* * *
The door burst open as if it would shatter.
Someone who entered with a terrifying momentum advanced toward Adrian without a shred of hesitation.
“If I come find you myself, you can’t deny it, right? Where did you hide her? Give me back my maid!”
The person who entered was none other than Princess Marie.
She was the superior I had served, and at the same time the one and only princess of this nation, Appennino. She was also the Crown Prince’s younger sister.
“What?”
“My maid. The maid I sent on the porcelain errand!”
Gasp. That was me.
I inadvertently drew a sharp breath. The Crown Prince’s piercing gaze flew toward me.
I hurriedly shut my mouth and assessed the situation.
“Her circumstances were pitiful, so I gave her some money and sent her back to her original home.”
“Don’t lie! What kind of person would my brother be to do that? Just say you killed her, then I’ll believe you!”
What if it gets revealed that I’m not Artienne but Viola?
Though I had served nearby, I worried she might recognize my face. I was wearing makeup, but I was still uneasy.
I tried to rummage through my clothes to find a veil, but unfortunately, there was none.
It was definitely there just a moment ago! Wh-what do I do?
“Fine. I killed her.”
“Do you think I’d believe that?”
“You said you’d believe me if I said I killed her.”
“I meant it figuratively!”
Perhaps tired, the Crown Prince let out a small sigh and leaned back on the sofa.
A languid gaze swept downward.
Soon he tilted his head back up and looked at Princess Marie.
“Believe it or not, I don’t particularly care. Is that the end of your business?”
“She was a maid I liked for a change. She didn’t talk much and was obedient, so I liked her. These days it’s hard to find a maid like that. Did you really kill her?”
Hearing my own story from someone else’s mouth made me somehow embarrassed.
In their conversation, I was completely excluded, yet ironically, the topic of conversation was me.
So I didn’t talk much and was obedient…….
I had quietly kept my mouth shut to avoid standing out as much as possible, and that was why she had kept me by her side.
I learned a fact I hadn’t known. At the same time, tremendous despair washed over me.
If I had chattered and made a fuss, I wouldn’t have been sent on the porcelain errand to Poinsettia Palace, and then I wouldn’t have been the one playing this fiancée role!
“No, I kicked her out of the palace.”
I had thought this for a while, but Crown Prince Adrian truly had a natural talent for lying.
How does he lie without even a change in his complexion? That maid is standing right here, perfectly fine, watching.
“Why did you kick her out?”
“Because she broke and ate my porcelain.”
“…….”
Princess Marie closed her mouth as if dumbfounded.
I could understand that feeling perfectly.
“Then you should have just told me from the start that you kicked her out because of the porcelain.”
“Why should I.”
Princess Marie suddenly clutched the back of her neck. Her blood pressure seemed to have spiked suddenly.
Princess Marie’s face flushed with anger.
“Ugh, that temper! Really, there isn’t a single proper human being in this damn household! Everyone except me is abnormal!”
“I’m the most normal one.”
At the Crown Prince’s remark, not only Princess Marie but even I lost my mind.
What, normal? It was a statement that made me doubt my hearing.
Did he have a conscience? No, he definitely didn’t. If he did, he couldn’t have said such a thing.
“Forget it. There’s no talking sense with you, oppa. Sister-in-law, have you seen her?”
“Y-yes?”
Princess Marie suddenly turned her gaze to me.
Since I had been treated as part of the air from the moment she appeared, the sudden question was incredibly bewildering.
Uh, what do I do? I still haven’t covered my face…….
“I sent over one very cute maid. But she hasn’t come back since. Have you seen her?”
“I-I haven’t seen her.”
That’s me……. The compliment that I was cute was nice, but this wasn’t the situation to enjoy it.
Behind Princess Marie, the Crown Prince was glaring at me.
His gaze was so intense it seemed it would bore through me. Sob, scary.
“Come to think of it, sister-in-law, your face…….”
“Gasp.”
My face went pale. I hurriedly covered my mouth, but it was no use.
Princess Marie, narrowing her eyes, slowly approached me. Her look was as if she suspected something.
Will I be found out? Will I meet my end here?
The possibility of being discovered was very high. Though it was short, I had worked right beside Princess Marie. She must have recognized my face?
“You’re really pretty!”
“…….”
I nearly collapsed from the sudden release of tension.
She clearly hadn’t recognized that I was that maid. No, if that was the case, why on earth was she looking for her!
“You’re this pretty, so why have you been covering your face all this time?”
“Well…….”
The Crown Prince had threatened me to keep it covered, but I couldn’t very well say that outright.
I subtly glanced at Adrian over Princess Marie’s shoulder. He was still glaring at me with blazing eyes.
Do well. That was what he seemed to be saying.
“His Highness told me not to show my face to others. That he only wants to see it himself…….”
Of course, it was nonsense.
“Oh my, oh my, how romantic!”
What was even more surprising was Princess Marie’s attitude—clasping her hands together and her eyes sparkling at that bullshit.
No, you believe that?
“To think oppa had that side to him. That’s quite unexpected.”
“R-right?”
I smiled awkwardly and checked the Crown Prince’s reaction again. He was still glaring at me. He seemed displeased with what I had said.
Still, that was the best line I could manage!
“Hmm, all right, I understand for now. I’ll have to search separately.”
Princess Marie, who had sharply scanned the surroundings with eyes that had not fully shed their suspicion, headed toward the door.
Phew, is it finally over?
As I let out a sigh of relief, Princess Marie suddenly stopped walking. And I, once again, fell into a state of tension.
“Sister-in-law!”
“Yes?!”
“Oh my, you startled me. You don’t have to answer so loudly.”
I had answered with all my might out of sheer tension. Feeling needlessly embarrassed, I scratched my cheek.
“It’s nothing much, but Father said he wants to see you this time. He insisted you must come.”
“H-His Majesty the Emperor?”
A dinner? This was news I hadn’t heard at all. No one had ever told me a dinner would be held.
“I’m not going.”
The Crown Prince, who had been watching silently, spoke up. Princess Marie’s and my gazes turned to him at once.
Adrian furrowed his brow with a face that found everything tiresome.
“You really won’t come?”
“I won’t.”
“Really?”
With a smile that seemed to ask, ‘Can you really do that?’ Princess Marie asked again.
There seemed to be something. What on earth was it? That suggestive smile. I grew anxious for no reason.
“I told you I’m really not going, so that’s that. If you’re going to bother me further, get out―.”
Adrian couldn’t finish his sentence. Because Princess Marie cut him off midway.
“If you don’t come, Father said he’ll sell all your horses.”
“……What?”
The Crown Prince’s expression twisted sharply.
And then came the tremendous silence. I felt as though the air around us had frozen, and my breath caught in my throat.
It was a terrifying aura. It seemed as though a murder might occur. In a situation where no one could move, the first to speak was the Crown Prince.
“Tell him I’ll come.”
“I knew you would.”
Princess Marie smiled brightly. Adrian merely pressed his brow and let out a sigh.
He seemed to truly hate attending the dinner. And that went for me as well.
When the Crown Prince gestured as if it were a nuisance, Princess Marie fluttered out.
“Sister-in-law, then see you tomorrow!”
Even her final goodbye was utterly cheerful. What a genuinely sunny character. A different kind of liveliness from Terni.
It was as if a storm had swept through. I was left completely worn out.
I desperately wanted to go back and rest, but my business was not yet finished.
I subtly raised my head, and sure enough, the Crown Prince was looking at me. Under that suffocating gaze, I wanted to turn and run, but I held it in and hesitantly approached.
“You heard. You’re attending the dinner.”
“Yes.”
“If anything goes wrong because of me…….”
“I’ll do well!”
I nodded vigorously. For the sake of the horse, I felt I could do anything.
The horse was more precious, of course. If the horse was safe, I was alive.
“Yes. Let’s do well.”
“Yes!”
I answered with great vigor. That way, the probability of preserving my life would rise, even if only slightly.
Perhaps it wasn’t bothersome, for the Crown Prince’s expression did not twist.
“But why did you call for me?”
I finally let out the question I had wanted to ask since earlier.
I felt Adrian’s gaze. He blinked. His crimson eyes glistened bewitchingly.
It felt as though I were being entranced.
Uh, why am I like this?
“……No reason.”
It was a bland answer, but I could only nod and say nothing.
The Crown Prince’s attitude was truly strange.
I couldn’t explain what exactly was strange, but it truly was.
I tilted my head, tried to think of a reason, and then simply gave up.
