Men of the Harem - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – What my ex-lover’s woman said
Aini looked around. It seemed to be a little unexpected for Latille to ask for a handshake, but she soon smiled and returned the gesture while narrowing her eyes. Her hands were soft unlike Latille, rough and full of calluses from wielding a sword since a young age. Even her smile was pretty; her first impression was surprisingly pleasant.

Latille stared at Aini’s hand without realising it, ‘Haizens, are you really going to be able to avoid falling in love with such a girl for five years?’ She released a snort.

‘I was a little surprised when you asked for a handshake. Aini Tour de la Daga greets Your Highness.

After letting go of her hand, she greeted her again casually, making Latille feel sour. The two stared at each other silently; awkward passed between them. Two minutes later, Aini, who looked at Latille with a piercing stare spoke up first.

‘Your highness, I took the chance to come here to discuss what you and His Majesty spoke of a while ago.’

A while ago- that was when Latille reunited with Haizens. She almost replied with, ‘it’s okay’ without thinking, but she noticed something strange and frowned. Wasn’t it just the two of them at that moment? How does she even know? Was she told by Haizens?

‘Well, I guess Haizens wasn’t lying when he said the Duke of Daga was watching him.’

‘I’ll be honest with you since you seem to be different, as opposed to His Majesty.’

Latille thought of Haizens’ and the Daga family’s power structure as she smiled in a friendly manner.

‘Go ahead.’

‘I refuse to divorce His Majesty even after five years.’

Latille raised an eyebrow and looked down at Aini, who was at least 20 centimetres shorter than herself. She looked up at her with confidence.

‘What the two of you plan is of no concern to me.’

Aini shook her head quickly as Latille muttered under her breath.

‘It’s not because I love him; it’s because I absolutely will not do what he wants.’

‘!’

‘I felt as if I was smouldering with anger when I heard that conversation. No one would want to marry a man only to be abandoned. Why don’t I just destroy the marriage myself to feed my own ego? I’ve thought about it several times.’

Aini’s confident gaze wavered. Latille forgot her displeasure for a moment, how did she even hear our conversation? It must have been terrible from her point of view.

‘… However, I decided not to do that. I won’t go easy on him by voluntarily stepping down.’

‘Yes, I apologise…’

‘No, thank you. At first, my ego was hurt but come to think of it, you must be pretty angry, too; His Majesty said so.’

‘…’

‘Also, I think you need this; it’s my favourite.’

Aini handed her a box, bowed then took her leave. Latille set the box on the table and began opening it; it’s a wine known for its toughness. She smiled in vain and shook her head.

♔♔♔

Later that night, Latille was sipping the wine Aini had given her.

She said it was her favourite; it’s a good drink, no doubt. The first sip was quite bitter so was the second sip; and at the third sip, something about Haizens seemed distant. I started to blankly tilt my glass at some point.

‘Well, is he the only man? No, there are plenty of fish in the sea, there are plenty…’

Latille mumbled drunkenly and sipped again.

‘I need a handsome man; a very, very handsome man to forget him.’

The memories we shared together slowly began to fade. Continuously mumbling about handsome men, it almost felt like I could see one in front of me. It must be a dream since there’s no way such an unrealistically beautiful face could belong to anyone. Since this is a dream, there’s no harm in trying to catch him.

Latille grabbed the man, and he burst into laughter. She was barely conscious, so she could hardly hear what he was saying.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the embrace of a man she had never seen before; she froze in response. He was dreamingly handsome with delicately drawn features. With clean silver hair and lashes and an attractive nose, he looked like a fascinating elf, but the issue was not his excessively charming demeanour.

‘Shit, how much did I drink?’

Latille spat out a curse. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like they both had a ‘big accident’ given the fact that they’re both wearing several layers of clothes, but it’s enough of an accident for the delegation leader who came to represent the Tarium Empire to fall asleep drunk with an unknown man.

Did we drink together? He smells of alcohol, too. The man’s eyelids are flickering; It feels like I might get up right away.

‘No!’

Latille quickly scrambled out of his arms and left.

♔♔♔’

Latille headed back to her room. Her thoughts became complicated.

Could he have possibly known that I’m the princess of the Tarium Empire? How did I end up in his arms? Was he too drunk? Then he might not remember either.

Moreover, unlike Latille, he barely woke up, so he probably didn’t see her- let alone acknowledge her existence.

‘I sure hope so, fuck. Who the hell is that guy anyway? What’s his position?’

If he works in the palace, then he’ll keep his mouth shut even if he remembers her. There’s also the possibility of him not knowing who Latille is unless he’s an aristocrat…

‘We might run into each other at Haizens’ wedding.’

Latille tried to recall his characteristics.

You can roughly identify someone’s position through their clothes, but why? No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t remember him even though I saw him a few minutes ago. The presence of his face was so overpowering that not even his clothes were visible.

‘He was most definitely wearing something, but…’

After much thought, Latille decided to simply ignore him even if she ran into him again.

If you have face, you’d better pretend not to know each other.

‘Alright.’

After Latille made a firm decision, she changed out of her clothes and went to the bathroom.

♔♔♔

The reunion with the man happened much earlier and much worse than she had initially expected.

‘Damn, I’m going crazy.’

I not only forced myself to attend Haizens’ wedding, but now the man I was supposed to avoid is sitting at one of the top seats.

Upon seeing the location of the top seats, Latille could tell that the men sitting there were from the imperial family of Carrisen, that means that the man is likely to be Haizens’ relative. Besides, seeing the place that’s assigned to him means that he’s not just a distant relative.

Is it an illusion? It almost seemed as if that man kept looking this way.

‘My lady, do you know him? He keeps looking at you.’

I guess it’s not an illusion.

‘I don’t know him.’

Latille said, like a liar.

My eyesight is good, obviously. Fortunately, the man turned his head and pretended not to know me as well.

‘My lady, you’re in luck. I’d rather you turn your head away.’

Latille glanced at the commander of the Guards and turned away.

‘Relax, he’s not pretending to know me. You’re either nervous, you don’t know, you’re pretending you don’t know, or you’re pretending you do know.’

‘She’s the princess of the Tarium Empire, Latrasille Tarium.’

When the subordinate reported, the corners of Klein’s mouth curved into a sneer.¹

‘I didn’t ask. I said the liver was too big.’

He was sure Latille was looking in his direction, but she kept avoiding his gaze as if she’s pretending not to know him. It was almost as if she’s trying to show that she’s ignoring him with her unnaturally stiff movements.

♔♔♔

Last evening, Klein found her drunkenly crying and approached her. A female knight in a uniform, holding a bottle of wine and crying uncontrollably.

I admit, it wasn’t meant to be; I was going to kick her out because of the ruckus she was causing, but she was strong. I tried to chase her away, but she wouldn’t budge. Eventually, I gave up and decided to make the woman drink harder, so she can sleep in silence, but I wonder why she kept mumbling about handsome men and crying…

‘Who the hell is the handsome guy you’re talking about, and why were you crying so loudly?’

‘You.’

However, the woman unexpectedly said she was crying because of Klein. The woman sobbed pitifully as she grabbed the terrified Klein by the collar.

‘Hick… Mr. Handsome, I love you so much, but you… Who are you? Did you descend from the heavens to heal my wounds? Hick…’

Klein was certainly not unpopular. Although he wasn’t a legitimate son, he was still a prince, famously known for his beauty; he was known as ‘the star of the country’. However, unlike his charming demeanour, he had a rotten personality, so no woman courted him openly. For a woman to hang onto him like that, it was a first. The woman sniffled; Klein hugged her awkwardly. There was a familiar scent of dirt beneath the smell of alcohol. Her soft hair tickled his nape. There was a woman who was hurting because she liked him. Klein stroked the woman with a strange sense of satisfaction. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t marry any woman he wanted because of his status.

‘Crazy, do you really like me that much?’

‘Are you leaving? You’re going to be leaving me, too?

‘I guess.’

‘Hah! I’ll tie you up and throw you in jail! I’m going to make sure that it’s impossible for you to leave.’

‘Woman, that’s a crime.’

As he clicked his tongue at her, he snatched the bottle of wine from her hand and drank it. It was compassion in its own way- compassion for not being able to reciprocate the feelings of a crying woman. Klein embraced the woman in his arms and drank in her stead but when he opened his eyes the next day, she was nowhere to be found.

I asked and asked, but no one knew who the black-haired woman was.

Klein was offended.

She said she liked me, so how could she just leave like that? Still, I tried to understand her in my own way. Perhaps she was too ashamed to look me in the eye after confessing her feelings because of my status. I did think it was a little cute in that sense.

Regretfully, Klein left and went back to his place.

I wanted to get to know her, but I had to hurry and prepare for my damned brother’s wedding.

However, he unexpectedly reunited with the crying woman; she doesn’t even try to make eye contact.

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‘…’

After checking the time, Klein got up from his seat and stiffly approached the woman, tapping the back of the chair in front of her.

‘Stop avoiding me. Let’s say hello.’