Chapter 21

“What are you ladies talking about?”

She had beautiful golden hair and deep blue eyes that looked like they were falling in love. 

Claudia, Princess of the Empire, stepped into the conversation between the three of them.

“I greet the Imperial Princess.”

Both Berlia and the other woman bowed to the princess. 

Claudia kept talking in a clear voice.

“I’m sorry if I got in your way of talking. But it seemed like you couldn’t stop looking at the Duchess’s hairpin.”

She said things that were about Berlia’s hairpin. 

Princess Claudia might even be trying to say something bad about Berlia’s hairpin. 

Berlia gave Claudia a tense look as she looked at her.

“May I ask where you bought it?”

“My mother gave it to me… as a gift.”

Berlia gave an honest answer to Claudia’s question.

‘Are you gonna make fun of Baroness’s Kinderton’s eyes? Are you saying that her eyes are not good as a professional jeweler?’

She waited nervously for the princess to speak. Claudia said something.

“Baroness Kinderton has good taste. Even though the jewelry is small, it has a classy look. I think I’ll try this hairpin made of sapphire next time.”

Berlia’s eyes got big when Claudia said something out of the blue. 

Princess Claudia was the leader of fashion in the social world. 

When Claudia wore jewelry or a dress to a banquet, many noble women wore the same things to the next banquet.

“Isn’t that right, Countess Andrei, Marques Blande?”

When Claudia saw them, she looked at them both and asked.

When the princess asked them what they thought, their faces got very red. 

They were in a situation where they had less than 5 minutes to change the words they said on some trinkets that used to be sarcastic to say they were classy.

But they couldn’t help but answer the princess’s question, and they couldn’t say anything that was different from what she said, which was that she was a fashion leader.

“Oh, it’s very pretty.”

“I mean, right.”

Both of them spoke in a shaky way.

“Yeah, now that I think about it, I do want to meet someone, so I guess I’ll have to go back and check that person out.”

“I think my husband is here.”

It was sad that the situation kept going on. 

Marques Blande and the Countess Andrei quickly got up from their seats, leaving Claudia and Berlia to say their goodbyes.

Claudia kept looking at their backs, then moved her eyes to a corner of the banquet hall. 

She looked at Cain as he talked to the prince. 

Cain and Claudia’s eyes met.

‘Is this how it goes, Cain?’

She smiled at Cain in a deep way.

After they left, Berlia said thank you to Claudia.

“Thank you so much, Princess.”

“You have nothing to be grateful about. How can a mere Countess and marques treat a Duchess like that? I feel bad. The Empire’s hierarchy is falling apart. It’s not you, it’s them.”

Berlia was looking at Claudia and asking.

“Are you waiting for Cain?”

“Ah yes, he said that he’s having a conversation with the Crown Prince.”

When Claudia heard what Berlia said, she pointed to where the prince and Cain were.

“You can see them over there. Gosh, Harkarton is not being a gentleman. How can he steal your partner from you even if he’s dying to talk to him? Is it because he’s not grown yet?”

Claudia smiled. 

Berlia thought it was very pretty. 

It was brave and lovely. 

She thought Claudia was a person who was always outgoing and never seemed to have problems.

‘Unlike me, I feel like she has no problems.’

A red-haired princess who was born between the emperor and empress and is the crown prince’s real older sister. 

She is the most powerful person in the empire. 

She was perfect. 

There were no breaks in her family tree or in her ties to the imperial family and the nobility. 

Also, the way she looked was perfect.

‘If I could be like the princess, that would be great.’

She was a woman who was very different from Berlia. 

She was a baroness who ruled on the edge of town. 

Berlia seemed to move away from Claudia a little bit. 

She thought she was too short for the Princess.

“Ah, I think they’re done.”

Berlia turned her head toward Cain when Claudia said something. 

In fact, it was. 

Cain was going in her direction. 

The prince didn’t say if he went somewhere else after the talk was over. 

Claudia talked to them while Cain stood in front of the Princess.

“Can, why does that guy Harkarton like you so much? I think the Crown Prince won’t get married because of that.”

“Claudia, that’s the same as you. You can’t date or marry.”

“It’s not that I can’t do it; I just don’t want to. You can’t tell the difference, can you?”

They were able to talk with ease. Even though Claudia was a princess, Cain didn’t act strange around her. 

At first, it seemed like the two were close.

‘How did they meet each other?’

Berlia wondered. 

Children from wealthy families were bound to meet each other, but it didn’t look like that’s how they did it. 

The two of them were asked by Berlia.

“How did the two of you meet each other? I believe I heard somewhere that Cain and the Princess are the same age.”

“Cain and I go to the Academy together. You could say they were competitors who wanted to come in first and second.”

Claudia said, folding her arms naturally in the arms of Cain. 

Cain took a moment to look at Berlia and then pushed Claudia away.

“Claudia, I hope you fall.”

“Oh, pushing a lady away. You’re not really a gentleman are you? Or are you being shy?”

Berlia felt like she was getting in the way when she stood between the two people who seemed close and were calling each other’s names.

‘If I’m a Princess, then I don’t have to be married to my current husband right now.”

Berlia wanted to be as good as Claudia. 

Has she ever been in trouble like Berlia has? 

If Berlia had been born like her, with everything in her hands, she would have had no reason not to go up to Cain. 

She might have met Cain in a place like an academy, where they both went to school.

‘Cain and I would’ve become a family in a different way.’

Her eyes gradually darkened. He situation was awful.

“Ha, it’s not that I don’t want to get married; I just don’t think I can.”

“Marry me then. My father would like it and of course, Harkarton would love it.”

Then Claudia laughed about it and made a joke about it. 

As soon as she heard what she said, Berlia’s face became more serious.

The joke was easy to get. 

But it was hard for Berlia to control how she looked.

‘Cain getting married.’

Anyone could see that the two went together and say that they were a pair. 

The other girls didn’t dare go up to them right now, not unlike when Cain and Berlia were together.

Claudia was also a blonde. 

With blonde hair that was more beautiful than that of any Princess…

‘No way…’

When Berlia’s mind got to that point, she could no longer sit there. 

It seemed like a big problem. 

She stumbled and talked quickly.

“Uhm… I’ll go out for a break. You two, please talk.”

“Wait, Berlia…”

Cain tried to stop her, but before he was done talking, Berlia left.

“Oh, she left.”

Berlia’s back was what Claudia saw when she opened her eyes.

“Claudia, I should have told you not to say anything weird.”

Cain’s voice was loud and angry. 

But Claudia just smiled and didn’t care.

“I’m joking. It’s a joke! Your face keeps changing, so I want to make fun of you. The Duchess looked very cute with her reactions.”

As she talked, Cain turned his cold eyes to Claudia.

“Ugh, I’m scared. Did you already forget that I helped the Duchess before? I didn’t even get a proper thank you.”

Claudia made an exaggerated move and put her arms around herself. 

Cain didn’t answer her, so he went after Berlia and then disappeared.

“The woman Cain fell in love with is the wife of his brother, even though he doesn’t like women. Also, God of Destiny is very cruel. After all, this could be the punishment that made all the women who liked Cain cry.”

Claudia gave a shrug as she looked at him.

—

Berlia stopped walking in a small room that wasn’t too close to the banquet hall. 

Most people drink a lot when there is a banquet, so a place to rest was set up near the banquet hall. 

It looked the same here, too.

‘He was nice to me because I was his brother’s wife.’

Berlia collapsed on the couch. 

When she was alone in a quiet place, the events of the day ran through her mind on their own.

‘You must’ve thought that I’m a desperate woman because I don’t have your brother’s love.’

Berlia groaned.

‘Compassion was what those eyes were made of,’ she said.

She thought it was funny that she thought and hoped for a while that Cain might like her. She laughed out loud.

‘He likes someone else.’

The door opened all of a sudden. 

Berlia was startled when someone opened the door and walked in. 

The person in front of her had dark green hair. 

Cain did it.

“Cai… Cain!”

Cain quickly bowed and then kissed Berlia. Berlia looked embarrassed by the unexpected turn of events. 

She couldn’t figure out what was going on.

“Huh…”

His tongue got in the way without asking. 

He was drinking wine, and the smell of it came in. 

She seemed to be crazy about alcohol as well. 

Cain’s hand naturally dug into Berlia’s dress, revealing her shoulders, and wrapped her arms around his chest. 

Then, he pulled the dress down while tickling her raised nipples. 

Berlia’s white chest was fully revealed.

“Ugh… Ah~”

The Duchess’s appearance, which had only been seen modestly in the banquet hall, with her breasts out and her nips up, was shocking beyond this visit. 

Their mouths split open.