Chapter 18
“It’s not that difficult, but…”
The man who had brought me home cautiously asked if we could meet again.
Unlike the first time, I readily agreed—but whether by coincidence or not, my appointments with Valery were postponed several more times without me even having to ask.
If I had to name a reason, the emperor played a big role.
At the beginning of the year, the emperor had internally designated the First Prince as the crown prince, but it hadn’t been finalized. In other words, there had been no official announcement.
He constantly compared his two sons and pushed them to grow. Because of that, Valery often had busy days, and that was also why our meetings kept being delayed.
I heard that the First Prince had temporarily left the capital on business—this was probably related to that.
Delkian Elrova Kashinev, the First Prince and the man who would soon be officially named Crown Prince if nothing went wrong, was said to be highly skilled in diplomacy. With the two brothers taking turns displaying their talents in the right places, they truly lived up to being the sons of a male lead.
I had once seen the First Prince from afar at a banquet.
Perhaps because he resembled his father, he had a somewhat decadent look to him. And while he appeared smaller next to his well-built younger brother, he wasn’t actually small at all.
You couldn’t compare them to ordinary people, after all—they were royalty. Despite his delinquent-looking appearance, he was said to be an exemplary model student.
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Delkian viewed his younger brother as a rival while also cherishing him deeply as family. I think the age difference was five years…
In any case, in the original story, he eventually stepped down of his own accord, so the final crown prince would be Valery.
While my meetings with Valery kept getting postponed, invitations from young ladies I had greeted—or merely exchanged glances with—at banquets began pouring in.
I had heard there was quite a bit of territorialism in the capital, but judging by the pile of invitations arriving every morning, that didn’t seem to be the case. They were probably either curious about my connection to the prince or coveting a pearl—maybe both.
“Hm…”
I rummaged through the stack of invitations and letters again and again.
“This isn’t an invitation.”
Why was this mixed in here? This wasn’t an invitation at all—it was a note telling me to carry out my mother’s orders. The sender was, of course, Mr. Schvalt.
But instead of an order, it said we should have lunch outside together? It only mentioned that a carriage would be sent—there was no specific destination written.
As usual, I had woken briefly to drink some water before planning to sleep until the next morning. Instead of sleeping, though, I now had to choose a dress.
“He told me to pick something modest with a high neckline…”
I focused on choosing a dress while rereading the memo written on his invitation. All the dresses tailored here were for banquets, so I searched for the most modest one possible.
“The carriage has arrived.”
A knock sounded outside the dressing room, followed by Ian’s voice.
“I’ll be out soon.”
I handed the chosen dress to the maid standing nearby.
“Bring out a necklace that isn’t too big, but has a bold design. I’ll wear it with this.”
“Yes, miss.”
Getting ready didn’t take long. Unlike how I usually wore my hair loose down to my waist, I braided it loosely to one side.
After finishing my preparations, I boarded the carriage at a leisurely pace—but I was already irritated.
“Why are we in such a hurry?”
The carriage was moving so fast that the vibrations felt unpleasant. Just as I wondered why, it seemed we were heading out of the capital.
“My apologies. We need to hurry a bit.”
“…We’re just going to have lunch, aren’t we?”
It wasn’t like live fish would be jumping onto the table at lunchtime. At that moment, Ian wrapped his arm tightly around my waist. At the same time, I heard the coachman shout—and a violent impact slammed into my body. I squeezed my eyes shut.
“……”
“……”
I might have lost consciousness for a brief moment. When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t on a bed, yet I was lying on my side. Ian was holding me tightly to protect me, but he hadn’t been able to stop my head from hitting something.
Feeling pain even in my legs, I pressed my hand against his chest and pushed myself up. My knee stung strangely, and when I looked down, I saw blood flowing. I bit my lip in rising irritation. I had lived so carefully, without even a single injury—until now.
“Are you insane? If you rush like that, I could’ve—”
“Are you all right?!”
An unfamiliar voice came from outside. The carriage door above my head opened. As light poured in from above, my legs gave out and I collapsed onto what had once been the window.
Men in imperial uniforms opened the carriage door and checked our condition, repeatedly shouting to ask if I was okay.
“I’m fine. I just bumped into something a bit.”
“Please give us your hand! We’ll help you out!”
While that was happening, Ian carefully straightened my disheveled dress.
I slapped his hand away and reached out toward the man offering help.
They grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
I wasn’t seriously injured, but I must have been startled badly. The moment the supporting hands disappeared after I stepped out of the carriage, my legs gave out again.
Ah, this is so annoying. Since when had my lower body gotten this weak?
Just as my irritation peaked, a pair of immaculate shoes—without a speck of dust—came into view beneath my lowered gaze. When I looked up, the other person was kneeling on one knee before me.
“Are you all right?”
“…I’m fine. My legs just gave out a bit.”
No wonder everyone was wearing imperial uniforms. And with a carriage that large, it wasn’t strange that the impact had been so severe. The carriage I had been riding—which had collided while trying to avoid the imperial carriage—wasn’t utterly destroyed, but it was badly damaged.
“Your Highness, we will take care of this.”
“Step back.”
I looked at the man who had been addressed as ‘Your Highness.’ He seemed oddly familiar.
Delkian Elrova Kashinev.
Hadn’t I once thought the First Prince looked sensual?
If Valery Ahibara Kashinev had the image of a pure white angel with a beautiful face, the First Prince looked like someone standing on the brink of corruption, hiding something dark within.
His eyes were narrower and sharper than Valery’s, which gave that impression. Perhaps this was what the emperor had looked like in his youth.
Yet the gaze each of them carried was the complete opposite. While Valery had an unsettlingly dangerous look in his eyes, this man’s gaze was simply calm.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes. I can. Just a moment—Ian.”
But if I stood up abruptly like this, it felt like the wound might open further and bleed more. I called for Ian so he could support me, but there was no answer.
Startled, I lifted my head and met the First Prince’s eyes. Then his gaze shifted elsewhere.
Following his line of sight, I saw blood flowing from the knee that had been injured earlier. It wasn’t just scraped—it seemed to have been torn.
I turned my head slightly and looked at Ian again. My gaze then traveled to the carriage, which had collapsed beyond repair.
The carriage had crashed, Ian showed no intention of handling the situation, and the coachman who caused the accident didn’t look particularly frantic.
“……”
Lately, it seemed I had been living too much of a flower-filled, sheltered life.
I realized it far too late.
This was the place Mr. Schvalt had meant when he mentioned that appointment.
‘Ah, damn it…’
I hurled every curse I could think of inwardly. So this was what he meant by work—not a lunch meeting.
I relaxed my body completely, lifted my head weakly, and put on a pitiful expression.
“Excuse me… could you help me?”
Delkian extended his hand toward me. The man in an imperial uniform behind him flinched in shock.
“Your Highness, I’ll do it!”
“There’s no need. Responsibility for the carriage accident will be addressed later. First, we need to confirm the young lady’s condition. Since we were on our way to the palace anyway, it would be best to proceed there.”
He helped me up, but when I limped slightly, he raised his brow in displeasure.
“This won’t do. Please forgive me for a moment.”
Before I could even respond, he slipped one hand under my waist and the other behind my knees and lifted me up effortlessly.
“We’ll head to the palace first. Is that acceptable?”
They said they would take me to the palace to make sure I was all right.
This was clearly what they had intended from the start, but I suppressed my reluctance and nodded. Before I knew it, I was riding in an imperial carriage to the palace—something that hadn’t been part of my plans at all.
Inside the carriage, an imperial physician administered basic treatment and wrapped my knee in bandages. Thankfully, it wasn’t badly torn. Still, he said it might leave a scar if not treated properly.
Thanks to that, I ended up having the most depressing day I’d had since coming to the capital.
The First Prince, Delkian—who had earlier lifted me like a piece of luggage and placed me in the carriage—had been sitting across from me, staring intently at my treated knee the entire time.
The dress I had put on with such care was now torn beyond salvation. Even if I tried to cover it, all I could hide was the injured knee—the overall mess didn’t improve at all.
