To You Who No Longer Want Me - Chapter 66

At the tail end of late spring, when the heat haze was rising, ranunculus buds were bursting open, unfurling their brilliant petals.

As pollen drifted in through the window, tickling Biare’s eyes and nose, her brow naturally furrowed.

“Lady Ruschef, His Highness the Crown Prince has asked to receive you inside.”

The aide who had been assisting with work in the Crown Prince’s office opened the door with a haggard look, bowed slightly, and disappeared.

Before her engagement to Ivan, she could only enter as far as the audience chamber, but now as his fiancée, she could step into his office.

“Glory to the holy Marta Empire. I greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Come in, my lady. Please have a seat.”

Perhaps because he hadn’t finished his official duties, Ivan peeked out from amid the neatly stacked piles of documents on his desk to welcome her.

Soon after, a maid returned with tea prepared, and he took a seat on the sofa opposite Biare.

“I hope I haven’t come at a busy time.”

“Wasn’t I the one who contacted you first? I’ve been concerned ever since that day.”

As expected, Ivan had secretly planted spies to monitor her at the spring event.

When he heard that Biare had suffered from seasickness and returned to the mansion early, he even sent motion sickness medicine prescribed directly by the imperial physician.

While rumors spread that the Crown Prince was taking meticulous care of his fiancée, viewed differently, it was tantamount to a declaration that he would no longer hide his surveillance of her.

Biare gently raised her teacup to her lips to conceal her crooked smile.

“Why are there so many festivals celebrating spring?”

Ivan’s tone carried a hint of complaint as he said this.

The Marta Empire held particularly many festivals celebrating spring, as their one true god, Ekarto, was said to have been born in spring.

“Ah, of course I didn’t mean to disrespect God Ekarto.”

He was aware that Biare had been visiting the grand temple more frequently this year.

Not knowing at all what she was doing inside, he likely thought it was simply religious activity to honor the god.

Biare had no intention of correcting this. Rather, it would be better to avoid suspicion by being misunderstood as a devout believer.

“I’m fine, Your Highness.”

As Biare composed her expression and showed a faint smile, Ivan seemed to swallow a sigh of relief.

“But why did you call me all the way here?”

At Biare’s nuance of getting to the point, his gaze was directed at her hands.

“It’s so difficult to see my fiancée’s face that I called you to the office.”

Seeing him burst into laughter, Biare could sense that he had a different intention.

She found it strange that Ivan, who had paid no heed to the forces opposing him, had called her directly to his office, even avoiding watchful eyes.

The Ivan she knew would not have called her for such a reason.

Presumably, he clearly wanted to have a conversation away from others’ ears.

As Biare stared at him intently, Ivan spoke lightly, pretending to be at ease.

“…I was wondering if you didn’t like the ring.”

He seemed to have already noticed that Biare didn’t wear the engagement ring except for official events.

Not expecting him to have noticed such a thing, she swallowed dryly and tried to compose a calm response.

“I’ve lost some weight recently, so the ring has become loose.”

This wasn’t untrue. Perhaps due to having many things to worry about, her weight was decreasing day by day.

She had even called a physician for an examination, but was told it seemed to be due to stress and was advised to rest at a resort.

Nevertheless, Biare couldn’t afford to do so. Each day was becoming increasingly important to her.

The fact that winter was approaching was enough to make her anxious and trembling with unease.

Fortunately, Ivan seemed to believe her words at face value, unaware of her inner thoughts.

Looking at Biare with pity, he spoke as if explaining:

“Then why didn’t you say so earlier? That aide of mine has been chattering on and on.”

‘Ah, I’ll need to deal with the aide before bringing you down.’

It would be urgent to deal with his aide who was irritating him with useless words.

Suppressing a wry smile, Biare showed him a more graceful smile than usual and said:

“I always cherish that ring.”

“I see. I’ll send a craftsman to the mansion soon.”

Now relieved that it wasn’t the situation he had been worried about, he spoke generously in a much softer voice than before.

“I’m grateful for Your Highness’s great generosity.”

“No need for that. Aren’t you my fiancée?”

At those words, Biare simply nodded without saying anything.

She just let a sneer play at her lips, wondering how long he would be able to keep her by his side.

When everything ended this winter, Ivan would be hating her from rock bottom.

After spending the entire morning with Ivan, Biare felt a sudden wave of fatigue and rose first, using his official duties as an excuse.

Having figured out which unnamed palace she had visited before, she was wandering the gardens.

Seeing the warm heat warming the earth and the deep green of fresh leaves, she felt the mystery of life spontaneously.

‘I must meet him today no matter what.’

After some time had passed, a lady Biare had been waiting for appeared.

One closer to a sunspot than the sun, who had inherited the light blonde hair and red eyes that were symbols of the imperial family.

When she looked at Biare with a start, Biare politely showed her respects.

“Glory to the holy Marta Empire. I greet Your Highness the Princess.”

“…It seems you know who I am.”

“Of course. Aren’t you the only princess of the Marta Empire?”

Dorothea Lua Kartos, the half-sister of the current Crown Prince and known as the faceless princess.

Dorothea had to stay in the Princess’s Palace without even having her debutante ball, on the grounds that she was unwell.

Of course, the imperial family stated that it was because the princess was sickly, but no one was unaware of the truth.

That the faceless princess was an abandoned child.

Once upon a time in the Marta Empire, when the Empress who had taken all the Emperor’s favor became pregnant, all attention was focused on her, they say.

As the one with succession rights next to young Ivan, who was hailed as the next sun, there were many who sought to curry favor with them.

However, before Dorothea could form a strong support base, her mother passed away from puerperal fever.

Naturally, the Emperor’s favor returned to the Empress, and thus she was abandoned in the Princess’s Palace.

It would have been good if families appeared to back Dorothea, but no one stepped forward, mindful of the Empress’s mood.

‘Even though the Empress was undoubtedly a child of a noble family.’

She seemed to already know that Biare was Ivan’s fiancée, as she was sending a look of wariness.

Even if she was an abandoned princess, she wouldn’t be unaware of the rumors circulating in the palace.

In her past life, she was only able to reveal herself to the world after Ivan became Emperor.

Biare didn’t know exactly what kind of person the princess was either.

If it was for revenge against him, she intended to support Dorothea even if she turned out to be a worse person than Ivan.

As the princess was necessary for Biare’s plans, it was now time to draw her into her faction.

Perhaps because it had rained not long ago, puddles of rainwater were pooled in depressions all over the garden’s lawn.

Biare raised the corners of her mouth crookedly and deliberately stepped into that space, and as she expected, the water in the puddle thoroughly soaked her dress.

Dorothea’s expression upon seeing this was a sight to behold. Raising her eyebrows and staring at Biare, she clearly seemed to have caught on to the intention.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

Dorothea spoke urgently in a voice that could be heard by the surrounding maids.

“Yes, it was my oversight for not watching the ground.”

“This happened in my palace, so it’s my fault as well. Let’s go to the dressing room together.”

She still seemed to find Biare untrustworthy, but nevertheless led the way to her own space.

As this was the imperial palace, Dorothea had likely devised this ploy mindful of the Crown Prince’s people planted around.

Ivan had only planted spies to maintain his position, and wouldn’t have bothered with her room, which didn’t even reach the level of a target of caution.

“Come in this way, my lady.”

As her palace had a notably more modest and simple atmosphere compared to Ivan’s, Biare slowly surveyed her surroundings.

As expected, the number of staff assigned to the Princess’s Palace was significantly fewer, and only one maid followed to attend to her.

Before entering her dressing room, Dorothea glanced at Biare and asked:

“My lady, will you be alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m saying the dresses I can offer may not be to your liking at all.”

As the princess’s consideration shone through, seemingly indifferent yet observant of her, Biare said with a gentle smile:

“I’m grateful just for Your Highness lending me a dress.”

At this, Dorothea shook her head as if she couldn’t understand, and smiled faintly.

“…You’re quite a strange person, my lady.”