Chapter 90

“No wonder, Lady Keaton’s outfit looks different.” His sparkling eyes saw her green dress this time. It was chosen by Apollonia. “You look more elegant in your comfortable dress than any other young lady with overly shiny decorations. It’s also my favorite color.”

He was a man who spoke his mind straightforwardly. The execution was tacky, but on the other hand, she could feel his sincerity. It reminded her of her father who sent her off  a few days ago.

“W-would you like to…” She then recalled Apollonia’s command. “If you don’t mind, would you like to dance with me?”

Eckart first reached out his big, hard hand to lead Bianca. The hands that were familiar with the sword touched and the two smiled happily as they looked at each other.

As expected, people were beautiful when they trained their body.

* * *

Adrian was busy.

Taking care of the Star Palace was not hard, but she had many other things to do. Such as secretly investigating the Crown Prince, attending Apollonia, and learning the power structure of the Imperial Family. Until the day before, she couldn’t even enjoy the banquet because she was going around looking for Eckart’s favorite colour and his favorite knights.

Thanks to that, she was able to obtain precious information from the knights who trained with Eckart in the past. She even obtained information about Eckart’s admiration toward Bianca’s maternal grandfather.

She decided the knight might be useful later, and gave him a large sum of money.

Only after ensuring that the banquet went on through the night and that the conversation between Eckart and Bianca went smoothly could Adrian finally breathe.

In the peace of the moment, she gazed at the beautiful, newly installed fountain in the front yard of the Imperial Palace, immersed in thought.

‘The more I look, the more intimidating she is’

At first glance, the princess looked like a naive girl, but she was incredibly meticulous in everything.

Not only did she pull out Adrian from Leifer’s claw using a bold marriage proposal, but she also manipulated Eckart’s interest indirectly with limited information.

Even with the matter of Bianca’s dress and accessories, she showed incredible insight. On the surface, the princess seemed to be overwhelmed by jealousy, but green was a popular color in Bjern, and the style of the dress was Eckart’s favorite.

Not only did it perfectly match with Bianca, the it also matched Eckart’s light green cuffs. The cost of the whole process was handled without blinking an eye.

‘How far did you think ahead?’

Click-

Brooding interrupted, she turned to the sound of footsteps

“Long time no see, Adrian.”

The ugly face that she didn’t want to see even in her dream showed up.

“Young Duke…”

“You didn’t think you’d meet me while you were a court maid, did you?” Gareth Leifer approached her with a crooked smile.

Before she knew it, he was already unbearably close. His face flushed red, and he looked as if he was in a good mood. He reeked of alcohol.

“You’ve gotten prettier. Your haggard face is now full of life, shall we take a closer look?” He lifted Adrian’s chin with his right hand, as if she was still his servant. The left was already holding her waist. His yellow eyes that resembled his mother’s—albeit devoid her intelligence and sharpness—stared at her.

Goosebumps raised all over her body.

“Again, you’re avoiding me. Well, that’s what makes you attractive. Keep doing that so you won’t lose my interest.”

As soon as his sticky, disgusting hands touched her cheeks, an unpleasantly hot breath brushed past her cheeks. Adrian froze.

“Do you think my hand won’t  reach you if you are the princess’ maid—”

“There you are, Adrian.”

Gareth dropped his hands, which were already on her neck. “Ha… Who the hell interrupted me this time…?” He turned around irritably.

Golden hair appeared across the fountain.

“Apollonia.”

Gareth was not nervous at all when he saw Apollonia, the empire’s only princess and the master of the maid he was molesting. On the contrary, he seemed relieved that the person who appeared was easy to deal with.

“Long time no see, Brother Gareth.”

“As you can see, we’re a little busy.”

“But there’s something I need Adrian to do.” Apollonia approached innocently with a smile. There was no sign of embarrassment or anger after witnessing such improper behavior. Gareth was secretly annoyed by the way she smiled and refused to back down.