The Prince Is Dead, So Let’s Start Over Everything Again! - Chapter 4.8

“Would you like to wait inside until His Highness wakes up?”

The 3rd Prince’s attendant suggested bluntly. It was neither Andrew nor the attendant from the previous day, but a new person.

“Yes.”

I nodded readily and was about to enter the room immediately.

“Um, wait a moment, young lady.”

But Anna was quicker in stopping me.

“I’m really sorry, but… It seems you won’t be able to spend time in His Highness’s room today.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you need to prepare for the delayed engagement ceremony…”

Anna scratched her cheek with an embarrassed look.

She seemed to feel sorry that I couldn’t meet the 3rd Prince.

“Engagement ceremony? Are they going ahead with that as planned?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but… There was an order from His Grace to proceed with the engagement ceremony preparations as scheduled since His Highness the 3rd Prince has regained consciousness.”

Anna whispered softly, lowering her voice so only I could hear. She seemed concerned that the 3rd Prince’s attendant might overhear.

By the way, to think about the engagement ceremony while the child was sick. Count Lurupel was truly being Count Lurupel.

“Hmm… When did His Highness fall asleep?”

“Not long ago. It’s been about half an hour, I believe.”

“Then it’ll be a while before he wakes up.”

In the end, I had to leave, saying I would come back in the evening.

As I obediently turned to leave, Anna visibly sighed with relief.

She hurried her steps, leading me back to my room.

“Is there a lot to do?”

“A bit. First, the dress for the engagement ceremony has arrived, so you need to try it on. And it seems you’ll need to memorize the new ceremonial speech. I heard it’s been slightly modified. You should also recheck the guest list, I think.”

“Ugh, I’m already feeling tired…”

As soon as we arrived at the room, Anna brought out a bunch of packages from somewhere.

Although she said she wasn’t sure, it seemed Count Lurupel had already leaned towards holding the engagement ceremony as scheduled.

He was probably holding back from publicly announcing the forced engagement, knowing it would only invite criticism from those around.

The pile of new tasks that appeared as soon as the 3rd Prince regained consciousness was proof of that.

‘Well, it’s not like I don’t understand Count Lurupel’s feelings…’

Holding an engagement ceremony with an ill 3rd Prince was clearly unreasonable to anyone. It must have seemed the same to Count Lurupel.

But postponing the engagement ceremony wasn’t an easy task either.

Most of the invited guests had already arrived at the Rudbeckia Palace.

Postponing the engagement meant rearranging the schedules of all those people.

Of course, everyone would willingly cooperate for the sake of the Prince’s engagement.

This would also put the Lurupels in debt to them, so the guests would nod their heads, pretending to be generous.

But Count Lurupel’s lofty pride would never allow that.

“Young lady. Could you raise your arms? Let’s try on this dress first.”

“Okay…”

I thought it would be right to postpone the engagement ceremony. But there wasn’t much I could do right now.

Having no choice, I obediently complied with the engagement ceremony preparations for now.

Perhaps because I had rested for the entire previous day, there was a mountain of tasks to do.

I was so busy that in the end, I couldn’t meet the 3rd Prince that evening either.

Instead, I headed to the 3rd Prince as soon as I opened my eyes the next day.

Arriving at the 3rd Prince’s room, I politely knocked on the door. But there was no answer from inside.

‘Is it because I came too early?’

After some consideration, I gently pulled the door. There was only the 3rd Prince in the room.

‘What? Where are all the attendants? Are they slacking off?’

Confirming that there were no attendants, I strode into the room.

The 3rd Prince was still lying in bed, sleeping like the dead.

I pulled a chair from nearby and placed it beside the 3rd Prince’s bed.

And I sat on that chair, waiting for the 3rd Prince to wake up.

“Ugh…”

Fortunately, the 3rd Prince woke up not long after. A small whimper escaped from between his lips.

“Your Highness! Are you feeling a bit better?”

I called out to the 3rd Prince with a welcoming voice.

The 3rd Prince, his golden eyelashes trembling finely, slowly opened his eyes.

“…Miss Lurupel?”

“Yes, it’s me!”

“Miss Lurupel…”

And then he suddenly burst into tears. His violet eyes filled with pitiful tears.

“Why are you crying? Are you in pain? Should I call for a healer?”

I stood up to call for a servant.

Then the 3rd Prince grabbed my sleeve with a weak hand, like a dying chick.

“I, I…”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“I did wrong…”

Still half-asleep, the 3rd Prince offered an incoherent apology.

It seemed he felt terribly sorry for acting without listening to my words.

“It’s alright. So don’t cry.”

I readily forgave him and stroked the 3rd Prince’s head.

Children were bound to cause trouble as they grew up.

Although the 3rd Prince had caused some worry, as a professional adult, I didn’t hold such trivial matters in my heart.

When I was the 3rd Prince’s age, I once jumped from the top of a jungle gym and broke both my legs.

Back then, I thought anyone could become a hero just by wearing a cape.

My mom, who rushed to the emergency room after hearing that I had been taken there, looked like she was about to die from shock when she saw me.

But she didn’t get angry or scold me.

Mom only advised me to be careful in the future, saying that if I got hurt from causing accidents, I would be the only one to suffer.

That’s what being eight years old was like.

An age where one couldn’t even properly distinguish what they could and couldn’t do.

Making mistakes and getting hurt while learning about oneself was the duty of all eight-year-olds in the world.

“…Don’t forgive me so easily.”

However, this little one who mistakenly thought he was all grown up still couldn’t escape from his self-loathing.

The 3rd Prince kept shedding tiny tears.

Fortunately, there was a handkerchief that Anna had put in my pocket.

I took out the handkerchief and handed it to the 3rd Prince.

“Do you want to blow your nose?”

At that, the 3rd Prince began to cry even more, with an even sadder face.

“…Miss Lurupel is too indifferent!”

The 3rd Prince chirped in a nasal voice.

“What? Me? You say I’m indifferent?”

I had to ponder for a while whether I had heard the 3rd Prince’s words correctly.

No! Where could you find someone as kind and gentle as me!

“…I thought Miss Lurupel would just let it pass as if nothing happened. Because even getting angry is only possible if you care.”

The 3rd Prince kept chirping with his chick-like lips.

His teary eyes beneath the soaked eyelashes were full of resentment.

“Why would I not care about Your Highness?”

It was an utterly absurd statement.

If anything, among the many characters in this novel, I was by far the one who cared the most about the 3rd Prince.

I couldn’t understand at all why he thought I was indifferent.

The 3rd Prince looked up at my bewildered face and just kept shedding tears.

He seemed very upset.

“Miss Lurupel… Miss Lurupel doesn’t even know my name!”

The 3rd Prince shouted, roughly wiping his eyes with the end of his sleeve.

“Me?”

“Miss Lurupel… hic, I know that you carelessly memorize the names of people you don’t care about.”

Even while busy crying and hiccupping, the 3rd Prince continuously voiced his complaints.

I, who had just received an apology from the 3rd Prince moments ago, somehow found myself in a position of being interrogated by him.