CH 46

The finished painting was a dress in the style of the rococo period. The sleeves were wide open from the elbow, and the skirt split in the middle and had an underskirt on the inside. She tried her best to draw it, but no matter how you look at it, it was a drawing that was at the level of a child’s graffiti.

“Ah… Yes, it is pretty.”

Diane looked at her painting for a while and desperately squeezed out a compliment.

“You don’t have to force praise.”

She put down the pen and sighed helplessly.

“I have been imagining how to make a wedding dress for a long time, but as the wedding is approaching, I am so nervous that I cannot make a proper decision. That’s all I came up with.”

If Eve said she didn’t know much about dresses, no one would believe her, so she had to invent a reason for this. Fortunately, Diane seemed to believe this.

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“Still, I think a dress of this style would suit the princess well.”

Diane took up her pen and she drew some embellishments beside the dress in the painting.

“How about doing this a little more here? Ah… It’s just my opinion, so don’t mind if you don’t like it.”

Diane drew the embroidery on her skirt and bodice, the bodice. That’s how she adds some embellishments, so it looked a lot more plausible.

“It’s fine. It is much prettier.”

“Really?”

Even though it was a simple decoration, it went well with the dress and looked good.

“Well, how about something like this?”

Diane hesitated, but she added a few decorative designs again. As the drawings increased, the plain dress she drew became more and more beautiful. Maybe it’s because she’s the daughter of a Duke, so she had an excellent eye.

“I’ll leave the detailed design up to Miss Diane’s eye, so could you order it roughly like this?”

Eve said, pushing Diane the picture. Diane accepted the painting and she was determined to be ambitious.

“Yes, I will try my best to make it!”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

She was worried about what would happen if she overworked herself and got sick. She was leaving the dress to the dressing room, and Diane’s just deciding on the design, so that’s fine. Then, all of a sudden, Nell knocked on the door.

“Princess, Her Highness the Crown Prince has arrived.”

“What?”

No, why did he come at a time like this? He had never come here before. As expected, Diane stiffened like a stone at the words of being the crown prince.

Arentin came inside without even having time to say anything.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

She got up from her seat and set my example.

“Eve.”

Arentin had a serious and serious expression as usual. It was a tired complexion with shadows under the eyes. He looked like a person who didn’t even have time to eat because he’s so busy with work. Now that he’s the acting emperor, it seemed like there would be a lot of work in reality. In fact, Eve knew Arentine would come here sooner or call her into his office. However, there was no contact until now, and it was only today that he visited so suddenly. Looking at the accumulated fatigue, it seemed that he had been very busy. Maybe he was keeping an eye on the situation, watching what Terrence and she were doing.

Arentin, who was walking into her room, noticed Diane behind her and stopped. Diane gave a greeting in a voice that barely crawled in as she hid her body behind Eve.

“…Greeting His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Before Arentine asked why was she there, Eve quickly explained her circumstances.

“Miss Diane of the Duchess of Rohan came to help me make my wedding dress.”

After hearing her explanation, Arentine seemed to remember Diane. She greeted him in a calm tone.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time. I’m glad your health seems to be improving.”

“Th, thank you, Your Highness.”

Diane was almost crying. But Arentine didn’t pay much attention and looked at Eve.

“I’d like to talk to you two for a moment.”

“Miss Diane, could you step aside for a moment?”

“Yes, yes, Princess!”

She was very sorry to ask her to leave in this situation, but Diane ran outside before she could speak… was it true that she like Arentine? Eve didn’t think she liked him, but she seemed extremely scared. 

When she was left alone in the room, Arentine came closer to her.

“Are you learning to embroider?”

He found the embroidery frame and asked. It was a bit of a surprise because he knew that Eve never embroidered before.

“Yes, I’m just learning little by little by helping to make the veil.”

Arentine stopped for a moment and looked at the embroidery frame carefully.

“The workmanship… It’s okay.”

That was what he said after looking at her work on the embroidery frame for a while. His words were cut off for a moment, but his expression as he looked at the flowers engraved on the ivory cloth was very serious.

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s not like I can’t either.”

Nell praised her skills saying that she was very good at it, but it seemed to Eve that she had barely mastered the basics. If it’s known that Eve in the original work had no interest in embroidery, it’s to be expected that her skills were poor. Thanks to this, no one doubts even if she couldn’t do this.

Arentine murmured as he let out a sigh.

“Still, I’m glad you got a new hobby.”

She guessed it’s a relief that she didn’t run into accidents like she used to and was quietly shutting herself up and embroidering.

“I will be back before your wedding.”

Arentine declared, as if he promised her, that he would return to the battlefield soon after the snow stopped.

Well, whether that will work.

In the original work, Arentine went to war like this, but he did not return to the island until the day of her wedding.

“Hmm. You see.”

Her answering voice was deliberately a little uneasy. Arentien sensed the anxiety in her tone and asked anxiously.

“Is there something troubling you?”

She stayed silent for a while, as if lost in thought.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Arentine watched her with his anxious blue eyes.

“I got along very well with the Grand Duke,” she said. “Because I’m getting married soon.”

“…I’m glad you got along somehow.”

He was wondering what the heck was going on. It’s a question that most people in the Islands were most curious about these days, he heard. Thanks to it, he received more than ten invitations while it snowed. The senders were aristocrats who would soon be holding a ball or evening at the mansion. Everyone sent her elaborate invitations asking her to come to a social gathering at the mansion. Had they forgotten that she was on probation? 

Or maybe they thought she could come out at any time since she had already gone out twice with the Grand Duke. The content of the invitation was almost the same, but what people wanted would be slightly different.

He wanted to check the truth of the rumor himself, or if she had already confirmed it and he was curious if it’s still like that.

‘Perhaps this is the purpose of this older brother’s sudden visit to me.’

To ask directly about her relationship with the Grand Duke.

Arentin asked again with a worried face.

“Is this a matter related to the Grand Duke?”

“It is not.”

It wasn’t a lie. Because this has nothing to do with the Grand Duke. Arentine didn’t seem to believe her. Did Eve think the only thing to worry about was Terrence? Of course, it was like that in the original.

Arentine looked at her for a moment and then sighed.

“I knew you liked him for a long time.”

There was no one in the Empire who did not know that fact.

“The Grand Duke… he is a dangerous man. Anyhow…”

Arentine spoke up to that point, but his words were blurred. ‘Anyhow?’ What was the next word? Was he trying to say that he was worried that the Grand Duke had other ulterior motives and that he’s taking advantage of her?

He could be thinking so. Because the Grand Duke hated Eve until a few days ago, and then suddenly fell in love with her. It might look like he’s approaching Eve with some other ulterior motive. Except that the Grand Duke had absolutely no reason to use Eve.

“I know what you mean. Do you think the Grand Duke has other ulterior motives and is being nice to me?”

Arentine didn’t answer.

She waited for his answer and continued.

“It’s not like that, so don’t worry.”

It’s not a lie. In the first place, they used each other and helped each other. However, Arentine still looked worried. He looked at her, hesitated for a moment, then said.

“If anything happens, ask me for help.”

His tone was calm, but his voice was full of sincere concern. Even the eyes that looked at her reflected a little affection. He hated his sister so much in the original story, so what happened? In some ways, this was the most puzzling part of what she had experienced since coming here. Didn’t he actually hate Eve that much?

“Of course it is. Then who am I going to ask for help?”

This was not a lie either. Maybe soon there would be something to ask Arentine for help. If everything went according to plan, that was.