“When will the Nox train station be completed?””
Cynthia asked Masera, tearing off a piece of cotton candy she had bought on the street.
“If all goes well, around the time of the White Nights, when the sun shines all day long.”
“Early summer? That’s fast. I need to prepare to receive the immigrants in advance. I want to go see it once before then.”
Masera was bothered by the wistful expression on Cynthia’s face as she turned her head. He wondered why she was making that face.
“We’ll go after the harshest part of winter passes.”
Even with his suggestion, she still gazed at the snowflakes falling slowly like flower petals, lost in thought.
“After the harshest part of winter passes, we’ll just have a less cold winter pretending to be spring, though…”
Masera looked at her with a serious expression.
She was actually feeling a little sad because instead of a spring festival full of flowers, there were only ice fishing festivals and ice-breaking competitions.
Masera said,
“Then we can go see spring in another country.”
“Oh? There’s an idea.”
Cynthia’s expression finally brightened.
Cynthia looked at Eugene, who was eating cotton candy with an expressionless face.
“Eugene, let’s go find spring later.”
“I’ve already seen it. When my nose itches and I sneeze repeatedly, that’s spring.”
“Isn’t that just a pollen allergy?”
Masera listened to the voices of the two people chatting and looked up at the slightly darkened sky.
The snow that had been pouring down enough to obscure his vision had become as light as feathers, and the weather was milder than before.
It looked like the snow was about to stop for the first time in a while.
* * *
Back in his residence, Masera was lost in thought for a long time.
‘How did it come to this?’
He couldn’t understand why he kept thinking about Cynthia. It was as if he had slowly become dyed without even realizing it.
Looking back, he wasn’t that special to Cynthia.
She was equally kind to everyone, only making the other person mistakenly believe they were special.
‘From the start, I haven’t done anything she would like.’
In particular, hadn’t he firmly stated that their marriage was just a transaction?
The doctor said that the fact that it was a country with four seasons of cold and long nights could also affect his mind.
Maybe she would suddenly leave to find a warm spring instead of this place where the dreary winter repeats.
‘Could it be that she helped the work proceed smoothly because she wanted to leave me quickly? Could it be that she was planning to leave, pretending to be dead with a suicide note…….’
How hard was it for her to be by my side?
“Now that we seem to have achieved each other’s goals, I suppose it’s okay to leave without regret?”
Imagining this, Masera quickly shook his head.
“That won’t do.”
Other bastards greedy for royal blood would rush in to remarry her.
From the beginning, wasn’t the biggest purpose of this marriage to prevent the restoration of the monarchy?
He tried to think as rationally as possible, but the scene of men handing Cynthia bouquets and rings and proposing to her flashed vividly in his mind.
Even if his feelings for her were uncertain, he couldn’t bear to see that.
‘……I have no choice but to forcibly hold her by my side, using every means possible.’
Still, wouldn’t it be better for both of us if she liked me rather than hated me?
He immediately went to his adjutants to ask for advice.
“What’s a way to make a woman happy?”
Everyone was startled and froze at his unconventional question, as he had been indifferent to women in the past.
“Are you talking about the Princess?”
Masera nodded.
He had heard the shocking news that he had been walking around the streets with baby’s breath flowers before, but to think he was paying this much attention.
Captain Declan, who usually disliked Cynthia, had a dumbfounded expression.
On the other hand, the rest of them thought of her favorably.
‘She’s kind and friendly. She often brings us delicious things. The Princess isn’t to blame for what the previous generation did.’
At that time, a sergeant, his face red, hesitated and asked.
“So, what field are you talking about……? Are you talking about doing it with your body?”
“Of course, you have to use your body.”
‘He doesn’t look weak at all. Did the Princess scold him or something?’
The sergeant’s face, who had completely misunderstood, turned even redder.
A lieutenant, who claimed to be an expert in romance with skillful techniques, coughed dryly.
“Aren’t we all adults? Let’s talk openly.”
The sergeant didn’t know what to do and rubbed his cheeks at the suddenly intense topic of conversation.
Then, a sergeant with five years of marriage experience said.
“Women like sincerity.”
Others chimed in one by one.
“It’s important to approach slowly. Even if it takes a little time…….”
“No, you have to hit it hard all at once! Don’t you know about power?”
‘These perverts! They’re making such explicit remarks without a care!’
The sergeant, who was immune to this kind of content, covered his ears and closed his eyes. He recited ‘good thoughts’ over and over again.
As a result of a long discussion, opinions were divided into romantics who advocated for sincere handwritten letters and capitalists who advocated for an offensive of expensive gifts.
‘I’m the only one who’s rotten.’
The sergeant, realizing that this wasn’t the story he had imagined, wore a hollow smile.
“It seems like there’s not much time, so the faster, the better. I don’t care how much money it costs.”
Masera adopted an aggressive method involving expenses.
A sergeant from a wealthy family added advice.
“Recently, the Princess has been active in high society, hasn’t she? You should give her something rare that everyone can show off. For example, a necklace with a historical narrative, like the one the Sun Emperor gave to the Empress two centuries ago…….”
“Isn’t that a national treasure of the kingdom? The only way to get it is to plunder it in war.”
Anyway, to sum up the opinions, it seemed that sincerity + high value + narrative were important.
The operations officer, a strategist, raised his glasses and said,
“First, let’s go with a war of attrition that satisfies most of the conditions that have been mentioned so far. This is a useful negotiation tactic.”
“Indeed, he’s skilled in strategy and tactics.”
Masera crossed his arms and nodded.
* * *
The next day, Cynthia was surprised to see gift boxes piled up in her room.
Surrounded by a fortress of boxes as tall as her, she asked Masera, who was standing in front of the threshold.
“Brigadier General, what are all these?”
“Gifts I bought while visiting Nox…….”
“Looking at the boxes, you bought them at the capital’s department store, though?”
‘She’s unnecessarily sharp.’
Masera quickly fabricated a reason for the gifts, as he was completely unable to bring himself to say ‘to make the Princess happy’.
“I heard that today is a day for giving gifts.”
There were several commercial holidays created by large companies, so it was a good reason to make up.
“Wo-ah!”
Cynthia seemed more surprised by the fact that Masera had remembered the anniversary than by the gifts piled up in front of her.
“You said it’s important to look good to others, so you have to show off, right?”
“I’ll go beyond bragging to the neighborhood and go on an overseas tour.”
“That’s a bit much…….”
Cynthia, who opened a small gift box first, widened her eyes at the jewelry. It looked expensive at first glance.
“You even engraved my name on the jewelry?”
Did he prepare this much because of what others think? Cynthia blinked.
“Does that mean you want me to cherish it?”
“Yes.”
‘If she ever runs away and sells it, it will be easy to track.’
That was actually Masera’s scheme. He was inwardly pleased and decided to bring up the most difficult thing.
“Let’s go out.”
“Why?”
“Let’s go out for a meal and then enjoy some cultural activities…….”
“Like a date?”
At Cynthia’s question, he began to feel pressured.
His lips were tightly closed, completely unable to say that it was a date request to make her happy.
He eventually made up another excuse.
“I’d like to ask you to participate in a survey to create a living area in Nox.”
“Oh, okay.”
In the end, he succeeded in going on a date that wasn’t a date.
Since the snow had stopped, he was planning to spend the day based on the strategic date course planned by the operations officer.
“Spend some time together, even if it’s just for one day. Eat delicious food and see good things.”
“I’ve already made a schedule…….”
Masera unfolded the paper that the operations officer had written, then neatly folded it and threw it in the trash.
“I’ll just follow your opinion.”
The operations officer seemed to be good at strategy and tactics, but not at dating women.
