The wounds weren’t as deep, but their location and shape were eerily similar.

“I’ll call the physician instead. Please wait a moment.”

“That poor old man must already be sweating bullets dealing with the Crown Prince. Just put some ointment on it yourself.”

“But what if it leaves a scar…”

“It’s fine. Quickly.”

Hesitant, Seren eventually came back with just the ointment.

“Is today a day of bad luck? I heard the Crown Prince also hurt his hand…”

Seren muttered as she applied the ointment.

“It must be a coincidence.”

I firmly denied her words, but I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

“I won’t use this brooch for a while. Put it deep in the jewelry box.”

After instructing Seren, I turned my gaze to the vase by the window.

A rose was already placed in the vase. It was the very flower the Crown Prince had picked earlier.

True to his discerning eye, the rose was lush and fragrant.

I alternated glaring at my ointment-covered finger and the rose.

“Throw that rose away… no, you can take it.”

I changed my mind about throwing it away.

It wasn’t the flower’s fault; it was the person who picked it.

“Really? But it was a gift from His Highness.”

Seren looked hesitant.

She has a hobby of collecting items related to handsome men.

As someone who was more like a friend, I would often give her things she liked. But I had never shared any gifts from the Crown Prince.

But now, I was no longer my old self. After getting such an unsettling wound, I felt uneasy about anything the Crown Prince had touched.

“It’s fine. There are plenty of roses in the garden.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

Seren carefully took the rose, afraid a petal might fall, and it quickly disappeared. I could hear her humming beyond the door.

I knew well that she didn’t have any romantic feelings for the Crown Prince.

She was just pleased to add him to her collection.

Listening to her humming, I fiddled with the brooch.

“Pricking myself with a brooch, I must be really foolish.”

Though doubts remained, I figured I was just feeling extra uneasy because it involved the Crown Prince.

I decided not to dwell on it any further.

***

By the time my wounds had mostly healed, leaving only a few small scabs, the Empress invited me to the palace.

I was surprised to realize I had completely forgotten about the Empress.

The Crown Prince rarely sought me out unless necessary, so I always eagerly awaited the Empress’s invitations.

‘I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.’

It had been over a month since Lina and Enril left, and there had been no progress.

I hadn’t even seen a single hair on Iscallion’s head.

And the Crown Prince’s bizarre behavior a few days ago only added to my already chaotic thoughts.

“Sigh… What am I supposed to do!”

If you’re the female lead in a romance fantasy novel, you should have at least one impressive ability.

In reality, Lina awakened as a powerful healer after her dimensional shift, and thanks to that ability, she was able to meet the male leads.

On the other hand, I had no abilities other than knowing the original story.

Lina had given me a necklace, but it was just buried in a corner of the jewelry box, never seeing the light of day.

Wearing something like that when the male leads didn’t even have any human affection for me would just make me look like a fool drinking kimchi soup¹similar to the idiom ‘counting chickens before they hatch’.

“No matter how much of a stand-in I am, this is too much, isn’t it?”

Unable to contain my anger, I slammed my fist on the dressing table.

“Miss…?”

Startled, I looked up to see Seren looking at me as if I were a strange person.

“The carriage is ready…”

“Okay.”

I hastily composed myself and headed to the palace.

A short while later, as I stepped out of the carriage, an elderly maid greeted me.

“Welcome, Lady Dronay. Her Majesty the Empress is waiting for you in the drawing room.”

Hearing that the Empress was waiting, I headed straight to the drawing room.

But when I arrived, no one was there.

Without panicking, I walked towards the terrace connected to the drawing room. As expected, the Empress was there.

I was about to greet her when I hesitated upon seeing the platinum-haired young man sitting opposite her.

Unconsciously, my face scrunched up.

Fortunately, the Empress and the Crown Prince were engrossed in their chess game and didn’t seem to notice my arrival.

Not wanting to disturb their mother-son bonding time, I decided to wait until their game was over.

As I stood there fidgeting with my fingers, the Crown Prince eventually noticed me.

“Lou.”

He immediately approached me and lightly kissed the back of my hand.

“You should have said something when you arrived.”

“I didn’t want to disturb you two.”

I released my hand from the Crown Prince’s grasp and greeted the Empress.

“The humble Lou Dronay greets Her Majesty the Empress.”

“It’s been a while, Lou. Come, join us. I thought it would be nice for the three of us to spend some time together, so I called for Pinion. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

The Crown Prince pulled out a chair for me, and I awkwardly sat down. His demeanor was very polite, likely because the Empress was watching.

In the past, I would have seized the opportunity to cling to Pinion, but today I simply expressed my gratitude with a nod.

“Shall we end the chess game now that our guest has arrived?”

“You don’t have to stop on my account. I’m fine.”

“The outcome is already decided. I vividly remember teaching Pinion chess as if it were yesterday, but now I can’t win against him. He doesn’t even show mercy to his mother. How heartless.”

The Empress playfully glared at the Crown Prince.

He responded nonchalantly.

“It was you who told me to always do my best in every game, Mother.”

“See? He always talks like that.”

When the Empress rang the bell, a servant soon came to clear the chessboard and brought out some light refreshments.

“So, how was your time in the Holy Kingdom? Did you study a lot?”

“Embarrassingly, I realized how much I lacked due to my neglect of theological studies.”

“You’re still young, so as long as you don’t get discouraged and keep trying, you’ll be fine. By the way, I was a bit surprised when you left without a word. Listening to your stories about the outside world is one of my few pleasures. Nothing interesting ever happens in the palace.”

Hearing that made me feel a bit guilty.

The Empress, who had no daughters of her own, cherished me like a daughter.

She had even generously overlooked the many mistakes and misbehaviors I had committed while following the Crown Prince around.

Even now, when my feelings for the Crown Prince had cooled, I still had good feelings towards the Empress.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to visit the palace more often and share lots of interesting stories with you.”

“Please do. And it would be even better if you see Pinion often as well.”

“Y-yes…”

I forced a smile.

“Seeing you two reminds me of my younger days. Back then, I was so shy that I couldn’t even make eye contact when His Majesty spoke to me. Although I was chosen as the Crown Princess from birth and received education to become the Empress, in front of him, I felt like an ordinary girl.”

The Empress’s eyes softened with nostalgia as she reminisced.

Although it was a political marriage, it is said that they loved each other passionately.

Even now, more than 20 years into their marriage, the Emperor and Empress were famous for their harmonious relationship.

“I used to think I’d stay young forever, but time has flown by so quickly. It’s hard to believe you two have grown up so much. You used to bicker all the time, but now you make a perfect pair.”

The Empress looked at Pinion and me with satisfaction.

‘This is overwhelming.’

I couldn’t meet her gaze directly, so I lowered my head slightly to avoid her eyes.

Then, I suddenly found it strange.

Though the Empress had often invited me and the Crown Prince to chat together, she had never taken so long with the introductions.

‘Maybe it’s just my imagination.’

As if to mock me, the Empress dropped a bombshell.

“Now that you both have come of age this year, we plan to proceed with the marriage before the year ends. His Majesty the Emperor shares my opinion. What do you think?”

I almost spat out the tea I was drinking right into the Empress’s face.

“Technically, it would be proper to discuss this with the Duke of Dronay first, but since you two are the ones getting married, I wanted to talk to you first… What’s wrong, Lou?”

Even without looking, I could tell that my face had turned pale.

I quickly composed myself and stammered a response.

“N-nothing, Your Majesty. I was just surprised by the sudden news…”

“Sudden? It’s been ten years since you got engaged.”

“That’s true, but…”

I looked at Pinion. At this moment, he was my last hope. Surely, he had no desire to marry me either.

‘Hurry up and say no, hurry!’

I even considered forgiving some of his past wrongdoings if he refused now.

But for some reason, he remained silent.

“Forgive me, but I’m still young and not mentally prepared–”

I began to speak again, but,

“I agree with Mother. Given the imperial family’s situation, the sooner the marriage, the better.”

The Crown Prince shattered my hopes.

The sound of the teacup falling from my hand and shattering was deafening.