Chapter 64

The Crown Prince’s Fiancée – Chapter 64

With a faint smile, I said those words, and the ladies nodded as if entranced.

Now that I’d shown my face, I wouldn’t be able to remain in the capital once I left the palace.

I had made my face publicly known as the Crown Princess, and since someone might recognize me, I would have to leave this place.

A little sadness crept over me. I had wanted to stay close, even a little longer.

It was meaningless now, but I tried to cover my face with the veil again.

Adrian pulled me toward him and hid my face.

“If you’re done here, be gone.”

At Adrian’s growl, the ladies withdrew, taking Gabriel with them.

“Marie. Pass a message to Mother.”

“Yeah, got it. I’ll just say you appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped my sister-in-law, right?”

Adrian glared at Marie’s words, then led me out of the garden. His momentum was so fierce that I was rather startled.

“Your Highness.”

When I called to him carefully, he stopped.

“Your Highness. Why are you angry?”

Had I done something wrong?

Adrian’s complicated gaze turned to me. He muttered,

“…You should have been looking only at me.”

“Pardon?”

Adrian’s voice was so quiet that I couldn’t hear him well.

“Never mind. If you didn’t hear it, that’s fine.”

“Oh, all right…”

Since I hadn’t understood what he’d said, I couldn’t tell why he was so furious.

An awkward moment passed. I quietly watched Adrian’s expression.

Adrian watched mine, too. This time Adrian was the first to clear his throat and speak.

“Is it really all right to reveal your face like that?”

“Yes. Whatever anyone says, I’m now openly Your Highness’s fiancée.”

“That’s true, but…”

Adrian made a complicated expression. It was a temporary arrangement, after all. I knew that, too.

What Adrian was worried about was probably what came after the contract ended. I smiled to show him I was fine.

“Then will you stop covering your face from now on?”

“No. I’ll keep it covered whenever I can.”

I shook my head demurely.

“But if it’s necessary, I’ll gladly show my face, as I did today.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t let Your Highness suffer from false rumors because of me.”

“Arti…”

Crown Prince Adrian looked at me quietly with an expression I couldn’t read.

His trembling lips seemed to want to say something to me, but in the end, he couldn’t say a word.

* * *

Adrian calmly recalled what had happened the day before.

Since it had happened inside the imperial palace, the matter instantly became the talk of the town and was on many people’s lips.

Naturally, the false rumors about Arti vanished as well.

In their place, all sorts of praise had begun, saying Arti was an outstanding beauty and that there could be no woman as lovely, and Adrian alone was in a foul mood.

‘This is a strange feeling.’

In the whole of his not-so-long life as Crown Prince, there had never been a time as tumultuous as this.

The new emotions he was feeling were so unfamiliar that he couldn’t even be sure they were truly his own.

On a small scale, there was the thought that now that she couldn’t go around with her bare face, he could use that as an excuse to keep her by his side even longer, a clingy, ugly impulse even he could recognize. On a larger scale, there was the profound and overwhelming feeling toward Arti, who had gladly shown her bare face for his sake.

Since meeting Arti, Adrian had been different from his former self every single day.

The biggest change was this.

‘I have no confidence.’

Whether he could hold on to Arti, whether he could win her heart, he had no confidence in any of it.

Adrian clutched his head, imagining how astonished everyone who knew him would be.

There was another problem as well.

“I didn’t think Gabriel would go that far.”

Gabriel’s simple mind couldn’t have come up with such a scheme, so this must have been the idea of the people around her rather than her own.

In any case, Adrian had become wary that something like this could happen.

“Adrian, Adrian! It’s urgent! I need you to sign off on these documents!”

Just then, Terni came into the Crown Prince’s office carrying a bundle of papers.

Adrian took the documents Terni handed over and skimmed them roughly, then glanced at him.

“Terni.”

“What? Check them quickly. I’m in a hurry!”

“Why are you in a hurry?”

“I have to finish this quickly and go see our Arti~♡”

“…”

Adrian set down the papers he’d been skimming and fixed his gaze on Terni.

“What happened with the investigation?”

“Oh, that.”

Terni smiled slyly.

“I’ve found out something huge again. Heh heh heh.”

“Report.”

“The department in charge of the festival performance committee is the Ministry of Rites, under the Ministry of the Interior, right? Well, every last person there belongs to the Chancellor’s faction.”

“So you’re saying it’s Chancellor Nevel’s doing?”

“Well, something like that. One of the officials has been offering bribes to curry favor with the Chancellor, and one source of those bribes is the hush money that troupe has been slipping him, you see.”

“Then it has nothing directly to do with the Chancellor, does it?”

“Wrong. The Chancellor has been favoring that side so they keep the bribes flowing.”

“Evidence?”

“I’ve secured all of it!”

Terni smiled with confidence and majestic pride.

“The stage is all set, so something even better will come in before long.”

Watching Terni grin as slyly as a dark lord, Adrian merely gave a small nod.

“Fine, let’s leave it at that.”

“Wait! ‘Leave it at that’? Adrian! What about my hard work? No praise for me?”

“You only did what you were supposed to do.”

“Wow~ how cruel.”

Terni sniffled. Adrian ignored him and continued calmly.

“About the matter concerning Arti.”

Terni, who had been busy pretending to cry, changed expression at once at the name “Arti.”

Watching Terni focus, Adrian sighed inwardly.

“What about the matter concerning Arti?”

When Terni urged him, Adrian reluctantly spoke.

“This is the first time Gabriel has gone to such lengths to keep Arti in check.”

“Right! It never happened when Essen was Arti. Even Gabriel has recognized the greatness of our Arti. That’s why she suddenly came out to check her!”

“That’s what worries me. Incidents like this will happen frequently from now on.”

“Ohh.”

Terni looked at Adrian with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe Adrian was saying such a thing.

‘Is that really Adrian?’

Adrian worrying about someone was an omen of the world’s end.

“Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how to handle the aftermath…”

“I’ve already taken care of all that.”

“What?”

When Adrian frowned, Terni laughed as if to ask what there was to be so surprised about.

“I have to show them the price of touching the Obiedo family and our Arti. Heh heh heh. Look forward to it!”

At Terni’s words, Adrian felt uneasy for no reason. That bastard hadn’t caused another strange incident, had he?

Telling himself that Terni was no fool and must have handled things well on his own, Adrian nodded.

As if it had suddenly occurred to him, Terni raised his head.

“Oh, right. Come to think of it, Essen said he had something to tell you.”

“Essen?”

Adrian suddenly had a bad feeling.

Chapter 16. We Are All in Love (Fangirling)

After returning, Essen rested for a while and then went straight back to work.

Since he had been in charge of guarding Crown Prince Adrian until now, everyone naturally expected him to return to that duty.

But the place where Essen actually reported for work was not Poinsettia Palace but Lily Palace.

“For the time being, Essen will be your bodyguard.”

“Lord Essen is going to be my guard knight?”

“Yes.”

Adrian explained the situation to Arti with a look that suggested he was not entirely at ease.

“Even though the false rumors about you have quieted down, we judged that there’s no telling what might happen next, with someone targeting you.”

“So you’re assigning me a guard knight?”

“Exactly.”

Even as he said so, Adrian’s expression was far from pleased.

“It was Essen’s request.”

Essen had said that, as the “former Artienne,” it was a sort of grand plan to help the current Arti.

“Having your predecessor beside you should help.”

Arti believed she could trust Essen, so she welcomed the news.

“I’m happy with it.”

When Arti accepted, Adrian nodded with an expression that suggested he couldn’t decide whether to be glad about this or not.

“Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

When Arti bowed politely, Adrian looked pleased, then pouted again.

“I believe I told you to call me by my name.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you remember? On our last outing, I definitely told you to call me ‘Adrian’ in everyday life as well.”

Recalling the time she had gone out with Adrian to the busy streets, Arti made a troubled face.

“That… wasn’t just something you said out of politeness?”

“Do I look like someone who says things out of politeness?”

“No.”

At her immediate answer, Adrian smiled with satisfaction.

“Then try again.”

“A-Adrian… Your Highness.”

“Again.”

“Adrian…”

Since she had already committed this rudeness once, it wasn’t difficult the second time.

She still felt nervous, but it also seemed to her that Adrian’s gaze on her had softened.

“Good. Keep calling me that from now on. Even when I’m not around.”

“Even when Your Highness isn’t around?”

When Adrian scowled, Arti immediately realized her mistake.

“…Even when Adrian isn’t around?”

“Yes. Well done.”

Adrian smiled and praised Arti. As he naturally stroked Arti’s head, she lowered her gaze shyly.