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Chapter – 120
The day Marguerite was supposed to visit.
Kaidan had returned from early morning training and was sprawled carelessly on the sofa, his body exhausted.
His shirt was half-unbuttoned and loose at the front, his clothes disheveled, his hair a mess—no matter how you looked at him, there was nothing princely about his posture.
Even Kaidan himself knew he wasn’t following any royal etiquette right now.
But even so, he was like this because…
‘……This is suffocating.’
Being a prince wasn’t particularly great in any noticeable way.
This place was a luxurious prison.
There were endless rules to follow.
Learning formalities like greetings or table manners wasn’t difficult in itself.
‘It’s just exhausting to do it all day.’
The only thing that was somewhat enjoyable lately was the social dance he had started learning for balls.
Kaidan had learned so quickly that even his teacher was surprised. He was already practicing the most difficult dance sequence.
‘Would Marguerite be surprised if she knew?’
That alone was probably the only good thing about being a prince.
That as a “prince,” he could do things with Marguerite.
Like inviting her to the palace, or having tea together in a grand garden…
Things Kaidan, as “Kaidan,” had never been able to do for her.
“……”
Thinking of Marguerite, Kaidan slowly sat up. Then he pulled the signal cord and called for a servant.
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The servant rushed in, eyes sparkling.
He had been bored out of his mind because this troubled prince rarely called for servants.
“…Prepare me.”
At the prince’s words, the servant covered his mouth, overwhelmed.
He immediately ran to the servant quarters and shouted,
“Emergency! Emergency!”
All the servants of the Second Prince’s palace gathered in a commotion.
“So you’re saying our prince said he wants to get dressed up today?”
“No way, right? His Highness doesn’t even bother to comb his hair!”
“It’s true! It’s true!!”
In the end, they selected three of the most skilled servants, prepared themselves, and entered the prince’s room.
“Your Highness, we will enter!”
“Come in.”
There stood Kaidan, freshly washed, waiting calmly for them.
“P-please forgive me for asking, Your Highness, but… are you truly allowing us to prepare you today?”
At his natural nod, the servant trembled as he flung open the wardrobe doors.
‘I never thought I’d see this day!’
Overcome with emotion, he selected clothes in a daze. Then suddenly, he realized he had forgotten something important and turned back to Kaidan.
“Your Highness, do you have any preferences? How would you like to be styled?”
After thinking for a moment, Kaidan spoke.
“As neatly as possible….”
‘Neatly?!’
“…And nicely.”
‘N-nicely?!’
“I want to look like a prince.”
Why was it?
Was it because Kaidan, usually so hard to approach, seemed a little shy today?
The servant felt his heart drop for a moment, while also feeling a wave of sympathy for this troubled prince.
“You already look like a prince, Your Highness! But today, I will make you into a prince that will make anyone gasp!”
With firm determination to turn him into someone dazzling even from five hundred steps away, the servants entrusted Kaidan to their care.
Even the cravat, which he usually removed in annoyance, was tied without complaint.
His hair was neatly combed back, revealing his clean face.
After a long while, a full-length mirror was brought before him.
“You will love it, Your Highness. You look absolutely perfect!”
Kaidan studied his reflection for a moment, then straightened his posture completely.
In the mirror, he looked like a flawless “prince.”
“……I like it. Thank you.”
As the servant finished with a final touch of perfume, Kaidan’s first smile made him weak in the knees.
He dropped the perfume bottle in shock, but no one blamed him.
Everyone in the room felt the same way.
And soon, they gained allies.
It was the royal couple waiting in the banquet hall to have lunch with Kaidan.
“Oh my, Kaidan!”
“You look so handsome today, my son.”
He had come properly dressed—unlike usual, fully buttoned up to the neck with a cravat neatly tied.
His posture was so straight and proper.
How admirable!
The royal couple, deeply moved to see Kaidan finally adapting to the palace, were so overwhelmed during the meal that they barely knew whether the soup was going into their mouths or noses.
And—
As if that wasn’t enough, even after the meal ended, they refused to leave Kaidan’s side.
Wherever their son went, they followed.
Eventually, the three of them arrived at Kaidan’s garden.
This was also the place where Kaidan was supposed to meet Marguerite today.
So unlike the overly affectionate royal couple, Kaidan’s expression gradually hardened as time passed.
“Our Kaidan, is something wrong? You look pale.”
“…Mother, Father. I…”
At his hesitant voice, the king and queen nodded eagerly.
Looking at their sparkling eyes, Kaidan continued with difficulty.
“Today… I have an appointment here.”
“An ap-pointment?!”
“Yes. A guest is coming.”
“A gu-est?!”
At that moment, the royal couple exchanged looks. Then their lips curled upward.
“Who is it?”
Kaidan lowered his eyes.
At his shy expression, the royal couple were practically bouncing with excitement.
Led by a servant, we arrived at the entrance of the garden.
“This is the garden of His Highness the Second Prince. Please enjoy your time.”
After the servant left, I stepped inside and looked around.
It was an unexpectedly beautiful garden for something supposedly prepared in a hurry.
According to the servant, if I followed this path, I would reach an open space where Kaidan was waiting in a gazebo.
‘They said I’d find it easily… Ah, there it is!’
The white-painted gazebo—from floor to pillars to roof—stood out clearly even from afar.
But as I approached, I noticed familiar figures inside.
‘Isn’t that the King and Queen?’
The two of them were looking at Kaidan with affectionate, delighted expressions.
Kaidan looked slightly flustered, but he seemed much more at ease than before.
“……”
I stopped walking for a moment and watched them quietly.
Kaidan, who until recently believed he had been abandoned—an imperfection, a stain on the royal family.
Before I knew I had a family myself, I had never even thought of being abandoned, so I couldn’t imagine how he must have felt.
‘But… that’s why I wanted to find him more.’
Because I thought Kaidan had a family I didn’t.
Ah. Maybe I wanted to see this after all.
Maybe I thought if you became happy, I would be happy too.
Just then—
“Lady Vertier?”
A clear voice called me out of my thoughts.
“Your Majesty. Your Majesty the Queen.”
I immediately greeted them properly.
“We’ll be going now. Enjoy your time.”
“Hahaha!”
The royal couple left quickly for some reason.
I nudged Kaidan, who was oddly keeping his mouth shut.
“Hey, you really do look like a prince now. Nice.”
At that, Kaidan’s cheeks turned bright red. From beneath his lowered head came a small voice.
“…It still feels unfamiliar. Etiquette is difficult.”
“What’s so difficult about it?”
As I asked him more questions, I learned he had started learning a rather difficult dance recently.
“Wow, you’re already that far ahead?”
“I still don’t really get it. My steps keep getting tangled.”
“That dance is like that. I struggled a lot when I first learned it too.”
“If I keep this up… I’ll be lucky if I don’t embarrass myself.”
Kaidan looked dejected.
I looked around the gazebo. It was wide enough to practice turns easily.
“Then I’ll help you! Let’s practice here.”
Kaidan obediently nodded and offered his hand.
He had become quite skilled at escorting.
Soon, we began counting beats aloud and matching steps.
“Turn here!”
“Like this?”
“Yes, and now the tricky part—one, two, wha—?”
While practicing, Kaidan—who had actually been doing quite well—eventually got his feet tangled during a complicated sequence.
“Ah!”
In that moment, I stepped hard on his foot.
“Marguerite…!”
Kaidan quickly grabbed my waist as I was about to fall and pulled me into his arms.
“…Huh.”
“Are you okay?”
At that moment.
We were too close.
Kaidan lowered his head. His golden eyes scanned me thoroughly, and for some reason, my neck felt hot.
“Ah… I’m fine.”
The atmosphere turned awkward.
A tense silence filled the space.
‘T-this feels like we’re about to kiss!’
I shut my eyes tightly.
