"That's right. You're not going anywhere, Rishe!"
The prince joined her. "You won't get away with treating me like trash to relieve your own injured heart."
"Ugh, enough already!" Rishe's patience was fraying. "I don't have anything else to say to you. Goodbye!"
"Knights, stop her!"
Reluctantly, the knights moved to tail Rishe as she walked briskly back down the path. She sympathized with them, but she wasn't about to let them keep her here. Rounding a corner, she sensed something uncanny. She stopped, the knights quickly catching up with her.
"My apologies, Lady Rishe. If you could please remain for just a—whoa!"
Rishe grabbed the hilt of the knight's sword. Yanking it from his belt, she spun around and stood at the ready.
Metal rang against metal as Rishe parried a blow. She glared at her would-be attacker as he stepped out of the shadows.
Arnold Hein!
"Well, what do you know." The man smiling so sweetly while their swords locked, was the very man who had ended her life. "You do have some skill."
Metal screeched and slid, before Arnold sheathed his sword. Rishe lowered hers. Neither looked away.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded one of the knights.
"Stand down, good sirs," Rishe said. "Your interference will only make this worse."
This mostly served to befuddle the knights further. Rishe absolutely couldn't allow them to come to blows with the crown prince of a friendly nation. And they couldn't beat him—not even if they took him all at once. Rishe had blocked his blow, but her arm was completely numb. To think he'd be even more powerful in five years.
He regarded her unabashedly. "Rishe, was that your name? Where did you learn such swordsmanship?"
"I'm afraid I cannot say. Besides, you were clearly going easy on me."
"Ha! You could tell?"
Arnold's manner was throwing her off. He seemed to be enjoying himself.
He's laughing. This monstrous prince is…actually laughing.
When she had met him in her other life, he was cold and merciless, like a genuine monster. And yet here he stood, mellow and smiling.
The Emperor Arnold Hein I knew was twenty-four years old, so he's, what? Nineteen now? This is so weird. He's grinning like a boy getting into a scrape.
That attack had been good-natured as well, almost playful. It had muscle behind it but certainly not any lethal intent. He'd just wanted to force Rishe to catch the blow. She found it unbelievable that he could exude such an overpowering air of menace when he was just messing around.
While Rishe was focused on Arnold, Mary and Dietrich caught up, seemingly recovered.
"Excuse me, my lord!" Mary squeaked. "I-I-I don't know who you are, but kindly step away from Lady Rishe!"
"Yes, do as she says! Who the hell are you, anyway?!"
Don't tell me Prince Dietrich doesn't recognize one of his personal guests?
Dietrich's interests did not lean toward diplomacy; he likely hadn't bothered to introduce himself to Arnold. Mary, for her part, seemed to grasp that Arnold wasn't ordinary. She stood up to defend Rishe, despite the tremble in her voice.
In a better world, perhaps the two of them could have become friends.
"That's your ex-fiancé?" Arnold cocked a brow. "He's even worse than I imagined. Pathetic."
Dietrich flushed. "I'll have your head!"
"Dietrich, I beg of you, contain yourself," Rishe said, then rounded on Arnold.
"As for you, Your Highness—you know who Dietrich is, and you know what speaking carelessly could mean. Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Arnold's brows lifted high, making him the picture of innocence. "Believe me, Lady Rishe, every word I speak is chosen with extreme care."
Finally realizing who Arnold was, Dietrich visibly paled. "Your Highness Arnold? He's the crown prince of Galkhein?"
Mary yelped. The knights stood down, shamefaced. The gossip-hungry neighbors who'd gathered to witness a scandal play out drew back in fear.
"He's the demon prince? The one who single-handedly destroyed a whole order of enemy knights?"
"Watch your tongue, fool! Do you want him to do the same to you?"
The two nations enjoyed peaceful relations, but Arnold remained the dreaded prince, heir to the throne of a former enemy. Current rumor wasn't as widespread as it would be in five years, but he was still regarded with distrust.
The onlookers stood rooted to the spot, too terrified to flee.
Well, this has devolved into a full-fledged disaster.
Rishe heaved a frustrated sigh. "Prince Arnold, to what do we owe this honor?Surely a crown prince would not draw his sword for a mere jest."
"I'm here on business," Arnold said. "But first, I must beg forgiveness for my rudeness."
Huh, what do you know? Once he became emperor, he'd gladly behead any subject who so much as dared speak a word against him.
I guess at nineteen he still knew how to apologize.
If that surprised her, Arnold's next act completely obliterated her sense of reality.
With a flourish, he fell to his knees.
"Huh?"
Is this actually happening?
He was a man destined for an imperial crown. A man who would stand at the head of a military powerhouse and spread his rule across continents.
Arnold, known for his frigid pride, knelt to the disgraced daughter of a duke.
And not only that—his head was bowed, looking nothing so much as a knight swearing allegiance to his lady. If it were anyone else, it would be a delightful, pious image. Instead, the assembled looked on in terrified awe.
Not Rishe, though.
"What are you doing?" she hissed. "Get up!"
"I'm apologizing for my baseless impertinence. Also, I'm asking you…" He trailed off to take Rishe's hand, tugging her forward so forcefully she staggered.
He gazed up at her.
Ugh. He's so beautiful. No matter how many times she looked at him, it didn't become any less disarming. Long eyelashes, arched brows, a noble nose. His bright blue eyes reminded her of the drift ice she'd seen in a northern kingdom, gazing out from a ship in one of her past lives. She knew she was dwelling on this to buy time, even as the reality before her sank in.
"…to become my wife."
She froze, unable to process the words.
"What?" Rishe glanced around, desperately searching the faces of the crowd. They all seemed as stunned as she felt. She looked down at Arnold again. "Your wife?"
"Yes, that's right."
"You want me to become your wife?"
"Yes."
Rishe couldn't speak. This was truly happening. It was real. It clicked into place in her head, and she let out a strangled grunt.
What is going on? Why is this happening?
Shock lapped at her, fuzzing at the corners of her vision. He wanted to marry her. Arnold wanted to marry Rishe. Her murderer wanted to marry her.
Why is he doing this? He must have some ulterior motive, a broader goal. But I have to give him an answer.
The onlookers were holding their breath as Rishe said flatly, "I reject your proposal."
Arnold said nothing.
She had to reject him. She was going to live a long, peaceful, carefree life, damn it, and no one would stop her. And yet…
Arnold began to laugh, and the deep, creeping sense of dread inside Rishe only grew.
Why does he seem so amused by this?!
**************************************
Her previous life was her sixth. Disguised as a man, Rishe rose as a warrior of an island country she came upon in her travels. It was a conventional yet charming kingdom formed of red brick. After striking up a friendship with a group of knights who didn't realize she was a woman, Rishe followed their advice and joined them.
The training was grueling enough to make her wish she were dead. Back when she had lived as a noble, she'd learned how to wield a sword for basic self-defense, but training as a noble lady had in no way prepared her for this. She drilled relentlessly, barely taking the time to sleep. Just as she became a full-fledged knight, Emperor Arnold's forces lay siege to the castle.
**************************************
How could this happen?
In her seventh life, Rishe wearily sank into her chair. Across from her sat Arnold, his legs crossed and chin propped up on his hand, watching her lazily.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "You seem unhappy."
"You could say that." Even her voice was grumpy. Still, she couldn't very well tell him it was because she bore a grudge from a previous life. After the first time her life rewound to that pivotal moment, she'd resolved to keep her loops a secret.
"I had plans for my exile. A brand-new life. And now because of you, my parents are involved. Even the king has heard about it!"
After Rishe rejected Arnold, Dietrich had immediately cried out, "Th-the crown prince of Galkhein proposed to Rishe?!"
His shrieks were loud enough to attract the attention of the master and mistress of the manor.
When her parents came out, Rishe had protested, "I'm not going to marry him! I'm leaving the country just as Dietrich commanded."
No one listened. Their faces just paled with nervous confusion.