Maria couldn’t believe the situation. Tattered dress hem, painfully torn earlobes, no, even aside from such things.

“Why did you do such a thing with such thoughts!”

Maria’s beloved sea-colored eyes were glaring at me with hostility. Fear froze her body. Maria reached out towards Leopold, as if pleading.

“L-Leopold.”

Tears welled up in her blue eyes, but Leopold didn’t take my hand.

“I told you. Maria Etel. All you had to do was endure for just one year. But you couldn’t even do that properly and caused such a mess? Do you have any consideration or none at all! And in front of the foreign diplomatic envoys!”

Anger radiating in all directions mercilessly stabbed Maria. Holding onto the tattered shreds of her pride, Maria clenched it, biting down.

“You’re my lover. Why am I just a one-year fiancée?”

“…What?”

Maria’s vision blurred with a yellowish haze. The sorrow and despair she had endured burst out like a tidal wave.

The despair about the situation, the wretchedness of the lover’s attitude toward her, and the humiliation of being treated so badly in front of all the nobles overwhelmed her. Finally, Maria uttered the words she hated more than death.

“Why do you treat me like a mere government…?”

“Exactly, just for that reason! Ha.”

But a greater anger cut off Maria’s words. Maria felt overwhelmed by the rising despair and wretchedness. The greater indignation, the attitude of her lover treating her so disrespectfully, and the shameful humiliation in front of all the nobles burst forth.
Barely, just barely. I pondered it several times, but nothing changed. Strangely, my teary eyes dried up in an instant. In the meantime, beyond the clear vision, Leopold was seen looking out the window.

“…Let’s talk later.”

Without a chance to hold him back, Leopold left the reception room. The solemnly standing knights were briefly visible, and then, with a thud [dash], the door closed.

The uneasy premonition always proved right. Maria, exerting strength in her trembling legs, stood up. She approached the place where Leopold had stood and looked outside.

And then.

Haha. Maria burst into laughter. This might not be reality. Maria lowered her head like a sobbing person. The unfocused blue eyes beneath her eyes began to turn red.

“How was it? Are you okay?”

Expectant red eyes sparkled towards Olivia. Under the pitch-black night sky, Olivia paused for a moment.

“…To be honest, yes.”

Hahaha. Edwin laughed softly. Olivia shrugged her shoulders.

It was an interesting time. To witness the reputation of the princess, who always received everyone’s love, shaking firsthand.

It felt strange. In the past, it was always me whose reputation wavered. Watching Leopold’s retreating figure, being engulfed in society’s rumors, receiving sharp questions.

It was a strange thing.

Her position that was so natural in Vicanthor seemed unfamiliar at today’s imperial banquet. Today’s her was in the position that Olivia Madelaine had envied in the past.

Receiving love, protection, and watching someone else endure hardships as if it were someone else’s affairs. Now, what would be the next step?

“Olivia!”

Suddenly, the voice of the prince calling my name nervously reached my ears. Olivia raised her head without realizing it.

Under the moonlit night sky, the prince was leaping down. Moreover, with such a face as if I were seeing him for the first time.

Is it the magic of moonlight? Or has my position really changed?

A prince who seemed to have chased after me.

The prince, who approached very closely, chewed his lips for a moment. Looking at Olivia’s ocean-like eyes with something to say, Olivia smiled faintly. And she initiated the conversation.

“…Congratulations on your engagement, Your Highness.”