Empress Ludmila smiled forlornly and delivered a pointed remark at the Crown Prince.
It wasn’t even directed at me, yet I felt oddly self-conscious and quietly edged backward.
The Crown Prince was even more brazen. He flatly ignored the Empress’s words, walked in, and sat down in an empty seat.
Across from where Empress Ludmila sat, there was a chair.
A single chair that could seat one person.
By all appearances, that was clearly my seat.
……And it had been taken from me.
“Tsk, tsk. How did you turn out so rotten?”
Empress Ludmila clicked her tongue and scolded the Crown Prince.
But he paid it no mind whatsoever and instead sat there with supreme arrogance, the corner of his lips curled into a smile.
A perfect specimen of a handsome bastard.
“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s excellent teaching.”
The Empress clicked her tongue even more and shook her head.
“You’re my own child, and yet what terrible luck I have. I’m so ashamed I can’t even lift my head.”
Empress Ludmila’s expression was thoroughly sour.
Fearing I might catch some stray sparks, I stood quietly and meekly, feeling as though I had become part of the air.
I was watching for cues, hoping no one would notice me, when Empress Ludmila suddenly turned to look at me. And with a thoroughly gentle expression at that.
The menacing face she had been wearing just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
“Ohohoho. Come in and sit down, Lady Artienne. Mary, prepare a seat.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At a single word from the Empress, a seat was promptly made for me. I hesitated, then sat down.
It was across from the Empress and, unfortunately, right beside the Crown Prince.
The—the Crown Prince is next to me! Just that fact was so terrifying that my body trembled ever so slightly. Without realizing it, I inched away from the Crown Prince.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Lady Artienne?”
“Yes, it’s been……. Yes.”
I had meant to say “It’s been a while,” but the Crown Prince’s words—only say “yes”—echoed in my mind, so I hastily cut off the rest.
“It’s been……? Lady Artienne, what were you about to say……”
“Why did you summon her?”
The Crown Prince cut off the Empress’s question and asked his own.
The Empress’s face, which had been warm and kind, turned cold in an instant.
“I have no business with you.”
“She is my fiancée.”
“……Oh my!”
The Empress covered her mouth with both hands and let out an exclamation. Then she turned to the maid standing behind her and asked theatrically.
“Did you hear that, did you hear that?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. His Highness the Crown Prince said, ‘She is my fiancée!’”
“I got butterflies without even meaning to, didn’t I? Ohohoho, to think I’d live to hear those words come out of Adrian’s mouth.”
Even the maid here seems strange…….
The Empress chattered and fussed along with the maid. I sat still as a folding screen, desperately hoping the Crown Prince wouldn’t explode.
“Ohohoho, what a surprise!”
“A man! He’s a man!”
Please don’t explode.
As I prayed fervently and stole a glance at the Crown Prince, his expression was sour, just as I expected.
Swallowing his anger, he soon let out a sigh.
“If you have no business with me, I’ll take her and leave.”
The Crown Prince grabbed my wrist and rose from his seat. But the Empress was not so easily swayed.
“What nonsense is that? I didn’t invite you in the first place. When I call for you, I don’t even see a trace of you, but the moment your fiancée is summoned, you follow right along. If I’d known, I would have summoned Lady Artienne much sooner. In any case, I won’t throw you out, so sit quietly and stay out of the way.”
The lively atmosphere from moments ago had vanished, replaced by a stern and heavy current.
So this is why they say the Empress is frightening.
I trembled helplessly, my arm still caught in the Crown Prince’s grip.
After a moment, the Crown Prince furrowed his brow and sat back down. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being trapped in a predator’s den.
At last, the time I had desperately hoped would never come arrived. The Empress’s attention shifted entirely to me.
I could feel the color draining from my face.
The Empress looked at me and smiled warmly.
“You’ve grown even prettier since I last saw you.”
“Yes…….”
“So, have you been well?”
“Yes…….”
The Crown Prince’s watchful gaze from beside me was so sharp that I couldn’t answer properly. Sob, sob, I’m really going to die of fear.
Even though all I was doing was answering “yes,” the tension made me feel like I would drop dead.
The Empress’s questions continued. The Crown Prince, who had been holding back, exploded once again.
“Is this what you summoned her for? Pointless questions?”
“Oh my, are you still here? I thought you’d left. Every time I call for you, it’s always sword practice, or state affairs, or hunting—but today you seem to have time on your hands, Adrian.”
“How coincidental that Your Majesty always summons me when I’m absent.”
Sparks flew in a silent battle of glares.
Is this what a jungle is like? Is this what the law of the fittest—eat or be eaten—looks like?
My eyes grew increasingly dim…….
It was a maid who put an end to the situation. She set tea on the table and disappeared.
I was grateful just that the battle of glares had ended.
As I let out a sigh of relief, I noticed something strange. The teacup had been placed only in front of the Empress.
……Was a second round about to begin? My heart pounded with terror.
“Why is there no teacup for me?”
When the Crown Prince asked in a rather sharp voice, the maid bowed her head awkwardly.
The Empress sent the maid out the door.
“Don’t raise your voice at an innocent maid. Besides, Adrian, you’re not my guest, are you? The only one I invited was Lady Artienne.”
Her tone was gentle, but her words had thorns.
The Empress looked at me and smiled affectionately. So I smiled awkwardly in return. And the moment I turned my head to check the Crown Prince’s expression, my eyes met his.
I was momentarily overwhelmed by those red eyes staring intently at me.
What, what……. S-so what?
His gaze was so cold and icy that I involuntarily stiffened.
What on earth is he dissatisfied with……? Just as I was worrying, a large, firm arm reached toward me.
“……Huh?”
While I was off guard, the Crown Prince took my teacup and drank it all in one go.
That had just been boiled, so it must have been scalding hot. Yet he showed no change in expression whatsoever.
No, he almost looked subtly pleased…….
Seeing this, the Empress covered her mouth with one hand in shock.
“What kind of ill-mannered behavior is this? I did not raise you to be so rude, Adrian.”
“Your Majesty has never raised me. It was my tutor’s educational policy.”
“Have you forgotten that I was the one who brought that tutor in?”
My prediction had not been wrong. A second round was unfolding right before my eyes.
I watched the scene with half my soul having departed. I just wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.
Where am I, who am I…….
The Crown Prince did not back down easily. He even showed the composure to smile at the Empress.
“It was His Majesty the Emperor who paid my tutor’s salary.”
“You never lose a single argument, do you?”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
What a cutthroat family. Is this what all imperial families are like? The illusions I had held about royalty shattered spectacularly.
The Empress tried to say something to Adrian, then closed her mouth again. She seemed to have realized it was a pointless war of attrition.
The problem was, however, that the Empress’s attention had once again shifted to me.
As if she had never worn that cutthroat expression, the Empress gave me a gentle smile.
“A few days ago, when Lady Gabriel visited, I heard something happened while I was briefly away on other business. Could you tell me what happened?”
“Ah, that’s……. Yes.”
I glanced at the Crown Prince, remembered his warning, and hastily answered “yes.”
He had told me not to say anything other than “yes,” but could I really explain that incident with only “yes”?
As I hesitated, the Crown Prince answered in my place.
“Gabriel was harassing a maid, and Artie stopped her. That’s all.”
“Oh my.”
The Empress’s gaze turned to me. The memory of stepping in without thinking came back, and I quietly lowered my head.
“So that’s what happened. Gabriel kept asking me to scold Lady Artienne, saying she was ignoring her, so I wondered what it was about. It was nothing, then.”
“Yes…….”
The Empress looked at me with a pleased smile. Contrary to my worries, that seemed to be enough to explain the incident with Gabriel.
“Even if Gabriel was somewhat rude, I hope Lady Artienne won’t take it too badly. Gabriel may seem a bit selfish and self-centered, but she’s a good child at heart.”
“Ah, yes.”
Where exactly?
“Perhaps because I’ve raised her like a daughter since she was young, I’m very attached to her. You’ll likely clash over various matters, but I hope you’ll get along as you do now.”
“Yes.”
“Gabriel has been close to Adrian since childhood, so they’ll meet often. I hope Lady Artie won’t misunderstand.”
Instead of answering, I stole a glance at the Crown Prince, and he was frowning with a thoroughly displeased expression.
After that, various topics continued. Surprisingly, the conversation carried on with only the answer “yes.”
“They say embroidery is in fashion these days.”
“Yes.”
“Have you tried it?”
Ah, I haven’t. But the Crown Prince’s words echoed in my head.
He said to answer “yes” no matter what. Ugh, but isn’t this just lying?
But to survive, I had no choice.
“Yes…….”
It had been so long since I’d done embroidery that I couldn’t even remember when. Ah, my youth…….
“I’d love to see Lady Artienne’s work sometime. May I look forward to it?”
“……Yes.”
I’m doomed. Doomed. I was about to embroider something that was never meant to be in my fate.
As if it weren’t enough that I was already digesting an enormous amount of studies to cultivate the accomplishments expected of the Crown Prince’s fiancée, now I had to embroider too. My face grew gaunt.
“Ah, if it’s all right, how about giving one of your embroideries to Adrian as a gift?”
“What?”
My head turned very slowly.
The Crown Prince was leisurely drinking the tea he had stolen from me, wearing a supremely arrogant posture.
An embroidery gift for the Crown Prince—just the thought made me dizzy.
“Adrian, wouldn’t you like to receive one too?”
“Sure, whatever.”
He doesn’t want one! He doesn’t need one!
