Chapter 10
Guided by a royal attendant, Liliana and her brother Ian moved from the hall to a separate room.
It had become unbearable to remain in that atmosphere.
Not only were the young ladies with elaborately styled hair staring her down, but even their relatives scrutinized “the one chosen by the Ice Prince” from head to toe with sharp, piercing eyes. It was utterly overwhelming to be on the receiving end of such attention.
Taking the attendant’s arm and holding onto Ian’s, Liliana made a hasty retreat from the hall.
“Please wait here,” the attendant instructed.
They were led to a calm, elegant room, where Liliana and Ian sat side by side on a sofa. At that moment, the room contained only the two of them.
Tentatively, Liliana raised her right hand toward Ian’s cheek—then suddenly pinched him, a bold and reckless move.
Ian, completely caught off guard, jumped up, stepping back from her, and exclaimed,
“Ouch! What the hell are you doing, Lil?”
He rubbed his left cheek where she had pinched him.
Liliana furrowed her brows into a distressed expression and let out a heavy sigh.
“It seems this is not a dream. I wish it were…”
Even though she had followed her father’s instructions and tried to remain inconspicuous, how had things come to this?
“I’ll tell you what, Lil. If you’re going to pinch someone, do it on your own cheek next time, okay?”
“That’s impossible. Pinching hurts, doesn’t it?”
“….”
Completely ignoring Ian’s disappointed gaze, Liliana frantically tried to think of a way to avoid being the chosen companion for Prince William.
Seeing her like that, Ian let out a small sigh and sat down beside her again, speaking softly.
“Hey, Lil… why do you think Prince William chose you?”
“…That’s exactly what I want to know. It’s my first time seeing him up close, and even though he ‘chose me,’ it was more like, ‘This will do.’ Not that I’m particularly good—it just… will do. If it ‘will do,’ doesn’t that mean it could have been someone else?”
The situation was so completely unexpected that both Liliana and Ian were utterly confused.
Originally, she had planned for someone else to be chosen, to watch from a distance while enjoying the delicious food, and then return home safely.
But before she could even come up with a good plan to avoid being Prince William’s companion, the king and queen arrived.
