Chapter 1

It was the sort of fairy-tale-like room that any young girl would usually dream of at least once, but strangely, Celia’s daughter did not suit that room.

It was not so much that her appearance was out of place, but rather that her daughter was far too mature, so that instead of such a fluffy, cotton-candy-like room, a simply neat young lady’s room would have suited her much better.

‘Exactly.’

Because of that, Celia let out a sigh inwardly as she looked at her daughter, who was mature beyond her years.

But soon enough, smiling brightly, she spoke to her.

After all, she had not come to sigh, but to show her ‘something.’

“Via.”

“Yes, Mother.”

At Celia’s call, her daughter Viviana smiled faintly. She smiled in a way more ladylike than most noble girls, and it was hard to believe that child was only ten years old.

Dennis, her older brother by two years, ran wild all over the mansion like a little colt, screaming like a proper child his age, and though girls did mature faster than boys, seeing her so adult-like made Celia’s chest ache for some reason.

‘Whew, it is not as if anyone has mistreated her…. If only I could split Dennis and Viviana in half and mix them together, that would be perfect.’

One was a problem because he was too unruly, and the other was a problem because she was far too unlike a child.

Looking at her daughter Viviana with wistful eyes, Celia swallowed her regret and, from behind her back where she had hidden it, brought out the children’s dress she had originally come to show, making it flutter as she revealed it.

“Ta-da!”

She deliberately shook the fluttering dress of splendid colors even more and acted in an exaggerated manner, but no matter how diligently Celia swayed the dress back and forth before her eyes, Viviana’s expression did not change.

Embarrassed by the lack of reaction, Celia opened her mouth.

“Well…. The dress we ordered before, the one you’ll wear to His Highness the Crown Prince’s birthday party in three days, has arrived!”

As she smiled even more brightly on purpose and lightly shook the dress before her eyes, the frills and lace decorating it swayed softly. The beads attached to it also clinked against one another with a rustling sound.

“Hm? Isn’t it pretty? What do you think?” 

Celia chattered, pretending to be excited on purpose, but Viviana slowly ran her eyes over the dress and then calmly gave her impression.

“Yes.”

I see. At that dry answer, Celia’s eyelids trembled.

“I…. Is that all…?”

When Celia asked in bewilderment, Viviana showed a slightly troubled expression and opened her mouth hesitantly.

“…It is pretty….”

But her expression did not say that at all. Her face plainly showed the thought that as long as it covered her flesh, even a rag would do.

That dubious expression. Even a smooth little pebble by the roadside would not receive such treatment. Thinking perhaps Viviana simply did not like the dress, Celia looked down at the one in her hands.

Its pastel colors suited her taste, and though the abundant ruffles and lace were childish, it was clothes well suited for children of this age.

It would have been difficult for an adult to wear, but it was the sort of dreamlike dress that could only be worn at this age.

‘Why is my child so grown-up….’

Setting aside whether Celia herself could wear it or not, the dress was truly pretty.

It was pretty even when viewed apart from her daughter, and it had looked lovely when Viviana tried it on before.

No matter how mature Viviana was, she was still a child, and if they had tailored something like what Celia wore, it would have looked strange and ridiculous, like a child imitating an adult.

The moment Celia saw the dress, which seemed as though it had been born specifically for her daughter, she had brought it over while looking forward to seeing Viviana’s delighted face, but her dry reaction made her droop.

Seeing Celia like that, Viviana rolled her eyes around as she watched her mood, then placed her palms together as though in prayer and began giving an artificial clap.

“Wow… waah…. So pre tty. It is so ve ry pre tty.”

“……”

Seeing Celia’s expression decay more and more at her reaction, Viviana shifted her eyes again and, clapping even more enthusiastically in that artificial way, fabricated more words.

“It looks like a Prin cess’s dre….”

“That is enough.”

Yes. Though she had been speaking as if reading from a book, at Celia’s restraint Viviana immediately looked awkward and shut her mouth.

Watching that daughter of hers, Celia sighed.

Viviana was blunt, but it was not that she had no affection.

Of course, compared to other children she had less of it, but even so, there were times when she would smile sweetly at the seated Celia and come nestling into her arms, or hold her hand and rub her cheek against her palm, so it was not as though she could not do such things.

‘Still, this is a bit….’

What sort of lack of desire was this, as though she were some enlightened sage who had renounced the world?

As a human, she naturally noticed flashy things, but when told they were hers, rather than being pleased, she only answered calmly, ‘I see.’

There had been several cases like this, but if she had to pick the worst ones, they were when Viviana looked at childish dresses for children, and when she heard stories related to the Imperial Family.

With distant eyes, Celia looked back on her own childhood.

At that age, she had been crazy about sparkling, fluttering, swaying things.

She had also been crazy about rainbows and unicorns, and about princesses and princes living in castles.

She had imagined wearing clothes trimmed with fluttering lace and ornaments, holding hands with a prince as they danced, while her skirt spread out beautifully in a flare.

Unlike her, Viviana preferred simple clothes with almost no decoration, and she was indifferent even to stories about princes and princesses.

Especially in the past few days, whenever she heard even passing remarks about the Crown Prince, whom she had never even met, her face would stiffen at once.

‘At this point, I can only suspect that the Crown Prince, who has never even left the Imperial Palace, beat up my child….’

Celia’s eyes narrowed. If someone who had never left the Imperial Palace was disliked by someone who had never left the territory, then what in the world had to have happened?

She knew Viviana’s indifference toward clothes was not because she disliked them, but simply because she had no interest in them, yet in the case of the Crown Prince, Celia could not understand it.

The Crown Prince, his very existence was almost like Viviana’s reverse scale.

‘Still, there is nothing to be done….’

The two were already engaged. Of course, it was to be announced publicly at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet this time, but still.

They had already exchanged contracts, and they had exchanged rings as well.

When children became engaged at such a young age, it was common to exchange only rings in advance and omit the ceremony. Or to hold it when they were a little older.

So even if no ceremony had been held, she was already the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

Celia felt sorry because the engagement had been arranged without Viviana’s consent, but because the Imperial Family had specifically chosen Viviana and wanted her, Celia and her husband, as nobles, could not disobey that command.

They belonged to the Emperor’s faction, after all. Even if they had been in the noble faction, defying the Emperor’s order would have been difficult, but for them, it was impossible.

If they did, it might provide the noble faction with grounds for attack.

‘Well, well, they say Marquis Orhan household belongs to the Emperor’s faction, yet it does not even heed His Majesty’s command!’

It was obvious they would sneer like that. A sneer could be endured, but that kind of sowing discord might bring about division within the Emperor’s faction. They had to be careful.

Besides, even if Viviana was indifferent to stories about princesses and princes, children this age dreamed of the princesses and princes in stories ― even Dennis, her brother two years older, wanted to become a prince himself ― so Celia had mistakenly believed that this time, even indifferent Viviana would naturally be pleased.

And so, when she informed Viviana of the engagement while imagining the face she would make when happy, it was only after seeing that collapsing expression that Celia finally realized that she did not like the Crown Prince.

Celia’s face twisted with guilt.

Unless one was the heir who would inherit the title, in the life of a noble young lady, finding a good match and marrying was important. Of course, the same was true for a noble young man without a title.

That was why the Imperial Family, the finest marriage prospect among them, was a position everyone longed for.

Celia regretted deeply that, thrilled that her lovely daughter would rise to that noble place, a precious place that only one person in a generation could claim, she had failed to consider her daughter’s thoughts.

Celia knelt in front of Viviana and looked up at her.

“Mother?”

“Via.”

Placing her palms on the bewildered Viviana’s cheeks and holding her gaze, Celia asked gently.

“Do you not want to marry the Crown Prince?”

Viviana did not answer. Reading affirmation in that silence, Celia smiled.

Seeing how much she hated it, Celia did not want to force her into becoming a victim of a political marriage, so she smiled and spoke lightly.

“Then shall we break off the engagement?”

At those words, Viviana was startled. It simply had not been announced to society yet, but they had already exchanged rings, and with the contracts already shared, it was practically the same as having held an engagement ceremony, and yet break it off? At Celia’s question, Viviana could not easily feel happy.

That was because Viviana knew her broken engagement would not be something light, as Celia’s tone made it sound.

If she were to break off the engagement, her parents would face great trouble.

Their title might be demoted for the crime of mocking the Imperial Family, they might be treated as though it were akin to treason, or they might be buried in society.

So if she endured, everyone else could be happy.

As Celia looked into Viviana’s eyes, trembling finely with conflict, she pulled her tightly into an embrace.

‘My poor child.’

My poor daughter, so mature she does not even know how to throw a tantrum.

Celia wanted to go back into the past and yank out every last hair on the head of her former self, who had cheerfully accepted the Imperial Family’s proposal in high spirits.

If her daughter, whose joys, anger, sorrow, and pleasure were not strongly expressed, disliked this so openly, then there had to be something behind it.

‘That son of a b*tch must be a real little bastard.’

As for the Marquis’s assessment, and the rumors she had heard, there was talk that he was kind and fair, and that he showed the qualities to become a wise ruler, but such rumors could be spread by the Imperial Family with only a little effort, so they could not be trusted.

While Celia’s heart inclined toward breaking off the engagement, Viviana, who had been trembling faintly in her embrace, spoke.

“It’s alright, Mom.”

“…But Via. If you hate it this much, then what happened….”

“Nothing has happened yet.”

Yet? Then did that mean something would happen in the future? As Celia was bewildered by those strange words, Viviana smiled sweetly and looked up at her.

“What could have happened between me and His Highness the Crown Prince, whom I have never met? It is only that I simply do not want to marry anyone.”

“Vivi….”

“Because if I get married, I will be separated from you, and from Father too, and I will have to leave the Orhan territory.”

At her daughter’s coaxing affection as she came nestling into her arms, saying she did not want to be separated, Celia broke into a broad smile.

So that was it! Indeed, one could not dislike someone one had never met.