Chapter 2

After being abused by Marianne and her daughter, I became mentally ill.

I have been staring out the window blankly at the day, eating the meals the maid brought, and falling asleep at night. It’s my daily routine.

Sharon used to snarl at me, calling me a shady, unlucky girl. Whose fault is that?

A few days ago, the day I found my memory, Sharon seemed to be upset about something stressful.

When I was looking for a place to relax, Sharon approaching me in the hallway. I closed my eyes to the sight of my stepsister, wondering if I might get slapped. Then the next moment, I was pushed down the stairs and crashed.

Fortunately, it was only a minor injury and I recalled the memory of my past life. My mental state has remarkably improved after that. The memory of a country girl who ran around catching frogs seemed to have some influence on my character.

I stayed in my room for a few days because I’m not sure it would be okay to walking around the mansion and showing everyone that I’d gotten better.

When Leah was free and I asked her to bring some books for me, her eyes wide with amazement.

“I feel a little better. I think I can move around a little bit from now.” I added. Leah went to the library to get some books that I could read without complaining.

Marianne and Sharon will questioned me, but it doesn’t matter.

It’s strange if I move actively all of a sudden, so I should make it seems like my condition is getting better little by little.

The timing of the move came earlier than I expected.

After lunch, I was drinking tea while watching the scenery outside the window when I saw a fancy carriage entering the mansion. The golden sword and shield engraved on the carriage. It must have belonged to the imperial family.

“Leah.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Do you know why the imperial carriage came?”

“The second prince was visiting Lady Sharon because of the engagement.”

“The second prince?”

There’s a precious guest here. The second prince, Leonhart Luminus de Khalin. Later, he was supposed to face a conflict with the first prince, Claudio. In order to win the throne, Leonhart looking for a family to side with him and Crescente dukedom was one of the family that caught his eyes.

His way of reaching out to the Duchess was very simple. It’s a marriage. It was a stable and solid method in many ways.

When the discussion of marriage broke out in the royal house, Marianne and Sharon were delighted and pleased. It has been a well-known rumor that the eldest son, Claudio, is now studying at a foreign academy and the second prince who is being called the nation’s most powerful prince is most likely to become the next emperor. So maybe that bright mother and daughter are all over the place.

Sharon … the Empress’ position, it doesn’t suit you. I don’t think it’s good for the future the empire.

In The Story of Ramona, Leonhart had been engaged to Sharon Crescente when Ramona and her party came to the empire. Of course, they were not in lovers relationship. Leonhart becomes a prisoner of love for Ramona, who has a different charm that other aristocrat girls, and annuled his engagement with Sharon.

Sharon, who was vindictive about this, tries to kill her with the same poison that killed Adriana. But who is Ramona? she’s the main character. Sharon’s scheme quickly becomes useless and leads to her condemnation.

If I stepped in front of Leonhart here, he probably won’t get engaged to Sharon.

I didn’t take my gaze from the silver haired man who got off the carriage.

“Leah, I’m going to change my clothes. Prepare it.”

“Yes, my lady.”

I was going to show myself naturally in front of Leonhart. It wasn’t just because I wanted to stop Sharon’s engagement. Of course even though the engagement will break next year, I didn’t want to see Sharon bragging about being the prince’s fiancee. However, there was another reason for my move this time. It’s to lay the base of the future. I don’t know if it’s going to work.

There were a few dresses in the closet. Most of them have become smaller and doesn’t fit well. Since I haven’t been outside, I have not needed a new dress and Marianne didn’t care about whether I had a dress or not.

Fortunately, there were a couple of matching suits. Leah took out one of the suits and helped me wear them.

“You don’t have to be too elaborate. All you have to do is be neat.”

As I sat down in front of the mirror, Leah applied a moisturizing lotion with a fruity scent on my face and carefully combed my hair. My hair was in fluffy state so I had to brush it a few times.

I stared into the mirror. Well—until now, I had not thought of it because it’s my face … but I was a rare beauty, according to the memory of my past life.

The Story of Ramona didn’t reveal much about Adriana’s appearance. Is it black hair and pink eyes like Theodore? I just thought Adriana must be pretty because Theodore was handsome.

Finally, when I left my room after I got what I needed, the employees who saw me looked surprised. It’s surprising that a doll-like lady, who had been confined to her room until now, even dressed up and left her room. Holding a basket full of laundry, I called the maid who was passing by and asked.

“Where is my mother?”

The maid, after confirmed who had called her, was perplexed but soon changed her expression and answered quickly.

“Her Grace is having a guest with young miss right now, perhaps in the garden—”

“The Garden? Thank you.”

“No! wait a minute, my lady! If you go to the garden now—”

I ignored her, turned and headed to the garden.

That’s great. If it’s the garden, it won’t look like I came on purpose. I can excuse myself for coming by chance.

As I went out to the garden, I saw the table in the distance. I moved to that direction with only four steps. Marianne and Sharon didn’t seem to care about the sound of the approaching footsteps. But Leonhart, who was sitting at my direction, was looking at me. His eyes met mine.

I quickly lifted my skirt and greeted him.

“Greeting, Your Royal Highness. I am the eldest daughter of Crescente, Adriana Crescente.”

Then Marianne and Sharon looked back in surprised. They looked as if they had seen a ghost. They’ve hear from Leah that I’m getting better, but they wouldn’t have imagined that I would even come to the garden.

The pair of mother and daughter whose face was mixed with frustration, embrassment, and anger quickly changed their expression because they were aware of Leonhart. Marianne stammered and asked,

“Uuuuh—Riana, what are you doing here?”

“I was taking a walk in the garden, Mother. I came to say hello because I saw an important guest at the door.”

Sharon flicked her face with a fan. Her other hand, which was under the table, was trembling as if she wanted to grab my hair.

I was like, Go!. Of course, she can’t do that where there is a Prince. I smiled sheepishly, knowing nothing.

“Welcome, Lady Adriana Crescente. You look quite different from what I’ve heard.”

Leonhart greeted me with a smile on his face as if this situation is very interesting. It was easy to guess what rumors he had heard about me. Adriana Crescente is a girl who has autism and serious depression. Rumors in society must be of that sort. And that’s the reason why he skip Adriana and get engaged to Sharon.

On the contrary, if the rumor isn’t true, there is no reason to just consider Sharon alone.

Marianne and Sharon weren’t so stupid that they didn’t know about this, so they must be upset when I appeared here.

Leonhart took a sip of tea in graceful motion and said, “Lady Adriana, please sit down.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.”

I sat in an outdoor chair with an elegant gesture. I learned etiquette as a child, but I haven’t done it for a long time so I was wondering if I could do well, but fortunately, I did with it no flaws.

The stepmother of mine and her daughter may be unhappy with me joining them, but what about the prince?

“It’s a little sudden for the young lady who just joined us, but shall we go to the point? Duchess.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Leonhart was a handsome man with silver hair and golden eyes. The beauty of the second prince was often talked about in the high society. His skin was very smooth and white that even the ladies were envious. His smile, especially, was very attractive.

Nevertheless, his tall and substantial frame did not make him look like a pretty man.

Now I saw the hand that holding the teacup was very pretty. In terms of size, it must be a man’s hand. But the long, thin fingers that stretched out were not something that you usually find on a man’s hand. I heard that even though he was not up to the highest level, he had an excellent swordsmanship. Could his hands stay that pretty? Maybe he’s taking care of it? Or is it natural?

“You must know the reason I’m here today is because of my engagement with your younger daughter.”

When the word of engagement come out, the movements of Marianne and her daughter, as if they were nervous, became subtly. Leonhart continued with a gentle smile in his face.

“In fact, I’ve been talking to the nobles in my faction about a marriage with Crescente family, but I’m sure it’s too early, the lady’s age is still young….”

My heart was pounding when I thought he was really going to get engaged with Sharon. I watched with bated breath.

“But now I think I’d go back and talk to my faction about this matter again, so let’s end it here.”

“Your Highness….”

“I’m not saying that we should cancel the engagement. It’s just that we don’t have to hurry. Hm. I think it’ll be right to proceed after the heir of Crescente family is decided.”

“Well, is that so?” Marianne laughed awkwardly. Oh my God, my brother must be suffering from another assassin….

What Leonhart just said is the declaration of war. If Theodore is not there and Marianne’s son, Rudolph, becomes the heir, it would be better to marry Sharon. Of course, I have no intention to marry Leonhart. That’s why he said he wouldn’t be engaged to Sharon for now.

Hm … there was a saying that if Claudio is a careful and undogmatic character, then Leonhart is prepared for being the best in his sense and judgement.

Since then, Leonhart had a few more conversations with Marianne. It was about family business and politics, but from what I heard, is not an important conversation. Although Marianne was acting as the housekeeper, but she only had little knowledge of the matter and entrusted it to her close aides.

In fact, there is nothing more to talk about, but it was rude to just leave after saying Let’s give up the engagement.

It was not long before Leonhart told his servant to get ready to leave. A moment later, his attendant came and told him that the preparation is ready.

“It was fun today. Until next time.” he said while putting down the teacup.

“It was an honor for us. I have prepared my best, but please forgive me if I have been negligent in my efforts.”

“No, it was a very good time.”

“Take care, Your Highness.”

Leonhart climbed into his carriage. After the door closed, the carriage left our mansion.