CH 24

(Eve’s POV)

Chloe came in to tidy up the room after dinner.

One of the maids who was cleaning the room went out with a tray, and then Chloe came from the window and approached me.

“Your Highness, I’ll be staying here in the palace, so if there is anything you want me to do, please do so at any time.”

Unlike when she first came to greet me a while ago, her tone had a slightly unique accent on it.

Maybe it’s a northern accent.

“Okay.”

I told Chloe anything that needs to be done, but nothing happened for the next three days.

I spent all day sitting in my room while reading books.

Knock. Knock..

As I was turning the pages, I heard a knock outside.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

The maid, who opened the door and came in, bowed her head politely and said.

“Princess, it was said that the Crown Prince has returned to the capital.”

After hearing the news I have something to do again.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Eve’s POV)

The next afternoon.

I stood in front of a large door and waited.

The door in front of me was engraved with intricate patterns.

Even without a watch, I feel like more than 30 minutes have passed since I began standing in front of the door.

I’ve counted the leaves of the Holy Tree that were engraved in the door more than twenty times now, but only then did the door open.

“Your Highness the Princess.”

A man in official robes bowed to me.

“The Crown Prince is looking for you.”

I passed the official and entered the office.

I sent a formal request to have a meeting with the Crown Prince yesterday afternoon, but I only received a response this morning.

It was a brief reply saying he would meet me in the office at noon.

It was similar to an attitude towards a lower-ranking nobleman who had requested an audience, not to someone whom he considered as his real sister, but I was satisfied with that alone.

Because I know how much the Crown prince hated the original Eve.

It makes him so angry that his one and only sister is chasing after the Grand Duke every day, and causing a lot of trouble to everyone around her.

The room was equipped with a luxurious appearance that would indicate that it was a Prince’s office, but there was nothing else except essential furniture such as a desk, bookshelf, and chair.

Decorations and luxury items such as paintings, sculptures, and flowerpots are nowhere to be found even after looking around multiple times.

The office space was filled only with practical furniture that seemed to reveal the cold personality of the owner.

‘The Crown Prince was like an elite bureaucrat with an addiction to work.’

He was sincere, competent, and calm, but he was inflexible, savvy, and hated being around people.

And because of that, even though he was the Crown Prince, he had built a wall within the social circle.

On the other hand the Second Prince, Philos, is building his own power by hanging out with the young aristocrats.

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That’s why Arentine is even more dissatisfied with Eve, who was reckless.

She was the complete opposite of him in every way.

Entering the inner room through the middle door, a young man with the same hair color as Eve was sitting at the desk.

That man seems to be the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince, Arentine, did not take his eyes off the document even as I approached him.

I held the hem of my dress with both hands and politely bent my knees.

“Long time no see, brother. I am so happy to see that you have returned safely….”

“How are the wedding preparations going?”

Arentine cut me off with a cold tone and immediately asked a question.

“I’m still preparing for everything.”

Actually, I have no idea. After entering this world, I haven’t paid much attention to the wedding preparations.

‘Well, wouldn’t the maids be preparing it on their own?’

Because right now, I’m at a crossroad between life and death, so what’s the big deal about our wedding?

Arentine still didn’t look at me and just continued reading over at the documents in front of him.

“So, why did you ask to meet me?”

“I want to receive a wedding present.”

“What?”

At that moment, Arentine took his eyes off the documents and raised his eyes on me.

Red blonde hair that was neatly swept over, and smooth white skin. Dark blue eyes like the deep sea.

He was a handsome man with a calm and intelligent atmosphere.

He’s the heroine’s older brother.

Even though it was said that he was handsome in the original story, those descriptions didn’t heed no justice, where even the passing extras have a perfect and beautiful face structure.

Since I finally met him in person, he was a handsome man no less than the main character.

“I’m your younger sister, so shouldn’t you be giving me a wedding present. Because I really wanted to receive a wedding present from you.” 

In the Albion Empire, there is a custom to give wedding gifts to their siblings once they get married.

Most of them gave gifts such as jewelry or household items to help save some expenses for the newlyweds.

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Arentine asked with a tired expression on his face as if he didn’t need to listen any further.

“What do you want then?”

“I want to attend the Duchess’s Grand Ball.”

“The Ball?”

Arentine raised his eyebrows in an arched way as if he was surprised by my words.

After all, if it’s the original Eve, she would have asked for jewelry, dresses, or something like that.

“On Dachen’s Day they would be hosting a Winter Ball at the residence of the Duke of Rohan. I’ve been invited by the Duchess herself, and I really wanted to attend it. But, unfortunately I’m on probation, I can’t leave the palace without permission.”

Arentine looked at me for a moment, then asked again in an understandable tone.

“Would the Grand Duke attend the ball?”

“Yes.”

Arentine put on a look that said, ‘Of course, of course’.

“But I am not going because of His Grace the Grand Duke.”

“Then why are you going there?”

He said that as if I had no reason to attend the ball unless it was for the Grand Duke.

Of course, 90% of Eve’s actions in the original story were caused by the Grand Duke.

The remaining 10% was mostly for harassing Sorel.

“Because the Duchess invited me. And before the wedding, I wanted to meet Miss Diane and thank her. Even if she’s not feeling well, she would still continue to take the role of a bridesmaid for me.”

“Diane?”

Arentine seemed to ponder the name for a moment.

“She was the Princess of the Duke of Rohan.”

“Oh yeah. So that’s her name.”

She’s the only daughter of the Duke, but he can’t remember her name?

It’s natural to feel unfamiliar to Diane because she doesn’t appear in social circles, but it was still a bit harsh.

It seems that it is not a lie to say that even though he is the Crown Prince, he never associates himself with the social circle.

Obviously, he had no idea that Lady Diane liked him.

‘I don’t think that he would care even if he knew about it.’

“I heard that my brother was invited too.”

“Yeah, I received an invitation, but I’m not sure if I will be attending it.”

His voice was calm, but there was a hint of exhaustion at the end of his words.

All of a sudden, my eyes shifted to the documents that were piled up on his desk.

Arentine followed the Emperor to the battlefield and was sent back to the capital to take over the Emperor’s duties.

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Sooner or later, he would be called back to the battlefield.

Seeing them running around like this, I thought that even the Crown Prince couldn’t handle these tasks as well.

‘What happened to the Crown Prince in the original novel?’

I couldn’t remember at all.

The Emperor in the original story fell ill and left as he stepped back from the throne.

As the Grand Duke rules over the entire northern part of the empire, and stops paying attention to affairs of the Imperial family.

Sorel and Mikhail also leave the capital in search of their own happiness.

After that, the empire and the Imperial Family no longer appear in the story.

In the end, it wasn’t clear who had inherited the Emperor’s throne and ruled the kingdom.

Arentine asked again, as he continued to concentrate on the documents, without paying attention to me.

“Do you really want to receive it as a wedding present?”

“Yes, I definitely want to participate at the Ball.”

I looked as desperate as I could.

“The Duchess came to me and invited me, and I didn’t want to disappoint her as well. Diane also said she wanted to meet me…..”

“The Duchess personally invited you?”

“Probably because of the words that were said by Her Majesty the Empress.”

The finger holding the pen stopped slightly at the word “Empress” coming out of my mouth.

I continued speaking with a slightly sad expression on my face.

“A few days ago, I attended a tea party that was being hosted by Her Majesty, and that’s what Her Majesty said that day. She said that I study a lot and work hard in my own way, but still the Grand Duke didn’t come to see me even once.”

“The Empress said that?”

Arentine asked still in a blunt voice, but there was a faint hint of displeasure in his tone.

Considering the relationship between Eve and the Empress, it’s not meant to be good.

“Yes, and then she held the Duchess’s hand and asked if she could speak to the Grand Duke as well. Maybe that’s why the Duchess invited me. She’s probably trying to make room for me to meet the Grand Duke.”

I sighed exaggeratedly.

“So I asked the Empress if I could attend the ball…… But she didn’t allow it, and asked to just quietly stay in my room since I’m going to get married soon.”

“But why didn’t she give you permission even after she said that?”

“…… I don’t know either.”

I continued to speak weakly, stroking my long red blonde hair with my hands.

“I think the Empress was angry because I said something silly at the tea party.”

“What did you say?”

“That….. Because the Empress said that she was worried because the Grand Duke hates me.”

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I explained what happened at the tea party with a genuinely troubled expression.

“At that point, I said that since there isn’t any concubine that would be entering the Grand Duke’s line, that maybe someday our relationship could get better if I try. But thinking about it, I think I made a mistake. Because the Empress didn’t look good after I said that.”

‘It wasn’t a lie anyway.’

Because it was exactly what I said at the tea party.