Chapter 89

His awkward posture and his tightly embracing arms kept beckoning to an endless forest of illusion… the illusion of being loved by a man as a woman.

‘No… he has Rosanne so why is he doing this to me?’

If this happened over and over again, she thought it would cross the line. Before crossing the irreversible river, Bella pushed his shoulder away while she was on his lap. No matter how casual they were, they had to keep what needed to be kept.

It seemed the person who came here without clothes a few days ago never looked back at her actions…

“Are you getting spoiled or what? Why do you always want me to hug you when you’re already grown up?”

Hearing those words, Kiehl looked at Bella in bewilderment.

“Bella hugged me first.”

“Ah… right.”

Only then did Bella remember why she had come here.

‘Have I been this perverted?’

She almost let her imagination run wild just by hugging him like this.

“And now, Bella knows that you did something wrong, right?”

“What do you mean something wrong?!”

“I have received reports of suspected treason.”

Bella burrowed into Kiehl’s arms.

“It’s unfortunate, Your Highness.”

Bella calmly told what had happened—what Serena was being cheeky about, there were somehow rumors about Jenkins, and how bad Jenkins was.

“Jen speaks with poison in his eyes. I thought he was good at holding back from wanting to skin her.”

Kiehl remembered the name ‘Serina Deutsch.’

‘…It’s highly likely that she was the one who stole Bella’s clothes.’

In the first place, he didn’t even care because it was just a family living on the outskirts of the Merken duchy. However, if she wanted attention this much, she could have done it in a slightly different way.

‘I hope she doesn’t fall out on your own… She must be punished for daring to touch Bella.’

While he thought about that, Bella now explained what happened next.

“I really didn’t say anything. But after that, people keep coming together one by one.”

She spoke every single line she had, “One of them said that she wanted to leave the house, so I just told her to think carefully about how difficult it would be to leave the house.”

“….”

“Even though this is what everyone would say, strangely, they follow me all the time…”

Indeed, Bella’s advice would have been helpful.

Her attitude made her an object of envy for distraught girls because she was always confident and fearless. Since she was the Demon King, it was natural for her to be. Nonetheless, the more he listened, the more Kiehl thought that there were parts that he couldn’t understand.

“So Bella is giving them dating advice…?”

“I just said a few words, which helped me.”

“…Ha!”

Kiehl laughed mischievously.

“Don’t blame these ladies too much.”

He wanted to blame Bella the most.

Wouldn’t she like to try her own love counseling?

“Well, I’m not supposed to say this in front of you… Does every lady in the empire have to like you?”

“….”

“What’s the matter with just being the Crown Prince…”

At those words, Kiehl pinched her cheek.

“Cheeky.”

Bella readily gave her cheek as if to admit that her words were cheeky.

“I have no intention of punishing anyone unless it is treason.”

“What a relief.”

“There are a lot of arranged marriages between families anyway, so as long as each of them doesn’t cross the line, they tend to tolerate lover or romance.”

She knew. Shuria had said the same thing.

— “They would demand the love they deserve.”

Bella looked down at Kiehl slightly.

‘…Yes, I’m satisfied here.’

She was satisfied with this position where she could hug the Crown Prince like this.

“Still, I can’t allow gatherings where people can show they hate me.”

“It’s not that I hate you, it’s that I don’t like you.”

“A group of ladies who came to the contest but didn’t want to become the Crown Princess. Because that’s the name.”

“Does it even have a name? It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

Bella really heard it for the first time.

“So, I can’t allow it.”

“But, I don’t think that group will go away just because you don’t allow it…”

Kiehl held Bella’s jawline with the hand that had been pinching her cheek and raised a corner of his lips.

“There are ways.”

* * *

The door to the Crown Prince contest has opened.

For the next three weeks, they would learn court etiquette under the name of a virtue that all ladies should have as a crown princess. In addition, the room she used to use alone was to be shared by another young lady. Seeing the unknown lady’s luggage under the bed, Bella finally felt the start of the contest.

‘…This is really the beginning.’

When Rosanne and Kiehl met again..

‘Don’t be greedy. Let’s live as we have.’

She made up her mind and went through all preparations for that evening.

The first evening of the contest leads to a pretty big banquet. Since it was a large social event, all families who could come, including many ladies who have been nominated for Crown Princess, attended.

“Miss! Can’t you pick out a dress for your pet bear?”

Pur stared in front of the closet with dry eyes.

In the demon realm, Pur was much bigger than Bella, so she tried to change her clothes. It seemed that Pur didn’t like the role of a pet bear these days, probably because there were many things she couldn’t do as her body got smaller.

In fact, a pet bear didn’t do anything in the first place.

“I’ll help you get changed!”

Every time, Iwer, who is aiming for Bella’s body like a pervert, openly drools at her.

“I tell you several times that I will do the dressing myself. Then choose a dress, Pur.”

Looking at it for a while, Pur then grabbed the hanger of a black dress.

“This one!”

“Isn’t it too dark?”

In fact, when Pur chose a dress, she ‘pretended’ to think but didn’t actually use her head.

“Then… this!”

This time it’s a red dress. It’s pretty, but it’s too flashy.

For Bella, in a way, it was like her first step into the social world, so she wanted to be a little more careful about her appearance.

“I’ll take this.”

Bella chose a white dress with a fading mauve under the dress.

“I was going to pick that one, too!”

“As expected, Pur has an eye for seeing.”

Ever since Bella possessed the novel, what she did best was to compliment soullessly. The next moment, Iwer suddenly raised her hand.

“Miss, isn’t it too plain? The color is pretty, but I think a more flashy design would be nice in a social world!”

That was why she chose it because it was mundane.

“Wouldn’t it be special since no one would wear a light-colored dress like this?”

She had to give something special from the animal kingdom, but she didn’t want to stand out in a flashy way.

‘Please, I hope it goes well as the novel does. I’m a bit lost.’

However, Jenkins, who was watching from the sidelines, had the same thoughts as Iwer.

“I have the same opinion. You might even get a laugh out of it. What happens if they misunderstand that you were treated badly after entering the Cruelle family as the adopted daughter?”

Soon, he pointed to the red dress Pur had chosen the second time.

“I think this will suit the Miss and stand out…”

“You wear it, then.”

Jenkins glared at Bella as he gave this advice with her in mind.

“Then, are you sure you’re going to wear this?”

“Yes.”

“Are you not going to change it?”

Even though she was a bit uneasy about Iwer’s constant asking, this looked like the best choice anyway.

“Yes. I won’t change it. I have decided.”

“Then, I’ll keep an eye on what dresses your rivals wear!”

“What kind of rivals do I have…”

Hearing that, Jenkins brought up a name.

“Marianne Merken.”

Who was that…?

Hearing the unfamiliar name, Bella glanced at Jenkins with a ‘so what’ look in her eyes.

“The person Lady Shuria talked about.”

Only then did she raise her eyebrows slightly and let out a short ‘Ah.’

…Duchy Merken.

In the novel, they were only mentioned once or twice, and they had no weight at all. However, what Shuria said was a little different.

— “If they ever say bad things to Miss Bella, don’t think about what will happen next and set an example.”

She said they were close to being bitter with Duchy Cruelle.

— “Even if you kill them, I will take care of it.”

Bella guessed why Marianne didn’t appear in the novel. Could it be that Shuria had already overpowered Marianne first?

‘That’s true. It doesn’t make sense for the daughter of a County to be loved by Kiehl, and only Shuria becomes the villainess.’

She pondered as she grinned.

‘It’s funny when I think about it.’

Because all the Duchies thought it was to their advantage and moved. Of course, since everyone didn’t know the ending of this novel, they’d be serious about fighting. At the banquet today, everyone would know who they really need to be careful of.

Roseanne Psilia…

In the novel, it was at this banquet that Kiehl asked Roseanne, whom he had seen in a long time, to dance for the first time and the last.

‘And very hellish jealousy pours down on Rosanne.’

Other than that, there was no major incident at this banquet.

‘Rosanne… I only saw her once then.’

Roseanne was a warm person, like an angel in the novel… She was nice and naive, and she was a very understanding and tolerant person.

Although she was the opposite of Shuria, Rosanne was, after all, a fit to be the empress of the empire. She was a person who could hug Kiehl kindly, even with his label as the Emperor’s powerless illegitimate child,

‘I wonder how much she must have grown.’

Meanwhile, Jenkins’ nagging continued until the moment the banquet started, and she was already dressed.

“Ugh. In the end, this dress and all the accessories will become the Miss weapon. What if you take off all your jewelry?”

“When I wear it, it becomes a real weapon.”

“Your bare hands are your weapons. You have to cover that.”

“Go back, shut up.”

Perhaps because it was the first banquet to announce the competition, quite a few ladies put a lot of effort into dressing up. Most of the people who wore less conspicuously had nothing to do with this contest.

Even the group of Bella’s followers each wore fancy dresses.

“Ah… Lady Bella is very…”

They, too, looked at Bella, puzzled over how to compliment her.

“It’s okay. I came out wearing comfortable clothes on purpose.”

In the first place, her plan was to just stay quietly in a corner and come back. Since she was from another world, it was undeniable that she would get a little attention though there was no way she would get as much attention as Rosanne in a competition.

That was what she thought.

“Miss Bellatrice Cruelle, would you like to dance a song with me?”

As soon as she saw the ladies’ faces turn blue in front of her, Bella remembered what Kiehl had said to her.

—“There are ways.”