The Princess Who Saw the Fall of Her Homeland Strives to Change Fate by Becoming the Cold Prince's Bride! - Chapter 32

Meanwhile, after parting ways with Elze, Abel walked alone through the palace corridor.

The people passing by didn’t pay any attention to Abel.

Walking like a shadow, Abel quietly slipped into a hidden passage behind a statue.

He walked through the dark passage, passed through a door… and arrived in an area decorated with glittering, luxurious interiors.

He returned to his room, and in front of a large mirror, Abel removed the thick glasses that had covered his face.

Then, he reached up and removed the wig he had been wearing.

Taking a deep breath of relief, he looked at the mirror—and the person reflected there looked nothing like the ‘young man from the countryside’ called Abel.

Shiny golden-brown hair, and emerald eyes filled with a quiet sadness.

As he stared at his tired-looking face, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Welcome back, Crown Prince Albrecht.”

When he turned toward the voice, a beautiful woman was smiling at him.

—Princess Josephine, Crown Princess of the Ernstahl Empire.

She was Abel—no, Crown Prince Albrecht’s wife.

Josephine, not surprised by Albrecht’s actions, sat down on a nearby chair and asked:

“How did the selection go this time?”

“Thanks to the introduction of the examiner system, we were able to prevent any obvious sabotage. The Duke of Liebner’s daughter received excellent marks, but that was likely due to her true ability.”

“Hehe… and how was the princess from Maglier, the one you’re watching over?”

Albrecht turned to Josephine.

She looked at him with interest, clearly enjoying the situation.

“She also received marks equal to the Duke of Liebner’s daughter.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Albrecht remembered Elze, the girl he had just parted from.

A strange princess from a small country on the frontier.

Albrecht held a faint hope—maybe she could change Richard.

Richard was Albrecht’s younger half-brother.

A boy who never opened his heart to anyone, always with cold eyes.

…Albrecht wanted to save Richard.

But he knew that he himself couldn’t do it.

To melt Richard’s frozen heart, someone Elze was needed.

And then—he met Elze.

At first, he only had doubts about how the bride selection was being handled.

Because Richard didn’t care about it, some people had used that as an excuse to secretly help one of the candidates win unfairly.

When he consulted Josephine about it, she said, ‘Then why don’t you infiltrate the selection process and fix it yourself?’—a suggestion that was completely outrageous.

Worried about Richard’s future, Albrecht ended up following her advice and disguised himself as a fake official named ‘Abel’ to work as an examiner for the selection.

…It was just coincidence that he was assigned to Princess Elze from Maglier.

She was only added to the list to fill the numbers, a princess from a small, distant kingdom.

But for some reason, she received the same high marks as the Duke of Liebner’s daughter, a strong candidate.

Because of that, people supporting the Duke of Liebner hated her like poison and tried to sabotage her.

At first, Albrecht only wanted to stop those underhanded actions and make sure the selection process stayed fair.

But after meeting Elze, his thoughts began to change.

—“Nice to meet you, Abel! I just arrived in Ernstahl and there’s so much I don’t know, so I’d be really happy if you could teach me a few things!”

That was what she said the first time they met, with a big, bright smile.

That expression shocked Albrecht.

Even including Josephine, most noble women he knew didn’t show their emotions so openly like Elze did.

But from the moment they met, her joy, anger, sadness, and laughter were so easy to see.

Some people might call her ‘unrefined’ because of it.

But to Abel, her unguarded honesty and that innocent smile looked charming.

More than just her evaluation in the selection, Elze had something that none of the other candidates did.

Albrecht couldn’t help but hope—that maybe this was the key to saving Richard.

Thinking of Elze, a smile naturally formed on his lips.

Josephine noticed and teased him playfully.

“Hehe, you seem to have taken quite a liking to Princess Elze. I’d love to meet her myself. Hmm, maybe I could invite her for tea?”

“If we treat her specially right now, it might actually cause more sabotage. Once the selection moves forward and the number of candidates has gone down, maybe we could set up interviews with each one, including Princess Elze.”

“Until then, you must make sure Princess Elze isn’t crushed. Please protect her properly.”

Josephine said that with a happy, amused smile in her eyes.

She was Albrecht’s wife, and she had also once gone through the same bride selection process and won.

They didn’t marry out of love, but Albrecht had deep trust in Josephine.

And now, she too was paying attention to Elze.

That made Albrecht feel relieved, thinking his instincts were right.

“Yes, I will.”

The Duke of Liebner, and his daughter Gloria, would surely do anything to make her the bride.

They must be panicking right now at how things have turned out.

Nobody knew what extreme steps they might take next.

…He had to protect Elze.

Telling himself this firmly, Albrecht took a deep breath.