That’s why I couldn’t just watch the current situation unfold. Unable to bear it any longer, I finally decided to meet with the crown prince to protest about the detached palace’s condition.

“Can I meet with His Highness?”

“He’s extremely busy, so it would be difficult to meet him.”

I moved back to the main palace and requested a meeting with the crown prince through an imperial attendant, but the response was a refusal.

“I’ll wait until he has time.”

“Aren’t you busy as well, Saintess?”

The attendant looked puzzled since he knew my usual schedule well.

“Right now, the urgent matter for me is meeting His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Not only me, but even Marianne wasn’t being treated well – would she want to work? Even if she had the desire to work, wouldn’t it disappear?

“B-but…”

When I kept insisting, the flustered attendant eventually gave in to my wishes. I planned to keep waiting until the crown prince came out of his office.

However, the crown prince seemed to have no intention of meeting me even though he knew I was waiting.

He spent his time quite busily. I heard that from dawn he trained with the imperial knights to strengthen his body, and aside from that time, he mostly handled state affairs.

This was because His Majesty the Emperor, who was originally frail, had collapsed and was bedridden after receiving a great shock from the unprecedented famine.

So meeting the crown prince, who was handling even His Majesty’s duties, was difficult in itself. Yet he had tried to make time for me about three times a week. Though it was only about 30 minutes, I used to feel grateful for his consideration.

But lately he had been reducing that time, and now he seemed to have no intention of showing me even basic courtesy. Seeing his attitude made me feel completely deflated.

If someone asked whether my relationship with the crown prince, my fiancé, was good? Well. I thought our relationship was neither particularly good nor bad, but recalling his recent behavior, it would be more appropriate to say our relationship was poor. He had been unilaterally ignoring me lately.

I had wondered why his attitude suddenly changed, but now I thought I understood. He probably judged that I, who had become useless, was no longer needed.

I could finally realize that he had only pretended to be kind – he wasn’t actually a kind man.

After all, hadn’t this engagement been forced on him against his will too? He might be using the newly appeared saintess as an excuse to create grounds for breaking off our engagement.

I recalled when I heard that unexpected proposal not long after being recognized as a saintess.

* * *

“An engagement ceremony with His Highness the Crown Prince will be held.”

“What? With who?”

I thought I had misheard. How could I dare marry the crown prince? I naturally thought it would be impossible.

“You will be engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

But hearing the same thing twice, I could tell it wasn’t nonsense. They seemed intent on forcing an engagement with the crown prince without asking my opinion.

“With someone like me? I’m from commoner origins, so I’m far from suitable to become part of the imperial family.”

“You are the hero who saved the empire. Therefore, you’re fully qualified to become a member of the imperial family.”

“Do I absolutely have to get engaged? Can’t I refuse? Can’t I just faithfully fulfill my role as a saintess?”

Though the atmosphere suggested I shouldn’t refuse, I still didn’t want to accept the proposal. How could I dare become the crown princess? The burden was too much for me to accept that position.

“Ah, well…”

The imperial attendant seemed quite flustered, probably not expecting me to refuse. He must have thought who would refuse the position of crown princess.

Just as I was having those thoughts, a low voice suddenly broke the awkward atmosphere. The moment I turned my head toward where the sound came from, my eyes widened.

“Do you dislike being engaged to me?”

I was startled when I saw the crown prince’s face. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

Lustrous golden hair that seemed to melt on golden fields, deep blue eyes reminiscent of the blue sea, a straight nose, a jawline sharp enough to cut, and pale skin.

With his neat appearance and gorgeous looks, he immediately captured my attention. It seemed like a prince from fairy tales had actually appeared before me.

“Ah, well. I have many shortcomings to become the crown princess…”

Flustered, I forgot to greet him and stammered nervously. Though my attitude must have seemed rude, the crown prince looked at me and smiled refreshingly instead.

“If I thought you didn’t suit me, I wouldn’t have agreed to an engagement with you in the first place.”

“Even so…”

“Ah, I was rude. I got the order wrong. Will you marry me?”

The crown prince knelt on one knee before me and lightly kissed the back of my hand. I couldn’t help but be flustered by his actions.

“Ah, I understand.”

Refusing in this situation was impossible. So I had no choice but to become engaged to the crown prince.

The engagement ceremony proceeded quickly. Two weeks after receiving the crown prince’s proposal.

Though I hadn’t become the crown princess yet, it was still an important event, wasn’t it? Was it okay for it to happen so hastily?

Though I found it strange, having accepted the crown prince’s proposal, I had no choice in the matter. I simply had to follow whatever the imperial family instructed.

“The wedding will be held after the empire’s problems are resolved.”

They didn’t tell me then. Only later did I learn that I had become engaged to him because of a curse that had befallen the imperial family.

But I wasn’t particularly dissatisfied. Though it wasn’t an engagement based on love, he treated me well as my fiancé.

But what was this now?

I was determined to keep waiting in front of his office until I could definitely have a conversation with the crown prince.

However, my plan was thwarted not long after. About 30 minutes later, I saw maids coming to find me with angry faces.

“Saintess! We’re short on potions right now – how can you be resting here? You need to make at least 30 per day to meet the target quantity.”

Making even one potion required a lot of stamina, so I had been sacrificing my free time and sleep to make that amount. So they could let me rest for at least one day, but seeing that they wouldn’t even allow that, they seemed to have no interest in my health condition.

“Today I absolutely must speak with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Do it next time. It’s urgent now. The new saintess hasn’t adapted yet, so you must fulfill all your current duties.”

I wanted to be stubborn, but with three maids dragging me, I was forced to be led to the laboratory where I made potions.

I felt like rebelling, but I held back for Marianne’s sake. I was worried that if I rebelled, she might face disadvantages.

The next day, new rumors about me spread. That I had tried to push work onto the newly arrived saintess, Lady Radner, who hadn’t even adapted yet.

I had never tried to push work onto her, but the rumors seemed to have been distorted because the maids mentioned her.

While they had made me work immediately upon arriving in this world, it felt unfair that they were giving her special treatment, probably because she was the protagonist. 

Was this the sorrow of being an extra in a novel?

I thought about just overturning everything, but I held back. I couldn’t act emotionally yet. I planned to work as usual for now while observing how the situation unfolded.