20 The Crown Prince 1 unedited

Guests started to come one after the other. Eric and Derrick acted as my escorts, following me wherever I go.

Right now, we were at the table where the sweets are served. I will say, I am a sweet tooth in my past life. But I was not able to overindulge myself with cakes, chocolates, and the likes because I am quick to gain weight. Alyssa's body on the other hand, maintains her weight and figure even if I eat so many.

'Maybe it's because of the novel's description about the original Alyssa.' I thought to myself.

Alyssa was described to be the most beautiful lady in the kingdom. That means every physical aspect of her is perfect, including her body figure. And because of that I was able to indulge myself with food I love without worrying of gaining weight and being fat.

"You really like to eat sweets, huh." Eric who was drinking some tea beside me said.

I was in the process of eating a huge serving of chocolate cake when he said those words. This just made me more conscious of my surroundings. The people around us now are nobles of the same age as us. Their stares are all glued to me and my escorts.

'What are all of you looking at, huh.' I inwardly scolded those little kids looking at me but sighed in defeat.

I am currently Alyssa Yvonne Broderick, the daughter of Duke Elessar and Duchess Jenica Broderick. I cannot taint my name and bring shame to the ducal couple who loved me as their real daughter. I sat down and composed myself and started to eat with little servings.

"Pfftt… hahaha." Eric then could not stop his laughter. I looked at him curiously as if telling him 'what are you laughing at?'

Eric was always serious and composed. He seldom shows his smile to others, and those times he smiles and laughs are all because of me. It is either because I make him laugh with my jokes or because I have done something un-lady like. Now, he was laughing because of the latter.

'Well at least I can see his handsome looking face while laughing.' I thought to myself.

Eric was quickly growing into a handsome young lad. Not long, he will be one of the most handsome bachelors in the Argentine kingdom. Many young noble women will fall for his handsome looks. Not to mention he is included in the heroine's harem of suitors in the future. Derrick as well has grown handsome. His manly features are coming out now that he was a lad. His muscles has started to tone up after daily knight's training.

Thinking about it made me felt a prick in my heart. Knowing that these two young lads will grow up just to fall for the heroine in the future.

'Snap out of it, Alyssa.' I scolded myself. 'These men are meant for the heroine. Whoever is the male lead in the future, I will give my full support and not fight with the heroine.' I told myself.

"Here, have some iced tea my lady." Derrick gave me a glass of ice-cold tea.

"Thank you Derrick." I smiled back at him.

I never liked hot beverages because I came from a tropical country in my past life. But now that I lived in a world that had four seasons, I was trying to change that habit of drinking something cold, especially when it is winter. But because today was still summer, I can get to drink cold beverages.

After a while I felt that I need to use the bathroom. Knowing that I still have some time before the party officially starts, I stood up and excused myself.

"Excuse me, I nee to use the lavatory." I said. Eric nodded but Derrick stood up from his seat.

"Then I will escort you back my lady." Derrick said.

"No need Derrick." I pushed him back to his seat. "I will be quick, so you don't need to come with me."

Actually, it is embarrassing for a guy to escort me to the bathroom, so I declined Derrick's offer. I quickly got away before Derrick insists on escorting me.

**

I walked back towards the mansion and used a shortcut beside the man-made pond. This way is faster, and I can come back to the party in no time.

*sob sob*

I heard someone crying under the bushes near the man-made pond. I was curious and so I followed where the sound was coming from.

*sob sob*

I was coming nearer to the crying sound and out of the corner of the bushes I saw something shining under the sun. I saw a boy hunched down and hugging his knees, crying. He has goden blonde her as bright as the sun. He was wearing a white suite and pants, but his coat was stained with what I thought was wine. Judging by his body built, he would be as old as Eric and Derrick.

'Why would someone of his age drink wine?' I thought to myself. 'As I know only adults are offered wine at the party.'

Rather curious and worried, I walked silently towards the boy. He did not hear me coming near and now I was in front of him.

"Are you alright?" I asked with a worried tone.

The boy was startled upon hearing me. He looked up with shocked eyes. By then I saw his eyes was colored red. I was shocked that I was not able to get my eyes off his face, looking at his ruby like eyes feeling mesmerized with it. I squatted down to align my face to his, looking at his eyes intently.

"No! Don't look at me!" The boy scolded but I did not care about his words. I just looked at his eyes with amazement.

"Wow… so beautiful." I said with wonder.

"W-What did you say?" The boy was surprised with my words.

"Your eyes. They are beautiful." I said with a smile. "They are like rubies shining under the beams of the sun."

I thought how beautiful this boy was, with his ruby eyes and golden hair shining under the sun. Why would he be crying here alone?

"B-Beautiful?" The boy asked questioningly. "Aren't you afraid of these red colored eyes of mine? Don't you think I am a monster?"

I looked at him curiously. Yes, red eyes are not normal here in this world. Well, even in our world it was not normal. But there were contact lenses in our world, and red colored contact lens are quite a fad for cosplayers. I can count quite a few anime and comic characters that had red eyes, namely my favorite Naruto character Sasuke Uchiha. And so, rather than be repelled with red colored eyes, I was amazed looking at someone that had it naturally.

"Why would I think of you as a monster?" I looked at the boy questioningly. "Looking at how good looking you are, describing you as a monster is far from it. You look more like a prince."

The boy stared at me for a while and stopped crying. But then he started to laugh out loud.

"Hahahaha…" The boy was holding his stomach and laughing out loud. I did not know why he was laughing but I joined in as well.

Our laughter died down after a while. I was just happy that he has stopped crying.

"I am glad you stopped crying." I said.

"Thanks to you." The boy said.

"By the way, why is your coat stained with wine?" I asked curiously. The boy made a sad smile.

"One of the adults bumped into me intentionally." The boy said.

"What?!" I said with an irritated tone. "What kind of adult would bully a child like you. They should be reported to your parents. This is not a good behavior for a noble."

"Well, they view me as a monster." The boy said. "You are the first one to tell me that my eyes are beautiful rather than be frightened from the sight of them. I was cursed when I was a baby, hence the red eyes."

"Cursed?" I said with curiosity. 'It feels like I have heard this story before.' I thought to myself, but I cannot seem to remember.

"Lady Alyssa…" I heard Oscar calling for me. "Lady Alyssa, where are you?"

"Oh shoot, I totally forgot." I stood up from the ground with the sudden realization.

"You are the daughter of the Broderick couple?" The boy asked. He stood up as well.

"Yes, I am Alyssa Yvonne Broderick." I curtsied how a young noble lady would. "Sorry for introducing myself this late."

"That is okay." The boy said. "By the way I am Noct…" The boy was about to introduce himself formally when Oscar called out to me once more.

"My lady…" Oscar yelled.

"Oh no, I need to go." I said while feeling the need to go to the bathroom in a rush. "Here, let me take this for you."

I pulled the stained coat off the boy. While doing so he looked surprised.

"Let me take care of this for you. I will give it back to you before the party ends." I gauged him from head to toe and helped him fix his inner vest and shirt.

I dipped my hair in the pond and with wet hands, I fixed his hair that was ruffled with his crying earlier and re-styled it.

"Too bad I don't have any styling wax with me, but this will do." I said. The boy looked much more presentable than earlier. He looked rather stiff with his outfit and hairstyle from before. Now he looked more relaxed and fresher.

"Here, use this and wipe your face." I gave him my handkerchief. "Don't worry about what others tell to you. What's important is how you view yourself and have confidence. Well I better get going. See you later at the party." I wavded at him goodbye.

"Wait… I wasn't able to tell my name." The boy tried to tell me, but I was gone in no time. He sighed. "No matter. We will see each other later. I am sure of it." The boy gave a confident smile.

I never thought that my action of good will towards the crying boy near that man-made pond, will change my fate drastically in the future.