/
Lady Bennet’s eyes widened at how calmly I spoke.
I meant what I said.
It was far better to act consistently than to be as fickle as the noblewomen were at the ball.
‘Of course, it’s true that I don’t like you. But.”
“
Lady Charlize.”
“There’s a distinct difference between ‘not liking’ someone and ‘seeing you as someone below me,’ no?”
Lady Bennet bit her lip in response, causing it to bleed slightly.
I shook my head slightly.
“Whatever you may be thinking of me, you’re free to do so, Lady Bennet. But-”
I calmly conveyed this to her.
“I want to tell you that you don’t have to beat yourself up over your misunderstandings.”
There was silence once again.
Lady Bennet slightly averted her gaze and hid her expression.
And I had no desire to quarrel with Lady Bennet any longer.
“Well, excuse me first.”
After a brief silence, I left the spot with Sienna.
Sienna asked me anxiously.
“Charlize, you all right?”
“I am. It wasn’t a big deal, right?”
I smiled at Sienna, and I looked behind me.
Lady Bennet sat there vacantly, watching me as I walked further and further away.
As we got farther, Lady Bennet’s expression became harder to discern.
Turning my head and looking back at Sienna, I asked a question.
“Did I go overboard?”
“Um, well.”
Sienna widened her eyes as her eyebrows rose sharply.
“Not in my opinion.”
“Huh, is that so?”
“It is! Frankly, if I were in your position, I wouldn’t have let her off.”
When she told me that, there was no doubt in my mind.
Sienna was telling me the absolute truth!
Sienna proved it further with her cruel tone which was accompanied by a piercing faze.
“If Charlize hadn’t stopped me in the middle of it, I would have scolded her severely
”
“Ah-aha
”
I wasn’t sure how to answer that, so I awkwardly laughed it off.
After a bit of banter, Sienna settled down.
“Haaa.”
Sienna let out a long sigh before speaking in a husky voice
“But, I am.”
Sienna glanced over to look at me.
The gentle smile she gave was very tenderhearted.
“I really like that kind side of you.”
“
thank you.”
I blushed slightly.
Every time I’m faced with Sienna’s sincerity, I feel my heart getting all fuzzy inside for some reason.
I slowed my walking pace and reentered the ball.
***
Lady Bennet couldn’t take her eyes off Charlize’s back as she walked away.
‘
unusual.’
She thought she was here to laugh at her.
That should have been the case, the sheer difference between their positions was incomparable.
The Crown Prince’s fiancee could exert divine power, for crying out loud.

She knew it from the start.
Charlize was a far better person than she was.
Everyone she looked up to, chose Charlize over her.
Maybe that’s why she came to persistently hate Charlize.
And as the gap between them grew, so did her jealousy toward Charlize.
Finally, it came to this

Charlize had reached heights she could never dream of reaching.
‘It would have been better if they had just laughed at me.’
If they had, she might have been able to convince herself.
Even if Charlize looked perfect on the outside, she would have been wicked on the inside.
Charlize, like her, would have a filthy nature.
That way, she might be able to take solace in the fact.
But Charlize wasn’t like that.
Rather, she gave it to me straight
‘I don’t like you, but I have no intention of laughing at you.’
‘Because of my own misunderstandings, there’s no need to beat myself up.’
Lady Bennet brooded over what Charlize had said, eventually shutting her eyes tight.
It was like a pebble thrown into a pond, her mind was wracked with confusion.
***
As soon as I returned to the ball with Sienna, Damian walked towards us.
“Charlize, where have you been?”
“Oh, I went for a short walk with Sienna.”
“Really?” He inquired as he approached me quietly.
Then he leaned toward me and whispered my name.
“Charlize.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Um, something’s fishy.
When Damian’s eyes glisten like that, trouble is bound to be around the corner

“What do you think about the ball?”
“It looks delightful.”
The ball was in full swing.
The dance hall had young noblemen and women dancing.
The older nobles spent their time eating or drinking as they took in the atmosphere of the ball.
Damian asked a question in a playful tone.
“The ball’s so nice, I’m sure they won’t notice if one or two people go missing, don’t you think?”
“
what?”
What nonsense is he going on about again?
I glanced at Damian, looking at him, wide-eyed.
But Damian had a pretty serious face.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Even the Empress allowed it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Our Empress?!
I looked back at the Empress across the room in amazement.
The Empress, who was sitting in her seat, nodded at me with a smile.
Is this true?
By the way, where is the Emperor?
Did he just leave the Empress alone and leave the ball altogether?
Then, Damian, who had been waiting for an opportunity, began to nudge me gently.
“Isn’t it a bit unfair?”
“What is?”
“Ever since you became my fiancĂ©e, you’ve been buried in a mountain of work every time.”

.well, he’s not wrong.
After becoming his fiancee, I was charged with organizing the memorial service and helping efforts after the flood in Lebane

Hey, what did the Emperor even do during all that time?!
I was so enraged that I didn’t realize I was giving a furious nod.
“You’re right.”
“Therefore.”
Damian grabbed my hand, offering a proposal with an alluring look in his eyes.
“‘Let’s spend some time out.”
“Just ourselves?”
“Her Majesty will still be on her seat when we get back. It’ll be fine.”
Damian was currently acting like a rogue who lured unsuspecting victims away.
“Be honest, you know I’m right. When the atmosphere is this perfect, no one would notice if one or two people slipped away.”
“But his Highness isn’t the usual ‘one or two,’ correct?”
“It’s why I employed Her Majesty for help.”
Damian proudly raised his shoulders.
(“I glossed over the details with Her Majesty.”)
“How?”
“Well, I mean, er
”
Damian’s voice spoke more intimately.
“
would you like to spend some time privately with me? Just the two of us?”
Suspicious, very suspicious!
I couldn’t hide my suspicion.
At the same time, Damian whispered softly.
“Because I wanted to spend today alone with you.”
“The rest of today, huh?”
“Yes. Today
”
Damian fell silent for a moment before smiling brightly once more.
“It’s the first harvest festival I’m celebrating with you after I returned from the North.”
Oh, I see.
I must have been a little harsh.
The harvest festival.
It may be an ordinary festival for others, but it’s a very special day for me and Damian.
Back when we were little kids.
I recall the Empress telling us about a beautiful, dream-like scene from the harvest festival.
And while listening to the Empress’s story, I decided that someday I would go watch the festival with Damian

Time passes so quickly that I completely forget the many things I am supposed to do.
Damian continued as if he had made up his mind.
“Besides, there’s something I need to tell you today.”
“Really? If that’s the case, tell me now
”
“No.”
Damian firmly shook his head.
“I want to talk to you about this alone.”

what on earth are you talking about, and why is he acting this way?
Is it really that important?
Perhaps noticing how reluctant I was about it, Damian pitifully called me like a puppy in the drizzling rain would.
“Charlize.”
“Lize.”
“
.are you fawning over me right now?”
“Uh-huh.”
Damian casually nodded.
God, he’s not ashamed of himself!
However, Damian went further by asking me back in a rather pitiful voice.
“So, don’t you like it?”
“Eww..”
Damian! I’m sure that boy already knows. He’s just teasing me now.
If you want to call on me so pitifully, I’ll pretend you can’t win me over!
But the biggest problem was me in the end. I felt like I was going to fall for him again.
“Don’t you want to go out with me?”
“That’s
”
“There’s something I’ve been really meaning to tell you.”
Damian looked down at me with those watery scarlet eyes of his.
His expression was similar to a desperate look from a puppy, banned from eating treats by its owner.
“If you really, really don’t like it, I’ll give up and stop, but
”
He then blurted out a question a moment later.
“
do you hate it that much?”
Damian, you-
I strained my eyes and met his gaze.
Do you think I’ll fall for that expression of yours?! Think again!