CH 41

Wasn’t it like that just by looking at the former Empress who died? The former Empress was a princess from a foreign country and grew up receiving a lot of love from her people, but after she got married to the empire, she lived a lonely and unhappy life. The former Empress had suffered greatly to see the actual Empress, monopolizing the love of the Emperor. After suffering for a long time, she fell ill and died early. 

She was now the Empress, and she firmly believed that Eve would be like that too. She wished to see Eve as soon as possible fall into the same misfortune as her mother. However, a few days ago, things began to take a strange turn. The starting point of the problem was the ball of the Duke of Rohan.

The Grand Duke at the ball asked Eve to dance as if he were a sweet lover. When she first heard it, she couldn’t believe it and thought it must be wrong. Or, she thought, Eve had pushed him so hard that she had no choice but to accept it. However, the very next day, the Grand Duke sent a huge amount of gifts to the princess’s palace, putting a wedge in the rumor.

‘Thinking about it, it was strange from the moment the two met at the temple.’

Even when Eve went to the temple to offer her mother’s relics, it was said that the Grand Duke took the flowers Eve gave him. She didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, but after that day, the relationship between the two took an incredibly drastic turn.

‘What the hell did Eve do to him that day?’

What kind of tactic did the foolish Eve play so that the Grand Duke was suddenly nice to Eve? It was the biggest question that all the nobles in the current capital had. The Empress was likewise very curious about the moment when the Grand Duke changed his mind.

‘But what is this…’

It was incomprehensible that the Grand Duke suddenly showed a crush on Eve, but it was even more incomprehensible that the Emperor delayed Eve’s marriage. The Emperor was worried that the power of the Grand Duke’s family would grow if the Grand Duke married the daughter of another noble nobleman. In that case, he said, it would be better to marry foolish Eve and the Grand Duke. She thought the Emperor would rather enjoy it if he heard that the Grand Duke was blinded by Eve…

“You don’t even know why he gave this order?”

“How dare you guess the deep intentions of His Majesty the Emperor?”

The knight commander’s attitude was very polite, but the Empress felt bad for some reason, as if he knew everything but didn’t say anything.

“How are you telling me to delay her wedding?”

The princess’s wedding was a date set after checking the heavenly gates at the Great Hall. There was no way she could postpone the date for no apparent reason. The Grand Duke, who was sending people to the princess’s palace every day, was also a problem. Even if he wanted to take Eve to her mansion right away, it was obvious that she would strongly protest if they delayed the wedding. Even now the crown prince was in the imperial palace. Officially, his own rank was higher, but the Empress nevertheless did not allow her stepson, the Crown Prince, to do anything to her. She had no idea how to postpone the wedding.

“This is a bit of a stretch, but the princess…”

Guy Ren looked at the confused Empress and slowly opened his mouth.

“I heard that the princess was ill until recently… I don’t know if she has fully recovered her body now.”

The Empress, who had been pacing by the window, stopped after hearing his words. If you look at the contents, there was nothing strange about it. Eve had been sick with the aftereffects of her fasting some time ago. However, the Empress recognized the subtle hints in his words.

“Is it so? She will be a bride, but if she is not feeling well, it will be difficult.”

She left the easy way and was looking for the hard way. Come to think of it, there was the easiest way. After all, there was no better reason to postpone a wedding than when the bride suddenly falls ill.

The Empress smiled gracefully and said satisfactorily.

“I’ll take care of everything, so don’t worry and leave.”

After a while, the Empress, left alone, threw the note she was holding into the fireplace. Then she ordered the lady-in-waiting who came to her side.

“Call the lady-in-waiting sent to the princess’s palace.”

* * *

Three days later, at Terrence’s request, she visited the Grand Duke’s mansion. When they heard that they were going to visit the Grand Duke’s mansion, the ladies-in-waiting decorated it more elaborately than before. Fortunately, it was decorated in a noble and dignified atmosphere rather than flashy, probably because she thought that she would be visiting as a prospective Grand Duchess. 

Her reddish blonde hair was elegantly curled up at the back of her head, and the decoration was simple. She also chose a Prussian blue damask dress. Dressed up like that, she looked like a lady in a mansion.

“Does it look okay?”

It was very different from Eve’s usual image, but it was quite nice to decorate like this.

“Yes, you are very beautiful and elegant.”

She left the palace receiving the compliments of the ladies-in-waiting. The carriage headed for the Grand Duke’s mansion along the bright sunny road. According to Nell’s explanation, she’s been here before, but it’s the first time she’s been inside. In the meantime, even if she went to see him, she was rejected at the door. The Grand Duke’s mansion was on a hill, and when viewed from below it appeared to be of the same size as the Duke’s mansion. But when they arrived at the front door, they could see how large it was. Like her palace, the entire hill was the residence of the Grand Duke.

When they arrived at the main gate, the Grand Duke’s servants stood in a row and bowed to her. Terrence, who was waiting at the entrance, took her hand and kissed it on the back of her hand, as was the etiquette.

“Princess.”

Come to think of it, she thought this was the first time she had received such a polite greeting from this man.

Terrence held her hand and looked at the people beside him. Standing next to him was a blond boy of about 8 or 9 years old.

“This is my younger brother, Rot.”

The child clung to his side as if trying to hide behind Terrence. He was a cute little boy with a pale face and bright purple eyes. His softly curly hair was also bright gold. Although he was his biological brother, he did not look very much like Terrence. From his gentle appearance, he probably resembled their mother’s side.

“Hello, Rot.”

“Oh, hello. Princess.”

“I finally got to meet Rot. I wanted to meet you.”

She slightly bent her knees and made eye level with the child, showing a friendly smile.

“I brought a present for Rot. Don’t you want to see it?”

At the word of a gift, Rot, who was sitting close to Terrence, poked his face out.

“…A gift?”

Gifts were important when it came to winning a kid’s heart. Even witches in fairy tales give cookies to lure kids.

“Here it is.”

She handed the gift box she had prepared in advance to Rot. It was a small box that could be hugged by a child’s arms. Rot looked at her, then took the box and untied the ribbon. Then he took out the gift from the box and opened his eyes wide. The present she had prepared was a warship made just like the real thing.

“Rot said he wanted to be an admiral. So I asked for one made exactly like a real military ship.”

“Did my brother tell you?”

She glanced back at Terrence and replied.

“Sure.”

Terrence just stared at her, but he said nothing. Rot, who was fiddling with the mast of a warship, looked up at her with curious eyes.

“I… Princess, would you like to look at the wedding present I am making?”

“A wedding present?”

“Is there anything that the princess doesn’t like… I wanted to show you if there was anything to fix.”

Rot lowered his gaze, blushing as if embarrassed. His milky white cheeks were dyed pink.

‘So cute.’

He was so cute that it was hard to believe that he was Terrence’s younger brother.

“I wonder what kind of gift it is. I really want to see it.”

Rot looked back at his brother, delighted with her words. Terrence nodded his head gravely.

“Yes, show her.”

Rot held the sailboat in his arms and pulled her by the hand.

“Princess, please come this way.”

She glanced at Terrence and followed Rot.

Rot’s room was on the second floor. It was a cozy and warm room with good lighting. A shelf that occupied one wall was filled with toys and books. Rot shyly led her to a table by the window.

“Here you are.”

On the small table was a wooden board the size of a thin book, and on it were small dolls and decorations the size of a little finger. Two round and cute figures of people were in the center, and the sides were full of flowers, ribbons, and cake-like decorations. Looking closely, the one in the middle was a red-haired woman in a white dress and a dark-haired man in a formal dress. 

‘Oh, it’s me and Terrence.’

Both the bride and groom were smiling happily. Even though it was made by a child, it was very detailed and sophisticated. The dress was elaborately made with pleats and ribbons, and a bouquet of pink roses was in her hand. Even the white veil and necklace worn on the head were expressed in detail. It’s a cute gift full of sincerity.

“Wow, that’s really well done. What is it made of?”

“With this.”

He showed her the box under the table. Inside were things like clay with a soft-looking texture. Was it clay? It’s like rubber clay, but it’s softer and pliable than that. There were over twenty different colors.

“What is this?”