The Crown Prince’s Fiancée, Chapter 26
But there was one person who broke through that iron defense and came toward us.
“Oh my, I came here to rest too.”
Gabriel answered primly under my look, which asked what she thought she was doing, and sat down in front of us.
There were plenty of seats elsewhere, yet she had chosen the one right in front of us. All I could think was that she was truly remarkable.
“There are plenty of seats here.”
Right, plenty of seats here…
Wait, had I just said that? I tilted my head, but Adrian, who had opened his eyes at some point, was staring straight at Gabriel.
Gabriel twisted her body bashfully.
“Oh my, Your Highness. Even so, I couldn’t possibly sit beside you~. Not with everyone watching. How embarrassing.”
Something shattered beside me.
Since I might be the one shattered if I wasn’t careful, I pretended not to notice and turned my averted gaze to some faraway spot instead of Gabriel.
I wanted to ignore her as much as possible, but unfortunately, Gabriel showed me no such consideration.
“Lady Artienne?”
“…Yes?”
“Surely you know why this ball is being held today.”
It was such an obvious question that I simply nodded. Gabriel glanced at me and smiled.
If it felt like she was mocking me, was that an overreaction?
“That’s right. It’s Her Majesty the Empress’s birthday celebration. Which brings me to my question: what gift have you prepared, Lady Artienne?”
So this was what she was after. It hadn’t been an overreaction after all.
Terni had already said something to me about the gift for Her Majesty the Empress.
“Our family will take care of the gift in your name, Arti, and we’ll arrange it so Adrian presents it with you too, so there’s nothing for you to worry about!”
Since she’d said she would take care of it, I hadn’t worried at all… It would be fine, wouldn’t it?
“Yes, Lady Gabriel. We prepared it together with His Highness the Crown Prince this time, and I intended to give Her Majesty my own gift separately later.”
I answered feeling a little anxious, honestly, in case she asked what we had prepared. I glanced at Adrian, but he didn’t spare me so much as a look, so I couldn’t turn to him for help either.
Fortunately, Gabriel didn’t seem the least bit interested in what I had prepared.
Instead, she threw herself into boasting about the gift she would present to the Empress.
“No matter how rare a gift you’ve prepared, Lady Artienne, it would be completely useless if it didn’t suit Her Majesty’s tastes, wouldn’t it?”
She laughed with her fan covering her mouth. She was clearly trying to provoke me, but unfortunately, I wasn’t provoked in the slightest.
Perhaps it wasn’t the reaction she had expected, because Gabriel’s face flushed slightly.
“Hmph. I’m sure you’ll be astonished when you see what I’ve prepared!”
“I see. How wonderful!”
Honestly, I wasn’t the least bit curious about what she had prepared, so I clapped my hands together perfunctorily and sounded impressed.
“You look dying to know what it is, but it’s a secret. You’re curious, aren’t you, Lady Artienne?”
“No—.”
“Hmph. Oh, very well. Since you’re so curious, I, with my angelically generous heart, have no choice but to tell you!”
…I never said I was curious.
I stared at her in disbelief, but Gabriel paid no attention and began to brag about her gift.
“The gift I’ve prepared is none other than the sixteenth tableware set by the master craftsman Jürgen!”
A tableware set? When I tilted my head, Gabriel smiled triumphantly and ordered her maid to open the lid of the box.
Inside, beautiful teacups and bowls glittered, lovely at a single glance.
“Now you recognize it, don’t you? You must know that Master Jürgen’s works are discontinued now and very hard to come by.”
I hadn’t known that. So that was how precious those dishes were. As I looked at them with fresh curiosity, Gabriel lifted one of the teacups.
“Her Majesty has a hobby of collecting tableware, and among it all, she loves Master Jürgen’s works the most.”
“I see.”
“This is common knowledge, you know! Common knowledge! Master Jürgen’s works are extremely popular in society, too. Ah, that these dishes and I should have found each other can only be called fate.”
Holding the teacup carefully, Gabriel began to tell the story of how she had come to obtain the set.
Instead of listening to what Gabriel was saying, I fixed my eyes on the dishes.
Something was strange. They were certainly dishes I was seeing for the first time, yet I had the feeling I had seen them somewhere many times before.
Then my eyes caught the initials engraved on the bottom of a dish.
W.H. I stared at that signature, which looked as if it had been scrawled in haste, until a nudge made me turn my head.
“Just ignore her.”
The Crown Prince was glaring at Gabriel with a slightly irritated look.
“Yes, sir.”
Not wanting to die, I ignored Gabriel talking beside me and faced forward, and her target changed.
“Your Highness~.”
Adrian twisted his face as he looked at Gabriel. Gabriel, apparently unable to even see it, began shyly.
“Your Highness, as for the first dance partner…”
Gabriel gazed at Adrian with a smoldering look. Something shattered again.
By now, wouldn’t even she realize it? That Adrian hated her?
While I was feeling sorry for the Crown Prince, he suddenly seized my hand.
“Would you do me the honor of being my first dance partner?”
M-me?!
There was no way I could refuse here. When I nodded frantically, Adrian signaled with his eyes for me to hurry up.
I rose awkwardly and looked at Gabriel.
Would she cry? Was she about to cry?
“Oh my, to think he’d show such kind consideration so that I wouldn’t earn the jealousy of the other ladies…”
What was going on inside that girl’s head? There was no hope for her.
When I shook my head in disbelief, Gabriel’s gaze shifted from the Crown Prince to me.
Startled, I felt oddly caught out when our eyes met.
When I gave her an awkward smile, Gabriel haughtily stepped up in front of me.
W-what, what, what is it?
“Let’s see how long you can keep smiling like that.”
…I wasn’t smiling.
After tossing out that loaded line, Gabriel covered her face with her fan and swept away just as haughtily.
I had come to understand why Crown Prince Adrian loathed her so much he shuddered.
“What did she say?”
“She said she’d see how long I can keep smiling like that.”
“Were you smiling?”
“No.”
Adrian stared at me. I truly hadn’t been smiling.
Just then, the music changed. Adrian led me to the center of the dance floor.
Truthfully, neither of us wanted to stand in the center, but everyone moved aside on their own to make room. I felt like I was going to die.
A waltz began to play, and I started dancing the way I had learned.
Everyone else was dancing merrily, while I alone danced with every nerve on edge.
I can’t get it wrong, I can’t make a mistake!
I must have tried too hard. The moment a single song ended, I collapsed.
The Crown Prince clicked his tongue.
“Can you even keep dancing?”
“I’m still all right.”
I had thought I could easily handle this much. Evidently, being tense the entire time was what had drained my stamina.
The main culprit who had put me in this state shook his head in front of me.
He seemed glad that, as long as we were dancing, no one else would bother him.
The next song began, and I moved my feet as I had been taught. Apart from being conscious of my partner, I enjoyed the dancing itself.
It reminded me of when I first learned to dance. Dad and my little brother had both had their feet stepped on by me, every single time.
“Ah.”
I’d let my mind wander for a moment, and I stepped right on his foot. My whole body went stiff.
Whose foot had I just stepped on?
While I stood frozen, unable to say a word, the Crown Prince moved my hand, which he was holding.
His gaze was murderous, but the dance went on.
You idiot. You were perfect the whole time in practice!
I managed to finish the dance carefully, but somehow I couldn’t look Crown Prince Adrian in the eye.
Was I going to die now? As I trembled, we seemed to have drifted to the edge of the floor.
Crown Prince Adrian promptly led me off the dance floor.
While my head was a tangle over how to make my excuses, Diano came up beside me.
“Princess Marie has just departed.”
“Has she? And Her Majesty?”
“Her Majesty is still in her seat. Terni said she would see Marquis Josef off.”
Crown Prince Adrian looked up at the seat of honor without a word, then scanned his surroundings.
As always, people were lurking on every side, watching for a chance to speak with the Crown Prince.
Was I going to be a living shield again?
“Let’s go back as well.”
Surveying the crowd, the Crown Prince headed straight for the outside of the hall.
Was it really all right to just leave like this?
I wondered if we ought to say goodbye to the Empress, but seeing the Crown Prince stride away without hesitation, as though he were finally free, I quietly closed my mouth.
He must have been so glad that his pace was faster than usual, and I struggled to keep up. The dress was bad enough, but the shoes were the real problem.
The heels were higher than I usually wore, and they made my body wobble.
Oh, wait.
“A-ah!”
Coming down the stairs, I finally lost my balance and staggered.
Just as I was about to fall, Crown Prince Adrian caught me.
I-I’m alive. I’d thought I was about to die. I’d imagined becoming the first person ever to die from tumbling down a staircase, but thankfully I’d been spared.
Before long, I became aware of my awkward situation.
Cradled safely in the Crown Prince’s arms…
My body stiffened all on its own.
