The Princess Who Saw the Fall of Her Homeland Strives to Change Fate by Becoming the Cold Prince's Bride! - Chapter 34

“Now then, I will explain the next stage of the selection. ”

In front of the bride candidates gathered in the hall, the lady-in-waiting began to speak.

Elze gulped and straightened her back.

“As you may already know, the birthday of Her Highness Princess Luise, the second princess of the Ernstahl Empire, is coming soon. ”

(I… I didn’t know that…)

Even though Elze kept a composed face that said, ‘Of course I know that very well,’ cold sweat was forming inside.

The current emperor of Ernstahl has three children.

The eldest son is Crown Prince Albrecht.

The second son is Prince Richard.

And then there is Princess Luise, the second princess, whom the lady-in-waiting mentioned.

Elze had been properly taught about the royal family of Ernstahl back in her home country.

The first princess apparently passed away at a young age, so although Luise is called the second princess, she is now the emperor’s only daughter.

Because of that, it is widely said that the emperor dotes on her so much that he wouldn’t even mind if she poked his eye.

(Princess Luise is around seven years old now, I think. She’s quite a bit younger than Prince Richard and Prince Albrecht, so maybe that’s why she’s even more precious to him.)

While Elze was thinking that, some unbelievable words entered her ears.

“In the next selection, you will help make Princess Luise’s birthday celebration more exciting. ”

(What…!?)

As Elze hurriedly focused her attention, the lady-in-waiting continued the explanation.

Princess Luise’s birthday is just around the corner.

So, for this next stage, the bride candidates will each take part in preparing for her birthday celebration. This will help measure their qualities as a future empress.

The venue will be the lake that surrounds the Ernstahl royal palace.

Not on land—but on the water.

At Princess Luise’s request, a party will be held on the lake with many boats floating on it.

The bride candidates will be divided into groups and decorate the boats.

On the day of the celebration, Princess Luise will ride each boat one by one, and the group that impresses her the most will receive the highest praise.

One by one, the candidates’ names were called and assigned to groups.

Elze was placed into a group with three other bride candidates.

There were no girls from Gloria’s circle, like Amalia.

Elze was relieved to hear that.

“It is truly an honor to be in the same group as all of you. I am Elze, the second princess of the Kingdom of Maglier. Let’s work together to make the best party and bring joy to Princess Luise!”

She greeted them quickly and with enthusiasm, and the three others seemed to relax a little.

“It is my honor as well to be with you, Princess Elze. I am Vilma, the first princess of the Kingdom of Vianden.”

“I am Frieda of the Count of Rotehna’s house. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Gisela of the Viscount of Luest’s family. I’ll do my best not to hold anyone back…!”

One girl was a princess from a small kingdom, and the other two were daughters of mid-ranking nobles within Ernstahl.

All three seemed to be gentle and calm people, which made Elze feel relieved.

(Thank goodness… This might actually go well!)

Even though they were all rivals aiming for the position of Prince Richard’s wife, they were also companions working hard together.

Elze was really glad to be placed with a group she could get along with.

From then on, the four of them met often to exchange ideas.

“So… it’s Princess Luise’s birthday. I wonder what kind of things she would like.”

“I heard rumors that the group of the Duke of Liebner’s daughter is going all out with decorations covered in gold leaf.”

“T-That’s not something we can copy…”

“It really shows how much your family’s money and support matters in this kind of thing…”

(It really does…)

Elze couldn’t help but sigh.

At first glance, this selection seemed fair, but when they opened the lid, it turned out to be very unfair.