Chapter 174
“Clara, I’m on my way to refuse a gift from His Majesty the Emperor right now. If I dress up too extravagantly, won’t that just make him more displeased?”
At my words, Clara nodded without protest.
Just then, someone outside informed us that the imperial carriage had arrived to pick us up.
“Then, Diana, I’ll see you at the swordsmanship tournament.”
At my farewell, Diana nodded weakly.
Seeing Diana standing there blankly, watching Clara and me leave, made my heart ache.
At that moment, Clara, who had gotten into the carriage before me, turned to Diana and gave her a bright smile.
Her expression, as if savoring a victory, made me feel extremely unpleasant, even though I knew bringing Clara was the best option in this situation.
***
“Adriana, are you even listening to me?”
We were nearing the Imperial Palace.
Clara, who had been chatting nonstop since we got into the carriage, asked with a sulky voice.
I, gazing out the window, nodded.
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
Even to my own ears, my reply sounded insincere.
Predictably, Clara’s face darkened, but I didn’t really care.
From the beginning, I had no intention of going along with Clara’s wishes.
No matter how nicely I treated her, she would just see me as someone to manipulate, bad-mouthing me behind my back. So there was no reason to be accommodating.
Moreover, I kept thinking about Diana—how she cried all night worrying about me, how she said she wanted to become family, and how sullen she looked because she couldn’t come with me to the palace.
Meanwhile, Clara kept getting on my nerves.
“Really. Maybe Lady Elard seemed nice to you, but to the other young ladies…”
“Yeah, Clara. Diana is still young.”
I sharply cut off Clara’s words and spoke coldly.
“Despite her age, she’s incredibly capable and smart. I’ve never met anyone so lovable before. Sure, like you said, her confidence might come off as forwardness sometimes, but not once did I think she was arrogant.”
“A-Adriana…!”
“And no matter her age, Diana is the empire’s only princess. Even if she acts a little pridefully, what’s the problem? Frankly, I’m more worried about you speaking like that about someone of higher status than you. I’m her cousin, so I won’t misunderstand, but you should be careful around others.”
Just like Clara had always spoken under the guise of caring for me, I now used the same approach with her. Clara fell silent, looking at me with wide, tear-filled eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it.
Clearly, she hadn’t expected me to take Diana’s side so strongly.
I turned my head away, indifferent to Clara’s hurt expression.
Maybe she thought that in order to control me, she first had to drive away those close to me.
The moment we got into the carriage, Clara naturally brought up Diana, trying to gauge how close we were. Upon realizing we had only exchanged letters for a long time, she began belittling Diana.
She spoke in a roundabout and seemingly elegant way, but the meaning was clear—that Diana, despite acting polite to me as the Grand Princess, was actually arrogant, rude, and not someone I should keep close.
But to badmouth Diana in front of me of all people… Honestly, if we weren’t about to arrive at the palace, I would have gotten even angrier.
Maybe sensing my firm stance, Clara awkwardly changed the subject.
“By the way, Adriana, are you really going to refuse His Majesty’s gift?”
What a random shift.
We were literally heading there to refuse the gift, so I stared at her in disbelief. Clara blushed.
After hesitating shyly for a moment, she dropped a bombshell.
“Actually… I’m in love with Prince Nicholas.”
My eyes widened.
Hearing Nicholas’s name come up confirmed that Clara understood the full significance of the tiara the emperor had gifted me.
But even more shocking was Clara’s confession itself.
“Is that true?”
I asked, startled, and Clara’s face hardened.
“Why? Are you saying someone like me isn’t allowed to love His Highness?”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Then what do you mean?”
“Well…”
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Matters of love were foreign to me, and it’s not something an outsider could easily judge… but honestly, the gap between the Clara I knew from childhood and this sudden confession was too great. I couldn’t easily accept that she loved Nicholas.
Even though Nicholas had shed his reputation as a ‘worthless prince,’ he had once been treated with contempt, known even to call himself the neglected prince born of a lowly concubine…
Lost in thought, I realized something and quickly turned to Clara.
“Clara, I—”
I tried to continue, but the hunter who had already set her trap smiled contentedly.
“It looks like we’ve arrived. Let’s get out, Adriana.”
***
Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Imperial Palace.
“I didn’t expect His Majesty to go so far as to break with tradition and bestow the honor of the first dance upon me. So what can I do? His Majesty laid out the stage; I have no choice but to show him I’m doing my best.”
Nicholas spoke lightly as he set down his teacup.
At his words, Nyx, Lucio’s aide, nervously swallowed dryly and glanced at Lucio’s expression.
Lucio’s face was, as usual, expressionless.
But was it really the same underneath?
Nyx, who prided himself as Lucio’s closest aide, was certain it was not.
Currently, Nicholas had visited the Foreign Ministry under the pretext of receiving reports from the delegation, and was relaying the emperor’s intentions, including the incident at the ball on the founding day.
The atmosphere was already tense after Nicholas, oblivious to everything, danced with the Grand Princess. And now, the emperor had even suggested the Grand Princess as a potential crown princess for Nicholas!
It was absurd enough—but then Nicholas added, making Nyx’s eyes widen,
“Well, she’s definitely pretty, like His Majesty said. But she’s not really my type.”
Oh, dear.
If the Grand Princess were Nicholas’s type, that would be a problem in itself… but hearing this, Nyx snuck a look at Lucio’s expression again.
“I thought she’d have a dull personality like Ascart, but that wasn’t the case. When I provoked her a little, she trembled—it was cuter than I expected. Of course, the fact that she danced for an hour shows she’s a bit foolish too.”
I heard she was physically weak, too.
Nicholas chuckled and shook his head as if amused.
At the same time, Nyx’s face turned pale, as if he were suffocating.
That comment just now had been incredibly dangerous.
Because last night, he and his lord had received a report that the Grand Princess, after visiting the duke’s residence, had collapsed, likely from overexerting herself at the ball.
‘Should I try to shut the prince’s mouth right now?’
Nyx, who had graduated top of the academy and secured the coveted position as Lucio’s aide, seriously considered the idea.
‘Even if I can’t see him, Bert must be somewhere nearby… Should I have him knock the prince unconscious?’
Just as Nyx was seriously contemplating a felony against royalty, Nicholas changed the subject.
“Come to think of it, I knew the Elard Duke’s family was close with House Belus, but I didn’t realize the Grand Princess herself was acquainted with them. I used to exchange letters with Ascart now and then, but he never mentioned anything about the Grand Princess.”
Nicholas gave a sly smile as he asked,
“She seems to be close with Lady Elard too. From what I hear, you and the Grand Duchess also seem to have quite a relationship… Is it true?”
It seemed Nicholas had finally caught on to the special rapport between Lucio and the Grand Princess.
However, seeing as Lucio had shown no romantic interest in anyone until now, Nicholas clearly thought it was just a rumor.
When Nicholas asked so obviously to feel him out, Lucio calmly placed his teacup down with a clink.
“I don’t see why I need to explain that.”
“What do you mean, why? Haven’t you been listening to anything I said? His Majesty sent a tiara to the Grand Princess yesterday, you know.”
“And he said she would visit today to refuse it.”
“Yeah, but thanks to that, I’ll also be having lunch with her soon.”
Nicholas replied with an irritatingly smug smile, which, for the first time, made Lucio’s usual blank expression harden visibly.
Seeing this, Nicholas sounded genuinely surprised.
“Wait, are you serious?”
“…”
“Lucio! His Majesty is relentless. Just look at the princesses he has locked up in the detached palace. It looks like he’s set his sights on the Grand Princess for real. Shouldn’t you start preparing yourself?”
“What preparation are you referring to?”
“You know—find a noble lady who could become the center of your great future endeavors, someone even His Majesty would approve of.”
At those words, Lucio’s eyes turned chillingly cold.
“So Your Highness has similar views on marriage as the First Princess. I guess blood really does run thick.”
“…What?”
The air instantly froze.
Nicholas, always lighthearted, stiffened at once. Nyx, too, was shocked by Lucio’s venomous words.
“My words were harsh.”
Lucio brushed a hand through his hair and apologized, letting out a sigh.
Thanks to his swift apology, both Nyx and Nicholas managed to relax a little.
“…I get what you mean, but still, comparing me to Serphin is harsh, don’t you think?”
Nicholas tried to laugh it off, recalling how Serphin had once proposed to Lucio back in the Kingdom of Riven.
The atmosphere lightened a little—only briefly.
Lucio picked up his teacup and said quietly,
“Whatever your reasons may be, please choose your consort as you see fit.”
“K-Kuhm.”
“And one more thing.”
Lucio stared into the teacup, then lifted his gaze to meet Nicholas’s eyes directly.
Nicholas instinctively swallowed hard.
Lucio’s next words were delivered like a clear, undeniable warning,
“If you truly wish for me to be your man, then never lay a hand on those who belong to me.”
