CH 21

A few days later, the New Year's banquet that was to happen at Ortega palace was right around the corner. Yulia and the maids were looking at the dresses delivered to Coco at the prince's palace.

"I don't like the red one. Since her hair and eyes are both red, wearing a red dress on top of it would be a bit too much."

"When colors are properly unified, it gives a sophisticated image. If you match the belt and bolero well in other colors..."

"Just wear this."

The dress Yulia had picked was in a deep green color. The subtle glossy fabric was blended with a black inner skirt and lace. If Coco wore it, it would feel like it had been made specifically for her.

With a frown on her face, Coco's lips twitched.

"No. I didn't buy this for me to wear."

"What are you talking about? I heard it was adjusted to be worn at the banquet. The designer even delivered it himself."

"Anyways, I told you it's not for me. Why do you have so much to say today?"

Yulia thought, 'why is she giving me a hard time after asking me to pick a dress for her?'. Yulia rolled her eyes, and looked at Coco's exclusive maids.

The maids laughed, and snorted.

"Oh my gosh, why did our Lady order a dress that she isn't going to wear? There are only two people in this palace who wear dresses. If the Lady doesn't wear it, shouldn't someone else wear it?"

"What does that mean?"

"As soon as she saw this green dress, it might have reminded her of someone. For example, a maid of honor with emerald eyes..."

The maids continued to speak in a singing voice. In the middle, teasing laughs came out from time to time, so Coco's frown deepened more and more.

Yulia said while sighing and laughing at the same time.

"Coco, I'm not going to the New Year's banquet. No, I can't go."

"What are you saying? Who said someone was taking you there?"

"Coco, you wear this dress."

"Shut up! How many times do I have to tell you that it isn't mi..."

"Then, is it mine?"

Lewicia suddenly appeared, and asked. The prince opened the door without knocking and stood in front of the mirror holding the green dress and examining it.

"Ah, it seems to be mine."

Coco, who was about to get annoyed and say no, slowly shut her mouth. The maids couldn't dare to say no, and remained silent as well.

Yulia spoke instead.

"It really suits you."

The green dress Coco had bought matched extremely well with Lewicia's long blonde hair and fair skin. As he pretended to pull up his hair roughly with one hand and twist it up, Coco's exclusive maids shook their heads and sighed.

Lewicia raised his nose, and looked at Coco and Yulia through the mirror.

"You should both reflect on yourselves. How come this pretty dress suits me the most even though I am a man."

"Who told you to look like that in the first place?"

Coco snapped in annoyance. Of course, Lewicia continued to make fun of her.

"So what if I was born prettier than Coco? Just accept it. Appearance isn't everything in a person's life. Right, Yulia?"

"Put it down right now. That's Yulia's. What kind of man covets women's clothes? Go pick out a suit to wear to the New Year's banquet."

"I’m prettier than you, so I look good in anything I wear. It's not anything to worry about."

At that moment, Yulia saw Coco saying 'I'm sorry' with her lips.

She thought she should stop them. After coming to the prince's palace, it felt like she had been given the role to mediate between them.

"Coco, I am very grateful, but the New Year's banquet is a place where only nobles who have received an invitation can go. Even if I'm the prince's maid of honor, I can't follow you there."

"Shut up. Do you think I don't know that?"

Coco went up to Lewicia, and snatched the dress from his hands. Then, she laid it down on Yulia's lap, who was sitting on a chair.

"Throw it away if you want. If you don't want to wear it, use it as a blanket! Since it's expensive, you can sell it and buy snacks with the money!"

Coco, whom she met in the past, had a disingenuous personality, but Coco around this time seemed to be even worse.

Yulia barely held back the laughter that was about to burst out, and carefully took the dress into her arms.

"Thank you. It's my first time seeing such a pretty dress. I will cherish it until I die."

Coco snorted.

"What are you saying? Wear it roughly, and throw it away. Presents shouldn't become a burden. The person who gives the present is happy about giving it from the first moment they pick it. So, the person who receives it shouldn't cherish it to the point it becomes trash, but make good use of it."

"Yes, I will wear it often."

"Still, be careful with gifts from men. When I was little, my father told me that men don't give gifts to women they are not interested in. He said that the more expensive the gift, the higher the price you have to pay in exchange."

"Wow, isn't that a huge prejudice? I gave her a really expensive gift, but you ended up stealing it."

Lewicia clumsily interfered again. At that moment, Coco's patience ran out.

"I told you that I didn't steal it! Why are you doing this to me? That's why you are alone at this age without a young lady to take as a partner! I know very well why the young ladies hate Your Highness so much!"

"Why is that? Because they are scared to be compared to me who is prettier than them?"

"Your Highness Lewicia!"

"Coco, you don't have a partner either. Ha ha ha! And yet, you are talking about others?"

Yulia, who was watching the two fight while hugging the dress tightly, had a good idea at that moment.

"Why don't you become each other's partner?"

With a nonchalant expression, Yulia said that seeing them fighting like this here, it seemed that they would protect each other well at the banquet.

The two people, who had been arguing like cat and dog, closed their mouths.

After Coco, it was Lewicia's turn.

Yulia went to Lewicia's room with Coco to pick out his outfit. Of course, Coco looked annoyed and gave off the impression that she didn't want to be here.

"Just wear anything."

"What, why are you so insincere?"

"Since you look good in everything, you can wear anything."

When Coco pointed out and spoke without even looking at the clothes, Lewicia grunted, and complained that he was hurt.

But Yulia, who couldn't ignore that the person she served was going to a banquet, got up and went through his dressing room instead of Coco. Then, she chose a scarf, shoes and shoulder decorations that would match well with the prince's dress suit.

Lewicia, wearing a white shirt and a maroon vest, said while putting on the golden shoulder ornament Yulia had picked out for him.

"By the way... May I ask what my clever commoner maid of honor wishes by shaking and steering Vasily?"

Yulia blinked her eyes quickly at the sudden question.

"Until now, you've only poked him in the most hurtful places. I thought that if that bastard had a conscience, he would at least apologize when you told him that he put your life in danger."

Lewicia didn't even try to hide the fact that he had overheard Yulia and Vasily's conversation.

Coco bit her lips, and said.

"Let alone apologizing, he even got angry."

Lewicia agreed with her.

"Still, I was a bit surprised when he said he would break off the engagement with the princess. I thought he was a cowardly egoist, but was he a crazy egoist instead?"

"What a joke. He is probably bluffing. How can he think of breaking off the engagement? It's not a marriage between Vasily and the princess, but a contract between Marjoram and the royal family."

"Yulia, I am sorry to say this to you, but I hope that Vasily won't give up on you so easily. These days, life has been very entertaining. Every time that bastard comes to my palace with a dumbfounded expression and clings to Yulia, I feel grateful for being born in the palace."

"Same for me. Whenever I am reminded of Kristin Marjoram leaving as if she were running away during the contest, suddenly I feel lighter."

"You're my maid, but you really have a nasty temper, Coco."

"Your Highness is not easy either."

Both of them were vicious. However, Yulia couldn't help but laugh because she knew that they were saying that out of concern for her. Yulia turned her head, and let out a small laugh.

"It's fine."

"Hey, and you, stop saying that it's fine. It's obvious that it's not fine, but since you keep saying that, idiots really believe it and keep messing with you."

"It is really fine, though."

"Ah, it's so frustrating. Your Highness, say something to her."

"Yulia, don’t hold back. Curse, shout, and throw things. It hurts your pride to be abandoned by an idiot like Vasily, but since that bastard clings to you so desperately until the end, you are in a very angry and depressed state now. So, go to your room, not mine, and pick up something... not expensive, but cheap, then have fun throwing and breaking it."

"Sorry?"

"It's an order."

"...Yes."

"Damn it, I got goosebumps."

After saying something warm and friendly, for some reason, he felt itchy and scratched his forearms. Coco glanced at the prince, and smiled.

"Thank you", Yulia muttered.

Her sincere feelings came out before she knew it.

She thought she had done a good thing by entering the royal palace. It had only been a few days since becoming a maid of honor, and it was unfamiliar to have this kind of thought.

It was all thanks to Coco.

She was the first person to reach out to her, who was left with only venom and hatred after repeatedly coming back to life. After doing as Coco told her, she felt like she had returned to her twenty year-old self, when she had not yet been through this horrible curse.

"Why are you smiling?"

Lewicia sheepishly asked. He also looked a little embarrassed.

"Your Highness Lewicia."

"What?"

"There isn't much time left. If you wait a little bit longer, you will get to hear even better news."

'I promise.' As soon as she said those words, Lewicia and Coco, who had stopped joking around, looked at her with a serious expression.

Vasily was not a great enemy. What he is doing now is nothing but a way for her to create a diversion for a much bigger attack.

Yulia's chosen chief wolf, Carus Lankea, was currently breaking the inappropriate relationship between the southern fleet and the pirates.

She used an actor named Vasily in order to cover Marjoram's eyes.

At the same time she was playing with Vasily, she was releasing a wolf into the wild. It was a wolf called the Bloodless Admiral, coming all the way from the Empire.

She wished she could tell them. But it's not the time yet. She had to build trust with Coco from the start again because she wasn't the same person from her past, and she was still unsure of the role Lewicia would play in this fight.

"...You can look forward to it."

Lewicia, who moved his lips and tried to ask further, ended the long conversation by saying that he would look forward to it as she said.