Chapter 18

“Rose?”

“Yes. I’m going to plant red roses for Ancia.”

Blake smiled broadly.

The flower language of red roses is ‘love’. It was also a flower that was given to propose marriage.

Did he really want to give me a red rose?

***

The dress arrived before the ball. It was a dress made by three prominent designers in the empire. Each dress is made with their heart and soul.

All three designer were devoted to this dress, so they didn’t accept any other reservations.

As expected of the empire’s best designers, all three dresses were neat.

One is a soft pink dress that is cute and lively, a fitting dress for a 10-year-old girl. Another was an achromatic dress that maximized her beauty by using high-end fabrics and jewellery. The last one is a classic dress that uses traditional designs in a fresh yet elegant way.

The one that suits me the most was a pink dress, but the one I liked the most is the achromatic dress. But I chose a dress with the traditional design.

The emperor had not been close to another woman since the empress passed away. Since then, he attended every ball himself.

When rumours spread that he would go with me, some aristocrats protested. But they could do nothing.

I didn’t want to look cute or beautiful. Through this ball, I wanted to imprint the image of a dignified Crown Princess. With such an image, I was going to warn everyone not to overlook or ignore Blake’s position.

I was a supporting character who would be gone soon, but I still wanted to do my best to protect him.

***

On the day of the long-awaited ball, I got up early in the morning. As soon as I got up, Blake rubbed his eyes and got up.

“Ancia…”

“Did I wake you up?”

“No. I was already awake. Are you going now?”

“Yes, Your Highness, I’ll be right back.”

Countess Chardin, who had a close relationship with the late Empress, visited the Crown Prince’s palace without hesitation and taught me how to dance.

But not everyone was like Countess Chardin. Most people were reluctant to enter the Palace of the Crown Prince, so I had to be prepared at the Palace of Sephia, which was initially the palace of the Crown Princess.

“Good luck.”

Blake smiled broadly and waved. These days, Blake always smiles like that. I was the only one who received gifts from the emperor, learned manners, and attended the ball, but he didn’t show any signs of envy, let alone anger.

Of course, I shared all the gifts with Blake except for things that I couldn’t use with him, such as dresses and shoes. I thought the emperor sent me many gifts for that reason.

But even so, it would feel nicer to receive the gift yourself.

I stared still at Blake’s crimson eyes.

“Your Highness, I think the gifts the emperor gave me are actually for you.”

“No way,…”

Blake lowered his head. He always listened to me but avoided every conversation about his father. Blake doesn’t hate his father. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be hurt. I know the wound that is inscribed deep in his heart, so I don’t intend to force reconciliation, but today I wanted to talk about this.

“Your Majesty loves you. That’s why he’s nice to me as a daughter-in-law.”

“No.”

But he shook his head firmly.

“His Majesty gave Ancia a present. Not because you’re my wife, but because you are Ancia.”

“Your Highness…”

“I am truly happy for you Ancia.”

“….”

Blake’s eyes glistened purely.

I realized. Blake was never disappointed in the first place. He didn’t try to hide his disappointment but was purely happy that I had received the gift.

“Ancia, have a great time.”

Blake laughed again as if my joy was his own.

***

I went to the Sephia Palace. Then, more than ten women began to surround me and prepared me to attend the ball.

People say that they were the best in various fields, including hair and makeup.

After bathing in water with beautiful petals, they repeatedly applied something on my face, and carefully trimmed my nails and toenails.

It took a lot of time to get my hair done.

It’s delightful yet tiring to be taken care of. The ball hasn’t even started yet, but it’s already tiring.

“Your Highness, we’re done.”

I thought it would have been a little too much to start dressing up at dawn, but I would have been in trouble if I started later.

I looked in the mirror. A girl with a timeless beauty was in the mirror’s reflection. Very gorgeous and elegant.

It’s worth it, to wake up since dawn.

“You guys have done a good job. It must be tiring to prepare all of this since dawn.”

“No, it was our honour to serve Your Highness.”

“Your Highness looks so beautiful.”

“The main character of today’s ball will be Your Highness.”

The other women say their praises. However, I felt a sense of emptiness despite the pouring praise.

What would Blake say if he was here? He must have been surprised to see my transformation.

I was busy reviewing the etiquette and waltz steps, but Blake’s face remained in my head.

When I finished preparing and go down to the first floor, I saw Tenstheon. He smiled softly at me.

“You’re pretty.”

“Father is very dashing today, too.”

Tenstheon wore traditional style robe to suit my dress. His overwhelming aura radiates more even though he only change his clothes.

“Really?”

“Yes, perfect! Father is perfect!”

He’s perfect from the very top to bottom. He owns the perfect visage with an overwhelming aura.

The Emperor smiled lightly at my words and took my hand.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Father.”

***

“His Majesty the Emperor is entering! Her Highness the Crown Princess is entering!”

I clasped the emperor’s hand and went into the ballroom. All of the ball participants bowed their heads.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, great light of the Empire. Your Highness the Crown Princess, blessing of the Empire.”

I found Richard’s eyes among the countless people. There’s no particular reason. It’s just that he raised his head first.

Our eyes met for a moment as I glared in annoyance. Richard looked at me and raised his lips. What’s wrong with him? He’s been rejected, but he won’t stop. I was annoyed, yet got goosebumps for some reason.

I quickly looked at Tenstheon. If he’s the main character, he should radiate this much aura. Or even be as cute as Blake!

I couldn’t understand why the author had chosen Richard as the male lead.

“What’s wrong?”

Tenstheon asked me as if he could feel my gaze. I raised my head and whispered to him as he lowered his body.

“Father is the coolest here.”

“Haha. Silly girl.”

Tenstheon burst into laughter as soon as he heard me. At that moment, the ballroom was full of chatter. What the hell? Did I do something wrong?

I was perplexed and quietly tried to listen to the stories around me.

“Did you see? His Majesty bent his knees.”

“He’s also laughing, isn’t he?”

“His Majesty is laughing! How could this happen? Something must’ve gone wrong when he sealed the Dark Door.”

“Oh my God. I guess it’s true that he cares about Her Highness.”

What? What kind of image did he have before?

I looked up at the emperor. His smile was gone again from his expression.

As his red eyes stared at the nobles, the tumultuous atmosphere was settled in a moment.

When the emperor and I sat down, the ball began.

The priest, nobles, knights, wizards and representatives of the academy praised the emperor for sealing the dark door safely and foreign envoys also thanked the emperor Tenstheon for preventing the continent’s crisis.

Tenstheon gave all the glory to both the Goddess of Light and the people of the Empire.

When the emperor finished his speech, he will ask me to dance. And with our dance, a full-fledged ball will be officially started.

I wasn’t nervous. I’ve improved a lot since I’ve been practicing with Blake. But, I just didn’t feel like dancing.

I want to dance with Blake for the first dance of the ball. Not just on practice.

It is a very childish wish, but it remains to be my desire.

Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.

Then the emperor’s voice came to my ears.

“Originally, I will do the first dance with my lovely daughter-in-law today, but unfortunately my dancing skills have been rusty. Finally, give this glory to the Goddess of Light once again, and please enjoy the ball.”

Tenstheon sat down after his speech. I blinked in confusion. Then, he whispered.

“You wanted to dance with Blake, didn’t you?”