As if she felt his gaze on her, Lorette turned to look at where Sisef was sitting. Hazel saw clearly that in the crowd of people, only two people whose eyes met were exchanging smiles.

A shy smile appeared on Lorette’s face. Hazel knew exactly what the reddened cheeks were saying. And also Sisef’s eyes, which shone brightly at Lorette’s cuteness.

“…….”

Hazel couldn’t help but look away hastily.

Her heart began to pound. She felt horrible, as if she had made a very big mistake. For a very brief moment, the scene passed through her vision.

No one would have seen it. It was only for a short time.

Struggling to calm her heart, Hazel walked over to where her seat was arranged.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Meanwhile, Achilleon’s eyes that followed her persistently continued. She felt every muscle in her body tense up at the intensity of his gaze, which she couldn’t ignore.

‘Does he dislike something?’

Was there something about the speech that he didn’t like? Or was her reading that bothered him?

No matter how much Hazel thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a clear answer. The back of her head hurt from the stare, and before she knew it, the welcoming ceremony was over, and the welcoming banquet was waiting to follow.

“It was beautiful, Hazel.”

Sisef approached and spoke to her, Hazel replied with a big smile.

“Thank you.”

As Hazel glanced around, Sisef corrected his words.

“Oh, I must call you Princess.”

He added in a slightly mischievous tone. Hazel’s cheeks flushed red at his words. Just as Lorette did earlier.

“It was an honor to hear the princess’s wonderful speech today.”

Hazel gave a happy smile as Sisef spoke in an exaggerated manner. All eyes in the hall were on Hazel and Sisef. Their eyes, visible through the fans, were half curious and half expectant.

“I wonder if His Royal Highness will ever want to have Demophos son in law?”

“I heard they have been close since they were young.”

The princess and the prince, who had first met as children during an exchange between the two countries, had similar interests to the extent that they had taken composition classes together, and after a few visits they became quite close.

There were even whispers that they would soon be talking about marriage. It was all a result of King Land’s elaborate plan.

“Thank you for the speech, Hazel.”

Lorette greeted the two and bowed gracefully.

“…Thank you.”

Hazel had no choice but to accept the greetings. Normally, she would have ignored Lorette and walked on by, but there were too many eyes watching her now to do so. Hazel glanced over Lorette’s outfit.

Contrary to Hazel, who wore a dark green dress, emerald earrings and necklace, Lorette was dressed in a pale sky blue dress and aquamarine trinkets.

It was a gift directly from the king, who said it perfectly matched Lorette’s complexion. The clear sky-blue necklace and earrings were something Hazel had wanted too, but the king sent them to Lorette, saying they were not suited for Hazel.

“You look good, Hazel.”

Reluctantly complimenting her, Lorette averted her gaze and looked at Sisef. He too looked at her with a subtle gaze.

At that moment, a waltz music began to flow through the hall.

As the dance began, everyone’s eyes were drawn to the couple who began to dance. Hazel gently held out her hand towards Sisef, expecting him to hold her hand. But contrary to her expectations, he did not take her hand.

Sisef was standing between Hazel and Lorette.

He was close enough to catch either of them with his hand. At that moment, Hazel saw Sisef’s eyes were on Lorette. Lorette was also staring at him naturally.

The situation that followed was all too obvious. Hazel swallowed a gulp and looked at the two.

“……!”

Suddenly, someone snatched her hand out of the air. The hand wrapped around her slender waist and led her to the center of the hall.

Hazel didn’t have time to refuse, and it was only when she stood in the middle of the hall that she was able to see her partner’s face.

Cold blue eyes. Hazel’s eyes fluttered when she met them, visible through the thick lashes of her eyes.

The man was so tall that she had to raise her head to see him perfectly. Sisef was also tall, but this man seemed to be at least half a head taller than Sisef.

“His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince.”

Achilleon smiled faintly at Hazel’s unintentional call of his name.

“May I have your permission for our first dance?”

It was the rudest request for a dance Hazel had ever received in her life.

***

“Princess, are you all right?”

“…….”

“You fainted in the tub.”

Hazel opened her eyes lazily at the sound of a concerned whisper.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Passing out in the tub was an embarrassment.

“Meow.”

When the soft ball of fur approached her and rubbed its face against her hand, Hazel felt a little better.

“How’s the wound? (*that cat’s paw wound)

“The treatment went well. Fortunately, the bone is okay.”

“Is that right?”

Hazel breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the cat. Its furry paws had been shaved short to treat the wound, and the bandaged paw was still swollen, but it didn’t seem to have any trouble moving.

“And this was wrapped around Titty’s paw.”

“…….”

Hazel looked at the bloodied piece of cloth.

“There’s a gold thread embroidered over here. It looks like it’s from a noble person.”

“It seems so.”

“He must have a difficult time dealing with Titty.”

“I suppose so. Anything else? Is everything alright?”

Hazel averted her gaze.

“Yes.”

Hazel gently cupped the cat’s face and smiled.

“And the welcome banquet?”

“It went well.”

“That’s good.”

“Princess was sweating a lot. I think you were having a nightmare the whole time.”

“It was just a bit of a bad dream.”

It was a vivid dream, a dream Hazel never wanted to have again. The most frightening part was the fact that it was never a dream, but part of her memory.

“Oh, while you were sleeping, Princess Lorette came.”

“She did?”

“She came to say thank you for lending her the necklace and earrings. She was so surprised to hear that you collapsed, but I stopped her from coming in to see you.”

“…Very well.”

Hazel didn’t want Lorette to see her like this. Acting sickly and actually looking shabby were two very different things.

“You haven’t eaten anything, so I prepared a light soup. I’m sure you’ll feel a little better once you’ve had some.”

Mary said, offering the warm soup. Hazel tried to tell her that she had no appetite, but she felt the hunger rushing through her, so she took the spoon, scooped up the soup and began to eat.

“But what in the world did you see yesterday that surprised you so much?”

“It was dark, perhaps a hallucination.”

Hazel roughly scooped more soup and began to eat.

Knock. Knock.

Just then a maid came in to announce someone’s visit.

“His Royal Highness the King is here.”

“My father…?”

Clink. Hazel was so surprised that she dropped the spoon she was holding on the floor.

“I’ll be out in a moment. I look like a mess. ….”

Hazel didn’t have to look in the mirror to tell how she looked like at this moment. Messy hair, dry skin, sunken eyes, sweaty.

“Come on, come on….”

Just as Hazel, bewildered by the unexpected visit, was about to hurry down to bed, the door opened and the King, Ileos, appeared.

“Hazel.”

“…….”

Hazel couldn’t move any further and stopped where she was.

“Oh, father.”

Hazel tried to move her frozen body to greet him, but the king stopped her and had her sit on the bed again.

“I heard that you were hurt. No need to be so formal.”

“…Yes.”

Hazel nodded with a puzzled look on her face.

“What did the court physician say?

Ileos looked a little surprised to see his daughter’s severely thin face.

“It’s just that… lately I’ve been having a lot of nightmares, so I was told to get some rest.”

“Nightmares?”

Hazel nodded quickly.

“Just a dream falling from a high place, or seeing a ghost… It’s a mess. They say that dreams like that happen when your body gets weak.”

Hazel made up the story. Ileos looked at his daughter’s face and his brow furrowed as if he was concerned.

Since she didn’t show up for the welcome ceremony or the banquet, he figured something must have gone wrong.

“…I apologize for not being able to attend this important official event.”

“I’m not blaming you.”

“You can blame me for not fulfilling my duties as a princess.”

Hazel said as she dropped her gaze, and Ileos opened his mouth after a brief silence.

“…You’re the one who taught Lorette….”

Ah, that was it, wasn’t it? Hazel smiled inwardly, then said as she slowly raised her head.

“I was just doing what a sister is supposed to do. Since I can’t attend, it is my duty to guide Lorette on how to do it perfectly.”

“You really thought so?”

With a slightly surprised tone, Hazel nodded with a smile.

“Of course. You always told me to treat Lorette like my own sister.”

Hazel smiled gently. It was easy for her to put on the expression she had always wanted since she was a child, and it wasn’t hard to smile brightly at any time of the day.

It was very easy when she thought about it. Pretending to be a good sister, act the part, and be the kind daughter who would not go against her father’s will.

But why was it so difficult back then? And why is it so natural now?

A strange feeling arose in her.