The moment I heard the voice that should never be heard while speaking of Tanasia from behind me, my entire body stiffened as if turned to stone. Carefully, I twisted my head to see the owner of that chilling voice.

“I believe I just heard Tanasia’s name coming from your mouths. Could it be that the Tanasia you're talking about is the one I know?”

“…”

'Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.'

A flood of panic circuits lit up in my mind, sounding the alarm for my life. One thing was crystal clear—I could not let Harold find out about the conversation that had just transpired between Mezzlen and me.

If he discovered that we had speculated, with no basis whatsoever, that his late wife might have had a deviant side and enjoyed such activities with Harold, there were only two possible outcomes for me:

One: Harold, enraged at the insult to his wife, would personally educate me in his "way." Two: Harold, furious at Mezzlen for the insult, would "educate" her, and as a result, the entire Blackwood family would be implicated for royal assault, dragging me into the mess as well.

Either way, standing at this crossroads, both paths led to ruin. I was desperately trying to figure out what to say when the reckless, lewd princess decided to speak first.

“A-Ah, Sir Harold…! H-How have you been…?”

As if this were some kind of opportunity, she spread the sides of her short uniform skirt and greeted him. It wasn’t even a noble gown, yet here she was, lifting it like it was, and as ridiculous as that was, her audacity to still call him "Sir Harold" at a time like this was… impressive, in a way.

“Oh, it’s you again. I thought I asked you last time to address me as Professor Harold. This is the academy, after all. No matter that you’re royalty, to me, you’re just another student.”

“Oh, d-did you say that…? I’m so sorry, P-Professor Harold…”

“It's fine. Just don’t make the same mistake next time.”

…He’s actually pretty sweet when it comes to anything unrelated to his family. If only he didn’t lose his mind at the mere mention of them, he'd be a great guy. In fact, even with that flaw, he's still one of the more upstanding heads of noble families.

It would be great if I could shift the conversation toward Mezzlen and away from the topic we were just discussing, but unfortunately, Harold seemed determined not to let Tanasia's name go unaddressed.

“So, I’d like to hear the rest of the conversation.”

“…”

“I’m certain I heard ‘Tanasia’ come from your mouths. Were you referring to my wife, ‘Tanasia’?”

“W-Well, you see…”

“Yes, P-Professor Harold… We were talking about your late wife, Duchess Tanasia…”

“……?!?!”

This madwoman…

How could she spit that out so recklessly right after I warned her not to?

Just as I was about to let out the words, "If you want to die, do it alone," Harold's hands suddenly gripped Mezzlen's shoulders with alarming force.

Grab!

“Ugh?!”

“It’s ‘wife.’ Not ‘late wife.’”

“…What?”

Clench.

“Tanasia, my wife. She will never be my ‘late wife.’”

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

Harold was now exuding a palpable killing intent, and poor Mezzlen, overwhelmed by it, stammered out a cautious apology.

The suffocating tension in the air made me long for one thing—to escape this nightmare as quickly as possible.

‘I didn’t even say anything…!’

Why on earth was I caught up in this, just because Mezzlen had dragged me into a conversation about Tanasia? As regret over not forcefully shaking her off earlier swirled in my head, Harold’s murderous aura finally eased, and his grip on Mezzlen’s shoulders loosened.

“…Apologies. Whenever my wife is mentioned, I find it hard to control myself.”

“I-It’s alright… She must have been very important to you, right? Y-Your wife, I mean…”

“She is important, not was. She remains important to me.”

“I-I’m sorry… I’ve misspoken again…”

“So, could you let me know what exactly you two were talking about? I can’t help but be curious.”

“…”

Given the current atmosphere, if we told the truth about our conversation, Mezzlen would die, I would die, and everyone would die. The only way out was to hide the truth as best as possible and only say things that wouldn’t offend Harold.

“W-We were talking about what qualities of Duchess Tanasia might have caught your attention, P-Professor Harold.”

“…Hmm, and why?”

“Well, you still love her dearly, even after all these years. After losing her, you’ve kept her as your only wife in your heart, and for over 20 years, you haven’t been with anyone else. We were wondering what special charm Duchess Tanasia had that moved you so deeply.”

“Haha, is that so? Well, Tanasia certainly was a remarkable woman. She did have a special charm that no other woman could compare to.”

…Phew.

It seems like we’re safe for now. As I cautiously gauged Harold’s reaction, he suddenly launched into a boastful tale about his late wife.

“The first time I took notice of her was during the student council president election in our first year at the academy. Until then, I had thought of her as just another top student from the magic department, someone unrelated to me. But when she ran for student council president, her campaign platform caught my eye. You see, her proposal was…”

Oh no.

I knew this pattern all too well—the one where someone suddenly starts telling a long story about their past that no one asked for, and you end up listening all the way to the end because you can’t cut them off.

I had been caught in this before, and now that Harold had started, there was no stopping him.

‘And to make matters worse, I was the one who brought this up, so it’d be rude to just ignore it now…’

As usual, whenever I got involved with this princess, things became unnecessarily complicated.

Even worse, Mezzlen, who had never been subjected to Harold’s infamous “too much talking,” was listening with wide, eager eyes, making it harder to break the flow of conversation.

“When Tanasia was elected president, the first thing she did was solidify the internal cohesion of the student council. At the time, the natural next step after the election was…”

‘At least he didn’t get charged with royal assault…’

Resigned to my fate, I had no choice but to endure Harold’s endless monologue about Tanasia. It wasn’t until two hours later that his mouth finally stopped moving.

“…And that’s why I confessed my feelings to Tanasia that day. Even on the battlefield, she remained steadfast, even in the face of countless dangers… Ah, look at the time.”

“…What?”

“I had completely forgotten about the professors' dinner tonight. I was actually on my way to meet with one of the professors from the magic department. I got so wrapped up in our conversation that I lost track of time.”

“…Two hours is hardly a short time, Professor Harold.”

“Ah, well, what’s the harm? I’m sure the dinner isn’t over yet. I should at least go show my face. You both take care.”

“Yes… Have a good evening, Professor Harold…”

“…Please take care, Professor Harold.”

Finally, Harold released us at the sight of the setting sun.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief, grateful that the devil’s mouth had finally stopped, even though it had taken the better part of the day.

At least now, after seeing Harold’s raw nature, I thought Princess Mezzlen would finally lose interest in him.

“Do you understand now, Princess Mezzlen?”

“…”

“I’ve avoided saying this until now, out of respect for my master, but Professor Harold is always like this. His love for his wife is so overwhelming that there’s no room for anyone else in his heart.”

“…”

“So, if you’re looking for love, Princess Mezzlen, I’d recommend you find someone who can return your affections…”

“No, it must be Sir Harold.”

“…What?”

“To still hold such passionate love in his heart even 20 years after his wife passed away… If that’s not love, then what is?

I-If I could win over Sir Harold’s heart, I would be the one to receive that enormous love! I will never give up! I’ll find a way to make Sir Harold fall in love with me!”

“…”

…Honestly, I don’t care anymore.

Do whatever you want—love him, leave him, it’s your choice.