“Your Highness!”

The Crown Prince’s entourage rushed up onto the stage and ran over to him.

“You didn’t have to go that far!”

Red shouted loudly and tried to grab Li.

Li responded with a single punch.

“Ahf—” Red collapsed on the spot.

It had been necessary to go that far.

Li hadn’t done it out of enjoyment.

Whether it was combat or magic, she had decided to break the Crown Prince.

For the Crown Prince, it must have been a bitter experience.

After all, the confidence he had built up throughout his life had been shattered.

Because he was talented, he had become arrogant.

That arrogance had run wild, fueled by his inflated sense of self.

That was why Li broke him.

The very confidence that had been the foundation of that arrogance.

As for what came after, she didn’t care.

After all, Li was his fiancée.

Originally, it would have been her role to support him.

However, he had challenged that very fiancée to a duel.

Even if he was suffering from a case of adolescent delusion, it still didn’t sit well with her.

So Li decided to devise a little plan.

“Take His Highness to the infirmary.”

The entourage moved to carry away the immobile Crown Prince.

“Wait. Moving him now would be dangerous.”

“Erika!” Li called the saint up onto the stage.

“Please treat His Highness.”

At the same time, she ordered the entourage, “You step back.”

Overwhelmed by Li’s unusual presence, they complied.

“Jeez… it can’t be helped.”

Despite her words, the saint wore a somewhat softened expression.

She had likely understood Li’s intention perfectly.

Kneeling beside the Crown Prince, she activated healing magic.

The sight truly resembled that of a saint.

Aside from her slightly slack expression.

As the saint continued the treatment, Li noticed something while preparing to leave the stage with the male instructor.

An earring—likely belonging to the Crown Prince—had fallen.

After picking it up, she left the stage with the instructor.

In other words, she created a situation where the two of them were alone on the stage.

After stepping down, Li posed a question to Lady Alberta, who had come running over.

“Ally, why does Erika like His Highness?”

It was a simple question.

At that, Lady Alberta let out a small laugh.

“Earlier, we asked Erika the very same thing.”

“And did she answer?”

Lady Alberta nodded and gave a bright smile.

“She said she likes men who would be hopeless without her.”

The saint, unexpectedly, had a weakness for hopeless men.

“She also said something about it ‘stimulating her maternal instincts.’”

After a brief pause, Lady Alberta added, “She really is unusual, isn’t she?”

Li nodded vigorously in agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile, the saint held the Crown Prince’s hand and continued using healing magic.

His hazy consciousness seemed to have returned.

“Saint… Erika. You must be… disappointed as well, aren’t you?”

Tears fell as the Crown Prince asked.

“Disappointed? Of course I am.”

“So the others… feel the same, don’t they?”

“Hmph! Idiot. A man has to make a fool of himself at times! There’s no man who can be perfect from start to finish! What matters is—”

She paused, then looked directly into his eyes.

“—not running away from it. Accept it properly. Don’t spit it out. This frustration, this embarrassment—every bit of it belongs to you. That’s how a man grows into someone greater!”

At her words, the Crown Prince lowered his gaze.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? It’s frustrating, isn’t it? You can’t accept it, can you? But that’s where it starts.”

Still holding his hand, the saint brought it to her chest.

“I’ll stay by your side. So when things are hard, come talk to me.”

“But…”

“If you overcome this, you’ll become a good man!”

“I see… you’re right.”

Gradually, light returned to the Crown Prince’s eyes.

“However… I should tell you this first. I think His Majesty is very angry about this incident. There will probably even be talk of disinheritance. But that’s something you caused, so take responsibility for it properly.”

The Crown Prince let out a faint smile.

“Disinheritance… huh. That might not be so bad.”

“And also, make sure you properly apologize to Li. You’re the one who caused all this.”

“…You’re right.”

The Crown Prince thought of Li—an overwhelmingly beautiful girl.

Then he spoke.

“By the way… Erika.”

“What?”

“Your chest is surprisingly firm. My mother’s is more…”

Creak.

The Crown Prince’s hand made a straining sound.

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“No, I said it’s firm—”

“Die!”

The saint’s furious punch struck the Crown Prince square in the face.