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Chapter : 9
Bright sunlight seeped through the gaps in the roughly drawn curtains.
Had I gone to bed too late last night? The time I finally squinted my eyes open and dragged myself out of bed was already midday.
“Damn it, Rieeeen!!!!”
I hadn’t even been washed and changed for long when the door burst open with a bang, as if it might break.
“…Sierra?”
“Hey, go down to the reception room right now. Ha—no, seriously, has that man lost his mind…?!”
Before I could even grasp what was going on, I was shoved by Sierra down to the first floor of the mansion, where I froze in place, blinking.
“…?”
“Oh, you’re here.”
Sitting in the reception room was the prince, looking not just calm but downright shameless.
“…??”
“It’s a date. Let’s go.”
“…?????????”
“What on earth is this…?”
“We need to show that we’re lovers. If we suddenly appear and announce an engagement, do you think those filthy vipers would believe it?”
“No, I mean—haah….”
In the end, I was practically dragged out of the mansion by force and ended up sitting alone with the prince in a carriage.
“So where are we going, then?”
“A salon.”
“…Haah???”
My face plainly showed how badly I wanted to dig my fingers into my ears as I asked again.
“In any case, the imperial palace has received the proposal letter, and even the emperor stamped it—perhaps due to a silent threat from the Spirit Tower. The rumors must already be spreading. Wouldn’t it be better for you as well to make a public announcement as soon as possible?”
His words were strangely convincing, and I found myself nodding slowly.
“So what does that have to do with a salon?”
“…One week from now. Adriel’s birthday banquet will be held. We’ll announce it there. Are you planning to attend the banquet dressed like that?”
“No, I can just wear something simple—”
The carriage came to a stop.
As if the timing were perfect, the prince smiled unpleasantly.
“Come now, get down, my beloved.”
I wanted to shake off the arm he naturally wrapped around my shoulders right away, but we were already inside the salon.
The acting had begun.
“Welcome. Do you have a reservation…?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve already made one, so please call the madam. It’s under the name Kyle.”
“…Sister?”
“…?”
At the familiar voice I heard through the prince’s conversation with the salon staff, I turned my head.
At the inner hallway of the salon stood a woman I knew well, her face flushed bright red as she stared at us.
“Lilia…?”
When I called her name, her already-red face seemed to burst into flames.
“Sister, that colt of a prince has muscles for brains—he doesn’t have a shred of aesthetic sense when it comes to clothes. So please send His Highness back to the palace and let’s pick things out just the two of us, okay?”
“Rien, that unruly young lady has nothing but magic formulas in her head. She’s an idiot. Weren’t today’s plans originally for the two of us? Ignore her.”
“What did you say? You’re always wearing nothing but rough, tasteless clothes—how are you even here with my sister? I really don’t get it.”
“And do you think this is your home? Kyle told me that every time he comes here to have his uniform tailored, he runs into you. Do you think my fiancée would like such a dissolute sight of you?”
“Don’t make up ridiculous lies. And besides, my sister absolutely—wait, what did you just say?”
Lilia’s eyes twitched and danced wildly.
I blinked.
The prince wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his embrace.
I knew we were supposed to act like lovers who’d fallen passionately in love at first sight, but just how much skin contact did this man need to be satisfied?
“Allow me to reintroduce her, Lady Sutrien. This is Rien, a spirit contractor I fell in love with at first sight at the founding banquet—and now my proud fiancée.”
“Aaaaaaah!!!!!! No, Sisterrrrr!!!!!!!”
The moment the prince finished speaking, Lilia’s scream—half shriek, half wail—filled the salon, threatening to tear eardrums apart.
The madam rushed over and bowed deeply to us, but sensing the dangerous atmosphere, she hurriedly excused herself to fetch dresses and matching uniforms, almost fleeing.
“I should’ve known something was wrong the moment I heard the rumor that you went crazy and disappeared chasing women during the banquet. Have you lost your mind, Your Highness? How dare someone of your level take my sister?”
“Be quiet.”
After continuing to pick fights with the prince, Lilia approached me with a pitiful expression.
Then she started shaking me lightly, jingling.
“Sister, sister, that man is really not okay, all right? Please come to me instead—ugh! Mmph!!”
The prince roughly covered Lilia’s mouth, as if telling her to cut it out.
Their way of speaking, their unreserved familiarity—it felt like they knew each other quite well despite all the bickering.
“…You two seem pretty close.”
“What?”
“Excuse me?”
Both of them glared at me with remarkably similar, hostile expressions.
“Absolutely not. I have nothing to do with a riffraff noblewoman like her.”
“Sister, absolutely not. Really, no. Just the thought of being close to that prince makes me sick. Please believe me. I only know him because he’s a cousin. I hate being entangled with someone like him.”
So they really did hate each other.
“Since you said you don’t have any particular preferences, I’ve brought all our finest dresses and uniforms. Please take a look.”
As the madam returned, hundreds of garments—enough to fill the entire room—were carried in behind her in a long procession.
There were far more clothes than when I’d come with Sierra, and I immediately felt overwhelmed.
“Sister, look at that one! It’s a new design—they say it just came out. It’s really pretty… We already bought some earlier, but should we get one more?”
I looked at the prince.
He, too, seemed flustered, as if he hadn’t expected this many outfits.
“…That’s why I said we could just wear something simple earlier—”
Ignoring my suggestion entirely, the prince said something shocking.
“Buy every set—one uniform and one dress each—matched by color and ornament. Charge the cost to the imperial palace.”
“…! Y-Yes, we’ll prepare everything right away! Thank you very much!!”
The madam bowed deeply, grinning from ear to ear.
Lilia shot the prince a look that said she hated him, but at least approved of this decision. As for me, I gave up trying to understand what was going on in either of their heads.
“Oh my, Lady Sutrien?”
At that moment—
“To meet you here—what a coincidence. Oh, and even His Highness the prince…!”
A falsely sweet voice I could never forget reached my ears.
“Ah, um…”
Lilia, standing beside me, seemed to mutter something that sounded like a curse, but I dismissed it as mishearing and turned my head—then froze.
Blue hair, the exact same shade as my original hair.
A smiling face.
Ah. One of the targets of my long-cherished vengeance, five years in the making, was standing right before my eyes.
Before I could say anything, Lilia snapped open her fan and stood up.
“…Yes, what a coincidence, my lady.”
“You’re seated here with His Highness the prince… and someone I don’t recognize.”
Without changing her expression, Arienne subtly swept her gaze over me from head to toe.
Hasn’t she recognized me yet?
Soon losing interest in me, Arienne smiled sweetly and suddenly grabbed the prince’s hand.
“Your Highness, when I heard that the Third Prince had returned, I was so relieved. Truly. What a blessing. His Highness the Crown Prince and I were both terribly worried.”
I stared coldly at the woman whose cheeks flushed as if she truly meant it. To a stranger, it might have looked completely sincere—but I knew better.
I was the one who had suffered most from that woman’s gentle façade.
“If you don’t mind me asking… where was His Highness the Third Prince found…?”
So this was the real point.
While the prince had been away from the palace, it was almost certain that the crown prince had abducted Adriel and sold him to a slave market. Adriel had said he’d seen the crown prince’s crest, and since Adriel was practically the prince’s greatest weakness, the crown prince was the only one with both motive and means.
The one who stood to gain the most from Adriel’s abduction was the crown prince, who wanted to see the prince weakened. That cunning, meticulous man likely showed his crest on purpose—a warning to the prince not to get out of line, since Adriel could be touched at any time.
And Arienne was the crown prince’s fiancée, the daughter of the Icienne family and a core member of the crown prince’s faction. I knew that position well—it was where I used to stand. Either she was being thoroughly used by him, or they were colluding together in the same boat.
I, the former fiancée, had been blinded by love and used. But judging by the probing look in her eyes as she tried to extract information from the prince, it seemed far more likely that Arienne was the latter.
Slap.
“…!”
With a face full of displeasure, the prince shook off Arienne’s hand. Perhaps he’d used more strength than intended—she stumbled back several steps.
“If you know it’s rude, then it would be better not to ask, my lady.”
From behind us, I heard Lilia stifle a laugh.
Arienne’s face twitched in irritation for a brief instant, then in less than a second, she put on a gloomy expression, as if donning a mask.
“…I’m sorry if I offended you…. It’s just that I once suffered a terrible accident in my childhood as well, so I couldn’t help but empathize with His Highness the Third Prince….”
A wave of nausea rose in my throat.
