CH 11

After leaving the royal palace, Mariabelle asks her father to expedite her departure for her estate.

She hurried to the estate to avoid being summoned by the king's order again.

Since she had already done most of the preparations, her departure was smoother than she had expected.

The journey to the estate was both short and long.

In the time that she had nothing to do while riding in the carriage, Mariabelle's heart alternated between sadness and anger.

Mariabelle was angry at Edward's self-righteous behavior.

Why should she be so underestimated?

Edward had probably recommended Simon to her out of the kindness of his heart.

But she had no reason to marry Simon, even though her father had not ordered her to do so.

He asked me to find someone to love, but why would Edward choose that person?

And even if she were to marry Simon, since Simon is Edward's confidant, Mariabelle would also be by Edward and Annette's side the whole time.

Simon is Edward's foster younger brother.

Perhaps Edward thinks that if he does well, he can hire Mariabelle as a nanny for the child born to him and Annette.

At this thought, Mariabelle hugged herself tightly, horrified.

If she had no other choice but to choose that future, she would rather join the most rigorous convent she could find.

It is not that she hates Simon. She doesn't know him well enough to dislike him.

She just doesn't like the fact that Edward is trying to decide everything about her life.

Until now, Mariabelle has been with Edward in the past and in the future.

But from now on, she is free.

The shackles of being the future crown princess have been lifted, and she can decide her own future as she pleases.

Because of this broken engagement, James, Mariabelle's father, has agreed to allow her to do as she pleases to some extent.

Let's go back to the estate and rest our tired minds and bodies for a while.

Since becoming Edward's fiancée, she has not been to the estate even once.

It would be a long time before she could see the golden fields of wheat she had seen as a child, but she would like to see them again.

Mariabelle gently closed her eyes in the carriage on the way to the estate, with the nostalgic scenery in her mind.

Six months have passed since she returned to her estate.

Before she knew it, she had spent a whole winter in the estate.

Her mother, who was often in the estate, knew everything that had happened in the royal capital, but she hugged Mariabelle without saying a word.

Just that alone seemed to soothe Mariabelle's heart.

Thanks to her mother and her father and brother, who took time out of their busy schedules to visit her, Mariabelle gradually began to smile again.

During the winter months, there was no socializing, and many of the nobles returned to their estates.

Since Berkeley's territory is located in the south, where it is warm and snow-free, her father and brother would normally spend the winter months in the estate, but until now they have been taking turns shuttling between the royal capital and the estate for Mariabelle, who cannot return to the royal capital due to the crown princess education.

This year, the family was finally supposed to be able to spend time together at the estate, but she was busy cleaning up the mess from her broken engagement to Edward, and it seemed that she was not able to return to the royal capital.

According to the news, Annette's education as a crown princess was not progressing well, and recently Mrs. Dudley had been dismissed from her role as an educator.

However, neither her father nor her brother wanted to share the details with her, so she was able to spend the winter months in her estate.

Sometimes she would get sad and cry, or spend a day in a daze because she didn't feel like doing anything.

Soon we would see wheat fields all over the country.

The ears of green wheat are still growing toward the sky, but in a little while, we will be able to see the golden ears of wheat hanging down and swaying in the wind.

In Berkeley territory, the breadbasket of the country, the harvest festival will be held in a big way.

Mariabelle was looking forward to participating in what she was sure would be an enjoyable festival.

It was then that she received a letter from her father.

"The Empire Flower Festival...?"

Further south from Berkeley's territory, there is a large country called the Empire of Galleria.

The kingdom is on friendly terms with the empire, so people come and go between the two countries.

The Gallerian Empire celebrates the birth of its first emperor and holds a festival called the Flower Festival everywhere in the spring.

The letter from James was an invitation to visit a flower festival in a city near the Berkeley territory, instead of the grand flower festival held in the imperial capital.

her father and brother, who are both in the royal capital, would be returning to the territory to coincide with it.

Having been in the royal capital all her life, Mariabelle had never been to another country.

So, delighted by her father's invitation, she hurriedly wrote a reply to the letter.