PRKE 35

CHAPTER 35…………………………………

By personality and appearance, they were complete opposites.

The princess’s face flushed slightly.

“When he saved me, his shadow completely covered me. It was the first time in my life that I felt so protected. It felt different from my father’s protection.”

The princess’s friend chimed in.

“I heard about that too. When you put it that way, Princess, it really sounds like a romantic scene.”

“Right? Right? I thought my heart was going to drop!”

The princess reacted excitedly, recounting that day’s story in detail.

In her description, Giovanni was depicted as an incredibly strong, kind, and handsome warrior.

Meanwhile, I just scratched my chin.

‘Hmm. My guess was right.’

The veiled maid was the princess.

‘I didn’t expect her to say it so openly. I guess it wasn’t really a secret.’

“I’m glad I snuck in pretending to be a maid…”

The princess, eyes wide, pressed her hands over her mouth. Her startled rabbit-like eyes darted from side to side.

“This is something I shouldn’t say.”

She looked sulky, as if she’d revealed an important secret.

Her reaction made me even more flustered.

‘It was a secret?’

I had thought I was just playing a maid for fun.

Princess Laratu kept glancing at me, sighing. She looked like she regretted it, so I returned a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry too much, Princess. I already knew you were the princess.”

“Eh? How?”

“Well, there weren’t many veiled maids, and the chance that a maid was a cleric was even lower. Plus, the location just happened to be the royal palace.”

The rumor of the veiled maid who had extinguished the palace fire and then disappeared swept through society.

Everyone speculated about her identity, but she never appeared again, so it remained mere conjecture.

‘I suppose most people have their guesses.’

It was a royal matter, so people simply kept their mouths shut.

“Please keep it a secret, Miss Lorenst. Nobody else can know.”

I nodded obediently.

“Of course. I have no intention of talking about it anywhere. I hardly ever even attend banquets anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Sighing, the princess stared at me. She looked like she had something to say, so I asked with a smile:

“Is something wrong?”

“I think we can really become friends, Miss Lorenst. May I call you by your name?”

‘What a stroke of luck.’

I immediately stood, lifted my skirt slightly, and bent my knees lightly.

“It’s an honor, Princess.”

“There’s no need for such formalities! We’re friends now!”

Princess Laratu beamed, resting her chin in her hands like a flower in a cradle.

Until now, she had held her neck and back straight—apparently observing proper etiquette and formality.

“Egrain, you’re not much older than me, but you’re so mature. I envy you.”

The princess envying the adopted daughter of a count’s family—I could only laugh, unable to retort.

“I was honestly worried since you were a maid in a count’s house, but you speak so well and are so composed, it surprised me.”

“……”

“Your mother’s matters are so famous that I know about them too. Hubert Lorenst is a gentleman who knows gratitude.”

I wondered if my smile looked awkward.

I could say nothing in response, in a different sense.

She seemed to express intimacy by showing she knew about me, but I didn’t feel close to her at all.

Annoyance surged for a moment.

‘So this is the image people have of me and Hubert.’

Princess Laratu loved to talk. Within an hour, I even learned that she preferred chewy white bread as a pre-meal snack.

Of course, family matters came up too.

“Under the reign of the king, even ordinary people don’t go hungry. I respect that.”

‘Well, if she went to Amtein, she wouldn’t say that. Even toddlers are exploited for begging there.’

Although life there was better than in the desert, there were still hungry people in the kingdom.

Nobles saw only the good and couldn’t even notice the shadows at their feet. Or perhaps they just didn’t care.

Princess Laratu sometimes found her father, King Hermanon, frustrating, but she basically loved and respected him.

“He is a just and great king.”

She firmly believed that her father, the king, would not make a wrong decision.

‘Suddenly, I feel a distance.’

It was hard to relate, having been labeled a traitor and executed despite being a man of noble character and justice like Hubert.

Unaware of my thoughts, Princess Laratu continued praising the Lorenst family’s loyalty to the royal family.

I could tell how carefully King Hermanon had raised his daughter.

Perhaps he wanted to keep her from being tainted by the world.

‘So there are people like this too.’

I felt the same discomfort I had with some young nobles who, without needing to manage a household or study, focused solely on social events.

Living only in their own world, they fail to see what is problematic or unreasonable. Their reality becomes the only truth.

Princess Laratu wasn’t unpleasant. I could tell her rudeness lacked malice.

‘A little boring, though.’

Still, I pretended to listen attentively.

After all, she was the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom—a potential connection to other opportunities.

While listening to the princess, I sensed someone’s gaze.

When I turned, a strikingly beautiful woman was staring at me.

She had been Princess Laratu’s friend, always politely agreeing with whatever the princess said.

But she was a stranger to me.

‘Why is she staring?’

Karsatuna, daughter of the Legatan Duke family.

In her past life, she had been given a princess title that Aris had refused, and she committed suicide not long after.

Her gaze lingered. It was an observing kind of look.

Even when I deliberately looked away, I still felt it.

I continued talking to the princess, who chattered like a lark.

“May I wash my hands?” I asked.

The powder room of the princess’s palace had pink wallpaper and smelled sweet and pleasant.

‘Why am I so tired just from sitting and listening?’

I turned my stiff neck and ran the water.

While washing my hands, I sensed movement and looked up.

Click.

Karsatuna approached and let out a long sigh.

She smelled different from the powder room—a subtle, bitter, fresh scent, like wildflowers.

‘Is this perfume too?’

Our eyes briefly met in the mirror.

Like the royal family, she had a middle name. She was a branch of the Luyosana royal family. Unlike the blond-haired, blue-eyed royals, she had black hair and blue eyes—a tall and elegant beauty.

Her pale, almost sickly face contrasted with her overly red lips, creating a strange aura.

“Thanks to you, the princess enjoyed herself.”

“I enjoyed it too, thanks to all your kind words.”

“You seem humble and polite.”

“Ha ha, thank you. And for inviting me to such a precious event.”

“Not at all.”

Karsatuna smiled faintly.

“I wanted to meet you anyway.”

A question mark appeared in my mind.

Water dripped, wetting my hands. I turned off the faucet belatedly, and Karsatuna handed me a handkerchief.

“Ah, thank you.”

She smiled at me.

Even a faint smile brightened her previously gloomy expression.

“I’ve wanted to meet you for a while. You accepted a superficial princess title and are interacting with the empire’s prince.”

“Ha ha……”

Was this subtle mockery?

I hesitated, unsure if she was like Aris or like Princess Laratu. She shook her head.

“I’m not being sarcastic. It really was fortunate for me. Thank you sincerely.”

If I hadn’t taken the princess title, she would have been in my place.

I pretended not to understand, though I knew the truth.

“You probably don’t know, since it’s a personal matter.”

A fleeting, delicate smile lingered on her lips.

“I don’t usually attend events like this. I almost didn’t come to this tea gathering, but then I heard you were coming. I’m glad I did.”

Karsatuna’s gaze was gentle—there was liking in her eyes.

“I just thought it would be better if I stepped in than let innocent people suffer.”

“You are really brave.”

Seeing her impressed expression made me slightly embarrassed.

“They said no one stepped forward during the banquet, but you saved the princess first. Hearing that, I wanted to see more of you.”

I dried my hands and offered the handkerchief. She shook her head, refusing it.

“Will you come to my tea gathering later?”

Her sudden request made me blink.

The Legatan family didn’t often hold banquets, and she often didn’t attend family events.

No wonder she was nicknamed “the Sleeping Duke’s Princess.”

Although expanding one’s network is good, I was unaccustomed to someone showing this much immediate interest in me.

“I would be honored, but……”

I started to decline, but Karsatuna spoke first.

“I don’t like most people.”

“……”

“But I like you, even though we just met. This is the first time since Princess Laratu.”

“……”

“I hope I also seem that way to you.”

…What immense pressure.

Her face looked like it could vanish any moment, yet the pressure was intense.

‘I can’t refuse now!’

“It’s an honor. If you invite me, I will definitely come.”

“Haah, I’m relieved.”

Karsatuna placed a hand on her chest and sighed.

Seeing a cold beauty so genuinely happy removed the last of my unease.

“I’ve been emotionally drained lately, but today I’m happy thanks to you.”

“I didn’t do anything, though.”

“That’s not true. Ugh……”

Waving her hands, Karsatuna clutched her head in a slightly dizzy manner.

I hurried to steady her, and she relaxed her frown and smiled.

“Are you alright? Should I call someone?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just a bit short on sleep.”

“Short on sleep?”

“I have nightmares every day.”

I helped her sit on the sofa. She muttered a small “thank you.”