But Arthur’s words shattered me into despair.
“Thank you, Hina. But I can’t make you queen of this country… Actually, I don’t have the right to inherit the throne. Would you still choose me?”
No claim to the throne?
Arthur can’t become king?
Being the elder brother doesn’t mean he holds a higher position?
So Louis was the prince destined to be the next king?
“Why didn’t they tell me something so important sooner!”
Panic flooded Hina as she realized that if Maiko ended up with Louis, she would lose to Maiko yet again.
In desperation, Hina addressed the princes.
“I… I’m so sorry, Prince Arthur. While solving these problems, I’ve realized I want to contribute to this country as much as I can. I believe I could support this nation better as queen… I apologize, but I choose Prince Louis.”
But it was too late.
My excuses didn’t work on Prince Louis.
I had thought he was kind and had smiled at me so warmly. Surely he would accept me.
But instead, with a troubled smile, he said something unbelievable.
“Hm, it’s hard to accept being chosen like that… Also, I’m sorry, but I can’t make you queen either. I, too, don’t have the right to inherit the throne.”
“What… but you said you’d make me your wife…”
I couldn’t believe it.
Why were they telling me this now?
Were they not real princes?
Was their promise to make me a queen a lie?
In my confusion, Ellis, the so-called escort who had been standing nearby, stepped forward.
“Allow me to explain,” he began.
“Arthur is the sixth prince, and Louis is the seventh. In this kingdom, only the first prince—myself—holds the right to inherit the throne. I apologize for not disclosing my true identity earlier. I am the one responsible for the summoning and ensuring the problems were resolved. However, the matter of becoming the wife of one of these two was indeed true. Lady Hina, would you not choose either of them?”
Ellis wasn’t just an escort.
He was the first prince and the highest-ranking of them all.
He was the one I should have chosen from the start.
I spoke with all the sincerity I could muster.
“Yes. I… I choose Prince Ellis!”
“He’s the one I want to choose!”
He was the one who could make my dream come true.
But in my eagerness to choose Ellis, I had forgotten something important.
I had treated him as a mere guard.
—Of course I did. He had claimed to be an escort and hadn’t behaved in a way that hinted at his high status.
Because of that, I had underestimated him. I had seen him as a subordinate, someone far below me, and treated him accordingly.
“If he had just told me from the start, I would have respected him!”
Regret welled up, but it was too late.
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