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Chapter 81
Florence was despondent. This emotion had constantly followed her like shadows ever since she embraced the grand honor of being the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
When Richard first nominated Florence as his fiancé, she was full of dreams.
She felt like she wanted to boast to everyone that she would become the partner of that noble man and, in reality, sometimes did so.
All the young ladies were jealous of Florence yet feared being out of her favor; the world seemed already half hers. She really thought so back then.
‘But it wasn’t.’
It didn’t take long for Florence to snap out of her delusion.
Despite the fact that Richard chose her himself, he was always indifferent to her.
Whenever she visited him, he would always brush her off, saying he was busy, and he never cared about her stance in public events.
If she could have considered him merely as a partner of a political marriage, it would have been easier for her. But Florence loved him.
That was the root of all the tragedies she faced.
Because she loved Richard, Florence tried to understand him, no matter how cruel he was to her. She thought she could understand.
She knew from the start what kind of person he was.
Richard was inherently a beautiful but unpredictable man.
He possessed angelic beauty, to the extent that there were jokes saying that the most beautiful woman in the empire was the Crown Prince, but the nature hidden beneath his skin was greatly twisted.
Sensitive to others’ mistakes, he often replaced his subordinates and always showed arrogance in front of his ministers.
Many ministers raised their voices claiming he was not fit to rule the country, but as the emperor only had him as a child in the palace, such nominal opposition had no meaning.
Richard was a bad person to everyone equally, and with that thought, he wasn’t particularly cruel to her.
Florence found solace in just that fact.
Until she learned that there was an exception to Richard.
‘Iona Modrov.’
The Crown Prince’s escort knight,
His own loyal dog who had served Richard from a young age,
A woman who, always with an expressionless face, looked even more beautiful like a doll…
When Florence first met Iona, she didn’t pay much attention to her.
Florence’s maids expressed considerable concern that the prince’s close aide was a young and pretty woman, but after actually seeing her, Florence was rather relieved.
If Richard was the type to show hostility to everyone, Iona was the opposite, indifferent to everyone equally.
She didn’t even seem to be sincerely devoted to Richard.
She didn’t have the passionate zeal that one with blind loyalty to their lord would typically emit.
Such a doll-like woman wouldn’t harbor any uncomfortable romantic feelings towards her lord, Florence comfortingly thought so and let it slide.
‘I couldn’t even imagine the opposite.’
Iona was exactly the person Florence expected. She was consistently indifferent to Richard.
Thinking about it now, it was very strange.
Richard was the noble Crown Prince, and there were countless ambitious young people wanting to be in his favor.
Then, how could she, who only obeyed orders and never flattered him, secure a position by his side?
The answer was simple. It was because Richard chose her.
“Miss Florence, Prince Richard went out again as soon as he had breakfast today.”
Florence had an unforgettable memory. It was an incident on a summer day when hydrangeas, filled to the brim with rain, were blooming luxuriantly.
That year, Florence was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go on a summer vacation with the royal family.
This was thanks to Marquis Landshof, who could no longer bear to see her suffering from Richard’s indifference, and made a polite protest to the emperor.
Responding to the request to provide an opportunity for the two, who would marry later, to bond, the emperor readily proposed they spend the vacation together.
So, Florence left for the royal villa with high expectations, but the reality was rather bleak.
This was because Richard, showing no interest in his fiancée, was only focused on spending time alone.
Because he disappeared to a secluded place every dawn, Florence barely had a chance to see her fiancé’s face.
This was no different from being in the capital.
Florence sighed deeply and said,
“It seems I am late again.”
“The Crown Prince is really indifferent; it would be nice if he could spend time with Miss Florence even at times like this…”
“Exactly. The vacation will be over soon; I don’t know how long he plans to continue like this.”
The maids of Florence unanimously complained about Richard’s indifferent behavior.
Their biggest dissatisfaction was that Florence, who grew up as the noble daughter of a marquis’ family, was not receiving the proper treatment she deserved from her fiancé.
Then, one maid who had been observant for a while, suggested in a subtle voice,
“Miss Florence, why don’t you go find Prince Richard yourself today?”
“Go find him myself?”
“I woke up early and overheard something. Knight Iona came to the kitchen earlier and requested a packed meal, emphasizing it was food for the Crown Prince.”
Once the maid was sure everyone was focused on her words, she continued coyly.
“When she went out, I caught her right there! Pretending not to know, I asked her where she was going, and she said she was going to the lake. So I kept that in mind and waited for Miss Florence to come out.”
There was only one lake nearby. Although it was quite large, it wouldn’t take long to explore on horseback.
Even if questioned why she followed, she could excuse it by saying she went out to play in the water; thus, there was nothing to worry about.
The maids, excited, started preparing to go out immediately.
Once the maids and a few serving girls gathered, a plausible excursion procession was formed.
Florence rode a white horse, whose fur shone brilliantly, and headed straight for the lake.
Once they arrived at the destination, realizing it was too much to bring everyone along, Florence ordered them to play in the water and started looking around alone.
The thought of possibly being scolded when encountering Richard made her anxious belatedly.
If Richard was glad to see her, she planned to bring him to the water play spot. If not, she intended to act as if she hadn’t seen him and withdraw discreetly.
Florence found Richard when she had circled about half the periphery of the lake.
The sound of talking nearby caught Florence’s ear.
Like being drawn in, Florence approaching the direction of the sound, felt Iona turning around and unconsciously hid behind a tree.
“Why is that?”
“I think I heard someone.”
“Don’t do that, come sit next to me, it’s an order.”
“It’s hard to respond to sudden attacks in a seated position.”
“Even if we’re attacked unexpectedly, I’ll sacrifice you and run away quickly. So sit down with ease.”
Iona hesitated, as if persuaded by those ridiculous remarks.
Seizing the opportunity, Richard grabbed her hand and pulled her.
Losing her balance, Iona fell over the cloth laid on the ground.
Iona tried to get up again, but Richard didn’t let her go.
“... I will sit, so please let me go.”
“Relax your shoulders and take a nap if you can. I will let you go once you seem to be relaxed.”
“I came here to escort Your Highness.”
“Are you defying my orders?”
To anyone, it was clear that Richard was being unreasonable, but his unreasonableness had authority.
Eventually, Iona did as Richard ordered, lying next to him and closing her eyes.
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