I’ve been tricked!
Adrian ground his teeth. His mind had entertained the possibility, but who would have known his hunch would actually come true?
The place where the Empress had said they would have tea together was no other than the garden next to Grace Palace.
Naturally, he thought both the empress and the woman would be there – but the only person greeting him for tea was Gabriele.
“Your Highness, I have missed you so very much.”
Gabriele, having found Adrian, greeted him with a cloying voice.
He immediately frowned and turned his back on her.
He had been forced to come on the orders of the empress, but if the empress wasn’t here in person, there was no need to be here at all.
“Oh goodness. Your Highness, where are you going? Are you hiding because you have been so shy at the sight of me?”
“…….”
“There is no such need! This Gabriele is of the same mind as Your Highness. We do not have to hide our feelings anymore, right?”
Adrian was overcome with the urge to cover his ears.
A rather high-pitched voice continued to spit out nonsense behind him, but Adrian ignored it completely.
Ever since he was very young, the empress had always been itching to have Adrian paired with Gabriele, and now Adrian hated Gabriele to the point of trembling.
Being unable to shake her off, he had acquiesced by trying to avoid her when possible.
Having the empress accompany her would have been better – who would have expected this absurd situation?
“God damn it.”
He resolved to never respond to any of his mother’s callings for the next few months..
But Adrian couldn’t get out of the garden as he had hoped.
“If you leave like this, Her Majesty will be quite disappointed…….”
Gabriele’s words had no effect on Adrian.
Mother can be sad all she wants.
But Gabriele wasn’t done yet..
“Oh my, Your Highness. Come to think of it, there is a message that Her Majesty the Empress had told me to convey to Your Highness.”
A message? For a moment, a great feeling of uneasiness predominated.
Adrian was conflicted. Whatever happens next, should I just ignore everything and just leave in a storm, or at least listen to what was being said?
Before that thought was even finished, Gabriele spoke.
“She says that if Your Highness is not here when His Majesty returns, there will be an ever greater gift awaiting!”
“……sigh.”
A greater “gift” than Gabriele. That could only spell disaster.
In the end, the empress’ blackmail prevailed. Adrian was now seated across from Gabriel, wearing a rotten expression.
Gabriel was even more excited and happy with the crown prince sitting in front of her.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness. You must have stayed up all night because you wanted to see me, correct? Well, at least I did.”
Snap. The handle of the teacup Adrian was holding cracked under his grip.
“Not for me.”
Adrian’s voice was ridden with barely suppressed anger, full of murderous intent.
Even this deadly gesture did little to dampen Gabriele, who was smiling gaily for whatever reason.
“Ah, yes. Your Highness had also missed me? You don’t have to say.”
“I’m telling you, that’s not the case.”
“They say that a strong negative is a strong positive. You wanted to see me that much? Oh my, Your Highness please!”
“Sigh…….”
Click-clack-click-clack…….
Adrian’s hand patted the handle of his sword. He was overcome with murderous urges several times every second.
Gabriele was unaware. That it was Adrian’s own patience, of which he had only one percent remaining, that was keeping her head in place.
* * *
After exiting the hall, Ternie headed towards the Crown Prince’s office.
Wham! Ternie whipped the door of the office open without warning.
Even the servant who overlooked the office opened her eyes in surprise at the rude behavior.
“Adrian! My, our Atie….…! Wait a minute? Where’s Adrian?”
Diano was the only one in the office.
Ternie dragged me and approached Diano. Diano, who was standing far away, was wearing a grim expression.
“……appeared.”
“What’s appeared?”
“The woman…….”
“What? That woman is here?!”
Diano nodded his head.
“Her Majesty the Empress has called for His Highness to come have tea with the woman.”
“Oh no!”
Ternie, who gave out exclamations meant to express either joy or disappointment, looked back at me with a smile.
“Atie, it’s your time to shine!”
“Sorry?”
Ternie dragged me out of the office without much explanation.
Diano followed him scratching the back of his head with a puzzled face.
Ternie dragged me back to my bedroom.
“Madame Lucy!”
“Oh, Prince Ternie? Is the report over already?”
“That’s not the problem right now. The woman has appeared! Finally, the time has come for our Atie to step in!”
But why? I couldn’t tell, but then again, I was in no position to give an opinion.
Madame Lucy, eyes momentarily wide open, laughed her usual ‘Oh ho ho ho’.
“Alright then. If Gabriele has come, of course Lady Atienne must go too.”
“Gabriele?”
“Do you not know about her? She is the only daughter of the Prime Minister.”
“No, I know, but…….”
Ah, so “that woman” was a young lady named Gabriele.
When I slurred the end of my sentence at the realization, Madame Lucy explained further.
“Miss Gabriele is a daughter of the House of Nebel, who are close friends with Her Majesty’s maternal family, the House of Valario. Thanks to that, she is favored by Her Majesty the Empress.”
From the way she spoke, I somehow got the impression that Madame Lucy didn’t like Gabriel very much.
Maybe it was just me?
Hearing Gabriele’s family name brought up bad memories.
I knew very well that they were a vastly rich family. The Nebel family’s spending sprees were so famous that even the commoners knew about it.
On top of that, our family’s treasured possessions at the time of our downfall were mostly handed over to the Nebels. Ah, so Gabriele was the famous daughter of that family.
“The family does not have a very good reputation, but they are popular in the social world.”
“Oh, I see.”
“It’s okay, little sis! Our family is far better off!”
Ternie smiled and slapped my shoulder a couple of times. It hurt enough that I was narrowing my eyebrows slightly, when Madame Lucy pulled me aside.
“Then you should prepare, oh-ho-ho-ho!”
“Prepare for what?”
Suddenly, I had an uneasy feeling. Sadly, that hunch wasn’t wrong.
“Why, you should go now to His Highness the Crown Prince!”
“……But wh-, why?”
I asked in a frightened voice. Why should do something like that? I couldn’t figure out the reason.
I was happy that I didn’t have to see the prince’s face today, and now I have to go see him myself! I’d rather be a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.
But Madame Lucy and Ternie were persistent.
“Because you are a fiancée, oh-ho-ho! You have to win the crown prince from Lady Gabriele, of course!”
“Yep, that’s right!”
No, but why……? I don’t need the prince, tell her she can have him all she wants…….
Wanting that Crown Prince for her own – she sure has some unique taste in guys, that Gabriele.
And I don’t know why I have to go on a long adventure to win over someone I don’t even want.
“Now, now. Get up, please! Think of it as a rehearsal for a dance ball! Ho ho ho!”
Even though I was already wearing a heavily ornate dress for dance practice, Madame Lucy insisted on adding more accessories.
It was only after she wore a satisfied expression that I was able to escape from her clutches, and head towards the Crown Prince.
* * *
My body felt so heavy that my gait was sagging naturally.
I prayed for the road to never end, but quickly reached my destination.
Sigh, life is too harsh.
“It’ll be alright. Little sis! We’re in this together!”
Wow, that sure doesn’t sound encouraging.
While I was keeping my distance with eyes of disbelief, Diano, who was staring at me, spoke out.
“Wait a second.”
He took something out of his pocket and handed it to me without saying a word. What was that? Seeing me standing quizzically, Ternie explained more.
“Wear it. Essen always had a veil on.”
Having played the role of Essen all along, I had no reason to reject the veil now. I calmly received the veil and wore it.
It occurred to me that the effect of this veil had perhaps played a part in the rumors that Atienne was pretty.
The translucent face covering had the effect of making the wearer quite a bit prettier in the eye of the beholder.
The place we arrived at was the garden situated immediately next to Grace Palace. I could hear someone’s voice faintly in the distance.
I wanted to delay my arrival, even if for just one second, but was unable to because Ternie kept pushing me. He was an older brother who wasn’t any help.
Before long, the back of the prince came into view. He didn’t seem to notice that we were getting closer. Then, before long, I heard it.
Click-clack, click-clack..….
What was that? Why was he fiddling with the handle of the sword?
“Let’s hurry. Or he’ll be drawing that weapon any second.”
Ternie grabbed me and quickened my pace. My face hardened, freezing my smile in place.
So that’s he was contemplating, on whether to draw the sword or not…….
As I got closer, I felt a strong gaze on me, and raised my head. Eyes resembling violets, full of hostility, were peering at me.
So that person is ‘the woman’.
A beautiful maiden with blue locks of hair and purple eyes resembling violets, she looked coy and prim.
She was glaring at me. With a gaze so hot I felt like it would penetrate me.
It seemed that I’d ruined her sweet time with the Crown Prince, but was she even aware?
That her life had only just been saved by the appearance of myself and the other two guys ……
The sound of rattling as he pondered whether or not to draw his sword rang clearly in the ears.
“The madman is at it again.”
Diano said softly from behind. Quite enough that only I could hear what he said.
A very dangerous thing to say, what you just said…….
After a while, a servant brought more chairs to accommodate the newcomers. When we sat down, Gabriele greeted us as if she were the matron of the whole occasion.
“It’s been a while, everyone. Especially you, Miss Atienne, it sure has been a long time.”
Was that a question direct at me? I contemplated whether to answer her or not, but I couldn’t open my mouth at such short notice.
If I answered in the wrong way here, my 45th lifetime would be under threat.
Or was it my 46th life? Anyhow.
At that moment, I could hear an affectionate voice from the side.
“Well, my fiancée was a little preoccupied.”
It was the Crown Prince.
For what reason was he helping me?
I was surprised at him acting at being a kind-hearted lover – it was unbecoming of him.
“Unlike someone, my little sister doesn’t like mucking around, my Lady.”
At Ternie’s reply, spoken like an afterthought, Gabriele frowned slightly.
