“Your Highness gave it to my sister as a gift, and she was so happy….”
The Crown Prince had given it to her himself?
Then he hadn’t lent it to me without knowing how meaningful the dress was.
“My sister didn’t even eat properly for over a month because she wanted to fit into that dress for the engagement ceremony.”
“What do you mean? If the dress didn’t fit, she should have had it altered. Why would she make her body fit the dress?”
“…He wouldn’t allow it.”
“The Crown Prince wouldn’t let her alter the dress?”
The woman continued glaring at me but obediently answered my question.
“He told my sister that she would look prettier if she wore it exactly as it was.”
…What was this? Why did I suddenly feel so uneasy?
[Ah, yes. As I thought. It suits you very well.]
[It almost seems as though it was prepared especially for Ser.]
Was it because the Crown Prince’s words from earlier had come back to me?
Or was it because the dress fit me as though it had been made for me from the very beginning?
‘I only had to add some fabric to cover the scars on my body.’
Was this… a coincidence?
‘No. If it isn’t a coincidence, then what is it?’
I couldn’t remember my exact measurements.
The last time I had a dress made was before entering the Black Rift, so it had been years.
By the standards of this era, it had been more than three hundred years ago.
“I want you to tell me more about what happened between your sister and the Crown Prince. In return, I’ll take this dress off right now.”
I spoke with a stiff expression, and the woman nodded with a slightly flustered look.
Her name was Lucia Edelvine.
And her older sister, the former Crown Princess, was Rivelina Edelvine.
The Edelvine family, a humble baronial family from the countryside, had managed to enter the central political scene thanks to their eldest daughter, Rivelina, catching the Crown Prince’s eye.
They had gone to considerable lengths to hold their eldest daughter’s debutante in the capital, and it had brought the Edelvine family tremendous fortune.
The Crown Prince had treated Rivelina extremely well, she said.
He would summon her to the palace to spend time with her and shower her with gifts.
And yet, for some reason, Rivelina had always seemed anxious throughout her relationship with the Crown Prince, and that hadn’t changed even after they married.
“My sister said that she thought there was another woman His Highness had feelings for. That she was nothing more than a stand-in.”
Lucia spoke with a dark expression.
“I couldn’t understand my sister when she trembled with anxiety, saying that if she couldn’t even perform that role properly, if she became useless, she would eventually be discarded.”
And understandably so.
There had been no other woman besides Rivelina in the Crown Prince’s life.
No matter how carefully someone tried to hide something, there were things that simply couldn’t be concealed.
If he had a lover, it was only natural that rumors would have spread at least once.
But there had never been a gap in the Crown Prince’s movements, and he had never once sent gifts or spent time with any woman other than the Crown Princess.
“But when I saw you appear today wearing this dress, I finally remembered what my sister had said.”
Lucia looked at me.
“Tell me honestly. It was you, wasn’t it? You were His Highness the Crown Prince’s lover, weren’t you?”
Anger, desperation, sorrow, regret.
Her gaze was filled with a complicated mixture of emotions that couldn’t be defined in a single word.
“No.”
I sighed, carefully folded the dress I had taken off, and handed it to Lucia.
“I’m from Bardia, and I met the Crown Prince for the first time a few days ago.”
“You’re lying…!”
“If you don’t want to believe me, then don’t. I have no intention of wasting my time trying to convince you of something you could find out yourself with a little effort.”
I didn’t even know the truth myself. How was I supposed to make her understand?
Thank goodness I had packed a spare maid’s uniform in my spatial bag just in case.
I could change into that before leaving.
First, I needed to send her out.
“Now, go back to the banquet hall.”
“……”
Lucia stared intently at my face before getting to her feet with the dress clutched in her arms.
She hesitated for a moment, perhaps uncomfortable with me standing there in nothing but my undergarments, but soon turned and headed for the door.
“Should I… call someone for you?”
Just before opening the door, she finally asked me.
“Don’t worry about other people. Take proper care of yourself first.”
I hoped she would escape from her sister’s shadow as soon as possible.
After all, no amount of regret could bring back the dead.
“…Be careful of him.”
Lucia finally stuck her nose into my affairs one last time before opening the lounge door.
And then—
“Y-Your Highness…!”
She froze upon seeing the man standing outside the door.
“Oh.”
The Crown Prince glanced at Lucia, then at the dress in her arms, before taking several large steps into the room.
He left Lucia behind as she stumbled backward and sank to the floor, then walked toward me.
“It suited you quite well, but I see it’s already been taken away.”
Why was the man who was supposed to be sitting beside the Emperor here?
Had he seen Lucia and me leaving the banquet hall together and followed us?
‘No, that can’t be it.’
‘He probably came here to inspect the area before closing off the western corridor.’
Just as I had wanted to inspect it myself.
“You don’t look bad like that, either.”
What?
In my underwear?
Of course, calling it underwear was a bit misleading. It was essentially a skirt-like garment that covered me from my chest to my thighs, so it wasn’t all that different from a short dress.
Even so, staring at me so openly without a hint of embarrassment was a little much.
His gaze made me uncomfortable, and I wanted to throw something on as quickly as possible.
The problem was that I hadn’t taken out my spare clothes yet.
‘This is troublesome.’
According to Elhardt, the very concept of a spatial bag no longer existed in this era.
So if I suddenly pulled something out of thin air, it could cause problems.
“Your Highness, I’m sorry, but I think I need to change my clothes. I’d appreciate it if you could give me a moment of privacy.”
The Crown Prince sat down on the sofa opposite me and casually looked around before smiling.
“I don’t see any clothes for you to change into. Where are they?”
“Women have their secrets.”
I smiled back at him.
In the suffocating silence, a small sound suddenly reached my ears.
Rustle—
Lucia, who had been sitting on the floor, was crawling toward the exit of the lounge, causing her dress to scrape against the floor.
“Lady Edelvine.”
“Yes, Y-Your Highness…!”
“I don’t mind you leaving, but I’d like you to return that dress first.”
“But, Your Highness… this dress is my sister’s….”
Even though she was trembling with fear, Lucia tried desperately to protect her sister’s dress.
“No, it isn’t.”
“…What?”
“Do you remember how wine stained the hem of Rivelina’s dress on the day of her engagement? She was saddened because the stain could never be removed.”
Lucia stopped at the Crown Prince’s words and slowly lowered her gaze to the water-blue dress.
I hadn’t noticed any such stain, either.
Which meant…
“It’s similar, but it’s a different dress. Isn’t it?”
So this had all been a misunderstanding?
That couldn’t be.
This had been deliberate.
He had intentionally had a dress made in the same style as the former Crown Princess’s and put it on me.
I didn’t know what his exact purpose was, but the very idea sent a chill down my spine.
‘…He’s not just your ordinary madman.’
I heard Lucia’s flustered voice.
“Uh… Th-that’s….”
The Crown Prince leaned toward me, looking straight into my eyes as he spoke.
“Do you really think I would give a precious guest something that another woman had worn?”
Then he held out his hand toward Lucia.
“Now, this is your last chance.”
Lucia rose with a dazed expression, clutching the dress to her chest as she staggered toward him.
“I’m sorry… I misunderstood….”
She lowered her head and apologized before handing the dress to the Crown Prince.
Then, until she left the lounge, Lucia never once looked at me.
“There, Ser. I got it back.”
“……”
I stared intently at the Crown Prince’s smiling face, the expression on it practically asking, ‘I did well, didn’t I?’
“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”
At his brows, which lifted slightly before settling back down.
At his slowly blinking eyes.
The shape of his lips curved into a smile.
That face, which genuinely seemed unable to understand what the problem was, was astonishingly not an act.
“Are you… trying to seduce me right now? If I’m being stupid and simply failing to notice….”
At that moment, it couldn’t have been a coincidence that someone who pursued efficiency to the extreme came to mind.
Just before the Crown Prince’s slowly outstretched hand touched my cheek, I opened my mouth.
“Who are you?”
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