CSMOF 05

Chapter 5

“I heard you’d woken up, so I came.”

“Father!”

Behind the door that Lynn had opened stood my father — His Majesty the King — tall and dignified, dressed in a robe of deep blue velvet, his hands clasped behind his back.

Startled, I hurried toward him and bowed.

I’d committed too many mistakes lately to meet his eyes, but… having lost a father early in my previous life, I found that just having him here filled something empty inside me.
And besides — he’s the King. Talk about the ultimate father advantage.

When Lynn bowed and quietly withdrew, Father stepped into the room and looked down at me with gentle concern.

“How are you feeling?”

“My… body? Oh, I’m fine. Really.”

“I heard from Lucas about what happened earlier today. It seems you’ve been quite distressed over the matter with Adrian.”

“Oh— no, I’m fine, truly.”

“I wanted to cheer you up by holding more balls, but things didn’t go quite as I planned. A pity.”

Ah, so that’s why there were so many balls lately…

Did Father arrange them so I could mingle with the noble ladies, gossip, and maybe fall in love again with some fine young gentleman?

I’d always thought those balls were nothing but a waste of time — but hearing that they were meant to comfort me… that was unexpectedly touching.

As I looked up at his kindly face, his silver hair neatly swept back, I felt a lump rise in my throat.

“I’m sorry, Father. I keep causing trouble…”

My voice caught. Still, I mumbled an earnest apology.

Even if I wasn’t really the one who had done those things, I knew the “old” me had stubbornly clung to marrying Adrian — only to insist later on breaking it off.
Then there was all the nonsense about prophecies, and, well… the infamous flirting episode in Lucas’s office.
Ten mouths wouldn’t be enough to explain it all.

But Father surprised me.

“Actually, I’m rather relieved,” he said softly. “When your mother passed away, you let your heart rot in silence instead of expressing your pain. Compared to then, you look much brighter and stronger now.”

He reached out and gently stroked my hair.

My eyes widened — and suddenly blurred with tears.

“But about these prophecies of yours,” he continued, “if they truly stem from a divine oracle, perhaps we should call a priest from the temple to take a look. What do you think?”

“A priest? That could cause… a religious conflict—”

“Hmm? What was that?”

“N-no, nothing. Sure, I’ll meet him.”

A priest wouldn’t be able to make sense of any of this, but if it would ease Father’s mind, then fine.

“The queen wanted to come with me,” he added, “but I stopped her. Her maid was caught hiding her pregnancy by a lowborn man and had to be dismissed. She’s been busy finding a replacement.”

“Oh… I-I’m sorry about that.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.
I remembered that scandal — and I was the one who’d blurted it out.

The queen — my stepmother — was a good person, but she came from a modest family and had no powerful relatives at court, so her maids often looked down on her.
I’d tried to ignore their snickering at first, but when they started giggling behind her back, I’d lost my temper and exposed the ringleader’s illicit affair and secret pregnancy. I’d even bet my own hand on it.

Father took my hand gently.

“It’s all right. I know you did it out of concern for the queen. She’s grateful to you.”

“Really?”

I looked up at the ceiling, my thoughts spinning.

Usually, the relationship between a stepmother and a daughter from a previous marriage is nothing but disaster… but maybe in this palace, things would stay peaceful. No palace intrigue. No venomous rivalry. Maybe.

Father studied me for a moment, then smiled.

“You’ve grown thin. You must eat well. Shall we have lunch together tomorrow?”

I felt lighter at that — and smiled back.
“Yes, Father.”

* * *

When people hear about royal luncheons or dinners, they imagine glittering chandeliers and a ten-meter-long banquet table, with the King and his family sitting elegantly at opposite ends in utter silence.

But today? Today was… different.

Honestly, what was Father thinking?

Why humiliate his poor daughter like this, right when she wanted to crawl into a hole?

Not only were we not sitting far apart — but Father, at the head of the table, had the Queen and my young half-brother seated to his left,
Lucas to his right, me beside Lucas,
and, of all people, Adrian sitting right next to me.

Adrian.
Why was he here?
At a family luncheon?

And why, aside from a brief greeting, had he been staring straight ahead in complete silence?

My corset felt tight, and I let out a discreet sigh.

Lucas, sitting beside me, immediately scolded in a sharp whisper.

“Considering the disgrace you caused yesterday, I ought to have locked you in your room for a week! But Father said you weren’t yourself — that you were sick. So you should be grateful.”

Father—really?

I sent him a wounded look, but he only raised an eyebrow and pretended not to see, turning instead toward the Queen.

Well, I did cause the mess. What can I say?

Lucas shot a quick glance at Adrian and added,
“I invited Adrian today to thank him for his trouble yesterday. So you should thank him properly!”

I frowned subtly, making sure only my brother could see.
‘Why are you doing this to me? Just leave it!’

I mouthed the words silently, but Lucas ignored me and turned back to his plate, carving his meat.

I had no choice. I turned toward Adrian and took a deep breath.

“Thank you for yesterday… and I’m sorry. It must have been quite troublesome.”

“It’s fine,” he said curtly, not even looking my way.

Ha! Look at that frosty face.

What did he expect, that I’d get on my knees or something?

Pouting, I focused on my food instead.
I pushed aside the eggplants I hated and started slicing into the thick steak with renewed determination.

Then, out of nowhere, Adrian spoke.

“How are things going with that gentleman you met at the ball the other day?”

“…The gentleman from the ball?”

“Yes. He was wearing a naval uniform, if I recall.”

“Oh, you mean Christoph.”

“So you’re on a first-name basis now?”

I chewed slowly, savoring how tender the steak was today.

“Mmh… We were already friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yes. Why? Don’t you have any female friends you call by name, Sir Adrian?”

“…”

“You once told me I didn’t have any man I could talk comfortably with besides you, but I see now you didn’t know me very well.”

He was silent for a few seconds before finally saying,

“You’re right. I misjudged you.”

“Oh, good. Admitting it suits you.”

I smiled and popped another piece of steak into my mouth.
Delicious. For the first time in a while, I actually had an appetite.

Then, Adrian spoke again.

“I also didn’t know you could so gracefully charm a room full of men in an office.”

I choked. “C-charm them? Gracefully?!”

I almost inhaled the steak.

So he hadn’t intended to let that incident slide. Why bring it up now, at the table?

Flustered, I pressed my napkin to my lips, pretending calm, and glanced sideways at him.
He was still methodically cutting his food — barely eating.

As he lowered his head, a lock of golden hair slipped forward and caught the light.
For a moment, I just stared, dazed, before snapping out of it.

“T-that was… after I fell from my horse. I was injured. I’m fine now, but back then—”

“Princess,” he interrupted quietly, “eat your vegetables.”

He used his fork to pull the eggplants I’d pushed aside back to the center of my plate and looked me straight in the eyes.

Oh, come on. That’s not fair. Why does he have to look that good doing it?

“You’ll recover faster if you eat properly,” he said. “You were far too thin when I carried you yesterday.”

I looked down at the eggplants he’d moved and felt… confused. Since when was he acting like this?

“You’re making it hard, you know. People will think you actually care.”

“Giselle—no, Princess, of course I care. I’ve been friends with Prince Lucas for years. I think of you as my—”

“Enough. I already have one brother. That’s plenty.”

I cut him off firmly and dabbed my mouth with the napkin again.

Seriously? Even in this world, he’s pulling the “you’re like a little sister to me” line?
We’re not even related!

Just then, my actual half-brother Benjamin, seated across the table, picked up the small silver bell in front of him and rang it enthusiastically.

Ding-ding! Ding-ding!

At that sound, my head tilted slightly — and my shoulders began to twitch on their own.

And then, suddenly, my mother’s old chant echoed faintly in my ears.

“Eorah-hara Mansu! Spirits of Heaven and Earth!”

…

Ah— why now, of all times—?!