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Chapter 24
If that had been possible, they should have loved Orte long ago. But the Orte back then refused to accept it and turned away from the truth.
So after Yvonne appeared, she tried even harder—but nothing changed. Things only got worse.
Orte pulled back the curtain and looked at Ellen, who was greeting guests at the entrance of the greenhouse.
He looked exactly the same as she remembered from his coming-of-age ceremony. Even his clothes were the same.
“Do you think I would like a gift from a worm like you?”
Back then, Ellen had crushed the gift Orte had carefully prepared.
Then what kind of gift would Ellen like?
“…Should I jump?”
Orte’s room was on the fourth floor.
It wasn’t that high, but if she fell headfirst on purpose, it would be enough to kill her.
As far as Orte could think, the only gift she could give Ellen that would make him happy… was her death.
She lightly tapped on the window frame, then turned away.
Death itself was no longer something she feared. But pain—no matter how used to it she was—still hurt.
Just then, there was a commotion outside the door.
By the time Orte noticed and turned her head, the door had already been thrown open.
“Orte.”
It was Cliff.
Orte frowned slightly without realizing it.
Cliff calling her was one thing—but coming to find her like this was extremely rare in all her lives.
She quickly realized he was angry. He walked straight toward her and grabbed her wrist.
His grip had no care at all. Pain shot through her arm.
“You… what is your relationship with the Crown Prince?”
“What?”
At the sudden mention of someone unexpected, Orte blinked.
“What are you talking about?”
“I asked what your relationship is with the Crown Prince.”
Orte tried to understand the situation, but without any explanation, she didn’t know how to respond.
After thinking briefly, she answered honestly.
“I’ve never even met him.”
Across all her lives, she had barely seen the Crown Prince a few times.
He had never shown interest in her, and she had never been interested in him either.
“Don’t lie. Then why would His Highness—!”
Cliff raised his voice, then bit his lip tightly.
“Young Master!”
One of his subordinates rushed in behind him.
Standing behind Cliff, he spoke quickly,
“There’s no time for this. I’ll explain to the Miss. You must go down now.”
Cliff stared at Orte, then roughly let go of her wrist.
Orte staggered slightly as she watched him leave, then turned to the subordinate.
“…What exactly is going on?”
“The Crown Prince asked about your whereabouts and requested that you attend the ceremony.”
Orte was confused.
“…The Crown Prince?”
“Yes.”
The subordinate spoke urgently.
“You must start preparing right now. There’s no time to waste.”
Without waiting for her response, he called Sef and started giving orders.
As Orte was led by the maids toward the bath, she realized—
She never had a choice in the first place.
After bathing, changing clothes, and getting dressed, everything was finished within just an hour.
Standing in front of a large mirror for the final check, Orte’s mind was elsewhere.
Suddenly, she turned her head toward a maid who had just passed by her.
But the maid had already lowered her head and left the room.
For some reason, she felt a strange sense of familiarity and followed her with her eyes.
“Miss, you must go.”
At the subordinate’s urging, Orte began to walk.
As she entered the greenhouse, dozens of nobles turned to look at her.
Their gazes openly examined her from head to toe.
But Orte was already used to that.
“Orte.”
At the Duke of Weekend’s call from the platform, Orte walked closer.
But she stopped before climbing the stairs.
It was a place she had once longed to stand on.
The people she loved were standing there.
Orte lifted her foot and stepped onto the platform.
Even though she was now achieving what she couldn’t in her previous life, her feelings were no longer the same.
Ellen had to hold himself back from frowning as he watched Orte step onto the platform.
Until the morning, his mood had been somewhat decent. But the moment he saw the Crown Prince, he realized—
The Crown Prince was angry with him.
He must have been upset because Ellen hadn’t contacted him for days and hadn’t met him at all.
“Now that I think about it, don’t you have a sibling? Why aren’t they here?”
The Crown Prince had deliberately made him uncomfortable.
Even so, Ellen didn’t care much at first. He thought it would just end there.
But unlike his expectations, Orte’s presence beside him felt very noticeable.
The Duke of Weekend began greeting the guests and officially started the ceremony.
But Ellen couldn’t hear anything.
Even when the Duke looked at him, and he smiled back, his attention was only on Orte.
Feeling uneasy, Ellen instinctively brought his hand to his chest.
He always carried a small brooch in his inner pocket. Touching it usually calmed him.
“….”
Ellen hurriedly searched his pocket.
He only felt smooth fabric—nothing else.
His face turned pale instantly.
The brooch was gone.
Orte watched the ceremony without expression.
She kept her gaze slightly lowered, avoiding eye contact with anyone. When the Duke finished speaking, she lifted her head.
“Congratulations on becoming an adult, Ellen.”
“…Thank you, Father.”
Ellen responded half a beat late.
Hearing the slight tremble in his voice, Orte instinctively looked at him. Seeing his pale face, she sensed something was wrong.
But she wasn’t interested.
She just wanted to return to her room before the banquet started.
As she tried to move, someone stepped in front of them.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
At the Duke’s words, Orte quickly lowered her head.
She could only see the Crown Prince’s shoes.
“Congratulations on becoming an adult, Ellen.”
“Thank you for coming personally.”
“Of course. It’s the birthday of my only close friend.”
The Crown Prince exchanged a few words with the Duke.
“Then please enjoy.”
“Thank you.”
As the conversation seemed to be ending, Orte slightly raised her head.
“Ah, could it be Miss Orte?”
She felt everyone’s attention turn toward her.
She couldn’t ignore the Crown Prince, so she raised her head properly while keeping her eyes lowered.
“Greetings, Your Highness. I am Orte Weekend.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Probably a lot of insults, she thought.
The Crown Prince held out his hand. This wasn’t a situation that required such strict etiquette, so Orte hesitated.
“Miss?”
At his prompting, Orte placed her hand in his.
He lightly kissed the back of her hand.
“You’re not forcing yourself to come because of me, are you? Now that I think about it, I’ve never properly seen you before, so I only mentioned it casually. I didn’t expect you to actually come.”
“I’m fine—”
“Orte is not feeling well.”
Cliff interrupted before she could finish.
Orte turned to him instinctively.
“Ah, is that so? Then I made a mistake.”
“It would be best for Orte to return now.”
“Then do that.”
The Crown Prince didn’t stop her, knowing he had already made Ellen uncomfortable enough.
Orte didn’t want to follow Cliff’s intentions so obediently, but she also didn’t want to stay here any longer.
As she tried to bow, Cliff grabbed her first and pulled her away.
As she passed by the Crown Prince, Orte’s eyes met Casey, who stood behind him like a shadow.
Orte frowned slightly and quickly looked away.
But Casey turned his head, following her retreating figure.
