CH 12

Chapter 2. Growing Cracks

Episode 12

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of having such a false marriage.”

“I’m telling you to think rationally. If you break up like this, this will be your 4th time. What man in the world wants to marry a woman who has broken her engagement four times?”

I could feel the strength in his hand holding me. I frowned and gave strength to pull my wrist out.

“Leave before I call the guards out immediately.”

“Then I will escort you today.”

Wilhelm looked quite desperate.

I raised the corners of my lips and said to him.

“Why? Rumors have already spread that you broke up with me, is it because Tatiana didn’t see you again?”

His body twitched. He looked like he was stabbed in the corner.

“Then I have no desire to listen to your request. What’s the benefit for me if I listen to it? More rumors will spread that I even showed up to the banquet hall with a stupid cheating man.”

“Princess, why are you so negative?”

“I’m not negative, it’s you and Tatiana who are living in a flower garden. I’m sorry, but I’m very realistic and very objective.”

I pulled my hand out of his grasp.

Wilhelm’s eyes touched my wrist.

“Isn’t that Titi’s? Did you steal her bracelet because you wanted to imitate her?”

For some reason, Wilhelm overreacted when he saw my bracelet.

I decided to provoke him. Looking at the likability above his head, I opened my mouth.

“It’s not Tatiana’s stuff, it’s not me copying her.”

“Don’t lie to me. This is what Tatiana told me that it is definitely the one and only precious thing in the world.”

He was right. It was precious.

Maybe Tatiana would not have thought that there were two bracelets with this kind of power.

“If you ever thought that imitating the Duchess would change my mind, I’m sorry. She’s the only one in my heart.”

“Aren’t you too harsh when you say it?”

The butler who had been holding in behind me stepped forward.

As a lifelong assistant to Duke Pioneer and raising Karina from a young age, he could not stand this insult.

“If you insult the Princess by talking like that, I will call the capital guards right away.”

The duke’s knights came up the stairs at the butler’s glance.

All were fully armed, with swords and guns.

“I am leaving here today. Let’s talk about this again next time.”

Wilhelm accepted that he was at a disadvantage and stepped back.

“There is no next time. Our engagement is over.”

In front of Wilhelm, I warned once more.

It was boring. I couldn’t understand why he was so upset.

My whole body became cold as my heart sank.

Perhaps he felt my gaze, Wilhelm quietly turned around and went down the stairs.

‘What? Why is the affinity rising?’

Surprisingly, Wilhelm’s figure, which was headed for the minus, rose slightly.

And at the same time I felt bad.

Don’t tell me you’re completely convinced that I’m copying Tatiana to change your mind?

I took off the bracelet and gave it to Lily.

“Take it back to my room, and then we’ll leave.”

“Yes, Miss. The Duke will be waiting for you.”

I nodded and climbed into the carriage.

The carriage quickly headed for the Imperial Palace.

I looked out the window overlooking the city and organized my thoughts.

It seems that Tatiana really wanted Wilhelm as her paramour.

And to my surprise, she thought all the male actors were hers.

‘Then is Tatiana also possessed?’

That was the most plausible reasoning.

However, there were parts that were awkward to say that she did possess.

For example, the point was that she was obsessed with the emperor, not the target characters.

‘If you know the original, there is no way you can be so obsessed with Aster, who is nothing but a passing illustration.’

I was not sure yet.

It was the most dangerous thing to judge without knowing exactly who the opponent was.

I have known Tatiana for a long time and know her very well.

At least I thought so. But this time, I realized that I didn’t really know anything about her.

I just thought she was the heroine of the game.

“Lady, we have arrived.”

I came to my senses at the driver’s words and got off the carriage. My father, who was waiting for me at the door, approached me.

Was my body tense because of Wilhelm’s sudden appearance? When I faced my father, my body relaxed and I slumped to the floor.

“Kari? Are you unwell? If so, I’ll tell His Majesty to go back.”

I shook my head at my father’s words full of concern.

Every time, I ran away from the people who abandoned me for Tatiana.

But not anymore.

“It’s fine. I really want to attend today.”

“If you are sure… But don’t overdo it.”

“Yes.”

I got up from the support of my father.

I straightened my back and headed to the Great Hall.

As I stood in front of the ornate door, the servant greeted me lightly.

“Duke Pioneer and Princess Pioneer enter.”

A splendid door adorned with gold and jewels opened with a loud call.

I frowned slightly at the dazzling light of the banquet hall.

And through the light, I saw a man smiling at me.

It was Aster.

As our eyes met, I smiled softly and walked towards him. No, I was trying to get closer.

But my father, who was holding my hand, stood still as if nailed to ground.

I turned my head to look at my father.

Somehow, his blank eyes seemed a little strange.

“Father?”

“Uh…oh.”

When I called him carefully, my startled father turned his gaze away.

Even the hand holding mine was trembling.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh? No, hey. What’s going on? Let’s go to His Majesty first. Won’t the banquet not start until you and His Majesty dance?”

I tried to question my father for his suspicious behavior, but I stopped.

Tatiana came into sight.

But she was somehow strange.

She looked very different from the way she had always been confident. Read only at pm tl.

Daniel and Andrew were also there, and there was a subtle different atmosphere.

There, only Aster smiled at me casually.

“Welcome, Duke, and Princess.”

He came up to me at once and smiled at me.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his awkwardly bright appearance. It was the first time that Aster had greeted me like this while attending a banquet.

This is how it feels to have someone greet me.

I wonder if I looked weird like that, Aster put on a worried expression.

“Princess?”

“It’s nothing, Your Majesty.”

My father and I followed his directions to the top.

Daniel avoided my eyes, but Tatiana stood there like a stone.

I greeted Andrew with a light eye and stepped aside with my father.

“I am grateful to all the nobles who attended the founding ceremony today. Thank you for your hard work and enjoy the day to the fullest.”

Aster standing on the podium announced the start of the banquet.

Then he came down the podium and walked towards me.

He swept his dazzling blonde hair as his purple eyes of a mysterious light stared at me.

My heart was pounding strangely.

Time seemed to pass slowly, just like a scene in a dream.

Each and every movement of Aster slowly approaching me was clearly visible.

A splendid uniform decorated in red, white and black was gently disturbed by his movements.

Standing before me, he lowered his body and knelt down on one of his knees.

Aster raised his hand and gave me a sweet smile.

“Would you like to dance with me for the first dance?”

It felt like I suddenly had tinnitus.

It was a planned dance, and even though it was a necessary relationship, my face heated up.

I put my hand in his, trying to hide my trembling heart.

“Yes.”

Then I saw Tatiana over his shoulder, staring at me like she was about to kill me.

I smiled at her and gently grabbed his hand and made my way to the floor.

The music started and we slowly started dancing in a circle.

“You look happy, Princess.”

“Yes, much more than I imagined.”

“I can tell you something that will make you feel better.”

Aster whirled me around with his hands and pulled me closer, whispering.

“Before the princess came, the Duchess said that it was her birthday.”

“What?”

Tatiana’s birthday was not the founding day.

What the hell was she thinking about lying like that?

“Then she asked me to give her the first dance as a gift for her birthday.”

“That is… What nonsense.”

“Of course I refused, but it’s a bit disappointing that the princess didn’t see the faces of the Archduke and the Duke of Malphyrion at that time.”

Aster’s words made my mind wander.

Even though Tatiana’s head is like a field of flowers, how can this be?

To leave her husband behind and ask for a first dance from someone else at will.

Reminder: pls do not repost ANYWHERE smh

(TL/N: Kari won from the poll on the last chapter as the new nickname, so it will be Kari from now on instead of Karin