The Princess Who Saw the Fall of Her Homeland Strives to Change Fate by Becoming the Cold Prince's Bride! - Chapter 22

“And you know, Prince Richard was really scary at that time! I almost collapsed from fear!”

The next day, Elze was telling Chiffon—who had been a good girl and stayed home—about the garden party.

Sniffing the air, Chiffon quickly spotted the sweets Elze had brought home and was now happily munching on them.

“Hehe, you don’t need to eat so fast. The sweets won’t run away.”

“Mnyu.”

Elze giggled at Chiffon, who had crumbs all around her mouth.

When she wiped her mouth clean, Chiffon stared quietly at Elze.

“Is this Richard a bad person?”

“Hmm…”

Elze couldn’t answer right away.

In the future, he would destroy her home country, Maglier.

If you look at it that way, you’d definitely want to call him a terrible villain…

“Honestly… I don’t know.”

When she came here and faced Richard, Elze had seen deep sadness in his eyes.

Maybe that’s why.

She couldn’t say for sure that he was a cold-hearted, cruel villain with no bl00d or tears.

(I don’t know anything about him. Why will he destroy Maglier? Why does he hate ‘Foresight’? …And, what’s the reason behind that deep sadness he carries?)

Elze knew nothing. So then—

“I just need to learn!”

“Wah!?”

Chiffon twitched her ears in surprise as Elze suddenly stood up.

“Let’s go, Chiffon!”

“You’re going to look for Richard?”

“Of course!”

If she didn’t know, then she would just find out.

Sitting here thinking about it won’t help her understand Richard.

So she had to take action.

She secretly changed into a borrowed servant outfit, lowered a rope from the window, and smoothly climbed down.

For Elze, who had already snuck out of her room many times, it was an easy task.

“Now, where could Richard be…?”

While Elze looked around carefully, Chiffon in her arms spoke up.

“Maybe he’s where we met him before?”

“That abandoned place? Yeah…”

She had no other clues anyway.

Even if it was a long shot, she’d go try.

Deciding that, Elze started running.

At the edge of the island, where the wind blew in from the lake—

The same abandoned building looked as lonely as it did before.

And sure enough… Richard was there.

(He’s actually here…!)

Just like last time, he was standing alone, quietly staring at the ruins.

She thought it might be possible, but seeing him with her own eyes made her nervous.

Chiffon blinked curiously at Elze, who had stopped in her tracks.

“What’s wrong, Elze?”

“Ah… I’m just a little nervous.”

But she couldn’t just stand there forever.

This was a rare chance—she had to make the most of it.

Elze took a deep breath and stepped forward with determination.

“Hey, I told you we’d meet again, didn’t I?”

When he heard footsteps and turned around, Richard frowned slightly in displeasure.

“You are…”

Noticing he was trying to remember, Elze gave him a cheerful smile.

“It’s been a while since the garden party, hasn’t it, Prince Richard?”

With those words, Richard remembered the princess he met at the party… and also the servant girl he met here before.

Then he realized—they were the same person.

For someone whose expression rarely changed, he looked genuinely surprised and widened his eyes.

“…What’s with that outfit?”

She thought he might ignore her, but it seemed he did have some curiosity.

He looked her up and down, from head to toe, and asked with a puzzled look.

It was understandable.

Normally, a foreign princess—chosen as a possible bride—wouldn’t be wandering around dressed like a servant.

“This is a disguise to hide my identity! Doesn’t the idea of a princess pretending to be a servant just spark your imagination?”

Elze struck a pose while saying that, and Richard looked at her with a slightly exasperated face.

She could tell he was a little put off, but more than that, she was happy to see any change in his expression.

“Just in case you forgot, let me introduce myself again! I’m Elze, second princess of the Kingdom of Maglier!”

Richard said nothing.

But Elze wasn’t about to back down. She spoke with high energy.

“Do you know the Kingdom of Maglier? It’s a small country far east from here—people sometimes call it a backwater place, but… its natural beauty is second to none! If you ever get tired of city life, please come visit to relax!”

Still no response from Richard.

But Elze wasn’t planning to lose.

“Have you ever laid on a field and watched the stars? I have—many times! That feeling of connecting with the world is amazing. And then—”

“Hey.”

For the first time, Richard spoke to her.

Elze’s eyes went wide in surprise as he asked in a questioning tone.

“How did you know that tea had something in it?”

He was talking about what happened at yesterday’s garden party.

Elze had been the first to question the tea that Princess Karina was holding.

It wasn’t poison, just a light aphrodisiac, like a charm.

But even Ernstahl’s teacups couldn’t detect it—so he was curious how Elze had noticed.

Even if it was something small, she was happy he was showing interest.

“Hehe, the answer is… the smell!”

Elze said proudly, and Richard clearly grimaced.

“The smell…?”

“Yes, exactly! When Princess Karina started making that tea, I thought it was kind of weird. Like, it had a dangerous smell. I don’t think Princess Karina meant anything bad, but I thought Prince Richard should know what effect the tea had before drinking it.”

She didn’t know what Ernstahl’s laws said about this kind of thing, but even if the effect was small, no one wanted to be given strange tea without knowing.

Elze herself would be in big trouble if she was served tea that made her laugh uncontrollably at an important event. Seriously troubled.

That’s why she believed people should always say when something strange is added to the tea.

…Though it turned into a much bigger deal than she expected.