"Hmmm!"
My body was frightened and lost its balance and leaned to the side. It was before my body completely touched the floor. There was someone who was supporting me at the nick of time. Rather than being grateful, my heart was the size of a pea.
I bowed my head so as not to reveal my identity to the person who was lifting me up.
"Lady, you've caught everything. It's useless now, so keep your head up."
"S... Sir Stefano?"
My heart was almost extinguished.
As soon as I looked up to see Stefano, I heard another roar.
"Kyaa..."
I screamed in surprise. This time, I felt like my heart had really exploded.
Stefano hurriedly covered my ears with his hands. His warmth slipped into my ears unexpectedly, and my body stiffened. Stefano smiled at me and squeezed his hand so that I could stare into the air. Colorful fireworks were set off in the sky.
"Wow..."
The flames spread like a spider's web and took on various forms. It also shone in rainbow colors and flashed in the shape of a wagon. I looked up at the sky until the last flame was gone. Stefano, who was only white smoke in the sky, removed his hand from my ear.
"Thank you."
I said.
"Lady, why did you come out again?"
In spite of my sincerity, Stefano reprimanded me severely. I did something wrong, so I didn't respond. This was the end of my confidence in resembling Edita's mother.
"You didn't come out to attend the dinner banquet, did you?"
"..."
"Am I stupid for asking?"
"..."
Stefano sighed deeply. His sigh had a strange twist. According to my nanny, Madame Marie, he was the one who tried to corner me with Princess Lena. Now was a good opportunity to get me into a corner. The story of Lady Edita, who escaped from the palace against the Emperor's order, would be a deadly scandal.
Even though I knew this, I thought it was I who came out. Anyway, I couldn't understand Stefano sighing anxiously in front of such a curiosity.
"Do you really want to go to the banquet hall?"
"Huh, huh?"
His question, which had no way of inferring his intentions, stammered out. Stefano had a serious face.
"Why do you want to go to the banquet hall?"
"That's to see my fiancé..."
"Do you really want to see him? You may regret it."
Stefano affirmed.
Maybe you'll regret it? What he just said was not easily understood
However, I couldn't find a single lie in his gaze on me.
What does it mean to regret it? Could it be that Madame Marie lied to me? Baron Orleans is actually not a surprisingly handsome man, but a very ugly man, or that the painting is a bit glorified...
Stefano looked at my face in horror and said.
"You'll find out anyway. If you really want it, I will take you to the menstrual gel palace where the banquet is held."
I was in distress. Stefano was so heavy that I was terrified that I felt like I was going to end up with whatever choice I made. However, as he said, if I was going to find out anyway, it was better to be beaten early. If I went back now, I would be curious about what happened, and it would be painful until I found out the truth.
"Show me around."
As if waiting for my answer, Stefano held out his hand. I tried to grab his hand casually, but quickly pulled it away. It was because I remembered the first time I met him. It was a good memory to be in his arms, but I didn't want to take him with me on my way to see my fiancé..
Despite my wary attitude, Stefano didn't panic and laughed.
"I'm having a hard time, too, so I can't carry you until the Saint Rejean is gone."
He is a really quick-witted man. Then I took Stefano's hand.
The banquet was being held in the garden of the Saint Rejean palace. Before entering the banquet hall, Stefano asked one of the wandering maids to bring him a cloak. He wrapped the red cloak that the maid had brought with him around my body.
"This is the first time since the Lady has recovered that you have appeared in front of the people. You can't just wear a muslin dress."
"I'm just going to sneak a look..."
"Do you think it is possible to sneak among people with that face?"
I was about to make fun of her, but I quickly realized that I was not the real me, but Lady Edita, who shone like a rose with cream-like skin, and nodded. Such a beautiful woman will bounce anywhere. I felt a new, heightened mood.
It was then that I had the spirit to look at Little Red Riding Hood. It was a spare dress that the maid had brought to him in a hurry at Stefano's request, so it didn't look very good, but it was a rough assortment. And once it became a hanger, the cape alone created an atmosphere.
Finally, under the guidance of Stefano, we entered the banquet hall. The banquet was already ripe, and many people were coming and going, so I didn't think I would get caught anytime soon.
I was constantly looking around for my fiancé. The Baron Orleans, who stole my heart from a distant world at first sight. Stefano, who was following me, let go of my hand.
I got away from Stefano and walked around the banquet hall. There were delicious cakes and fruits in front of me, but the sweetness of them was nothing compared to the beauty of Orleans. I couldn't eat everything. This was a really serious matter.
As I was exploring every corner of the banquet hall, I suddenly felt a tingle in the back of my head and stopped at my seat. When I turned around, I saw someone standing at an angle in the corner of the banquet hall, under a tree. He was looking at me exactly.
'Did you recognize me?'
Judging from his blank expression. It didn't seem to prevent me from finding Baron Orleans. I turned around and looked at him again. The black costumes, which were like mourning clothes, contrasted with the gorgeous tailcoats of Stefano and the men in the banquet hall caught my eye.
Speaking of which, his expression seems a bit gloomy...
At that moment, I heard someone's voice in my ears.
"Prince Albenovic does not enjoy banquets. Even with that great achievement."
"How can you enjoy it? He left his colleague and came back alive alone."
"That friend. I thought my life would blossom, but it ended up being useless. Look. Who in this palace, except Prince Albenovic, sincerely mourns the death of the Baron in name only? Everyone just pretended to be sad for a while, but they forgot about it and are enjoying the banquet."
"The Baron of Orleans is also very strange. A man who didn't hurt a fingertip on the battlefield suddenly died on the way home?"
...Dead? The Baron of Orleans?
I felt like all the blood was draining from my face. I looked up in a daze. Unintentionally, my gaze fell on the gloomy man once again. Was it a misunderstanding? I felt like he was smiling faintly at me. A smile that seems to bewitch.
No. It wasn't his smile that attracted me. The words of these men that Baron Orleans had died made my head hurt.
I slowly approached the men who said it. Because of my ghostly gait, the people around me stepped aside. Only the men who informed me of the death of Baron Orleans Orléans were still talking, unaware of my approach.
"That chaff got engaged to the same woman, and that's what happened."
"You should have rolled your head like that."
"...Is that true?"
The men became silent as if they were lying at the sound of my voice. They slowly turned their heads like rusty dolls, and their eyes were stained with amazement.
"La... Lady Edita..."
The appearance of an entity that should not be here poured cold water on the surroundings.
"Please tell me... Is it really my fiancé? Is he dead?"
No one answered my questions. I felt isolated in a huge desert. I wanted to shout for someone to answer.
He was a man I fell in love with at first sight, but I had never met him in person. The death of someone whom you liked but had never confirmed his existence in the world was very realistic. What I was really afraid of was this awkward silence. But the heavy air seemed to want me to wail.
"The Baron of Orleans has departed with honor."
It was Emperor Paul Lutensbach who broke the silence. Before I knew it, he was walking through the crowd and standing in front of me.
"Edita, why are you here? Rest and take care of yourself, didn't I send a messenger?"
"What if my fiancé died... What do I do then?"
"Edita."
The Emperor looked down at me with anguished eyes. Tears streamed down my face. I was taken aback by the unintentional tears, and then I had a strange thought that these were Lady Edita's tears.
I couldn't explain it with common sense, but it was definitely not the tears I was shedding. I didn't know what to do, so I let myself cry. However, because of this, the Emperor's face became darker and darker.
"I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would be sick, but you finally found out."
The Emperor suddenly raised his head with a cold expression.
"Who brought Edita here? Immediately weave your arms and legs together like a stick, stab them with an iron skewer, and throw them into the crow's meal!"
Ah, the Emperor's affectionate tyrant temperament shone through until this situation. He didn't do just one, but he carefully tied his arms and legs together like a stick, and he dared to put an iron skewer in it and throw it as a crow's meal. He was a really creative and cruel man.
In fact, it was Stefano who received these three stages of cruel punishment. In other words, it was my turn to step up again.
I wiped away Edita's tears and pleaded with the Emperor.
"I came alone on my own feet. I missed my fiancé so much that I deceived my nanny and came out alone. If you want to punish me, punish me."
The words to punish Edita brought embarrassment to the Emperor's face. Oh, this is a bit of a good word. In the future, if the Emperor acts like a tyrant, I will use this word.
Just when no one dared to speak, a man stepped out from the crowd.
"Father. I dare to say something. For my poor sister. Father may give her a public disposition."
He was a man with turbid blond hair that resembled the Emperor. But that man, did you call me your sister now? Is that the Crown Prince Fabio Lutensbach that Madame Marie was talking about?
"What kind of disposition?"
The Emperor asked.
"My sister is already publicly engaged to Felix, Baron of Orléans. Therefore, please dispose of it here and make my sister's honor clear."
Wait, that's a bit weird right now. What does my engagement to Baron Orleans have to do with my honor now?
Judging from the unusual atmosphere around me, it seemed that there was a profound intention in Prince Fabio's words that I did not know.
"My father. is right. The Lady is His Majesty's only daughter. She can't get married many times like the women of private houses and tarnish her honor."
A young woman jumped out from Prince Fabio's side and said. She was very similar to Prince Fabio in her hair color and ginger-like appearance. And that woman! She pretended to care about my honor, but when I heard her say that my fiancé was dead and that she should be punished forever, I knew who she was. It was Princess Lena that Madame Marie had told me to be careful of!
I looked at the Emperor in amazement. But still. Just because you didn't get married, but you got engaged, you have to live with it for the rest of your life? Isn't that too harsh for me, who has lived my whole life in abundance?
The Emperor's expression was not bright at all, as if he thought so.
"Being married is not the same as simply being engaged. And why do you want to dispose of it so abruptly? Shouldn't we give Edita time to make up her mind?"
"The sooner you dispose of the matter concerning the honor of the Lady, the better. Otherwise, a lot of backstories will follow Lady Edita."
Lena said to the Emperor. Her determination to forcibly cut me off made me cry. But if I thought I was going to be like this, I was wrong.
After living my whole life as a beast, I finally had such a beautiful body! How could you have such a body! I don't think I can live the most promiscuous life in the world!
"Your Majesty, I dare to say something to you."
My half-open mouth closed again at the sound of someone's voice. The voice was the gloomy man who was dressed in black and looking at me. Standing in the crowd, he looked much taller and bigger than from a distance. It was an unrivaled figure.
The man bowed before the Emperor with that expressionless face and stood up. It was a sad attitude, and everyone held their breath.
"Prince Albenovic Brando. Tell me."
The man, who also had a long name, stood upright and said.
"I made a pact with Baron Felix Orleans on the battlefield. It was that if Baron Orleans were killed on the battlefield. I would take his fiancée, Lady Edita."
The atmosphere became quiet, as if the air had disappeared. Then, as if a big bang had happened, a lot of rumbling suddenly erupted. I couldn't understand what was going on.
"Be quiet, be quiet!"
Only after the emperor shouted did the surroundings fall silent again. The Emperor looked cautious, and the Duke Albenowicz... Oh, it's also long. He asked the man.
"Is that true?"
"Yes. This is an honorable oath of blood between the soldiers who participated in the battle. Lady Edita's honor will also be protected."
Brandt's confident words brought a faint smile to the emperor's face. I was just dumbfounded.
"But how can you decide to marry a glorious Lutensbach blood!"
Prince Fabio shouted urgently. The Emperor raised his hand to stop him. Fabio tried to say something more, but the Emperor's palm was held out resolutely, and he fell silent.
Princess Lena, standing next to him, was almost crying. I was so sad that I didn't bow down.
"Edita, do you agree?"
"Yes?"
"Yes, you can too, right?"
At the Emperor's sudden question, I reflexively asked, However, the Emperor said that my 'yes?' 'Yes! I understood.' It was impossible not to do it on purpose.
"Then I will give you an honorable announcement here. The Emperor's daughter. Lady Edita hereby announces that she is betrothed to Brandt, Prince of Albenovic."
There was no chance to correct it. The Emperor was Prince Albenovi as Lady Edita's new fiancé.
No, what is this now? Why are we making decisions on our own?
I looked at Brandt in a daze. His face, which was angled like a rocky cliff, also turned toward me. Suddenly, I felt a lump down my spine. It was not because of fear or fighting. Rather, I felt like something hot was tying my whole body like a rope. My chest tightened, and my belly felt heated.
The man twisted his mouth up at me and turned his head calmly.
I was embarrassed. That person is my new fiancé. My head rumbled as if I had been covered in ice water.
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