“Oh my!”

The coachman driving the carriage was startled when he saw Litania, then suddenly became irritated.

“Hey, miss! What are you doing standing blankly in a place like this?”

For a moment he tensed up, thinking he had splashed mud on a noble lady, but seeing her standing alone in the corridor without any maids, he judged her to be from an unremarkable family.

“You’re in the way, please move aside.”

“Change your clothes by calling a maid or something.”

The soldiers mobilized to remove the carriage passed by Litania’s side, scolding her as if she was a nuisance.

Whether it was because Litania had never left the palace before, or because she didn’t even have a maid with her, they didn’t seem to consider her of high status at all.

“Princess Litania!”

Litania, who was about to move aside while awkwardly gathering her skirts, looked up at the voice calling her.

A red-haired knight ran towards her and bowed his head. It was the man who was said to be the younger brother of the noblewoman she had encountered earlier in the waiting room.

“I apologize for the late greeting. You weren’t in your seat… Oh, why are you in this state?”

He looked down at Litania’s mud-splattered skirt, then glanced at the soldiers standing blankly in front of the cart filled with wilted flowers.

“What are you doing? How dare you show such disrespect to the princess!”

“We… we’re sorry!”

“We didn’t recognize her!”

Princess Litania. The black sheep of the imperial palace. No matter how disregarded her position was, a princess was still a princess. Not only had they failed to recognize her, but they had also dismissed her thinking she was a noble lady from a lowly family. Anticipating the impending rebuke, the soldiers’ faces turned pale.

However, Princess Litania did not impose any punishment on them.

“My skirt is wet… I don’t think I can enter the ballroom like this. Is there a place where I can rest?”

Litania asked the red-haired knight without looking at the soldiers. The soldiers’ eyes widened.

“Let’s return to the waiting room, Your Highness.”

“Ah, I’d rather not run into anyone else.”

As Litania pointed to her wet skirt with an embarrassed smile, the red-haired knight, understanding her meaning, quickly withdrew his words.

“I apologize. That was thoughtless of me. The balcony area on the east side of the second floor should be empty. I’ll escort you there.”

“Thank you. Your name is?”

“Bain Cherisfield. I’m in charge of guarding Princess Herna.”

No wonder he found her so quickly; being Herna’s guard, he must have been nearby.

“Princess Litania, this way.”

The man who introduced himself as Bain led Litania towards the staircase, while glaring at the soldiers who were still staring at them with dumbfounded expressions.

“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and clear away the carriage!”

“Yes, sir!”

Leaving behind the soldiers who began to scramble to clear the carriage, Bain guided Litania to the second floor.

Perhaps because the ball was being held on the first floor, the second floor was so deserted it was hard to believe it was part of the same Crystal Palace.

Bain seated Litania on a sofa slightly away from the balustrade and bowed.

“I’ll call for a maid to help you with your appearance.”

“It’s alright. It’s not too wet, so it’ll dry if I leave it like this.”

“But…”

“Actually, I don’t have any other dress to change into.”

This was her only dress, so attending the ball was out of the question anyway. When Litania spoke honestly, Bain’s face darkened.

“Your Highness graciously gave up the waiting room for my sister, and yet you’ve encountered such rudeness. I’m deeply sorry I couldn’t prevent this.”

“Oh, please don’t call it a grace. Don’t worry about such things.”

“…”

Bain looked at the princess before him with a puzzled expression.

Despite showing kindness to strangers like themselves, giving up her seat, and ending up splashed with muddy water, the princess didn’t seem to hold any resentment towards him at all.

“Both my sister and I met Princess Litania for the first time today. May I ask why you bestow such kindness upon us?”

“Hm? It’s not so much a reason… Giving up a seat to a pregnant woman is just natural, isn’t it? Anyone would have done the same.”

It wasn’t natural at all. In a situation without personal connections, most would have ignored it.

That’s how noble society was.

“Well, if I must give a reason, let’s say it’s because kindness eventually returns as kindness. A cycle of goodwill, you could say.”

“Kindness returning as kindness…”

At Litania’s words, Bain made a bitter expression. Having grown up only in the palace, the princess was an unbelievably naive young lady.

Saying that kindness returns as kindness, even a servant doing menial work in the palace would scoff at such words.

“Oh, you don’t seem to believe me?”

“Ah, no. I’m just taken aback by Your Highness’s words…”

Litania could tell that Bain was looking at her with pitying eyes.

‘He probably thinks I’m naive and stupid.’

But Litania didn’t think she was wrong.

‘If this is inside a novel, then it’s even more likely.’

Kindness is always rewarded. The inconvenience of having mud splashed on her dress or having to sit in this corner instead of the waiting room was trivial to her.

Because.

“As proof, Bain brought me here when I was wet from the rain, didn’t he?”

Thanks to that, she had made an acquaintance with an imperial guard. It wasn’t a bad trade in exchange for a little discomfort.

“I was trying to express my gratitude for Your Highness’s consideration towards my sister…”

“That’s exactly it. That’s the reward. Bain could have ignored me. But you reached out to me. You’re Princess Herna’s guard, so you might get scolded for leaving your post.”

“…”

“Thank you. If I had to keep standing in that rain-swept corridor, it would have been hard for me too.”

Seeing Litania’s smile, Bain’s eyes wavered.

He seemed to think for a moment, then removed the red cloak from his shoulder and knelt on one knee before her.

“Bain?”

“I must return to my post now. Princess Litania, please use this to cover your skirt.”

“Won’t you get reprimanded for improper attire when you return to your post without your cloak?”

Surely that would be the case. However, to Bain, that was a trivial matter.

If he were to be punished, his body might ache.

But leaving the princess who had shown kindness to his sister and himself sitting here with a dirty skirt seemed more uncomfortable to his heart.

“I’ve only done what is proper and right.”

Seeing Bain’s sincere gaze, Litania smiled and decided to accept his cloak. The red cloak covered her light green dress.

“Thank you, Bain.”

“I regret that I couldn’t be of more help for you to enjoy the ball.”

Bain finished his polite greeting and returned to fulfill his duty as a guard.

Litania waved her hand slightly at his retreating figure, then turned to look down at the banquet hall on the first floor through the balustrade.

Even though the sun had set, the interior of the castle was brightly lit. Listening to the music announcing the start of the ball, the highlight of the spring festival, Litania let out a small sigh.

‘Looks like I won’t be able to attend the ball.’

She had learned dancing from Snow in a crash course for today, but it seems it was a wasted effort.

‘I guess today’s not my day. I’ll just quietly watch.’

Still, it was somewhat interesting to actually see the glamorous ballroom she had only seen in movies before.

The domed ceiling was made of blue glass reminiscent of a brilliant spring sky, and the tall pillars supporting the dome were carved with seven animals and twelve angels.

Chandeliers adorned with jewels sparkled in the light, decorating the center of the hall, and on the wide, shiny marble dance floor, noblewomen in the latest fashion of form-fitting satin dresses with lace-puffed skirts gathered in small groups, chatting.

In one corner of the corridor, neatly dressed servants were carrying trays of appetizers, and on the stage below the round stone staircase covered with a lavender carpet, musicians in tailcoats continued their performance.

Litania smiled as she watched the people bustling about in the first-floor banquet hall, decorated with white pillars adorned with spring flowers.

‘Well, you can’t expect to succeed on the first try. Let’s think of it as an experience.’

If she waited, surely another opportunity would come.

Who knows, maybe while passing time like this, a decent man might happen to spot her and approach…

“The view isn’t very good here. How about coming out to a more open area to watch?”

…As soon as she thought that, it actually happened.

“Little lady.”

A golden light flashed over the balustrade, and an unbelievably beautiful man appeared before Litania’s eyes.

Her mouth fell open involuntarily.

‘Oh my.’

He was a man as dazzling as the summer sky’s sun. With a towering height that could look down on even a fairly tall man, golden hair so sweet it took her breath away, and a voice with a pleasing resonance.

Litania nearly lost her senses at the sight of the handsome man calling out to her with a gentle smile and soft eyes.

‘What is this? How can such a handsome man exist in this world?’

Even Bain, Princess Herna’s guard, was a man with a magnificent physique and handsome features, but this one was on a completely different level of beauty.

Litania forgot that she shouldn’t stare at a person she just met and looked up at the golden-haired man.

The man, who had been steadily returning her gaze, tilted his head slightly as if a bit puzzled.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

A large hand in a white glove approached and cupped Litania’s chin. Then, with his fingertip, he gently pressed her lower lip.