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Chapter 2
The next day.
Angelina opened her eyes atop a soft bed. The ceiling came into view, and her head throbbed as though it might split apart.
And then she heard a voice she absolutely should not have been hearing.
“Awake?”
“!”
The crown prince’s face entered her field of vision. Angelina jerked upright. In the process, her forehead slammed hard against Aleksei’s, since he had been leaning over her.
“Ah.”
Fragments of what had happened after she lost consciousness flashed across her grimacing face.
I’m screwed. Completely screwed.
If word got out about how much trouble the crown prince must have gone through carrying her unconscious body to bed, fiancé or not, she might end up dragged off to prison.
And the tabloids would have a field day again.
The Fall of the Wingless Lady, they’d write, printing her face everywhere like some mirrored caricature.
“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”
“Not really…”
Trailing off, Angelina suddenly turned pale and looked out the window. It was far too bright outside to still be night.
“I sent someone to your house last night to let them know. Your maid too. So there’s nothing to worry about.”
“So you told my family… that I was staying at the detached palace?”
Please say no.
“Yeah. I told them you were with me. So don’t wor—”
“Damn it.”
“What?”
Angelina practically launched herself off the bed. Aleksei hurriedly grabbed her arm.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to go. I have to hurry if I want to salvage this.”
Leaving behind the utterly bewildered crown prince, she dashed out of the detached palace.
She should have stormed out of that dinner with the jerk who wasted her time without even paying.
“My dear Angel, when are you going to make up with Aleksei?”
After Angelina declared she had cut ties with the crown prince, Marquis Agate demanded that answer as a birthday present every single year. It wasn’t because he believed friends should get along.
It was because he needed them to reconcile for his plan to work.
His plan to marry Angelina to the crown prince.
After the marquis passed away, the marchioness took over and continued pressuring her. Ever since Angelina’s coming-of-age ceremony, the pressure had only intensified.
Thinking about it now, even Lara knowing where the crown prince lived had been strange.
Urging the coachman to go faster, Angelina finally arrived home.
“Madam isn’t here.”
Could it be she doesn’t know?
Hope flickered for a brief moment—
Then the maid added from behind:
“She hurriedly left for the imperial palace this morning.”
I’m doomed.
All strength drained from Angelina’s body, and she collapsed onto the spot.
“My lady, are you alright?”
“No. I’m not alright.”
Blinking with unfocused eyes, she answered weakly.
“There will never be a marriage between us.”
The nonsense she had spouted yesterday clawed through her mind.
Even without Aleksei beside her, she desperately wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.
* * *
Inside the empress’s private reception room.
Maria Agate, Marchioness Agate and Angelina’s mother, was chatting with Empress Valerie, Angelina’s future mother-in-law.
“I never imagined Your Majesty’s plan would work so well. We struggled with this for years, yet it was resolved overnight. I was so delighted I couldn’t even wait for Angelina to come home before rushing to the palace.”
The marchioness set down her teacup as Empress Valerie smiled warmly.
“I heard a carriage left the detached palace thirty minutes ago. Young people truly do reconcile passionately. Though admittedly, I wasn’t expecting things to go quite that far.”
After Marquis Anthony Agate died in the war against the Tordi Empire a year earlier, Maria decided she could no longer leave the marriage issue to the two young people themselves. Empress Valerie had agreed.
No matter how much they pushed, Angelina stubbornly refused to change her mind, driving the marchioness to despair. That was when the empress devised a rather peculiar scheme.
Make Angelina come to Aleksei herself.
They had manipulated both reporters and Madame Kelt to lure Angelina to the crown prince.
The entire thing had been orchestrated by the marchioness and the empress.
When word arrived that Angelina had spent the night at the detached palace, Maria had nearly jumped for joy.
“I worry because Angelina is still immature.”
“She’s honest and pure. That’s her charm.”
The empress’s face looked completely different from her usual icy demeanor.
“Ever since my husband died, I’ve been desperate to build a secure future for Angelina. But perhaps I’ve been too greedy. She’s a girl accustomed to attention—I worry she might bring disgrace upon the imperial family.”
“How is her popularity her fault? She’s practically the representative of the Ladies’ Association. It’s only natural the media focuses on her.”
The empress had marked Angelina as her future daughter-in-law long ago. Though it began as a joking promise between the fathers, it was Empress Valerie who formally proposed the engagement to Maria Agate.
“I also worry because she and His Highness are so different. There may be friction.”
“A rigid crown prince like Aleksei will find Angelina’s spontaneity refreshing, while his caution will benefit her. I think they’ll become the perfect couple—each filling what the other lacks.”
“Your Majesty is remarkably optimistic.”
“I can’t forget that memory. Aleksei was buried in a book in the corner of the ballroom, and Angelina spilled food on him, didn’t she?”
“It was wine,” Maria quickly corrected.
A horrifying memory indeed.
The empress had simply laughed and said it was fortunate Angelina hadn’t poured it on his head. Since the crown prince’s reading session had been forcibly interrupted, he’d had no choice but to actually participate in the banquet.
From the empress’s perspective, the method hardly mattered so long as she got the desired result.
“From that moment on, Angelina was my daughter-in-law.”
“Your Majesty…”
“And perhaps there’s some vicarious satisfaction involved too. No matter how prestigious our titles may be, women are always destined to live in the shadow of their husbands, aren’t we?”
“That is true.”
“Angelina will surely bring new vitality to the imperial family.”
Maria Agate nodded, silently praying it would be vitality and not destructive firepower.
“Before another incident occurs between them, let us hurry the wedding along, Marchioness.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Seven years ago, a sudden declaration of estrangement had left both families dumbfounded.
That absolutely could not happen again.
* * *
—If the dress in Hotel Grimm’s painting isn’t actually Madame Kelt’s dress, then the claim that you damaged its value falls apart entirely. Since you never agreed to the arrangement, you’re under no obligation to return the borrowed dress either. I’ll handle this matter.
Right after hearing such shocking news, Aleksei’s letter barely registered in Angelina’s mind.
“The crown prince is already taking such good care of his future wife’s affairs. Isn’t that right, Angel?”
“So you’re really determined to make me the crown princess? In ten days, no less?”
“There’s no need to be so shocked. We’ve spent ten years preparing for this.”
The Marchioness Agate replied shamelessly.
“What kind of wedding preparations happen without the bride knowing?”
“You were a child. It was only natural for us as parents.”
“I’m an adult now!”
“Which means it’s time for you to marry.”
“Aaagh!”
Angelina clutched her head.
“I never expected you two to reconcile so passionately, but that’s simply how men and women are. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“That’s not what happened! Go ask the crown prince what really happened last night!”
“Even if nothing happened, that’s fine. There’s plenty of time for things to happen in the future.”
Father never cornered me like this.
Suddenly, she missed him terribly.
“You hate each other! There’s no way anything like that would ever happen!”
“That’s not true, Angel. The crown prince agreed to this marriage.”
“I don’t care whether he agreed or not! I don’t want this! I don’t want to get married!”
Her father used to bring home injured animals from hunting trips and secretly loved romance novels—despite them supposedly being women’s literature.
When he died in battle a year ago, Angelina felt as though a hole had been torn through her chest. She cried often, while her mother spent increasing amounts of time at the imperial palace.
Who would have thought it would lead to this disaster?
“Shall I tell you what became of the ladies involved with Phillips Dont?”
“……”
“Does marriage sound more appealing now? Please think wisely, Angel.”
She had prayed so desperately for a husband like her father.
Faced with the gentle yet coercive smile directed at her, Angelina truly felt like crying.
* * *
If she couldn’t persuade her mother, then next came the empress.
Surely the empress—perfectly ruling as regent in place of the bedridden emperor—would instantly recognize that Angelina was unfit for the imperial family.
Please make the decision.
Please destroy this engagement born from the friendship of their fathers.
As if hearing her silent plea, Empress Valerie raised an eyebrow while sipping her tea. Angelina hurriedly set her teacup down. She had no idea when she might next get an audience with the empress.
“I’m not qualified to become crown princess.”
“You needn’t worry about such things. I’ve watched you for over ten years.”
Have you forgotten the time I poured wine over the crown prince’s book? Do you not know I used to mock the genius crown prince as a fool obsessed with books?
“If there’s perhaps another man you love—”
“N-no! Of course not.”
Anxious the name Phillips Dont might come up, Angelina shook her head frantically.
“Then there’s no problem.”
“……”
“You’re both adults now, so there’s no reason to delay any longer. Aleksei will soon ascend the throne. Considering our relationship with the Tordi Empire, the imperial family needs an heir as quickly as possible for stability’s sake. We have great expectations of you.”
Unable to say what she truly wanted, Angelina left the audience chamber.
“Where is the crown prince?”
