The Crown Prince’s Fiancée – Chapter 24
I kept my mouth firmly shut, but I could feel Crown Prince Adrian glaring at me from beside me.
It was an incredible talent.
To glare at me like that, from so close, without the Empress noticing.
Suddenly I felt as though I might be murdered.
“Oh my, Adrian. There’s no need to gaze at her with such passionate eyes of love. Your mother isn’t trying to steal Lady Arti away, you know.”
Laughing “ho ho ho,” the Empress let go of my hand.
Wait, I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding.
It is a passionate gaze, I’ll grant that.
A passionate gaze of murderous intent, aimed at me.
I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but I had no power to do so.
The Empress looked at us with a pleased smile.
“The two of you really do look wonderful together.”
Crown Prince Adrian pulled me close and bowed his head.
“Then we shall take our leave.”
“Enjoy yourselves.”
The gaze with which she sent us off was a solid lump of sugar.
We’re not that kind of couple.
Even if I told her, she wouldn’t believe me.
The moment we escaped that suffocating air, I took a deep breath.
Whoo, haa.
I survived.
Even so, I survived!
However it happened, I survived!
I survived because I wasn’t found out!
I was savoring the joy of release when I felt another intense gaze beside me.
Crown Prince Adrian was glaring at me.
My smile lasted only a moment before I lowered my eyes.
What is it this time?
“Do well.”
Yes, yes.
I’m doing well.
When I nodded, Crown Prince Adrian went down the staircase ahead of me without picking any fight.
A dance floor had been prepared in the center of the great hall on the first floor.
Naturally, many ladies and gentlemen were dancing as partners.
Do we have to dance too?
I suppose we will…?
“Adrian.”
“Aunt.”
When I turned my head toward the voice, there stood Empress Veronica.
When I bowed slightly, I saw Ronen as well.
“It’s been a while. How have you been, Adrian?And you, the prospective crown princess, have you been well too?”
“Yes.And Your Majesty, have you been well?”
When I asked in return, Empress Veronica smiled elegantly and nodded.
We were exchanging trivial news in a small way when it happened.
Ronen, who had been standing with his cheeks puffed out in displeasure, began hopping up and down on the spot, calling me as if begging me to look at him.
“Arti!Dance with me.You promised last time that you’d dance with me―!”
But Ronen could not finish what he was saying.
“Oh my, Ronen.You have somewhere to go with me, don’t you?”
“No, Arti!”
“Now, we must go and wish your aunt a happy birthday, mustn’t we?”
Lifted without mercy by Empress Veronica’s hand, Ronen was dragged straight up to the second floor.
“I hope you enjoy the party.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I had only played the fiancée for the briefest moment, and I was already exhausted.
And this was only the beginning.
Just when I thought I could finally catch my breath, someone greeted us once more.
“Brother.”
At the appearance of a familiar person, I gripped the Crown Prince’s arm tightly without meaning to.
Princess Marie!
My former boss had appeared in a beautiful dress.
“Oh, Sister-in-law.I offer my greetings to you both.”
“Skip the greetings.What do you want?”
“Brother, you’ve been ignoring my messages lately, haven’t you?”
Princess Marie glared at Crown Prince Adrian, thoroughly angry.
“I haven’t ignored them.”
“I asked where one of my maids went, didn’t I?”
“Must we really discuss this here?”
I flinched.
My body twitched all on its own.
When the Crown Prince snapped at her coldly, Princess Marie fell silent.
Marie glared at Adrian as if thinking something over, and after a moment she let out a light sigh.
“I’ll stop by Poinsettia Palace later.Please be sure to meet with me, Brother.”
“Fine.”
“Have a pleasant evening, Sister-in-law.”
Though her expression remained sulky to the end, Princess Marie withdrew obediently.
I pressed a hand to my startled heart.
“D-did she find out?”
“If she had, you’d be dead.”
He said it lightly, as if it were nothing, but to my ears it sounded anything but light.
It’s a minefield on every side!
I looked around to see whether there were any other dangers.
As I held my breath and scanned in every direction, Diano, in banquet attire, appeared at some point and came to stand near the Crown Prince.
Among strangers, a familiar face was welcome, even though he was a man who was no help whatsoever.
“Scowl.Drive away anyone who approaches.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Diano began to scowl.
I had nearly scowled myself, thinking he was giving the order to me.
Embarrassed, I let my eyes drift elsewhere and met the gaze of a cluster of dresses that had been looking at us.
Oh?
It was the baron’s daughter of the Kles family.
There was also Lady Ivana, the count’s daughter and a companion of Princess Marie’s whom I had seen when I was a lady-in-waiting.
I had always just greeted them and passed by, so meeting them in a place like this felt strange.
“That is Lady Artienne, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t Lady Artienne seem a bit different from usual?”
“Doesn’t she seem a little shorter, too?”
“She looks a bit more slight than before, too…”
Would I be found out here of all places?
The whispering voices reached all the way to me.
They’re saying it so that I’ll hear every word, aren’t they?
I had no control over my height or my build.
Besides, today was the first time in my life I had ever worn shoes with such high heels.
Even so, if I looked small, I couldn’t begin to imagine how tall the knight called Essen must have been.
Madam Lucy had said that he simply went around in shoes without heels.
Surely I wouldn’t be found out?
My back straightened with tension.
Swallowing my anxiety, I strained my ears to hear better.
“Is it because she changed her dress?”
“I’ve never seen a design like that before. Where is it from?”
“Maybe she lowered her heels. She used to wear such tall ones.”
“That’s right. That’s why she was always about the same height as His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“What brought on the change to low heels? Is that the fashion these days?”
“Ah, Your Highness Adrian. Look how handsome he is again today.”
And so the ladies’ chatter shifted to Crown Prince Adrian’s beauty.
T-thank goodness.
I pressed a hand to my chest in relief.
If I could just hold out like this, the dream of surviving was no longer only a dream.
As everyone had expected, there were many people in the hall.
And more of them were watching us than I had thought.
How was the Crown Prince so used to being looked at like this?
We were making an invisible effort to look like a special couple to everyone, by any means necessary.
The Crown Prince casually held my waist and occasionally looked at me with a smile, and truly, there was no greater ordeal in the world.
“Don’t smile.Look down.Lower your eyes.Huh, are you smiling?”
“No.I wasn’t smiling.”
“You were.”
I said I wasn’t!
I turned my head to escape the Crown Prince’s sharp eyes.
I would have preferred being in front of the Empress.
Perhaps he hated my smiling that much, because Crown Prince Adrian kept hounding me.
I was not smiling, whatever he said.
I could feel Adrian’s gaze persistently following me from beside me.
In the midst of our squabble, I saw Terni far off, smiling brightly and waving at us.
Beside Terni stood a gentleman I had never seen before.
I’ll pretend I don’t know him.
When I naturally turned my gaze away, my eyes met Adrian’s.
It seemed Adrian had spotted Terni too.
We reached a wordless agreement.
Ignore him.
“Pretend you don’t know him.”
“Yes!”
Just as we were about to peacefully ignore Terni’s existence, it happened.
“Kyaa!”
At the sharp scream, I reflexively looked toward the sound and turned to stone.
“Now, now, make way, please.”
“Kyaa!”
The culprit was none other than Terni.
Terni was cutting straight across the dance floor, tearing apart the people who were dancing, heading right for me.
And he was dragging the gentleman who had been beside him!
What is he doing?!
The dancers shrieked and scrambled to flee in every direction.
Some of the people who collided with one another even fell down.
It was practically bedlam.
Terrified, I clung to Crown Prince Adrian.
What a nuisance on a national scale.
The waltz kept playing, yet because of him, no one could dance.
