# 33 - 33
“Yes. Your Majesty the Empress.”
With an expressionless face and an emotionless voice, one might “look down on” the other party.
That's it.
With just one short answer, the Crown Prince was indifferently telling her that all the Empress's words were worthless to him, and that she was wasting her time in vain.
There was no way that Empress Karme, who was standing right in front of him, would not feel the disregard and contempt that she observed.
It was a broken smile indeed, like a broken torso. It could not return to its original state.
Despite this, Empress Karme was smiling. Still.
“Crown Prince.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Are you angry because of my worry?”
“I have no particular interest in Your Majesty’s words.”
“I see. Then you should call me.”
The Empress bowed her waist slightly towards the Crown Prince.
The little golden ornaments in her reddish-brown hair made a beautiful sound as they clashed against each other.
“You should call me ‘Mother’.”
Her smile was cold and soft like a blade hidden in the snow, as if one would be cut into pieces the moment they encountered it.
Let's go. Go.
“Her Majesty the Empress.”
“…”
There was no expression on Ferdinand's face.
There was only a faint glint in his eyes that indicated that this conversation was boring.
“My mother died a long time ago. Your Majesty the Empress.”
That was the utmost courtesy the Crown Prince could show Empress Karme.
“Above all, to someone who was none other than my mother’s maid of honor.”
“…”
“How can I call you mom?”
“…”
“My lineage is not that low.”
Oh, my God! This is crazy!
Unlike me, I was constantly swallowing dry saliva, but Empress Karme's smile did not waver one bit.
“I see. Crown Prince.”
Slap!
At the same time, the Crown Prince's cheek turned.
The Empress addressed the Crown Prince, who remained motionless with his head turned, with the same tender and gentle voice she had used at the beginning.
“Come out when your cheeks have calmed down a little.”
That was cruel kindness.
“Because the late Empress loved this place so much.”
Empress Karme turned around.
The exquisite silk dress with delicately embroidered rose patterns made a rustling sound.
The ivory heels made a cold clicking sound again as she walked away.
The door closes.
Whether it was the Empress or the Crown Prince who issued the orders, no one entered the garden.
Only my head was actively spinning.
Okay, I get it.
In terms of timing, this would be when the Crown Prince did not yet have any significant power.
“That's why I can see all of this.”
Even in the game, I have never seen such a direct confrontation, no, such a one-sided insult.
“…Well, of course.”
Before he roamed the battlefields, the Crown Prince was someone who was secretly hated as such.
The current Empress Karmi wanted to place the second prince, born of her womb, on the throne, above all else.
“If that were the case, the Crown Prince would have grown up with a youthful appearance commensurate with his actual age, rather than with such a boyish appearance, and His Majesty the Emperor would not have felt uncomfortable looking at the Crown Prince and avoiding him as he does now.”
As Empress Karme quipped, that appearance was the problem…
“He comes out.”
Suddenly, my shoulders shook violently.
Ah, there must be someone else hiding here besides me.
I said: Get out.
Hurry up, whoever you are, you idiot.
“You, behind the oak tree.”
damn it.
This is me.
I didn't think long about escaping.
“If I run away from here, I won't be able to raise my affection levels anyway, so I'll die.”
But appearing in front of the Crown Prince, who was slapped, was a bit exaggerated.
I came out from behind the tree hesitantly.
Even in this situation, I was so grateful that I was brought to tears by the etiquette so completely ingrained in Tullia's body.
When facing royalty, stand five steps back.
Tilt your head first and then bend your left knee only halfway.
Lift the hem of your skirt with both hands, but only enough to show your shoes.
Wait for the king to speak first to greet you.
“Do you want to die?”
When I received a death sentence instead of a welcome...
“No.”
Since there was nothing about this in the etiquette that Tullia had learned, I answered creatively for the time being.
“This is a place that only kings can enter. For an ordinary noble to invade a royal land.”
“I wasn't in the park, I was just passing by.”
Do you call stopping and eavesdropping “passing”?
“The atmosphere seemed serious, so I subconsciously hid. I’m very sorry about that, but I didn’t hear anything.”
“From here to there.”
I felt the Crown Prince pointing his chin at the tree.
“You mean it's a distance where you can't hear anything?”
“I was covering my ears with all my might.”
"…What?"
For the first time, a voice sounded like he was in a daze.
By the way, I hadn't seen Ferdinand's face yet.
Because according to etiquette, I can only raise my head and make eye contact after receiving a royal salute or permission.
Perhaps Ferdinand noticed that my knees were shaking a little, and he spoke irritably.
Raise your head.
"Thank you."
I, who almost had a leg cramp, immediately raised my head and blinked.
‘Awesome.’
Tea with strawberry jam?
Ferdinand's eyes, when seen up close, were truly bright red.
His hair was a light bronze color, similar to the color of cocoa with milk added to it.
But the reason I didn't consider it a beautiful color is because its looks were too cold.
With a nice expression, their eyes were sharp, but with a bad expression, they were the type that would terrorize anyone, whether they were present or not.
Of course...what caught my attention the most was...
“So this is what Cupid Syndrome looks like.”
Eros syndrome, or Cupid syndrome.
The Crown Prince is currently three years older than Tullia.
So he's supposed to be 18, but now he looks like a boy younger than Tullia.
He looked to be about 12 or 13 years old?
“This is because of the excessive use of divine power that the Empress had previously mocked.”
Empress Olivia, former Empress and mother of Crown Prince Ferdinand, was a beautiful, intelligent woman full of dignity and intellect.
She was the youngest daughter of imperial noble families, and was crowned empress without missing anything.
There was no man who did not love her in her youth. The same applies to Alessandro, the current emperor.
Emperor Alessandro made Olivia his empress, but he was always worried about something.
This was because Empress Olivia, although possessing a charm that lacked nothing in terms of intelligence and dignity, had a cold and fair temperament that earned her the nickname “Ice Empress.”
Didn't they say that doubt and love cannot flourish in the same place?
Emperor Alessandro loved Empress Olivia, but instead of the cold-natured Empress, his attention was gradually drawn to another woman.
Unlike Empress Olivia, she was warm and kind, very considerate and affectionate.
A woman who seemed to stand in complete contrast to Empress Olivia.
That was Karmi, the current Empress.
Carme, the viscount's daughter who was court lady to Empress Olivia, initially seemed to push Emperor Alessandro away, but eventually ended up spending a night with him.
That night she became pregnant with a child, and Empress Olivia, who was pregnant at the time, felt great shock and betrayal.
“The child Empress Olivia was pregnant with was Ferdinand, and she almost lost her baby due to the shock.”
Therefore, despite the attempts of the Emperor and his family to convince her, she asked the temple to protect the child in her womb with immense divine power.
Thus the child - Ferdinand - was born peacefully, but Empress Olivia died within five years.
Crown Prince Ferdinand suffered from a strange condition called “Cupid Syndrome” due to excessive divine power in the womb.
“Well, that's actually resolved when he meets Kuriko.”
More precisely, when he feels love for Kuriko, his body that was not growing before suddenly grows all at once.
Anyway, the important thing is that even in this boyish appearance, Ferdinand is stunningly handsome and beautiful.
But…
“He's too thin. Well, the Empress hates him.”
With such a character, he would probably not humble himself before the Empress even if his meals were inadequate.
“Are you done staring?”
...and his personality doesn't look good either.
I bowed my head before Ferdinand and apologized.
“I'm sorry. This is my first time meeting the imperial family.”
“You...”
Then it happened. Ferdinand's words stopped as if a machine had been unplugged.
“It's raining.”
He was right. Raindrops were falling from the clear sky.
Ferdinand turned his head after being hit by a raindrop, as if even his slight interest in me had disappeared.
“Go. If you head towards the door you will be punished, so think about how to find a back way yourself.”
It was somewhat welcome that Ferdinand let me go without further questioning, but timing was the issue.
That was the worst possible first impression, and...
“…Why does it have to rain now?”
Ferdinand's overpowering had another side effect.
“When it rains, his hearing is temporarily impaired...”
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