I Picked Up the Second Male Lead After the Ending - Chapter 4.2

Part 2

“Wow! The room looks good!”

I shouted as I looked around the room where my luggage had been moved in advance.

“What’s good about it? Your room in Garten is much better.”

Raheln complained as he looked at me sitting in the bed and testing the cushions. He was right.

This is narrower than my room in Garten, the color was dull and the furniture was plain, it also seemed that it receives only a little sunlight.

And, crucially, the fireplace was kindled, but there was no feeling of warmth. It was like the whole Stern Castle.

An ancient castle standing alone in the cold and harsh northern mountains.

The Stern Castle where they’re currently in.

“Think about it again, Peony.”

The word “discontent” was stuck in Raheln’s face.

“What’s wrong with you, brother?”

“What’s wrong with me? Do you still treat me as your brother?!”

The bed creaked as Raheln abruptly sat next to me.

Um······ The cushions are not good.

“I can’t believe he said to try being engaged for the meantime. No matter how much he is the brother of the Emperor, or even if he’s the Grand Duke, how can he say to a princess of a country who wants to marry him to get engaged for the time being!”

“But it’s still much better than rejection, right?”

I didn’t have the intention of getting married in the first place, so I gladly accepted his engagement.

“What’s better about that?!”

However, Raheln’s expression slowly turns to being infuriated.

“Do you even know what he means by saying, get engaged for now? He implies that ‘Since you’re here, I have no choice but to get engaged, but I can’t guarantee you a marriage.’ That’s what it conveys.”

“But if you think about it, it’s better than hearing ‘Get the hell out of here.’.”

“Are you crazy? I dare him to tell you that shit and I’ll ask him for a duel!”

Raheln, an outright siscon, shouted hysterically.

“······If you do, you’re going to lose, brother.”

“······.”

“Your opponent is a person who has a great sword skill and stamina, enough to serve as the Commander of the Knights of the Fairspren Empire·····.”

“······.”

“And you, brother, on the other hand, can only dream of becoming a knight commander. It’s impossible for you in reality. Furthermore, it was harder to be the Knight Commander of the Empire than to be the Knight Commander of our small Kingdom.”

“Wait, Peony, can you check this here?”

Raheln raised my hand and put it in the middle of his chest.

“It’s somehow painful, like my heart suddenly got broken.”

“Sorry. Does the truth hurt? I guess I shouldn’t have spoken too realistically.”

I gently removed my hand and placed it on my lap.

“Anyway, I think all is good, brother. I have become the grand duke’s fiancé without any obstacle, and if nothing awry happens, I could get married.”

“But if anything goes wrong, your engagement will be annulled, and your name will be stigmatized as the discarded princess.”

”Um······ isn’t it nice, I’ll be famous? I will be like a heroine of a tragic love story.”

”Peony!”

“Hehe! I’m kidding.”

I smiled at Raheln, who has a very serious expression on his face.

”Don’t worry, brother. Since Grand Duke Stern accepted me as his fiancé, he said that I was free to remain as long as I want here in Stern Estate. So while I’m staying, I just have to let Grand Duke Stern know how nice I am, right?”

“You, do you have some basis to depend on? Where did you get your confidence?”

“I depend on brother.”

Raheln seems to be wondering what the hell I mean again. He looked at me with a frown.

I shrugged my shoulders looking at his expression.

“I’m right, though. Father and brothers always say that. Our Peony are so pretty, cute, nice, and the best.”

“Because that’s the truth.”

I laughed again at Raheln, who answered with a serious face.

“Exactly. I’m pretty, cute, and kind, the best someone could ever have. That’s why there’s no reason for me not to be confident. Am I wrong?”

Raheln chuckled when he heard my answer. I grinned as I saw his smile.

“You used to be an utterly spoiled little girl, I didn’t notice since when you became such an imposing lady.”

Suddenly, Raheln’s expression turned into a sad one.

The expression on his face was so mournful, as if a father looking at his own daughter who he raised on his own, and was now absolutely grown up.

“Was it last year? That you’ve been very ill?”

“Ah······ that time·····.”

“I think you’ve grown up a lot since then.”

That was when I transmigrated.

Perhaps······ maybe······ the Peony that Raheln knows, may have died at that time. No, she clearly died back then.

As a result, I am here.

If the voice I heeded was of the real Peony’s, what I heard was definitely her will.

She said that if she dies, his father and brothers will be sad, and she wants me to live on her behalf so that they don’t fall into grief.

“Haha······ People change especially when they almost die. Maybe that’s when I started to grow up.”

“You’re right. Back then, the royal family was in a state of emergency for fear that you might really perish.”

He reached out and fixed a few strands of my hair that went out of place.

The same shiny gold hair as his.

“Remember. You are the most valuable treasure of the Kingdom of Garten.”

The person who asked me what do I depend on and where I got my confidence, said something that raised my self-esteem to the fullest.

“If you get tired of this cold north, come back to Garten any time. We’ll always be waiting for you, and we’ll be glad if you come back.”

Raheln smiled very warmly.

His smile slowly warmed one side of my heart.