CHAPTER 517: CHAPTER 452: YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY...

Am I willing to be that person for you?

Listening to the princess’s hopeful inquiry and feeling the atmosphere that had been perfectly set, Leon couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, feeling as if he had fallen into a trap once again.

Although the princess’s words were sincere without a trace of falsehood, and even the soul vision of the black ram couldn’t find any flaw, upon careful reflection, he felt that things were progressing a bit too rapidly.

Originally, he just wanted to comfort her slightly because she seemed a bit sad, to chat with her a bit, but as they talked, things suddenly escalated crazily.

From the moment she stood by the window, to holding hands, leaning on his shoulder, and then snuggling into his arms before he could even react, they were suddenly hugging each other.

While the experience wasn’t bad, it did feel a bit like he was... well... like a naïve little flower coaxed by an old player, leaving him somewhat panicked...

...

"Uh... do you want to calm down a bit?"

Glancing at his left hand, which had been pulled and unknowingly wrapped around the princess’s waist, Leon awkwardly bluffed:

"You’re not in a very stable mood right now, and your decisions aren’t rational. So maybe you should wait until..."

"I won’t wait!"

After forcing Leon’s hand back to her waist, the princess gazed at him stubbornly and said,

"You always want to escape from me, and I finally caught you once. If I let you run away this time only to get caught in someone else’s net, I’ll definitely regret it in the future!"

"..."

What do you mean by someone else’s net... you’re not even pretending now, are you?

"It’s still too sudden."

Faced with the queen-level master fisher’s fierce hook, Leon struggled desperately,

"Don’t make choices on a whim; matters of love should take more time to get to know each other..."

"See, you admit there’s love between us."

"..."

"Also, you said we should get to know each other better, so you better keep your word~"

"..."

I shouldn’t have even opened my mouth!

Realizing the terrifying level gap between himself and the princess in debating, Leon decisively discarded the topic and argued helplessly,

"I already called off the engagement before..."

"A verbal cancellation doesn’t count."

The princess snuggled closer into Leon’s embrace, then smiled contently within the comforting warmth and replied,

"Such a big matter can’t be settled with just a casual remark, right? We should at least notify the elders first."

"And your father..."

"He’s listening to me now, and I don’t agree to call off the engagement."

"..."

"The few elders left in the Ryan Family, they need to report to me regularly about the military department’s affairs. Should I help you ask them?"

"..."

No need, the result of your inquiry would naturally be disagreement, so let’s not bother those old folks...

Shaking his head speechlessly, Leon tried to remind,

"Veronica, you’ve basically succeeded in your coup now. Even without the support of the Ryan Family or a seat in the House of Lords, you can definitely stabilize the situation. So why insist on this engagement?"

Hearing Leon’s words, the princess blinked her eyes, then gently pinched his side, teasingly saying,

"You’re so bad~"

"???"

"You know what I’ll say, yet you still ask... If you must hear it, it’s because I think, even without all those extras, I want you to be my prince."

Seeing Leon’s somewhat puzzled expression, the princess raised her hand to touch his cheek, then pouted slightly, grumbling,

"Don’t look down on the fact that I’m so eager towards you yet always neglected by you, but those trying to pursue me are at least a hundred times more than those pursuing you... No! At least a thousand times!

But what they’re after is either my princess status, the wealth I can mobilize, the people I can command, the resources at my disposal, or my beauty; I can see what they want at a glance.

But you’re the only one who wants nothing, not even expecting anything from me after the engagement. When you’re with me, there’s no ulterior motive at all. If it were you, what would you choose?"

"..."

Hearing the princess’s words, Leon’s cheek couldn’t help but twitch slightly.

Though the words made sense, the feeling of déjà vu...

There’s this weird feeling like some old-school overbearing CEO lifting the chin of a sweetie pie with a smug face saying, "Woman, the reason I like you is that you don’t care about my money"...

"Of course, the most frustrating thing about you is that you want nothing... not even really wanting me."

With a slightly troubled sigh, the princess couldn’t help but pinch Leon gently before continuing with a smile,

"But I am confident that you’ll want it sooner or later, um... like you just said, more interaction, more nurturing, I’m in no rush~"

"..."

"By the way, since we have to interact more... when are you planning to move in?"

???

Wait, were we talking about this? How did you steer the conversation here?

"Also, once you move in, we should consider the wedding..."

"Stop!"

Feeling that if he didn’t back out, even the wedding date would be set in a haze, Leon quickly withdrew his hand, nervously saying,

"I have things to do. Um... the parliamentarians we arrested earlier still haven’t been dealt with, so I’ll be leaving first!"

"Oh~"

Looking at Leon, who was driven to a panicked state by her, the princess couldn’t help but smile triumphantly, then pouted, pretending to be aggrieved,

"Then you must... Hmm? Wait! You arrested parliamentarians?"

"Indeed, we did arrest a few."

Seeing the topic finally diverge, Leon couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, admitting openly,

"Wasn’t Joshua attending the meeting on your behalf? So I followed him to oversee the session."

You know, this time the two major proposals in the parliament are crucial, but I’m also a bit worried about your safety here, so I sped things up slightly and arrested some of the more aggressive dissenting parliamentarians."

Upon hearing Leon arrested parliamentarians, the princess was initially a bit angry, but when she heard "worried about your safety," her heart suddenly melted, erasing any lingering irritation, and she could only say with a helpless glance,

"So you didn’t have them arrested during the meeting, right?"

"No."

Leon shook his head, saying,

"I had people ambush outside, and arrested them after they stormed out early because I forcibly passed the proposals."

Arresting them after their exit... that’s somewhat acceptable.

Upon hearing Leon’s explanation, the princess breathed a slight sigh of relief, then remarked a bit wearily,

"Being provoked to storm out early... those who more fiercely oppose me and have a violent temper, capable of storming out, should be Marquis Mori, Earl Evans, and Count Pavna. Did you arrest all three?"

Marquis Mori? Earl Evans? Count Pavna?

Recalling these three names, Leon vaguely remembered.

These were the ones who threw a shoe and knocked out the Minister of Finance, whom he had guards arrest; the one he forced to bow with [Migratory Thrush Prince], ending up fainting on his desk; and the one who intended to impeach him, only to be counter-impeached and carried away along with the podium.

It seems that although the princess wasn’t present, she was well aware of the situation in the bicameral parliament, and these three were indeed the most aggressive dissenting parliamentarians.

"No, I didn’t arrest those three."

Once identifying who these three were, Leon shook his head,

"I arrested the other opposing parliamentarians, aside from those three."

The rest?

The princess was a bit puzzled upon hearing this, asking,

"Meaning who? Parliamentarian Brocash? Parliamentarian Klose?"

"Just the rest."

"I know you mean the rest, but there are at least about sixty more dissenting parliamentarians; you didn’t apprehend them all, did you?"

"..."

"???"

Σ(ﾟдﾟ;)?!