Mary called me cautiously.
I finally understood why her expression was like that when she came in earlier.
“You really came to see me?”
“Yes….”
The other day, at a meal in the imperial palace, it was very embarrassing to keep looking at me, but in the end something must have happened.
I had no desire to talk to the man face to face.
But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t the kind of person who could shut her door, saying she didn’t want to see her the way she wanted.
‘Anyway, he’s a very tired person in many ways.’
I let out a full sigh and managed to get my foot off the ground.
Then, thinking about why he had come, I headed for the drawing room.
‘It really is.’
No way, but he was in the real drawing room.
No matter what was said, my response was only one.
After thinking about that and making up my mind, when I opened the parlor door, Kane stood up.
“Princess Heitz.”
He called me with a voice that didn’t seem to match him at all, not the cold and cold voice of two years ago.
“Welcome, Duke Maxius.”
“It’s been a while, Princess Heitz.”
I first pretended to greet him in an aristocratic manner.
“Sit down, Duke.”
After asking him to sit down, he sat across from me and immediately asked about his business.
“You said you came to see me?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Do we still have something to talk about face-to-face like this?”
At my words, his expressionless expression was slightly disturbed.
I thought again about why he had come.
‘No way…’
Are you here to ask for the diamond mine you gave me back two years ago?
That’s absolutely not the case.
How did i get it…!
It was the reward he received for enduring harsh persecution and insults for six months, and unfolding a spirited performance.
I stared at him with wary eyes.
“It seemed like the last time we had a conversation at the imperial palace too briefly, so we decided to visit the duchy like this to talk a bit more.”
However, unexpected words came out of his mouth.
“…Are you here just for that?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t hide my absurdity and looked at him suspiciously.
“I’m a bit embarrassed right now, so it’s okay. Do you think it’s possible for us to have these casual conversations between people
who broke up their engagement two years ago for bad reasons?”
“I don’t think there is anything that can’t be done.”
Wow, look at this brazenness.
Even two years ago, he said that he had someone he loved, and he asked me to break it off without batting an eye….
He was still sitting with a completely unconcerned expression on his face.
I was sick and tired of seeing him like that, so I shook my head.
However, even after seeing me like that, Kane didn’t care at all, and continued talking like a determined person.
“Even though we broke up our engagement two years ago-”
It was then.
Just as Kane continued to make strange noises, his father came into the drawing room.
“What are you doing!”
Then, with a very angry face, he shouted loudly at Kane.
“Where is this place, how dare you come to visit my daughter!”
“Father, calm down…!”
I pretended to dissuade him, but inside I cheered him on, telling him to do more.
‘As expected, having a reliable father is good.’
Although he has a fiery temper and is hot-tempered, he gets angry easily, but he was a very reliable father at times like this.
“Get out now. If you don’t, I’ll drag you out of here as a duke!”
His father even pointed at him, which he was really ready to do.
When my father couldn’t calm his excitement and glared at Kane with a tantrum, he quietly rose from his seat.
Then he walked in front of me, looked at me and smiled slightly.
“Today is not a good day. I will come back next time.”
Seriously, how can you be so calm and shameless?
I got goosebumps all over my body when I saw his new look today.
“What next!”
But before I had time to say anything, my father got angry at Kane and kicked him out, so I just watched him go away.
After a while, I was about to go back to my room, but my father, who had been watching Kane leave, came to my side.
And right away he started asking why he had come.
“What did that guy come for?!”
“I don’t know either. We were just about to start talking, but my father came.”
“…okay?”
“Yes.”
“Kuhm…! I will never ever meet that person again. How dare you say where is this place!”
My father still couldn’t calm down easily at the fact that Kane had come here.
“I don’t want to meet you either, but you’re recklessly coming to me like this.”
Such was the status society.
At least my father is in the same position, so he should do something like this, but I was lower than Kane, so I couldn’t just say I didn’t want to see him.
“Do not worry. This father will take action.”
Fortunately, when my father said that he would take some action, I responded with a wide smile of gratitude.
“Yes, thank you, Father.”
Kane’s visit to the duke’s family ended like that.
But from the next day, he started sending me gifts instead of visiting.
What the hell are you thinking….
What the hell are you sending me a present for?
Did that guy put his mind back on me?
No, that was something that could never happen, and shouldn’t have happened.
I couldn’t guarantee it because I wasn’t good at reading people’s eyes and reading their minds.
However, if you are a person who is fed up with Belita’s obsession, and you feel Belita’s emptiness only then because she is not by your side….
‘Isn’t that enough of a pervert?’
I don’t know Kane perfectly, but judging by the man I knew in the novel and the man I’ve been through since coming here, he wasn’t such an emotional person.
So I thought about it, but no matter how much I thought about it,
Kane had only one purpose in my view.
‘Diamond mine.’
At the time of giving, my heart for Adela was bigger than a mountain, so if I could only get rid of the obstacles to love, I could have given the whole world.
I don’t know exactly how the two broke up, but if you think about it, it was very realistic.
Eternal love exists only in books.
The moment you come out of the book, you will face reality.
This is also a book, but is it precisely because it is the world after the novel is over?
‘It’s a bit bitter in many ways….’
Despite Kane’s gift offensive that continued day after day, there was not a single gift from Kane in my room.
It was because the moment he found out who the sender was, his father became angry and refused to send any presents into the mansion.
I heard that they burned them all, but he was like a father after all.
“Feel so good. Being loved by your parents.”
In fact, it was the first time in my life that I had a parent.
So, in my life before coming here, I had no parents.
As soon as he was born, he was abandoned in an orphanage, where he grew up and left as soon as he turned 20.
Since then, I have lived alone, so I never knew that some absolute being would protect me, and I knew that my life would be like that in the future.
Maybe half of the reason why I didn’t desperately think about going back after coming here was because of my parents.
Having parents and having a family was powerful enough to fill something empty in one side of my heart.
So, the two who were Belita’s parents, but who are now my parents, have become so precious to me.
As I was lost in long thoughts, Mary announced her arrival outside the door.
“My lady, it is me. It’s Mary.”
“Come in.”
I looked at Mary as she entered the room.
But there was an envelope in her hand.
“What is it?”
“It is an invitation. The lady has an invitation.”
“What kind of family are you from?”
I asked Mary in a troubled voice.
Every day, it was hard to turn down invitations to some party.
“This time, I’m not from a noble family, but from the imperial family.”
“The imperial family?”
Feeling that something wasn’t right, he reached out his hand to Mary.
Mary handed me an envelope with an invitation in it.
“Why did you come from the imperial family?”
Of course, the banquet could be held in the imperial family, but he looked at the envelope with a sense of wonder.
First, looking at the seal, the seal of the imperial family was correct.
It was also the crown prince’s seal.
I hurriedly opened the envelope and took out the invitation.
And I started reading it carefully.
“What is written on it?”
“They say there’s a banquet at the imperial family two weeks later.”
“In the imperial family?”
“Huh. It says that it is a place for young ladies and gentlemen and that you must attend.”
“Since you come from the imperial family, it must be hard to refuse, right?”
“It is not….”
“I don’t have much time after this week. I need to start preparing soon.”
Mary said so and left the room.
Even after Mary left, I still felt uncomfortable all the time.
Suddenly, why is there a banquet in the imperial family?
Why are you asking me to attend a banquet that doesn’t seem to have any particular purpose and isn’t a birthday banquet for the royal family?
Because I might not be able to go if I don’t have time or for some reason, the invitations I’ve received have never had such phrases written on them.
That’s why this banquet, which requires attendance, was somewhat unreasonable.
‘I don’t really want to go….’
Surely, if I tell my father, he will solve it somehow.
Because the power of the emperor was weak, and the power of his son, the crown prince, was even weaker.
But how long can I live comfortably under my father’s shadow?
Kane’s work is very personal, so even so, I was a grown-up now to receive help from my father.
Even if something I didn’t want to do happened, I had to learn how to confront it and solve it myself.
Otherwise, you will never be able to lead this huge family.
Having made that decision, I decided to go for it.
‘I’ll see you again when I go.’
Kane, who has been harassing me in strange ways these days, Adela, who doesn’t really have any feelings for me but will have deep emotions externally anyway, and Aiden, who looks at me with strange emotions and strange eyes, will definitely come.
And everyone who came there must be whispering behind me, leaving me who appeared after two years.
It seemed that I had to eat hard.
After learning about the banquet to be held at the imperial family, my father had been telling me not to even think about going to the banquet for the past two weeks.
However, I persuaded my father by telling him step by step why I had to go and how I would act.
Eventually, at my insistence, my father allowed me to go to the banquet, and today was the day of the banquet.
I spurred preparations to go to the banquet from this morning.
This time, it was also a gathering of only young nobles, and I decided to focus more attention on me anyway.
So I decided to wear a red dress that went very well with me.
“How is it?”
“You are so very beautiful, my lady.”
After confirming with Mary the first time, I checked with the mirror a second time, and left the room.
When I went to the carriage parked in front of the mansion, I saw Lian standing among several knights.
I walked up to Ryan and talked to him.
“Lian, did you escort me?”
“Yes, lady.”
I tilted my head slightly to him and whispered in his ear in a joking tone that only he and I could hear.
“It won’t be fun, so why do you follow me? It’s just here.”
In fact, the escort’s only job was to guard the carriage throughout the banquet, and he was able to enter the banquet hall whenever something happened, so it was boring and boring throughout the waiting time.
“Wherever you go, my lady, I go unconditionally. I will protect you.”
Yeah, when I joke, you should take it seriously.
That’s Lian.
Lian also responded to my joke-like words with a very serious and spleen look.
“Okay. Do I have to protect you?”
“Yes, I will.”
I nodded and climbed into the carriage.
And the carriage started toward the imperial palace.
* * *
The imperial palace was coming for the second time.
I felt it the last time I came, but it was a very splendid and luxurious place.
Aside from the immense size that could not be seen even by riding in a carriage, each and every building seen through the carriage window was surrounded by a dazzling golden light.
‘Is it a show off?’
It felt like he wanted to hide the weakness of the imperial authority and show his strength on the outside.
The banquet hall where today’s banquet was to be held was located deep inside the imperial palace.
The large building on the north side of the garden with a large pond, supported by thick pillars, was the venue for today’s banquet.
After getting off the carriage and passing through a long aisle, I saw a door.
The gatekeeper saw me, bowed his head, and opened the door.
As soon as I entered the banquet hall, everyone’s attention was focused on me.
“Oh!”
“Princess Heitz is here.”
I came with a strong heart, but I didn’t feel so good when I saw me and saw them gathering and giggling.
‘If you’re going to talk, don’t listen.’
But even so, my pride wouldn’t allow me to show a bad taste.
Shall we test whether my acting skills have not rusted?
I leisurely walked across the banquet hall with a smile on my lips.
He showed more composure than anyone else, and proceeded slowly with a calm expression as if he didn’t care about his surroundings at all.
My destination was set from the beginning.
I approached the man who was looking down at everyone from the seat of honor.
There was a man next to him who didn’t want to breathe the same air for a moment, but he couldn’t help it.
This is a class society, and no matter how much the emperor is a scarecrow, he had to be polite to the imperial family.
I bowed my head and greeted the prince without paying attention to Kane standing next to him.
“Meet Your Highness, Crown Prince Ediel Winston Baltheus, the brilliant little sun of Baltheus.”
“Princess Heitz, long time no see.”
The prince beckoned me to get up.
As she slowly straightened her back and raised her head, her gaze with the prince intertwined.
I had expected it because I had seen the emperor a while ago, but the appearance of the crown prince was also very handsome.
However, if there was a slight difference, the emperor’s face was soft at best, and the face looked weak at worst, but the prince had the opposite.
A man with blue hair and red eyes, the symbol of the imperial family, showed a different strength and majesty than the scarecrow emperor.
But I didn’t know anything about the crown prince.
It’s not that I don’t remember the contents of the novel because a lot of time has passed, it’s because the prince only appeared briefly as an extra in the original work.
So, unlike the others, I couldn’t predict his actions, so I couldn’t help but get nervous.
Well, since the original work is over anyway, I can’t predict anyone’s actions.
“I heard that the princess has just returned from a trip.”
Fortunately, the prince started the conversation with a normal greeting.
It was a time when I was relieved inside and was about to give an extremely ordinary answer.
“That’s right, Your Highness. The princess has been traveling for two years.”
Suddenly, before I could even speak, Kane helped the prince from the side.
No, what the heck is he talking about my business unnecessarily.
For a moment, I looked at him with a disapproving look.
But he looked at me and smiled unbecomingly.
‘What.’
It was a very embarrassing situation for me, who had never seen Kane smile.
I frowned as if I had seen something I hadn’t seen, but soon came to my senses and returned to my expressionless face.
‘Let’s not get involved.’
“Duke Maxius was also there. I met the Duke at a dinner two weeks ago.”
I spat out the words with the intention of making the fact that he had come to my house never happen.
Then, Kane’s face hardened slightly.
“The two of you already met again at a meal with His Majesty the Emperor.”
A reunion.
Of course, the meaning of reunion simply meant seeing each other again after a long time, but for some reason it was not a word that could be used between Kane and me.
“Yeah, how are you? It feels like the two of them haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
What is this….
This is exactly how I felt at this point.
It felt as if the crown prince had stepped in and mediated between Kane and me.
“I was happy, but I guess the princess wasn’t like that.”
The moment I heard Kane’s words, my dirty premonition turned out to be true.
I was dumbfounded, so I looked at the two men alternately and shook my head inwardly.
Now was not the time to be so stupid.
After hurriedly organizing in my head what to do right away, I deliberately smiled and opened my mouth to them.
“As your Highness knows, my relationship with Duke Maxius didn’t end very well.”
The two men looked at me slightly surprised, as if I hadn’t expected to comment on our relationship so directly.
“That’s why, unlike Duke Maxius, I’m not very comfortable in this position.”
I didn’t hide that I was extremely displeased, but I was still enduring it.
It seemed that he now understood why the crown prince had suddenly held a banquet and invited young nobles.
Kane Maxius.
That person must have done something with the prince.
I could tell from the attitudes of the two that it was not an absurd idea.
“Your Highness, Crown Prince, may I leave? It’s been a while since I’ve had a banquet like this, so there are too many people to say hello to.”
Of course, there were no familiar faces when I looked around, but if I could get out of here, I could grab hold of anyone in the banquet hall and have a conversation.
“Do by that way.”
“Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
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