# 16
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Episode 16
“His Highness the Crown Prince? What did he do wrong?”
Melissa's trembling voice brought Ruelia back to consciousness.
“What? Haha.”
Ruelia laughed in embarrassment as she looked at the minced meat and the knife.
She seemed to have become overly sensitive ever since she started thinking about the future. But chopping the meat looy lightened her mood a little.
The sisters, who had decided to change the menu, continued to talk while shaping the meat into balls.
“Do you think the Duke’s family is planning a rebellion?”
“No, impossible. How close are His Highness the Crown Prince and Sir the Duke...”
Rebellion means the ruin of the Duke.
So it shouldn't even be mentioned.
Ruelia lowered her head, focusing on making the meatballs excitedly, rolling her eyes.
Suddenly, she raised her head.
“What in the name of Heaven’s Creator is he so attractive?”
“Are you talking about His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Yes. Why would they choose someone like him instead of someone like my lord duke!”
Ruelia's large meatball distorted roughly with anger.
Melissa took the dough from her sister's hands, shaped it into little balls, and answered as if it were obvious.
“Because he's handsome?”
“What's so handsome about that? He looks so soft, so unmanly.”
“Not at the level of the Duke, but he is strong built. With a beautiful face...”
Melissa's cheeks reddened and suddenly stopped.
Ruelia was staring at her.
“Melissa, have you seen His Highness the Crown Prince?”
How does Melissa, a commoner, know the Crown Prince's appearance so well?
Even at the coronation ceremony, she didn't see him up close.
“I saw him a few days ago in front of the house with you.”
"truly?"
Melissa answered without hesitation, but Ruelia felt something unsettling.
Melissa suddenly frowned.
“But, is His Highness the Crown Prince so popular?”
“Yes. In the aristocratic society, there are rumors that he is a womanizer.”
This was one of the reasons why she was determined to unite Ayla with the Duke.
No matter what you think, the Crown Prince is not a good husband. It's even worse. Trying to fix someone like him is a waste of time.
“Womanizer?”
Melissa's eyes widened in surprise.
“When I was working in the Bellona Guild, these stories were common. His choice despite these rumors, is it ambition? A desire to become an empress?”
Melissa laughed softly and shook her head, as if to say that Ruelia didn’t understand.
"It doesn't seem to matter. If so, the Duke must be loved as well."
“Really, that's right?”
“Maybe the reason His Highness the Crown Prince was accused of being a womanizer is the answer? Because he is nice and friendly.”
There was a reason why the Duke had no emotional experience yet.
So, the bias created by the rumor that he is ice cold must first be eliminated.
"Sure! Thanks, Melissa, you were helpful."
Ruelia closed her fist.
Kyles, as Senior said, is just a shy man in front of the woman he loves. He's kinder than people know, so this won't be a problem in the future.
The corner of her mouth rose as if she had already won.
"truly?"
“Yes, thanks. But, Melissa, you seem to know him well. When have you met him so often without me knowing?”
Melissa's ears suddenly turned red. The meatball she was delicately forming was distorted.
She quickly fixed it and replied.
“No, I saw him in front of the house with you. I guessed that from your conversation.”
“When? Oh, did you see the Duke driving me home after visiting the fashion store?”
"What? You were talking about the Duke?"
“Yes? It wasn’t about the Duke? Didn’t you mean that the Duke is less popular than the Crown Prince because he is cruel?”
Melissa's eyes widened. Then she smiled sweetly.
“True. Nice guys seem to be more popular with women.”
"This kindness is innate, isn't it? That's bad. What about the Duke, then?"
To her, as an assistant, the Duke was meticulous and kind, contrary to rumours. But why does he act like this with the one he loves?
Ruelia sighed in frustration.
Melissa narrowed her eyes.
“You're always worried about him?”
"What should I do? Our lives depend on it."
Ruelia lowered her head weakly, rubbing the meatball dough as if to release her anger.
“It gives me a headache.”
"What's going on? Has something happened to the Duke? If it's something I can advise you on, ask. I'll help you."
Ruelia shook her head despite Melissa's kindness.
Even if Melissa was her family's dearest, she couldn't cross this line. She can't ignore her work ethic.
“It concerns the Duke’s private life. Your advice was already sufficient.”
“Okay, that's good then.”
Melissa looked at Ruelia tenderly.
Ruelia looked back and laughed. There is no resemblance between them except their smiling eyes, but they are sisters who love each other more than anyone.
Even if it meant sacrificing their lives.
“I'll get the tomatoes and mushrooms now.”
After finishing the meatballs, Melissa entered the pantry next to the kitchen.
Ruelia followed her gaze for a moment.
“What is this? It feels like this...”
Now, she remembered that she had felt the same cold sensation two years ago.
* * *
At the Imperial Training Ground, the Crown Prince was training with the knights.
"It's been a while, Kyles. What's going on?"
Gallion removed his helmet when he saw Caelus.
His shiny silver hair was strewn with drops of sweat, and the maids in the palace couldn't close their mouths as they stared at him.
Ruelia thought that the Duke was much handsomer, but the truth was different.
The title of the most beautiful man in the empire belonged to Gallion.
With his sweet-as-sugar manner, he was an unparalleled object of women's adoration.
Caelus gave Galleon a formal, solid salute.
“Since Your Highness has stopped visiting the Duke’s family, I had to come.”
“Well, what's going on?”
“I heard you met Miss Emile yesterday?”
“How on earth did you know that?”
Gallion showed his annoyance with his eyes.
To him, Caelce's words seemed like a rift in their friendship.
But Kyles was confident.
“I was not watching Your Highness, but that woman.”
"That woman? Why?"
“It seems like she's aiming to help me.”
“Ruelia?”
Gallion acted as if he knew nothing.
Kyles stared harshly at that insolence. Everyone in the empire knows that the imperial family is watching the Duke's family.
"Yes. So I want to ask. Why did you meet her? Is she just another woman that you will meet and leave?"
Galleon shrugged. He approached with a pained face, holding his sword in his left hand.
Galleon's sword touched Caelus' neck.
“I didn't think you, of all people, would see me as trash?”
“If you were moderate, this wouldn’t have happened.”
If it weren't for that, that girl's father wouldn't have come to harass Kyles.
-Ayla is my dearest daughter. I can't let her suffer.
-Becoming an empress, how hard can that be?
-As a close friend of His Highness the Crown Prince, don’t you know better? About his adventures with women. I will send my daughter to a man who will love and appreciate her. So, please, change your highness's mind. Ask him to leave my daughter alone.
Caelus did not care about the Count's misunderstanding.
But since it was about his friend, he had to say something.
“Now that you are the Crown Prince, do you still need to deceive the other princes? His Majesty will be angry if this continues.”
"Sorry, but I haven't done it since. People misunderstand me because of prejudices. I am, in my way, a sincere romantic."
“Then why do you meet her at night, inviting suspicion?”
Gallion laughed at Caelus's rebuke, and pulled his sword from his neck. He stepped back and threw the sword to Kyles.
Kyles grabbed the sword easily.
“I didn’t invite her. She came to me.”
"she?"
“Yes. She said she had something secret to tell me.”
Galleon's smile held so much.