CH 31

(Eve’s POV)

“I wanted to see you more often, but my heart aches to know that you can’t come out of the palace without permission.”

The Grand Duke held my hand, then turned his gaze towards Arentine and said.

“If you don’t mind, will you allow the Princess to go outside the Palace? Because I would like to discuss the matter about our wedding and also show her around the Duchy.”

At that moment, a look of surprise and bewilderment began to seep through Arentine’s indifferent face.

He didn’t seem to understand where this was going.

“That….. If that’s what both of you wanted, then I can’t help to give her permission then. I think that Eve had already reflected enough, then I’ll allow her if it’s going to be a wedding-related matter.”

“Thank you so much, Your Highness.”

The Grand Duke looked back at me, with a look of deep relief.

“Isn’t that great, Princess.”

I belatedly came to my senses and immediately responded to the Grand Duke’s words.

“Yes, it’s good news. And I’ve been wanting to visit the Duchy as well to see the garden that you mentioned before.”

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“You would like it. You can see it if you open the window inside the Princess bedroom.”

The two of us exchanged friendly conversations like a happy bride and groom before their wedding.

Arentine’s eyes looking at us became more and more confused.

The expression of the Duchess next to him was no different.

“I’m….. I’m really happy that the two of you are so close now.”

The Duchess said with a forced smile, but the corner of her eyes is noticeably trembling.

She must have been so surprised that she couldn’t control her facial expression.

The Grand Duke stared at me with eyes full of emotion enough to drip honey.

“I’ve been so rude to the Princess all this time. I feel so ashamed that I misunderstood such a beautiful and good-natured person.”

Just how can he describe Eve’s personality as a “good person” to the extent that it is impossible to say that what he was saying is just empty words.

If it had been someone other than the Grand Duke, it could have been misunderstood as true love.

“Oh, that’s good.”

The Duchess’ voice was now trembling.

Either way, the Grand Duke took my hand and gently kissed the back of it.

I was stunned, but shocked will be an understatement to compare to those who watched us.

Everyone around us was staring blankly at us with their mouths open.

Some of the ladies were so startled that they even dropped the fans they were holding.

Even the attendants, who were waiting for the guests, stood idly, lost into the moment.

Nevertheless, the Grand Duke in the middle of the storm was not in the slightest affected.

He looked at my face with a worried expression.

“Princess, are you okay? You’re still not that fully recovered from your sickness, maybe you’re overdoing it because of me…. If you are tired, shall we go up to the drawing-room to rest for a while?”

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“……”

I just looked at him without answering.

We responded together a while ago, but I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t speak for a while.

‘It seemed that our plan to make an impression of ‘We’re getting along and willing to protect each other’ was successful, but…. Isn’t this a bit too much?’

‘I was only thinking of dancing to one song, but all of a sudden we went into lover mode.’

This is more than enough to achieve the goal of creating a rumor that would give an impact on the audience.

From tonight on, this will become a huge topic in society.

The subject of the rumor is that “A miracle happened and Princess Eve succeeded in seducing the Grand Duke”,

Or maybe it’s simply saying, ‘The Grand Duke is crazy’.

Maybe it’s both.

When I couldn’t answer, his affectionate purple eyes fluttered for a moment, then the cool light hidden within them was revealed.

I suddenly came to my senses and spoke in an arrogant voice like the usual Eve.

“Ahm yes, I don’t feel well right now. And I feel thirsty after that dance, so can we skip the next song and take a break.”

“Of course. Let’s go to the drawing-room.”

“Okay…. We’ll be excusing ourselves, brother.”

“… Okay.”

As soon as I heard Arentine’s awkward reply, I turned around while holding the Grand Duke’s arm.

The Grand Duke then grabbed me with one arm as if supporting me and led me out of the ballroom.

The onlookers split right away, providing a path for the two of us.

The people in the ballroom were all looking at us with stupefied faces, from the guests to the servants and as well as the band who was playing the music.

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

It is the first time in my life that I have received this kind of attention in front of so many people.

When I came out of the ballroom, I let out a sigh.

However, as I moved away from people’s eyes, the tension was relieved to some extent.

As I was walking towards the stairs without energy, I heard a calm voice next to me.

“I think this will be enough for today.”

The moment I turned my head, the eyes of the Grand Duke who was looking at me met.

He had a cold and indifferent expression as usual as if he had pretended to be a sweet lover.

And it changed as soon as we left the ballroom.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

‘I kind of wanted to say, ‘Wow, your acting was so amazing that you can change your personality so quickly’ but I knew that he’d be angry if I said that honestly.’

It would be foolish to buy this man’s wrath. When he’s doing his best to protect me.

“Certainly, this seems to have imprinted on everyone.”

I think it was too much, but it worked out anyway.

When conducting a public opinion in this way, nothing is more effective than shock therapy.

I cleared my voice and immediately changed the topic.

First of all, there are many more urgent matters.

It was about Diane’s medicine.

“Did you bring enough knights?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got enough on standby.”

“That’s good.”

The last time we met at the Great Hall, I asked him to bring the knights of the Grand Duke to the Ball.

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

There will be no troops left in the Duke’s house now. Since the Duke had bought most of them when he went to the war.

‘Even if there are people left behind, I am not in a position to ask the Duke’s vassals at will.’

However, the situation is different in the case of the Grand Duke. If I explain the situation to him and ask for a favor, he will do whatever that I want.

So that’s why I asked him to bring the knights with him.

I also explained what I saw in my foresight.

As soon as I turned around at the end of the hallway, the Grand Duke asked a question as if he was waiting.

“Are you sure about what’s going to happen today?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

The decoration of the hallways and rooms, the location of the furniture, and the dress the Duchess wore.

The vision that I saw was sure to happen tonight.

“Tonight, Lady Diane is going to faint after taking her medicine that contains a suspicious powder.”

If I’d told the others about this, they would be puzzled at how strange this sound was.

But the Grand Duke, who already knew about my abilities, never doubted me.

“Did you find out who the culprit is?”

“No, I looked around the mansion and saw several maids as well, but none of them was her.”

Will the maid, the culprit, be with Lady Diane by now?

It doesn’t seem like it’s time to take her medicine yet, if the maid is vigilantly guarding Diane’s room, then she may be already inside the bedroom.

Suddenly, I understood why the culprit chose the day of the Ball.

Now the mansion is full of guests and their attendants are all busy.

The Duke’s servants were running around nonstop to serve the guests.

On such a day, everyone will be so busy, so it’s perfect to commit a crime.

It would be easy for them to hide the medicine bowl and the powder vial after feeding it to Diane.

And no one would notice the maid’s actions.

“Did anyone ever have a grudge against Lady Diane?”

“I don’t know.”

It seems that the Duke doesn’t know either.

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Since he doesn’t visit that often.

After a moment of thought, he spoke in a calm voice.

“If we catch the culprit and ask them, we will find out then.”

The two of us passed through the hallway and went downstairs.

Unlike the ballroom full of people, the lower floor was quiet.

Servants moving under orders and people guarding the inside of the mansion were occasionally seen.

The Grand Duke then summoned his men and gave them instructions.

“Place the knights on the third floor.”

“How many people should we arrange?”

“Five or six would be ​​enough.”

The Grand Duke gave detailed orders to his subordinates.

“Before the Ball is over, I’ll ring the bell in Diane’s bedroom, so wait quietly and out of sight.”

It was a tall, young man with a scar on his face who ran after hearing the Grand Duke’s orders.

I realized then who he was.

It was Camion, the henchman of the Grand Duke.

In the original story, he was a person who executed all kinds of conspiracies as the right arm of the Grand Duke.

“I understood, Your Grace.”

After giving the order, the Grand Duke’s gaze came back to me.

“I’ll be staying inside the music room with the Princess.”

A questionable gaze touched me for a moment, but he did not delay and went outside to pick up the knights.

Fortunately, he seemed to have not heard about what happened inside the ballroom, because he was waiting outside the ballroom.

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

After he left, I asked the Grand Duke with a bit of apprehension.

“Are we going to catch the maid right before she takes the drug?”

“Of course not.”

The Grand Duke said as if he was saying something natural.

“We have to catch them exactly at the scene so that we can hear everything properly. Didn’t you want that as well?”