Hazel was unable to attend the ball held that evening.

She was so frustrated that she broke all the fixtures in her room, which was also heard by the king, who placed her under house arrest, not even allowing her to leave her bedroom.

The punishment was very humiliating for a princess who represented the royal family.

But now it was different. Hazel chose to stay in her bedroom herself. It was her job to help Lorette stand out more than Hazel herself. To win her father’s favor and to catch Lady Pais off guard.

So, she didn’t meet anyone, and didn’t form a relationship with anyone…she was just going to be a sickly little princess.

Only then would she be able to avoid seeing Achilleon and Sisef during the half month of their stay.

Lorette was enough for the princess of the Kingdom of Land. A princess who would marry the Grand Duke, Prince Sisef, that was all Hazel needed.

She had just put the first button in the first hole.

“Meow.”

Hazel smiled unconsciously at the warm and ticklish touch as the cat, who was playing with her hands, dug into her arms.

“So you’ll stay with me.”

As she held the cat and buried her nose in the soft fur, there was a smell of soft sunlight.

‘I am not jealous of what you have. I won’t be angry that you took something from me. Instead….

I wish you all the happiness in the world. Live happily ever after with the Grand Duke, without dying.

And….I’m not going to meet Achilleon today.’

***

After the welcome speech, people gathered here and there to chat until the ball started.

Lorette was still trying to quiet her pounding heart in the aftermath of the welcome speech she had read.

“The speech the Princess read earlier was truly impressive.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Lorette looked around for a moment, then responded to the greeting from Prince Sisef.

“It was truly perfect. Everyone was moved.”

His kind and warm look was sincere. Sisef was a man of friendly and gentle personality that anyone could approach and relax their boundaries. His tender impression and warm eyes were enough to melt Lorette’s nervousness.

“I’m glad you liked it. I am honored.”

Lorette quickly bowed her head and expressed her gratitude. Her cheeks flushed red, which was attributed purely to the nervousness of reading the speech.

“My brother was impressed too. He couldn’t take his eyes off the princess the whole time.”

Lorette’s face turned redder as Sisef whispered.

“You could have recited one of your poems, couldn’t you?”

In the middle of their conversation, Lorette was surprised to see the Crown Prince approaching from the front and slightly bowed her head.

As the Crown Prince approached, the gazes of the many noblewomen and noble ladies in the banquet hall were on him simultaneously. They were busy looking at him, following him as he moved. But the Crown Prince’s indifferent gaze did not stay anywhere.

“Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

When Lorette greeted him with a nervous look, the Crown Prince, who was alternately looking at his brother and Lorette’s face, said with a faint smile.

“It was not I who stared at the Princess, it was Prince Sisef.”

“It was you, Achilleon.”

Sisef coughed and grabbed Achilleon’s arm, but Achilleon’s words were not over.

“He didn’t even blink the whole time, I think he was heartstruck.”

“Oh….”

Lorette’s face instantly turned red up to her ears.

“What are you doing making fun of the princess so much when you just met her for the first time?”

“You’re the one who’s teasing me.”

Achilleon said without changing his expression, and Sisef sighed deeply.

“You won. Let’s get some air before the ball starts.”

As if he had read Sisef’s intention to hastily chase him away, Achilleon’s lips lifted slightly. The noblewomen still had their eyes on him all this time.

“Please, I beg you.”

Sisef pushed Achilleon, who was taller than him, to the entrance of the banquet hall, then looked back at Lorette and bowed.

“Well, I’ll see you later in the ballroom.”

Lorette bowed her head, then turned and approached her mother, who was chatting with some noblewomen in a corner of the banquet hall.

Lady Pais seemed to enjoy her higher status than any of the noblewomen.

The people who crowded around her were uniformly royalists, people who did not get along with Hazel’s mother’s family.

“Lorette, you were great.”

After asking to be excused, Lady Pais divided the crowd like a graceful fish and said as she arranged Lorette’s dress.

“You are a born princess, my dear. You are graceful and beautiful.”

“What?”

Lorette walked with her hand wrapped around her mother’s arm.

“Hazel is no match for you. She’s an angry foal.”

As Lady Pais whispered behind her fan, Lorette looked around nervously, wondering if anyone could hear her.

“She’s a coward.”

“But mom….”

“You call me like that again?”

“Mother….”

Lady Pais, who clicked her tongue at Lorette’s weak voice, saw the Princes walking in from the outside and her eyes lit up. Her eyes were especially fixed on the Crown Prince, whose bright blond hair and dark blue eyes reminiscent of the moonlight.

“Oh my, they say he’s a madman who ravaged the battlefield, but he’s so beautiful. I don’t believe the rumors at all.”

Lady Pais looked at the Crown Prince with a coveted gaze.

“Doesn’t it seem like God made him on purpose? He would look perfect if he carried a harp instead of a sword. Hmm, he looks a little angry, doesn’t he?”

As soon as the opening of the welcoming party was announced, the people from the Kingdom were busy swallowing their admiration when they saw the people from the Empire Demophos who had entered. It was for the Crown Prince, who was as beautiful as a divine masterpiece.

Unlike his brother, who had a faint smile on his face, the Crown Prince’s face was as expressionless as an ice sculpture. Nonetheless, the women in the hall were busy sneaking at him.

People said he was the god of war, and not a single blade of grass remained where he passed.

The energy surrounding him was quite horrendous and so were the rumors, adding to the story that he swept away numerous enemy troops in battle even before he became Crown Prince.

They said when he took off his helmet and his face was covered with stab wounds, and some said that one of his arms was not made of flesh but of layered iron. There was even an unfunny story about an arrow that hit him in the head and pulled it out himself.

But that was not all. They even said he would eat raw and old meat and he had a foul smell.

Some people thought the rumors were too suspicious and to some extent exaggerated, nonetheless, people in Land kingdom were nervous before welcoming him.

However, when he finally showed up at the welcome party, the Crown Prince’s appearance was enough to right the wrong rumors.

Though, some of the rumors were true about his cold blooded nature.

Besides, the Crown Prince was a very different man from his half-brother. While Sisef was gentle, cautious, and lyrical, Achilleon was cynical and had no problem throwing twisted words.

He didn’t talk much, but nothing that had ever come out of his mouth had sounded soft and pleasant.

In the end, people finally came to an unspoken agreement. They understood why the Emperor sent prince Sisef along with Crown Prince Achilleon to the peace treaty mission.

“Oh, by the way, I heard his birth mother is incredibly beautiful.”

Lady Pais’s eyes lit up as she pondered. The sight of her mother was so unsettling that Lorette looked at her again with nervous eyes.

“…….”

“I suppose it’s about the same as your circumstances.”

“…..What?”

“I heard his mother is not an empress, but she’s very talented.”

“…….”

“But bloodline is more important than ability. After all, the throne is determined by the emperor.”

“What do you mean?”

“You never know which one will be the next emperor.”

Lady Pais smiled, as if snapped out of her reverie, and reached out her hand to the emerald necklace on Lorette’s neck.

“This necklace and earrings look great on you. Like it has always been yours.”

The hand stroking the large emerald was filled with a certain eagerness.

“Princess Hazel…no, sister lent it to me.”

Lorette carefully took the emerald-pendant from her mother’s hand.

“Sister?”

Lady Pais’s eyes opened wide, as if startled by the unfamiliar title.

“Since when?”

“She lent me such a nice necklace and earrings because I’m her sister.”

“Is that so…?”

Lady Pais looked at the necklace carefully, her brow wrinkled.

“What a sight to behold. That arrogant thing.”

“Mother.”

“You’re her father’s daughter too, but she looks down on you. It’s not a good omen.”

As if to cool off her anger, Lady Pais fanned herself, and patted her stomach.

“I’ll give birth to this child, and on the day of the prince’s birth, she’ll feel sorry for herself.”