Chapter – 20
3. Luigi
“Princess, are you inside? Your Highness?”
Carefully knocking on the door, he tried to check her condition.
Marien barely lifted herself and replied.
“…Yes.”
“You’re not feeling unwell or anything, right? You haven’t come out for days…”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Alright, then I’ll just leave your meal here. You have to eat, okay?”
“…Okay.”
Only then did the knocking fade into the distance.
The person outside the door was a maid who had followed Marien all the way from the kingdom.
Not someone who attached herself only according to circumstances, but a loyal retainer who had served Marien alone for a long time.
Marien knew that, since she had no faction to call her own in this empire, at least this person needed to be taken care of. But—
“….”
Right now, she couldn’t respond to anything, staring at the closed door with blank eyes.
It wasn’t the memory of being humiliated at the ball that had her trapped, but something deeper and more tangled.
‘It was Laura.’
Biting her lower lip, Marien curled herself up.
‘The woman Crown Prince Asel loved… it was her…!’
She had discovered that Asel had a lover about a week after arriving at the imperial palace.
When Asel had rejected her with various excuses, Marien had wandered around the palace, hoping to meet him.
That’s when she found “that room.”
A room neatly arranged with expensive women’s items, all organized with precision.
Even the dresses and shoes were all the same size, and none of them showed any signs of use.
‘These are all gifts. Prepared for one person.’
And the owner of that room?
[What… is going on here?]
To her surprise, it was Asel.
[Leave.]
He had shown more hostility than ever, the kind of aura a wild animal would display when its territory was invaded. Marien had dashed out of the room.
At the time, she had been too shocked to ask anything, but as time passed and she had more composure, her curiosity grew.
Asel had loved someone.
But they had not been able to continue their relationship. The reason he had only piled up sentimental items must have been because of that.
‘Then what is the reason?’
Had he been rejected? Or had the woman died, preventing him from conveying his feelings?
Then, today, Marien understood the truth.
‘He lost his memory.’
Until a year ago, Marien herself was supposed to be sent to a different country, not this empire.
‘Crown Prince Asel had someone he loved.’
And that person was even engaged to a noble family.
Her father and the ministers had judged that sending a royal to Asel would not sway him, so his name was excluded from the list of royal marriage candidates.
‘But at some point, everyone forgot about it.’
They had forgotten even the fact that they had forgotten.
‘But I remembered.’
She alone fully recalled the memory that even Asel himself had lost.
It was evident from his attitude that his memory was incomplete.
He had maintained a lukewarm relationship with Laura, and “that room” had not been preserved meticulously.
Asel might remember that he had loved someone, but he clearly could not recall who.
In that moment, Marien realized this was her chance.
‘Then I can just become that woman.’
If she could grasp everything that Laura had held, she could…
‘I can stay in the empire.’
A sense of miserable joy and longing surged inside her.
She knew this feeling was low and shameful.
‘But what choice do I have?’
Returning to her homeland was not an option.
‘I have to try everything to survive.’
This was the best she could do.
The welcoming ceremony had ended three days ago.
I returned to the palace again.
It was the day that the duke and Princess Luigi were arriving at the palace.
A dinner for the two was scheduled in a few days, but as both were officially part of the royal family, proper protocol had to be observed.
And as Asel’s fiancée, I was the one with the proper status to greet them personally.
My presence was also more than just ceremonial—it was to show that even though the emperor was unconscious, the empire remained intact, and the royal household continued functioning without issue.
As I walked quickly through the palace corridors, maids and guards bowed to me.
“…!!”
Their attitude had changed noticeably.
When they had heard that Laura was coming, palace staff had hurriedly avoided her.
‘Has Laura’s image improved a bit?’
Or perhaps they had realized that Asel would maintain his engagement with me for a long time, and so they switched sides.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
The person I really wanted to observe wasn’t here.
‘But Asel hasn’t appeared.’
He had said he was too busy to even glance around.
‘I guess it can’t be helped.’
He had spent three full days at the ball right next to me, so his pile of unfinished work must have been huge.
Still, this was expected.
“Uh, Your Grace…”
Marien suddenly ran up and grabbed me.
“I’m really sorry for that day. I should have made it clear that it wasn’t your fault, but… I got swept up in the situation…”
Her outfit was far simpler than at the party, and her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had cried somewhere.
Anyone could see that she was deliberately emphasizing a sorrowful appearance, which made me smirk.
‘Pathetic.’
The very act of grabbing me in a crowded place was a staged performance.
Even the unconvincing apology was meant to provoke me.
‘And if I respond harshly, she’ll make it seem like I’m unreasonable.’
But what would I lose?
Marien was mistaken.
I did not care about image-making. I had not become Asel’s fiancée because of kindness, and even if I received more insults, nothing would change.
“There’s no need to apologize, Princess. I wasn’t bothered by that day.”
On the surface, it sounded generous, but in reality, it was the opposite.
‘Who are you that I would still care about you?’
“Crown Prince Asel already knows that you were not well, so there’s no need to worry.”
Marien’s expression froze.
She could not argue, because that would be admitting that she had deliberately caused the incident.
‘Then why bother challenging me?’
She was outmatched.
I lightly smirked and tried to pass her when—
“You’re here.”
Angel, coming out to greet instead of Asel, spotted me and then saw Marien beside me, frowning.
“Why is the Princess here?”
“Well… uh…”
“You said your movements were restricted because of the injury.”
Marien had claimed that she couldn’t return to the kingdom because of her wounded foot, but Angel directly pointed this out.
“Well, the room was too stuffy… it’s better for recovery to take a light walk outside rather than stay cooped up in the room.”
Angel clicked his tongue in disapproval, but he could not speak harshly to someone staying in the palace as a guest of honor, and so the conversation ended.
“The palace has been rather chaotic recently. I was concerned that if someone of your importance involved themselves, your condition might worsen. So I ask that you focus on recovery and avoid overexertion.”
He was essentially telling her to stay out of sight.
But Marien was a formidable opponent.
“I will, Your Highness. Uh, but will I still be unable to meet His Highness today?”
“Of course. He is always busy with the empire’s affairs.”
Angel gestured dismissively, and Marien reluctantly stepped back.
After walking for a while, Angel sighed.
“Do not concern yourself too much. His Highness does not even consider you a candidate for Crown Princess.”
I didn’t think so.
Marien hadn’t won Asel’s heart even in the original story.
Angel then looked at me intently.
That’s when I realized he had no trace of his usual annoyance.
“Indeed… you’ve changed.”
“Excuse me?”
Angel continued.
“You seem to have gained composure.”
“Have I?”
Angel had noticed clearly.
The original Laura had always been anxious, constantly on guard against everything.
Worried about being disowned by her family, or losing her fiancée status to Seraphina.
