NOVEL NEXT Chapter 452
I don’t wanna be that person for you, right? Listening to the princess’s hopeful inquiry and feeling the atmosphere already built up, Leon couldn’t help but twitch his lips slightly, sensing he was being lured into another trap.
Even though her words were sincere with no hint of falsity—so much so that even the soul vision of the Black Goat couldn’t detect any flaws—recalling it carefully, everything felt rushed.
Initially, he just wanted to comfort her a little because she seemed sad, maybe chat a bit, but then things escalated out of nowhere.
From when she stood by the window, first holding hands, then leaning on his shoulder, next snuggling into his arms, before he could even react, they ended up embracing.
Though the experience wasn’t bad, he felt like… um… a小白flower tricked by an old渣man, making him feel a bit uneasy…
…
“Uh… should you calm down a bit more?”
Looking at his left hand which had been pulled and somehow ended up around the princess’s waist, Leon awkwardly bluffed: “Your emotions are unstable now, your decisions aren’t rational, so why not wait until…”
“I won’t wait!”
Pressing Leon’s hand back onto her waist forcefully, the princess stared at him stubbornly: “You always try to run away from me. I finally caught you once, if I let you go this time and you end up in someone else’s net, I’ll definitely regret it later!”
“…”
What does ‘someone else’s net’ mean… Are you not even pretending anymore? “Still feels too sudden.”
Facing the queen-level veteran angler’s strong pull, Li·Curl-Lip·Ang strenuously struggled:
“Don’t make choices based on impulse. Love is something that requires more interaction…”
“You see, you admit there’s love between us.”
“…”
“And, you just said we need more interaction… So you better keep your promise~”
“…”
Why did I even open my mouth!
Realizing the terrifying gap in debating skills between himself and the princess, Leon abandoned the topic immediately, looking helpless as he argued:
“I’ve already called off the engagement before…”
“Verbal cancellations don’t count.”
The princess nestled closer to Leon, then answered with a smile in the comforting warmth around her:
“Such a big decision can’t be finalized with just a casual remark, right? We should inform the elders first.”
“What about your father…?”
“He listens to me now; I disagree with the cancellation.”
“…”
“Our few surviving elders from the Lane family have to report military affairs to me regularly. Should I ask them for you?”
“…”
No need. The result of you asking would naturally be disagreement, so let’s not bother those old men…
Shaking his head speechlessly, Leon tried to remind her: “Veronica, you’ve basically succeeded in the coup. Even without the support of the Lane family or the position of the proxy speaker of the Upper House, you can definitely stabilize the situation. Why insist on keeping this marriage contract?”
After hearing Leon’s words, the princess blinked involuntarily, then pinched his side lightly, pouting: “You’re so bad~”
“???”
“Knowing what I’d say, you still ask… If you must hear it, I think that even without all those extra things, I want you to be my prince.”
In Leon’s somewhat confused expression, the princess touched his cheek, then sniffed, humphing discontentedly: “Don’t look at how eager I am yet you always ignore me. People who want to pursue me are absolutely a hundred times more than those who want you… No! At least a thousand times! What they value are either my identity as a princess, or the wealth, manpower, and resources I can mobilize, or some chasing after beauty. Whatever they want, I can see through it at a glance.
Only you want nothing, even with our engagement, you don’t expect anything from me. You’re completely purposeless when you’re with me. If you were in my shoes, how would you choose?”
“…”
Her words make sense, but this déjà vu…
There’s a strange feeling like an ancient bossy CEO lifting a dumb innocent girl’s chin arrogantly and saying, “Woman, I like you because you don’t like my money”…
“Of course, the most headache-inducing thing about you is that you want nothing… Not even me.”
Sighing with some distress, the princess couldn’t help but pinch Leon lightly again, then smiled sweetly and continued: “But I’m confident you’ll eventually want something, hmm… Like what you just said, more interaction, more cultivation, I’m not in a hurry~”
“…”
“By the way, since we need more interaction… When do you plan to move in?”
????
Wait, weren’t we talking about something else? How did you bring it to this? “Alright, stop!”
Feeling if he didn’t withdraw now, the wedding date might be set blindly, Leon quickly pulled his hand back, nervously saying: “I have something else to do, uh… There’s still the matter of the captured members of parliament… I’ll go first!”
“Oh~”
Looking at Leon being flustered, the princess couldn’t help but smile smugly, then pretended to be aggrieved: “Then… Hmm? Wait! You captured members of parliament?”
“Yes, I did capture some.”
Seeing the topic finally diverted, Leon sighed in relief, admitting candidly: “Isn’t Joshua attending the meeting for you? I just went along to host it.
You know, the two main proposals pushed by the parliament this time are very important, but I was also a bit worried about your safety, so I slightly expedited things and captured some strongly opposing members of parliament.”
When hearing Leon captured members of parliament, the princess was initially a bit annoyed, but upon hearing “worried about your safety,” her heart sweetened instantly, all annoyance dissipated, leaving her only to look helplessly: “Did you… really have people come in and arrest members during the meeting?”
“No.”
Leon shook his head: “I had people lying in wait outside, and they arrested them after they left early due to my forceful passing of the proposal.”
If they left before getting arrested… That’s still okay.
Hearing Leon’s words, the princess relaxed slightly, then said with a headache:
“Who could get so angry as to leave early… Those strongly opposing me and with fiery tempers, capable of such behavior, should be Marquis Mori, Earl Evans, and Earl Pavna. Did you capture all three?”
Marquis Mori? Earl Evans? Earl Pavna?
Recalling these three names, Leon vaguely remembered.
One threw a shoe knocking out the Minister of Finance and was taken down by his guards; one was forced to bow by the [Travel Thrush Prince], hitting his head on the table and fainting; and one tried to impeach him but got counter-impeached, ending up being carried away along with the podium.
It seems the princess knows the situation of the two houses of parliament well despite not being present. These three were indeed the most aggressive among the members.
“No, I didn’t capture those three.”
After confirming who these three were, Leon shook his head: “I captured the remaining opposition party members except for them.”
Remaining? The princess asked in confusion:
“Does remaining refer to Brokash member or Kloze member?”
“It’s just the remaining ones.”
“I know it’s the remaining ones, but there are at least sixty opposition members. You couldn’t have captured all of them, right?”
“…”
“???”