Chapter 37

Every word Irene spoke had cut deep into the hearts of the women gathered in Atrichen. All those who came here had been loved and valued in their home country, but here they were all nobodies. Despite having suffered emotionally, they retained their pride. Yet, now even that had been utterly destroyed—to acknowledge that they’d failed to catch the crown prince’s interest even on a whim was painful. Those who’d gathered to watch the confrontation between the princes and Irene slunk away, weighed down by similar sentiments as the retreating Netine princess.

“Was I too much?” Irene asked, when only she and Marie remained.

“What was? They picked a fight first. It would’ve been too much only if you had intentionally pretended to be nice.”

“I only meant to speak truthfully,” Irene remarked playfully. “To be honest, my shoulder stung so much that a little temper flared up without me realizing it.”

“Well, people normally don’t tell the truth,” Marie responded in kind, as she swallowed a laugh. “And that smack was rather loud. I’m not sure that the princess’s shoulder is okay.”

“Anyway, let’s head back inside. I need a change of clothes. I’d much rather wear armor.”

“But this is so pretty!” Marie pouted.

Irene lightly tapped Marie’s pouty lips and began to walk back to her room. Compared to what she’d endured to extract an apology from the crown prince, this little tiff had ended briskly. Still, she was a little concerned about what may happen next. As she ascended the stairs, she hoped that nothing would occur to disrupt her wish for an undisturbed and quiet life.

Act 3. Ripples created by rainwater

After their first meal, Kael and Irene would go on to dine together two more times. Each time, Irene ate well without difficulties, whereas Kael suffered from indigestion after the meal. Despite having to feign normalcy through the meal and call on the imperial physician afterwards, he was unwilling to give up on his meals with Irene. Still, even this small bit of happiness proved to be short-lived, as he soon found himself drowning under the work waiting for him.

“Ugh.” As he finished reading a memorandum requiring his attention, Kael let out an annoyed sigh. There was simply too much to do—work continued with no end in sight no matter how many hours he put in, and he was beginning to feel agitated. Stamping the memo with the emperor’s seal, he roughly tossed the papers aside.

“Oh my! Things will fall off the table if you act so carelessly. And after all the care I put into neatly organizing everything too! Are you really going to waste my efforts like this?” Wellen lightly chided.

“Shut up.”

“Work always multiplies several times post-war—chin up!”

“This is all your fault.”

“Let me be the one to say it again—this wasn’t a war that I started.”

Fixing a ferocious glare on Wellen, Kael felt the need to blame his aide in order to quell the anger that swirled in his gut. ‘Because of him, a misunderstanding was caused for no reason! I should’ve prepared my heart first before I met her…’ Kael couldn’t help but wonder if things could’ve turned out better had their encounter not been under such unexpected and undesirable circumstances. Exhausted, Kael had little patience for Wellen’s nonsense, and his aide’s claims of being faultless were obviously incorrect since he continued to be haunted by Irene’s face throughout the day. In a growl, he said, “What’re you talking about?”

“Whatever you say, it’s not my fault,” Wellen repeated.

Since meetings between Irene and Kael were few and far between, whether intentionally or not, the hubbub in the imperial palace about the crown prince finally finding his mate naturally petered out. Kael was grateful that Irene was finally released from the intense scrutiny directed at her. However, this didn’t mean everything had been resolved, as the rumor had managed to escape the palace walls and was now spreading with vigor elsewhere. Furthermore, unlike those that believed the crown prince’s interest had cooled, Kael’s heart for Irene hadn’t subsided in the slightest.

“I’m going crazy,” Kael groaned.

“Pardon? I didn’t catch what Your Highness just said?”

Ignoring his aide, Kael didn’t offer an answer and instead inwardly muttered to himself, ‘I miss her. What’s happened to me?’ He felt miserable. It made him realize how serious his feelings must be, since he was rarely in such a state. He wondered if his suffering was retribution for all the marriage proposals he’d refused up until now. Had he known that he’d feel so restless, he would’ve considered dating once or twice for practice.