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n“We will talk about the details later when we are alone. The crown prince I saw at the time is so different now.”

n“Pardon?”

n“I thought he was cold-hearted all along, but the way he acted today, he is not. I think I have to wait and see a little more to size him up accurately.”

nWhen I was puzzled, I saw an attendant bowing to him, holding a box and an elaborately crafted gift box. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the attendant. Obviously, the box contained the dress that he mentioned.

n“Give the gift box to Princess Moira and put the other box here.”

n“Yes, Your Majesty.”

nAs the attendant opened the box in front of her, everybody exclaimed with admiration.

nThe pink dress in pastel tones. The dress, which featured a white flower shape, was decorated with a white lace, creating the image of a dreaming girl. With a bright smile overspreading on her face, Princess Moira bowed to him. She was feeling thrilling and elated with happiness.

n“Thank you so much for this precious thing, Your Majesty. ”

n“If you don’t mind, can you change your dress and show it to me now?”

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n“Of course. I will be back right away after changing my dress. ”

nStanding from her seat, she smiled at me and quickly walked out of the banquet hall, escorted by the attendant. As if upset, Princess Naima and Princess Beary were staring at the place where she disappeared, while Princess Beatrice just sat still without saying anything.

nWhile the princesses remained silent with mixed feelings, I met his blue eyes accidentally, who was staring at me.

n“I’m sorry, Lady Monique.”

n“I’m okay, Your Majesty.”

n“So, I’m going to give you this first. It was originally made to match that dress, but as you know, it didn’t work that way. Let me give you another dress that matches it next time.”

n‘What the heck is this?’

nIs he trying to save my face because I’m his fiancee? When I looked at him curiously, he pushed another box to me. The moment I opened the door after hesitating for a moment, my eyes popped open with surprise.

nPrincess Frincia, sitting next to me, exclaimed, “Oh my gosh!”

nThe elaborately crafted jewelry box contained a necklace and earrings. The necklace was made of elegant gold strings studded with pastel-tone pink stones, and the earrings were gold-plated on the same pink gemstone, sparkling with a small diamond in the middle. It wasn’t gorgeous, but it was very luxurious yet sophisticated in design.

nWhen I looked up at him in amazement, I saw him gazing calmly at me.

n“Do you like it?”

n“… Yes. Thank you, Majesty. ”

n“Good.” He nodded silently.

nI looked into the box, amid the princesses’ excitement and envy. Even if he gave the gift to me to save my face, I was deeply touched because I received it from him for the first time. Some complex feelings mixed with uncomfortableness and incomprehensible emotions disturbed me.

nAs I looked at the necklace, Princess Moira who left to change her dress came back.

nI thought she would come back with a smile, but surprisingly, she didn’t look good.

nIs she sick? She was alright until a little while ago.

n“As you gladly accepted my gift without complaining, can I ask you to dance with me?”

n“Ah… Yes, it is my honor, Your Majesty. ”

nAfter a moment’s hesitation, Princess Moira accepted his request. While looking at them walking away to the dance floor, I looked to the side when Princess Frincia touched my hand softly and patted it several times.

n“How fortunate you are!”

n“Pardon? What are you talking about? ”

n“Well, it means you’re still young.”

nWhat the heck is she talking about now? When I looked puzzled, she said, shaking her head slightly, “Oh, I’m sorry if you feel offended. I meant well.”

n“No, not at all. By the way, why are you…”

n“Nothing. By the way, may I leave? As I’ve been sitting here too long, I’m itching to move around,” she said, standing up from her seat. I also stood up as I felt I could leave, too.

nI wanted to socialize with the noble women here, so I was moving to the place where people gathered when I suddenly heard a scream and mumbling from the dance floor. Princess Moira, who passed out, turning white in his arms.

n“Call the royal guard!”

nHe shouted, looking down at the princess casually. A royal guard who came quickly took the princess from him.

n“Call a royal doctor and move her to a different place,” he ordered an attendant.

n“Yes, Your Majesty.”

n“I hope you can stay on and enjoy the banquet.”

nThe attendant got out of the banquet hall in a hurry. As lots of guests gathered around him, the crown prince turned around and left. The knight holding the princess followed him. I and other princesses also walked behind.

nThe royal guard laid the princess in a guest room and politely went out. I was a little worried when I saw her whose face turned white.

n‘What if she got sick?’

nShortly afterwards, a royal doctor hastily came in and began to untie the string of her dress after checking her pale face. It was so tightly tied around the dress that the doctor struggled to untie it. I quickly went out and got a dagger from the guard to cut it. Then, the tight knot was cut at once.

n“Cut off the corset string, too,” the doctor said.

nWhen I cut them off, the princess took a deep breath with a more relaxed expression.

nWhy did she tighten the strings so tightly? Did she tighten her waist with the string to look more slim?

n‘Wait a minute. Did she really do it?’

n“What happened?” I asked the doctor.

n“Well, she had a temporary shortness of breath because she tightened her corset too much.

nAs the string was removed, she will come to her senses in no time,” said the doctor, placing the incense bag on her nose. The other princesses giggled at that. Just a little while ago, Princess Naima and Princess Beary, who stared at her with a jealous look, were gazing at the fallen princess with disdain.

nAt that moment, she came to her senses. She looked around for a moment blankly.

nShe screamed, grabbing her loose dress while trying to get up. Pulling the dress to cover her breasts, she stammered, “What happened…”

n“On, you now come to your senses. You suddenly passed out while dancing,” the crown prince said.

n“Ah!”

nHer face suddenly turned red. She looked at Princess Beatrice and Princess Frincia as well as the two other princesses smiling derisively before turning her eyes to me for some time.

nThere was intense anger in her green eyes.

n“It seems like you are tired, so I hope you take a rest today.”

n“Ah… Yes, thank you, Your Majesty. ”

n“So, let’s all go out for her to take a rest. You seem to have been away from the banquet hall for too long. ”

nGiggling at her, Princess Naima and Princess Beary went out, followed by Princess Frincia, who looked back hesitantly.

nGrabbing his hand, I went back to the banquet hall, but I was bothered by Princess Moira’s venomous look that I noticed right before closing the door. Her overtightened waist, his sudden offer to give her a dress and Princess Frincia’s ambiguous remarks to me. When I put together the puzzle words, I felt more and more convinced about my guesswork.

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n“Are you feeling better now?”

n“Pardon?” As I now understood the whole situation, I felt kind of woozy. Was it true?

nThe reason he gave her the dress was to keep her at bay, not to show her his good feelings? I looked blankly at him in embarrassment and asked, “Why did you do that to her?”

n“Well, let me say it’s for multiple purposes for now.”

n“… Oh, your behavior doesn’t suit you, Your Majesty. I wonder why you mixed your personal feelings with this grave national event.”

nAlthough I was grateful that he cared for me, I thought he went too far, so I spoke out firmly.

nNo matter how different he was from the old him, I just wondered if he was the same man I used to know. Of course, he might have wanted to hold the anti-emperor noble factions in check by disgracing Princess Moira, but I couldn’t understand why he, who always handled matters rationally and cool-heartedly, took it personally this time and botched the job this time.

n“It looks like you really want me to take one of the princesses as my bride, even if she is from the noble factions…”

n“… Your Majesty.”

n“Okay. Let me take it into account.”

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