A Third Prince Interlude

It seemed like the best opportunity to visit his Katarina. Away from Maria's estate, in familiar environs that he'd known all his life, her mother away from the manor…

True, her cousins were visiting, but it would be an honor for them to meet him. And he'd always just dropped in to see his Katarina before.

The moment his spies keeping watch outside the Claes estate had reported the Duchess had left—he had lost contact with all spies, or rather 'spies' since it hindsight they had probably never been his, after his disastrous meeting with the Duchess—had reported that the woman had left, he'd set off towards to see his Katarina immediately, doing his paperwork in the carriage. It had been tough to write, but there was always so much work to do for the International Assembly, and even he would probably fall into the Bed of Chaos if he just disappeared and left his share of the work undone.

He had been admitted in, of course. Whether that was because her grace the Duchess had left no orders to bar him or because the servants had fear to do so, he didn't know. He found it surprisingly tough to read the Claes servants. They were utterly professional in his presence, and even in reflections on the occasional shiny surface they hadn't glared at his back…

And then he found himself in the back terrace were his Katarina and Keith liked to do their sword practice, and there she was, looking radiant and beautiful and perfect as she swung her wooden practice sword.

She'd been surrounded by people, of course. For a moment, he had felt an instant of deeply-buried panic, for more people probably meant rivals… but no, it turned out they were his Katarina's Adeth-side cousins, and they had all been so friendly and welcoming…

Until they weren't. It was like all warmth had been sucked out of the air, and he found himself facing a wall of enemies.

He really wanted to blame Keith for this. It would be so easy to just think that Keith had been poisoning his Katarina's cousins against him by telling them… well, probably not even lies, simply unfavorable things. He was honest enough to admit that. Still, even if Keith had been doing so, the people in question had never met him before, and his rank as a prince should at least made them be more restrained in their response.

He really wanted to blame Keith. It would have been so familiar and satisfying.

Keith, however, honestly seemed surprised at the unanimous hostility that had been directed at his royal person, at least until he heard the question the platinum blonde young woman asked.

"What?" Keith exclaimed, the surprise getting washed away as an outraged glare came over his face, directed at the Third Prince.

The exclamation was so loud, in fact, that it made his Katarina stop in mid-drill and look around. "What what?" she said. "Keith? Oh, hey!" She waved towards him. "Your highness! How nice of you to visit!"

"Sister!" Keith exclaimed, pointing a finger towards him. "What's this about this… this… swamp dweller calling you ugly?"

His Katarina blinked. "Huh?"

"That's preposterous!" He responded instantly, to both the woman's accusation and Keith's borne from it. He would never call his Katarina ugly! "Katarina is the most beautiful woman in the kingdom!"

Katarina brightened. "Really?"

Eh?

Wait, after all these years, had he simply needed to compliment her looks? But he'd done that many times before! Still, he wouldn't pass up this chance. "Of course, Lady Katarina," he said. "No one could possibly call you ugly! They would have to be completely blind and mad!"

"So, does that mean my scar is finally gone now?" she said, pointing at her forehead eagerly.

He opened his mouth to answer that of course it was gone, of course she was beautiful—and froze.

He froze too long. Katarina wilted slightly and sighed. "Aw… it's still there, isn't it?"

Keith frowned. "What scar, sister? There's no scar on your forehead. I mean, there used to be when we were kids, but it disappeared when we were ten…"

"No, there is, see?" his Katarina said, pointing at herself. "He said it was still there the last time I asked him. I didn't see it in the mirror myself, but if he says it's there, I guess it's there."

"You didn't know, cousin Keith?" another one of the cousins said, "Cousin Katarina told us about how she became engaged." The cousin had the same eyes as Katarina and her mother, and the way they were narrowed and pointing at him, the Third Prince had to agree they certainly looked like villainous eyes. "She said that when she was young, her forehead became scarred by an accident. Someone told her that it rendered her so hideous that it affected her marriage prospects, and that they would make it up to her by becoming their fiancé."

"I told him he didn't need to and that it was fine," Katarina sighed, "but he felt responsible for my scar, so he insisted! And mother and father were really happy that I had gotten engaged to a prince…"

That was… he remembered that… he remembered her saying he didn't need to… "I never said hideous!" he found himself responding. "I just said it might affect her future marriage!"

Even as he said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"Affect her… Just how badly did you scar big sister?-!" Keith demanded, hand dropping to his sword. Huh. He'd have thought Keith would have learned about the circumstances of their engagement a long time ago… obviously not, it seemed.

"It must have been a truly horrendous scar, to do such a thing," another cousin, this time with dark hair, said, staring intently at him with her eyes narrowed in dislike. "Horrendous, if it still would have been a factor when she was finally of marriageable age."

"Well, it's on my head so I can't see it, but it was probably pretty bad," Katarina said. "When I thought it was completely gone two years ago and showed it to him so he'd know he didn't have to take responsibility for it anymore, but he said it wasn't gone yet, so he would never cancel our engagement." His Katarina sighed, not seeming to notice how everyone glared at him as she rubbed at her forehead. Her smooth, unblemished forehead. "I suppose my eyes are bad too, since I can't see it in the mirror, no matter how hard I try…"

This wasn't… Why were things turning out this way?

"My, what a terrible thing to imply about a woman," the only other male there, presumably another cousin, said. He was holding a sword, and though it never move, the bland look on his face was…not as bland as it could have been.

He wanted to protest, to say they were lies… but with his Katarina's words, he would be accusing her of being a liar. And it was true… it was true, but… he had thought the move had been a stroke of cunning on his part, all those years ago. And then, as the interesting girl named Katarina Claes grew ever more interesting and beautiful with each passing day, a blessing and the wisest thing he had ever done, that he had secured her for himself so absolutely.

It still was. Even if the world seemed to keep getting in his way, it still was…

"Well, it's not like I'm a real fiancée," Katarina said glibly. "I'm just a shield to protect him from marriage proposals.

He was aware everyone was suddenly staring at him again, though they didn't seem surprised at her words. Had she already said as much to them? a part of him pointed out maybe that as why they were angry, that his Katarina had said something that had gotten misunderstood, but it was overwhelmed by the feeling in his chest. Even if it wasn't the first time he'd heard those words… before, they had brought exasperation and frustration. This time, however, they seemed to bring him actual pain… All these obstacles in his path… her grace the Duchess, Mary, Keith, Sophia, Maria… and even his Katarina speaking of their engagement so casually…

"Yes, you said," the dark-haired cousin said. "Why do you let him, though? Why allow him to use you like that?"

His Katarina shrugged. "He's my friend, and there are a lot of bad people in the world," she said. "People who just want to marry him because he's rich and things, not because they love him. A lot are probably just after him for his looks! The least I can do is protect him from that. After all, isn't protecting people what a noble is supposed to do?"

"…"

They all stared at her for a moment, even him and Keith. For all that the two of them were used to Katarina Logic… it could still surprise them.

He'd come here to spend time with her. To play the usual game, hoping for the best, but with some part of him resigned to the usual lack of result. His letter of apology to her grace hadn't been answered, even when a bit of Assembly-related correspondence had been promptly acknowledged and returned. A deliberate snub. And now, his Katarina, saying these things… genuinely seeming to believe them…

"And… you're just fine with that?" Dame Matthew said incredulously. "That he's using you like that?"

"As long as he doesn't kill me just to get me out of the way so he can marry the woman he actually loves," his Katarina said. She leaned forward and said in what she always seemed to think was a whisper, but was clearly audible right up to where he was standing, "I keep telling him that, but he never seems to understand, so I'm a little worried what will happen when he actually falls in love."

His hand met his face, and there was a slapping sound that was echoed. He looked up to see Keith in a similar pose. A strange part of him was relieved that Keith, at least, seemed to understand him, even as the rest of the cousins glared.

No, no… he was a prince! The Third Prince of Sorcier! He would not be pushed around by these nobles, even if they were Katarina's cousins! He had his pride!

Oh, so your pride is more important than Katarina? Two voices, Alan and Sophia's.

His answer to that still hadn't changed though.

"You're wrong!"

His cry rang out, making his Katarina look at him. He had to seize this chance! "I would never cancel the engagement with you, Katarina!"

His Katarina tilted her head in the way she did when she was confused, before realization seemed to come over her face, and she nodded. "Ah, yes, I should have realized."

His heart skipped a beat. Wait, had it been that easy, all this time? Keith looked shocked and horrified.

"I guess since Maria is definitely engaged to Rafael, you probably don't have a chance with her anymore," she said. He could feel his hand want to jump up to his face and he resisted with sheer will. "Unless you try to seduce her away from Rafael…"

"S-seduce her…?" he repeated incredulously.

"Ah! I don't condone that! Trying to cuckold Rafael is a trash fetish!" she declared in tones of finality and when had his Katarina learned those words!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-? "Though… I suppose if the three of you agreed to get together… well, then that would be your decision as grownups… " Katarina blushed, looking aside. Wait, why was she blushing…? "Ah, but I don't think it's likely though! Maria really seems to have eyes only for Rafael! She doesn't even seem to notice all those women in love with her…" His Katarina shook her head seemingly in exasperation. "Really, how can such a smart woman be so dense about something so obvious?"

This… was he hearing this right? He glanced at Keith, and found their eyes meeting. They spoke only with their gazes, as only men who'd known and loathed each other for years could. Is she serious? She sounds like it. Yes, but… is she for real? She's Katarina. They asked the same questions and got the same responses, then violently tore their gazes apart as they realized they were empathizing.

One of the cousins frowned. "Wait, who's this 'Maria' person?"

"Oh, she's the knight I'm learning from. You met her a few days ago, I came here with her in her carriage, remember?" his Katarina said.

"Her? What does she have to do with everything?"

"Ah, well, we met her in the Academy, and… well, it doesn't matter. But with her spoken for, there's no one else I can think of for him to fall in love with, so… Ah, I suppose we've not cancelling the agreement any time soon, are we?" his Katarina said, looking thoughtful. Well, thoughtful for her. "Ah, I hadn't realized! Thanks for reminding me your highness. You're a good friend, knowing I might not realize."

Was this a chance? "We… don't need to cancel it at all, you know," he said. This should have been obvious, but Katarina was Katarina. If he said it plainly. "We could just continue on with the engagement, and when the time comes, get married."

Katarina… looked horrified at the thought, and his heart almost shattered. "But… I can't do that to you! You deserve to marry someone you love! Someone who loves you!"

Keep pressing! Keep pressing! Ignore the glare on Keith's face promising dire consequences... "And if I told you I loved you, Katarina? That I loved you with all my heart, with all my soul? "

His Katarina… blushed. And clearly misunderstood. "Look, your highness, it's only Keith and my cousins around. There's no need to convince anyone. We're all friends here. Besides, you shouldn't be so casual with those words. Those things should be said to someone you love."

Almost, he gave up. she was misunderstanding again. He almost let it lie, as he had many times before. But… those hostile eyes… His pride might not be as important as Katarina… but it still mattered, hex it! in front of those eyes, he couldn't back down, not the way he could have if it was just Keith! He'd have understood! He wouldn't have judged! "I'm saying those things, Katarina!" he declared definitely against those cousins' eyes. "And I'm saying it to you!"

"Ah, are you asking me what I think? Well, as a romantic line, they're a bit basic… sure they get the point across, but they're sort of cheesy…"

He studiously avoided looking at Keith. Because he knew, just knew, that there was likely pity in the man's eyes—

"Er, Cousin Katarina?" one of the cousins said hesitantly. "I think he means it."

His Katarina blinked. "Huh? What, Iosefka?"

"I think he means it," the cousin said. "I think the prince is telling you he loves."

His Katarina… blushed again. "Ah, no, no you're mistaken—"

One final push. Never give up, for the power of the Dark Soul comes only with an unwavering will. Press onwards. Go beyond death. "She's right Katarina! I love you!"

There was silence.

"Wait, WHAT?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!-?-!" Katarina Claes shrieked.