Chapter 85: The Choice is Yours
I walked down the hallway. It was dark here, as it was quite far from the ballroom. Fortunately, since the ball was still in full swing, with the knights and guests in the hall, no one was around. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. All right, let’s do some abdominal breathing. I inhaled and exhaled deeply about four or five times until I heard footsteps approaching.
I turned to see if it was Sigren coming. Fortunately, it wasn’t.
‘But encountering this person is also a problem.’
I remained calm as I considered the situation. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
The crown prince.
“I’ve met the Crown Prince.”
Crown Prince Enoch was walking with an oddly confident air.
Well, I couldn’t view him positively, given that my first impression was of him flirting with Livya Priscilla and his subsequent confrontation with Sigren. Yet, I was somewhat surprised that he had managed to stay composed even after Sigren had him by the neck. It seemed he had remained still at that time.
“Lady Fiona, long time no see.”
“Ah, I apologize. Have we ever met, Your Highness?” I replied with as much sarcasm as was appropriate.
In truth, aside from the unpleasant initial encounter, there had been no formal introduction with the crown prince. Abel had intervened then. I realized now that the crown prince had approached me because Abel was not present. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
‘Abel! Come quickly!’
The crown prince’s eyebrows furrowed subtly.
Well, what?
“I’m sorry to hear that. I sent a present to you, Lady Fiona. I’m not sure if it arrived.”
“Yes?”
A present? I hadn’t received anything from the royal family.
‘Ah, wait.’
Did he mean a literal present?
I frowned, recalling a recent incident. I remembered one detail from the time I held the head of the mercenary guild leader down a while ago.
‘The client is above Heilon.’
Ah, this is crazy. So it was the crown prince who commissioned the mercenaries. But why?
I maintained my composure.
“Have I ever done anything wrong to Your Highness?”
“Yeah, but more than that, it’s Sigren. That f*cker is the problem.”
I ground my teeth inside. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
‘F*cker he said. He better get the name straight.’
The crown prince smiled mischievously.
“It was a surprise gift. It’s unfortunate that the desired result didn’t come about.”
It was obvious why he was revealing this in front of me—he was trying to provoke me.
‘There’s no solid evidence.’
Even if I went back to the mercenary guild, any traces would be cut off midway. It wouldn’t lead to the crown prince. Despite the suspicion, it was impossible to question him without clear evidence. He was clever enough not to use his own hands.
‘So annoying…’
It was a childish and stupid provocation, but it still made me angry. After our two encounters, I had concluded that he was my enemy. I would make him pay several times over as soon as I got the chance. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
The crown prince chuckled.
“You must have been surprised by my sudden gift. It’s just a little joke, so don’t be afraid. I think highly of Lady Fiona, unlike Duke Abel.”
‘I wasn’t scared; I was annoyed.’
Even if I were just an ordinary noble girl, I wouldn’t be afraid of a few mercenaries.
The crown prince slowly reached toward my face.
“So, as long as you stay calm—”
I slapped his hand away and smiled softly.
“Oh, I apologize. There was a bug on it.”
The crown prince’s expression twisted.
“How dare you be rude!”
I crossed my arms and looked around. There was still no sign of people.
“Are you this rude because you think Duke Abel cares about you, or because you believe Sigren would protect you in an emergency?!”
I remembered the crown prince’s fate. After the emperor died, he had power struggles with Sigren but was eventually killed by him. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
Thinking about his eventual demise helped me calm down.
“I protect my own body.”
“Heh, yes, you’re just a bunch of illegitimate kids…”
“…”
I was momentarily speechless. Look at the way he talked.
The crown prince must have developed this high-handed attitude because he misinterpreted my reaction. “Or perhaps Duke Abel was also seduced by that body? I thought it was suspicious that he cared for you even though you’re not of his real blood…”
My patience snapped after hearing his taunts. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“My answer is this.”
Dug!
I kicked the crown prince’s knee.
“AGH!”
The crown prince clutched his knee and hopped around.
Seeing this, I smiled generously.
“Well, thanks to you, Your Highness, I understand now. There are people in the world who spew filth instead of words.”
The crown prince’s face turned red with anger. He swung his hand to slap me.
Heh, of course, I avoided it. My reflexes were pretty decent. I was only inferior to Abel and Sigren. But let’s not compare me with those two, as their physical abilities were far beyond normal human levels.
He was fuming with rage. “Do you think you’ll be fine after insulting the royal family like this? You must be punished for four years—”
“Oh my~, you can say that, Your Highness.”
I laughed softly. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Go and tell people yourself. You had a quarrel with a woman who is inferior and weaker than you, and you were unilaterally beaten.”
It was just the two of us here now. For him to reveal this, he would have to speak out himself.
‘That noble young girl hit me!’
I was sure the crown prince wouldn’t be able to admit it directly. He was too proud to confess that he had been beaten by a woman who appeared weaker than him without even touching him. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“….”
The crown prince glared at me with deadly intent. I grinned, finding his bloodthirstiness more cute than intimidating. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Or should I tell people instead?”
“You’re arrogant.”
“You’re right.”
I could afford to be as cheeky as I wanted.
The crown prince pointed a finger at me. “You don’t seem to know how things work here since you grew up in a corner of the countryside. You must think Sigren could do something. You’ll be crying for mercy at my feet later!”
It was truly a third-rate insult. I pretended to yawn, which seemed to annoy him even more. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
The crown prince tried to catch me a few more times, but I easily avoided him. His anger was clearly taking over, and he was likely to resort to violence, just as he had with Livya. However, I could defend myself.
“What are you doing?”
Someone grabbed the crown prince’s arm. I widened my eyes in surprise. It was a furious Sigren.
Oh gosh, every time Sigren got really mad, I couldn’t help but feel a little scared too.
“Uh, playing tag?”
“…”
I was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t seem to help. The crown prince shouted, waving his hand. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Let go of my hand right now!!”
He shouldn’t be worried about his arm. When Sigren was angry like this, even monsters weren’t safe.
I grabbed Sigren’s other arm to prevent him from doing anything rash. If he hit the crown prince, it wouldn’t just result in bruises; it could end with broken bones. That would be a serious problem, especially if the crown prince was injured to that extent.
‘I’ll have to find a way to get back at him for this annoying behavior later.’
Sigren seemed to understand this too, so he gritted his teeth and shoved the crown prince away.
I patted Sigren on the back and spoke seriously to the staggering crown prince. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Your Highness, next time, I hope you will spit out words instead of poops.”
“…!”
I heard the crown prince running away behind me. With Sigren present, he could no longer act with his previous arrogance.
What a cowardly crown prince.
‘This will probably be more troublesome in the future.’
I sighed, thinking about the provocation and its potential consequences. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
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