The Crown Prince’s Fiancée, Episode 6
For now, I was learning about the workings of the imperial palace and the many things a noblewoman was expected to know.
It was only because I came from a fallen noble family that I could keep up at all by studying hard. Otherwise, I would already have died at the Crown Prince’s hands.
That was how merciless and brutally strict the lessons were. But I was glad.
The more I studied, the better my chances of survival!
“How about this dress? Hohoho.”
And yet right now, listening to Madam Lucy’s laughter, I was withering away.
She was none other than Madam Lucy, the Crown Prince’s former wet nurse and now chief maid to his fiancée, Artienne.
“Um… about my lessons…”
I needed to cram as much knowledge into my head as quickly as possible to raise my chances of survival, but Madam Lucy had no interest in that whatsoever.
The moment Terni and the Crown Prince looked away, she would seize me and become absorbed in whether I should wear this dress or that one.
“This one is pretty too, isn’t it? Hahahaha.”
Whether that dress was pretty or not had nothing to do with my life. What I wanted was to study in order to survive.
The very person who was supposed to teach me had no interest in teaching, and my future looked pitch-black.
I must have been born under an unlucky star. Sunk in despair, I clenched my fists.
No. I’m not dead yet. There has to be some way to live!
“Um, Madam Lucy.”
“I think this color would be lovely, too, don’t you? Ohohohoho.”
Aaargh! Madam Lucy had to be an assassin sent to kill me.
Otherwise, there was no way she could obstruct my education this perfectly.
If this kept up, I would truly spend the whole day doing nothing but picking out dresses and accessories, so I cleared my throat and spoke up with feigned gravity.
“No, um, when will my lessons…”
Before I could even finish, Madam Lucy hung the dress she was holding off to one side and smiled radiantly, as if to ask what the problem could possibly be.
“Hohoho, it’s quite all right! I have a feeling you’ll do wonderfully!”
How could I do wonderfully when I knew nothing!
I was at a loss, not even knowing what to say in protest, when it happened.
Knock, knock. The door slowly opened along with the knock.
“Yes~. Come in~.”
The Crown Prince again?
I tensed up, but thankfully it wasn’t the Crown Prince. This time, my visitor was Diano.
The Crown Prince’s follower…
The fellow walked in with a thoroughly bothered expression, didn’t even glance at me, and asked Madam Lucy directly.
“Is it going well?”
“Of course! It’s perfect! Perfect! Ohohohoho!”
“Is that so? Good.”
What was perfect? If it meant perfectly doomed, then yes, it was perfect. I was perfectly preparing for my death right now.
Dying in a pretty dress was the future laid out before me.
Diano left the room after hearing only Madam Lucy’s word, without checking anything.
That, that… It was a complete dereliction of duty. He should have gone through everything carefully to see whether I was ready!
As I stared at Diano’s retreating back, clutching the nape of my neck, Madam Lucy laughed, ohohoho.
* * *
It had already been several days since Artienne began her lessons in order to play a flawless Crown Princess-designate.
Adrian had set it up with no particular expectations, or rather, half thinking what could that girl possibly manage, and half grasping at straws, but unexpectedly the results grew decent as time went on.
Adrian coolly appraised the new Artienne.
She looked dazed, dim, and lacking, but she had good instincts, and her ability to grasp a situation was decent too.
She knew how to read a mood, and there were reports that she absorbed the lessons quickly, perhaps because she was putting her life on the line.
Well, of course she would work with her life on the line if she didn’t want to die, but quite apart from that, she was becoming more and more useful.
This was an unexpected result.
He had thought that teaching her would be pointless.
“Maybe it’s because she was a noble to begin with, but she really has talent, you know?”
Terni defended Artienne eagerly.
The way he fussed over her, calling her ‘our Arti,’ was quite a sight. And they weren’t even real siblings.
But talent? Adrian raised his doubts.
“What talent? The talent to become Crown Princess?”
“No!”
“Then what?”
“The talent to be my little sister♥.”
Should I just kill him?
If he wanted to, he could have killed him right here and now, but Adrian held back.
The one-tenth of Adrian’s mind that was still rational was restraining him, saying that killing that bastard would leave him shouldering a mountain of troublesome work.
Hah. Right. Not yet.
Adrian had made a vow since he was young.
If he ever got angry enough to put up with all the trouble that would follow without that bastard, then he would kill him himself.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Terni knew how to gauge the limit.
“I’m so happy to have such an adorable little sister. She listens to me so well.”
“That’s because you threatened her, mmph!”
Diano, who sat beside Terni, let out a mysterious groan. Terni covered Diano’s mouth with a file folder and smiled brightly.
“Oh right, Adrian, today we’re f.i.n.a.l.l.y. starting dance lessons. Will you come to partner her?”
“Would I, idiot?”
“Right? Looks like this generous brother will have to go himself. Sob, my poor little sister.”
Terni muttered something to himself, handed Adrian the documents he had finished reading, and went off to teach Artienne’s lesson.
Adrian narrowed his eyes and watched Terni’s retreating back.
He was sure Terni had found it a bother at first.
Whatever had suddenly made him so fond of her, Terni was almost gleeful these days, hanging around Artienne and playing with her.
Even back when Essen had been playing Artienne, Terni had enjoyed teasing him and playing the older brother, and this time seemed much the same.
If anything, Adrian thought he seemed oddly more delighted than when he had teased Essen.
* * *
“I’ve ordered about fifty outfits for now.”
“Fifty? Why so many…”
I looked at Madam Lucy, who had no intention of teaching me again today. Madam Lucy had eyes only for ball preparations.
Could I even wear all those clothes in a lifetime?
As I stared at Madam Lucy with a pale face, she opened her eyes wide and shook her head.
“I deliberately ordered modestly, since it’s your first time, my lady. Next time, let’s buy about two hundred at once. Ohohoho! It will be fun to choose, won’t it?”
It seemed she wanted to use me to play with dolls.
I was too overwhelmed by two hundred to say a word, and Madam Lucy looked me up and down, then covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.
“Tomorrow, let’s choose the accessories together, too. Ohoho.”
Damn that ohoho. My vicious thoughts slipped out before I knew it. That laugh was driving me to the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Madam Lucy didn’t help with my education, and so survival was entirely up to me. Instead, she laughed ohoho and devoted herself solely to dolling me up.
Mother, I want to live…
I turned away from Madam Lucy, who had no intention of helping me whatsoever, and sat on the sofa heaving one sigh after another, when once again a small knock came from the door.
Madam Lucy answered while tidying away a dress.
“Yes~.”
Who is it this time?
I hoped fervently that it would be Terni. Because he had given me the most information I needed to survive.
But the one who opened the door and came in was a maid.
The maid scurried over to Madam Lucy and whispered something in her ear. After a moment, Madam Lucy looked at me and smiled in apology.
“Hohoho, please sit there for a moment.”
“What?”
Without explaining what was going on, Madam Lucy left the room with the maid.
Suddenly left alone, I was dumbfounded. What was I supposed to do, left here alone?
I looked around the room.
Dresses and accessories piled up everywhere in overwhelming abundance. It gave me a fresh sense of wonder.
For me, even buying a single cheap dress had been an enormous burden.
My mother had cherished one worn party dress, and on the few occasions each year she was invited to a party, she would put it on and go out.
Because I knew how expensive dresses were, the costly dresses heaped all around me now were nothing but a burden.
I couldn’t even bring myself to touch them, afraid I might have to pay for them if I got them dirty or wrinkled them.
I didn’t touch the accessories at all either, because if I stole jewels and was caught later, I would really die.
If I touched them for no reason, I feared I would start wanting to take them away.
Because a single one of these would give me enough money to live in idleness for nearly my whole life.
If I stole them, I would probably be caught and killed before I could sell them anywhere.
The Crown Prince’s face rose to mind at once, and goosebumps broke out all over my body.
Shivering, I wondered why Madam Lucy still hadn’t returned and walked toward the door.
Is it all right to go out?
I stopped short just as I was about to open the door.
“They say Lady Gabriel is at Her Majesty the Empress’s quarters?”
“Right now?”
Perhaps she hadn’t shut the door firmly on her way out, because the maids’ chatter drifted in through the slightly open gap.
“She really does come and go constantly. Tsk, tsk.”
“It must be because she wants to marry His Highness the Crown Prince.”
I heard the sound of a tongue clicking.
Gabriel was a famous lady of the Chancellor’s house.
Ah, could this be the crazy woman the Crown Prince spoke of?
I pressed my ear to the door and strained to catch more of the maids’ voices.
Just then, one maid muttered as though she couldn’t make sense of it.
“Why does His Highness the Crown Prince dislike Lady Gabriel so much? She’s so pretty, too.”
“Haven’t you heard that rumor?”
Another maid put on a knowing air.
“What? What rumor?”
I perked up my ears, full of curiosity as well.
“His Highness the Crown Prince likes men, you know!”
“Gasp, really?”
The breathless gasps of the other maids rang out loudly.
