril was not only the first prince but also highly accomplished. It was a given that he would be the next king.
However, a few days later, Duke won the top prize at an international research competition. The king was overjoyed and praised Duke lavishly, declaring that the future was an era of knowledge.
The unprecedented level of praise made the nobles uneasy. Could it be that the king was starting to think that the highly intelligent Duke was more suited to be the next king?
The rumor that the selection of the next crown prince was being reconsidered quickly grew, gaining more and more credibility.
When the prime minister, concerned about the spreading rumors, asked the king directly, the king neither confirmed nor denied it, saying only, "The next crown prince will be the one who brings the greatest benefit to the kingdom."
Hearing this, the nobles were thrown into a panic.
The fact that the king, who usually clearly states what is true or false, did not deny the rumor meant it must be true. Surely, the next crown prince would be Duke. They had been desperately trying to curry favor with Cyril, believing he would be the next king, but now they needed to shift their attention to Duke as quickly as possible.
* * *
By the way, this rumor was completely fabricated by Duke and Cyril.
Duke’s suggestion to Cyril had been, "Let’s spread a rumor that the king is reconsidering the selection of the next crown prince, making people think that you might not be the one."
In other words, the idea was to see if what remained after Cyril supposedly lost his position would be ‘true love.’
When Cyril first heard this plan, he hesitated. Sure, he was interested in ‘true love,’ but deceiving the nobles to get it seemed excessive and over the top.
However, to his surprise, their father, the king, was all for Duke’s outrageous plan. When Duke consulted the king about it, the king slapped his knee and burst out laughing.
"At most, they’ll be deceived for a couple of months. Whether they believe the rumor or not is up to the nobles. How they act on it is their choice. It’s absolutely fascinating. Go ahead and do it—I’ll take responsibility."
The king then played his part, adopting a suggestive attitude and giving a silent response to the prime minister’s inquiry about the selection of the next crown prince, further fueling the rumor.
Thanks to this, the false information spread like wildfire, misleading the nobles.
And just like that, the holiday break came to an end.
* * *
On the first day back after the break, Cyril was riding in a carriage on his way to the academy. Sitting quietly in the seat across from him was Samuel, who had come to escort him. Carlos, on the other hand, was absent due to illness.
As Cyril gazed out the window, he wondered what the scene would be like today. Before the break, there had been a large crowd of high-ranking noble sons and daughters waiting to greet him at the gate. What would it be like today?
The carriage arrived at the school gate, and Cyril, feeling a bit nervous, stepped out.
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