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Chapter 01
Flames engulfed Aella.
Amidst the fires of death, Aella looked at Media. Even in excruciating pain, Aella did not take her eyes off Media.
Media, a friend who had been like a sister to her. So this is how we end up.
*God Iphe. If you can hear my voice there, grant me the flames of ruin.*
Aella curled one corner of her mouth and whispered to Media.
“I will become ruin and come for you.”
—
**\*\*\***
“Have a good time, Aella. Make sure to tell me all about the royal ball when you get back.”
At the voice from behind her, Aella, who had just been leaving her room, turned to look at Media. Aella’s lemon-colored blonde hair, adorned with flowers, swayed. Her emerald green eyes sparkling, Aella smiled brightly.
“I’ll be back.”
With a radiant smile, Aella walked out the door. Her pink silk dress, densely decorated with beads, rustled like a wave of flowers.
As soon as the door closed, Media’s smile vanished in an instant.
“……You’ve taken everything I should have enjoyed, and now you pretend to be nice.”
Media’s brown eyes were filled with hostility.
Completely unaware of the animosity Media had kindled, Aella climbed into the carriage with her parents.
“You look pretty, Aella.”
At her father’s voice, Aella blushed and asked.
“Do you think His Grace the Grand Duke will say I’m pretty too?”
Her parents burst into laughter at her words.
“Unless Grand Duke Motita’s eyes have disappeared since we last saw him, he’ll say you’re pretty.”
Duke Petra said in a reassuring tone.
Embarrassed, Aella cleared her throat and turned her gaze out the carriage window.
The world, filled with the spirit of spring, was beautiful. It was her first time attending the royal ball, so Aella was both excited and nervous.
Attending the royal ball meant that she was now officially stepping into high society as an adult. It was also an occasion to show everyone that she was no longer a little girl.
That’s why the closer they got to the palace, the more nervous she became.
Arriving at the palace before she knew it, Aella took her father’s hand and descended from the carriage. Seeing that her face was visibly tense, Duke Petra spoke.
“My little lemon tart, relax. It’s nothing special. Just smile appropriately at those fools.”
“Dear, ‘those fools’?”
The Duchess of Petra gave him a slight sideways glance.
But Aella, feeling her tension ease at her father’s words, smiled softly.
Just then, a pleasant, low-pitched voice was heard.
“It’s been a while.”
At the sound, Aella’s heart began to beat in a pleasant rhythm.
Unable to hide her excitement, Aella quickly turned around. In doing so, she lost her balance and stumbled.
“Ah—.”
The owner of the voice supported Aella’s back with his hand and grabbed her wrist. Their eyes met.
To Aella, that brief moment felt like an eternity. As heat rushed to her face, she called out to him in a flustered voice.
“G-Grand Duke.”
As if coming to his senses at Aella’s voice, the man straightened her up and let go of her wrist and back. Clearing his throat, he apologized.
“I was rude.”
The man who apologized with a polite demeanor was Aella’s fiancé, the young head of House Motita, Ther Motita.
“You caught me. Thank you.”
“Then, would you grant this plain little lemon the honor of accompanying you?”
Ther extended his hand to Aella.
Aella’s face flushed bright red at his words. It seemed he had overheard her conversation with her father.
“Take good care of our plain little lemon.”
At Ther’s words, Duke Petra laughed heartily and headed into the palace first with his wife.
Aella, looking a little sulky, gently took Ther’s outstretched hand. She was terribly embarrassed that he now knew her nickname, ‘plain little lemon.’
“It’s not because I’m ugly that he calls me plain little lemon.”
Once they were alone, Aella spoke with a slightly petulant expression.
She glanced at Ther’s face as they walked beside each other.
Ther, whom she hadn’t seen for a few months, looked different in the meantime. Until a few months ago, he had a boyish feel, but now he didn’t seem like a boy anymore.
His black hair had become deeper, as if holding the night, and his facial features had sharpened. His reddish-brown eyes, leaning more towards red, held a deep gleam, and his strong jaw and determined-looking mouth appeared noble.
Aella felt a flutter in her stomach, finding Ther unfamiliar. Unable to resist the feeling, she rambled on.
“He calls me plain little lemon because my hair color looks like a lemon. I’m not ugly.”
“I know.”
“Huh?”
Aella lifted her gaze to look up at Ther.
Ther slightly bowed his head to meet her eyes.
“You’re pretty.”
At his words, Aella’s face turned pink. Likewise, Ther’s ears also became the same color as hers.
“Shall we go, Grand Duchess?”
A spring breeze gently blew between them, each hiding their own excitement.
—
**\*\*\***
In the lively atmosphere of the ball, Aella and Ther spent a happy time together.
They stayed close to each other, and people watched the couple fondly.
However, the eyes of the Crown Prince, Seamus Miden, looking down at them from the second-floor railing with his chin propped on his hand, were ice cold.
With dark blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed ruthless, Seamus’s gaze followed Aella and Ther relentlessly.
“She’s pretty. Motita’s fiancée.”
Aella standing next to Ther stoked Seamus’s inferiority complex.
Ther Motita was truly a capable man. Not only in martial arts but also in intellect and looks. His excellence always felt like an insult to him.
The nobles were desperate to curry favor with Grand Duke Ther Motita rather than with himself, the Crown Prince.
When problems arose, the people sought out Ther Motita first. Sometimes, he wondered if they mistook the Emperor for Ther Motita.
*‘I’m worried about whether the Crown Prince will lead the Empire well. He seems to only like playing around.’*
*‘What’s there to worry about? We have Grand Duke Motita. Even if the Imperial family falls, as long as House Motita stands strong, there’s no need to worry about Marer.’*
*‘Well, that’s true.’*
The voices of men he had heard in the lounge today annoyingly repeated in his ears.
*Fools. They don’t even know that Motita is my slave.* Seamus’s lip twisted.
Just then, an unwelcome voice was heard.
“Here you were, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Seamus frowned and turned around. There stood his fiancée, Xenia Dioudis.
“What?”
Seamus looked at Xenia with an annoyed expression. He did not have good feelings towards his fiancée. She was too ugly to become the Crown Princess.
“You have not yet asked me for a dance.”
Xenia said in a calm tone.
“I pity myself too much to dance with someone as ugly as you.”
At Seamus’s mockery, Xenia’s face hardened.
Seamus leaned crookedly against a railing pillar and pointed at Aella with a tilt of his head.
“Wouldn’t I only enjoy dancing with someone at least on the level of Motita’s fiancée?”
“Then I shall assume we are not dancing tonight.”
With a blank expression, Xenia turned away from Seamus.
Seamus chuckled softly and turned his attention back to Aella and Ther.
“Why does that bastard always get all the good things?”
*How dare my slave, Motita, have something even I don’t?*
Seamus turned and walked down the stairs. The crowd’s attention focused on Seamus’s movements as he approached Aella.
Seamus stood before Aella.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Startled, Aella quickly bent her knees in a bow.
Ther, standing beside her, had a look of wariness on his face.
Smirking at Ther’s defensive stance, Seamus extended his hand to Aella.
“I request a dance, Lady Petra.”
“A d-dance?”
Aella, her face full of embarrassment, looked up at Ther beside her as if asking for help.
“My fiancée and I already plan to dance the next dance together.”
Ther stepped forward as if to protect Aella.
“Motita, you are quite insolent. Just because you own a temple doesn’t make you a god, you know.”
Seamus’s lip curled up crookedly.
“Lady Dioudis is alone. Why don’t you go to Lady Dioudis?”
Ther spoke with a blank expression, but his eyes held contempt.
At Ther’s sharp remark telling him to mind his own business and go to his own fiancée, Seamus’s face crumpled.
“Ther Motita!”
Seamus, his long-held inferiority complex bursting forth, shouted with a ferocious face.
Even at Seamus’s outburst, Ther didn’t flinch. He just stared intently at Seamus with his usual blank expression.
The cheerful mood sank in an instant. People rolled their eyes at the sharp emotions radiating from the two. They already knew the relationship was bad, but they didn’t expect such open hostility.
Just then, the Emperor’s Chief Chamberlain cut through the tense atmosphere and approached Seamus.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor calls for you.”
The Chamberlain delivered the Emperor’s words in a low voice.
Even after the Chamberlain spoke, Seamus glared at Ther for a while, then clicked his tongue and followed the Chamberlain.
Ther held the startled Aella’s hand and watched Seamus’s retreating back. Anxiety welled up in his eyes.
—
**\*\*\***
“I should have gone to the party wearing something like this too.”
Media muttered, clutching Aella’s yellow dress.
She was annoyed at being left alone in the mansion while the Duke, Duchess, and Aella attended the royal ball.
*‘Can’t I go with you?’*
*‘Those not invited cannot attend the royal ball.’*
Media’s brown eyes, mulling over the conversation with Duke Petra, sank deep.
“Why won’t Father acknowledge me as his daughter? It’s about time he recognized me. Just how long do I have to live like this?”
Flames blooming from the enraged Media’s hand transferred to the yellow dress.
“Hic!”
Startled, Media stumbled backward.
Coming to her senses, Media reached her hand towards the dress to retract the flames, but then lowered her hand.
“I wish Aella would burn up too, just like that dress.”
Watching the dress burn away, Media muttered with a cold expression.
The burned dress turned to ash and scattered.
—
**\*\*\***
Fifteen days after the royal ball, a letter from the palace arrived at House Petra.
Duke Petra led his family to greet the Emperor’s herald.
The herald approached Duke Petra carrying a glass letter case.
“I deliver a letter from His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.”
The herald opened the case and handed two letters to Duke Petra.
“I receive His Majesty’s letter.”
Duke Petra accepted the letters with a respectful attitude. As he opened the letter right there, his eyes shook.
It was a proposal of marriage from the Imperial family, addressed to Aella.
