Chapter 77

Translator: HH Editor: HH

“Whoa, look at all this, Princess!”

We were looking at the presents that were all in my room.

At Hannah’s loud exclamation, Lili turned her eyes this way. I was already liking the present that I received before Hannah called my name.

“Oh my. It’s such a pretty bird.”

Under the cloth, there was a white cage. It was made with detailed craftsmanship and looked pretty on its own, but I was captured by the bird with blue feathers inside of it.

The bird fluttered its wings like it felt us looking at it.

B, But is it just me? Or was this bird familiar? With its cute yellow beak, round black eyes, and fancy tail feathers.

It looks really similar to the bird I had seen when I left the palace with Lucas. But it just looks similar, right?

“You’ll be even more surprised when you see who it’s from!”

Hannah expectantly held out a card. I uncomfortably accepted it from her. And when I opened an expensive looking gold envelope, inside there was…

[Sending you this missing the short meeting we had.

* Ezekiel Alpheus.]

AHHH!

I internally screamed when I read it.

“It’s from the Duke Alpheus! This present is proof that he fell for you when he saw you at the debutante ball!”

Hannah happily blabbered on, not knowing how I felt.

No! That’s not what it means!

It seemed like Ezekiel was sure the person he saw at the market that day was me. How did he know, when he had just seen me from behind? And I was dressed differently than I normally dress too!

Was this bird a ‘I know what you did!’ bird?

“Hannah, watch your words in front of the Princess.”

“But it’s true. There’s no way Duke Alpheus wouldn’t fall for our pretty and lovable Princess!”

“Well, that’s true.”

Hannah had a proud face at Lili’s agreement. That’s the first time in a while I’m seeing Lili’s proud mom smile! At her expression that was one of a mom looking proudly at their daughter all grown up, I felt guilty about my recent escapade from the palace.

“Ahem. Uh, I’d like it if you keep it a secret that Duke Alpheus sent me a present.”

“If the Princess likes.”

Lili readily responded with a smile, but a worried look flashed by Lili’s face. As Lili and I looked suspiciously at her, she quickly spoke up.

“I never told anyone, Princess. Um, but actually, I accidentally dropped that card when I was moving the bird cage and some passing maids might have seen….”

D, Damn. So that meant the other maids knew Ezekiel had sent me a present.

“Hannah, how could you be so careless with something sent to the Princess!”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll change the person in charge of that now.”

Lili scolded Hannah, but it was too late now. Ugh, it won’t be long before all the maids in the Palace know. Then I guess the other young ladies will know before the next tea party.

But there was someone else that I was worried about hearing this rumor.

“The Alpheus kid sent you a present?”

I almost spit the water I was drinking.

Looking at his face, it was clear he knew the rumors were true.

Claude tipped the tea cup he was drinking and coldly lifted a corner of his mouth.

“That kid still wet behind the ears has no match for his arrogance. Seems like he only learned bad things from Atlanta.”

Y, You’re definitely smiling, but why is it so scary? I couldn’t tell if we were in a sunny garden or a freezing igloo. Why did he dislike me getting a present from Ezekiel so much?

I awkwardly smiled at Claude.

“Um. But it’s not different from the other presents the other young gentlemen or ladies sent me.”

If he found out I saw him in my library or coincidentally saw him outside the Palace, there was no telling what was gonna happen. I, I’ll take that with me to my grave.

“Like that bastard, he’s not knowing his place.”

But Claude continued to criticize him.

“He’s definitely deluding himself just because you danced with him for one dance at the debutante ball.”

Cough Cough.

What does that have to do with this? Half a year has passed already? And like you say, I only danced with him once!

Looking back now, he was definitely glaring at Ezekiel during the entire dance. So it’s because you hate that family!

“And after he was found in your personal library he claimed it was a mistake. I think he’s a foolhardy fool.”

“Heuk!”

Surprised, I widened my eyes.

H, How did he know that? I thought the guards had hid that fact because they didn’t want to get in trouble.

So then, the reason why the guards were completely changed were…!

Claude eye’s were so scary that I was frozen to my spot. This situation seems really dangerous, but it’s just in my head, right?

“The Princess looks so similar to Lady Diana so there’s nothing we can do about how her beauty blooms like a flower everyday.”

And Felix once again, didn’t help with anything.

“Gentlemen will be knocking up the door with the Princess showing up at more events.”

It seems like he was saying Claude should get used to it because it would happen a lot from now.

Felix was looking proudly at me like a dad looking at his daughter, as Lili was earlier.

B, But this isn’t the way! Run away, Felix!

“The Princess will find a good match and eventually leave Your Majesty’s side. Even if the prince consort lives inside the palace, the time you two spend together will decrease.”

Felix continued with the words that were shortening his lifespan by the second. He didn’t notice Claude glaring at him.

“Ah, this must be the fate of parents. I’m already worried about how to console Your Majesty when that time comes…”

“Felix.”

“Yes?”

Eventually Claude called his name with a low voice.

“If you don’t want to die, shut up.”

And at that icy voice, Felix froze.

“And get away from my sight. No, from now on don’t even appear during teatime.”

“Y, Your Majesty.”

“What are you doing? Go.”

Felix ran away with a confused face like he didn’t know what he did wrong.

Ahhhhh, then now I have to deal with Claude!

But Felix wouldn’t have helped anyway.

I sneaked a look at Claude and spoke up in a depressed voice.

“Do I have to do things like marriage? I don’t want to.”

It was hard to pretend to be upset at what Felix said. But let’s try doing some more.

“Things like a prince consort, I don’t need any of that stuff. I like things the way they are with you, but do I have to get married?”

And when I peeked a glance at him again, I saw Claude quietly listening to my words and putting his teacup back down.

“Well, there’s no law that says you have to get married.”

Nice. He took the bait!

I excitedly agreed to what he said.

“Then I don’t want to get married. I’m gonna leave with you until I’m a grandma!”

And as I chuckled, the atmosphere became a bit warmer.

“Even if you say that now, you might throw a tantrum wanting to get married in the future.”

“Nah, there’s no way. Even in the future, the person I’ll like the most is Dad.”

A warm spring breeze started to blow from somewhere. I saw Claude’s warm eyes for the first today.

“You’re good at blabbering on about cringy things.”

You pretend like you’re too good for this, but you actually like it, right?

But thinking about it, it was kind of weird. No..was the reason why he didn’t let guys come even a mile within my tea party….was it….

“If the Alpheus boy starts to bother you, let me know. I’ll make sure he can’t annoy you ever again.

L, Like I would talk to him about Ezekiel after those words!

“Same goes for other boys too. There’s a lot of weird young gentlemen these days, so be careful.”

“Ahaha.”

“Answer me.”

“Ok.”

Dang, at this rate, the next person to send me a present would be sent somewhere far away. Have you heard of it? It’s called the Styx River.

In the reofounded peace, I lifted my fork towards the dessert, while watching Claude calmly sip his tea. Today, I’ll eat you all up.

“Dad, do I really look like Mom that much?”

I answered the question in passing while I was inhaling the cheesecake.

It was because what Felix had said was on my mind. In front of Claude, talking about Diana was strictly forbidden, and I was careful to not mention her.

However, I thought it would be okay now. It could just be my hopeful thoughts, but I didn’t think Claude would kill me now. No matter how big of a mistake I made, it would be okay.

“Why are you asking me?”

When Claude put his teacup back down, it made a loud clattering noise.

But as expected, he didn’t punish or scold me.

“I don’t know. It’s been a while since I forgot about that dead person’s face.”

After he said that, he turned his head to look at the bright garden. The green grass followed the wind and blew side to side. Claude’s gold hair scattered in the winds like rays of the Sun.

I just laughed, looking at Claude’s indifferent face.