By Zephyria 
I was sleeping soundly when suddenly the top of my closed eyes flickered. It was as if fragments of sunlight, finely shattered by waves, were tickling my face. Half of it was languid, and the other half was a subtle, bothersome sensation. Without realizing it, I frowned and whined, “Eeuuung.” Then, I heard a soft chuckle right in front of my face. The tips of warm fingers also tapped my nose. It was so annoying that I turned over completely and burrowed into the pillowcase, and someone who was bothering my good sleep put their weight on my back and shoulders. It was as if they had forcibly covered me with a heavy, wet blanket.
“Heavy… get off…”
Allen, that guy, he was so annoyingly clingy, but in the end, he didn’t go over to his room? The sleep I had barely woken from was so sweet. I felt like I could sleep like this for hours.
“Oh, my. You seem very tired.”
A low voice mixed with laughter.
“But you have to wake up, you. You have to go back to the mansion.”
“…Euum?”
“Well… If you’re thinking of staying in my palace like this, it’s more beneficial for me, though.”
“……!”
It was the Crown Prince’s voice. I was instantly wide awake, but without showing it, I naturally turned over again and buried my forehead in his chest. I needed some time to sort things out in my head. As I rubbed my forehead like a young animal seeking its mother, the Crown Prince chuckled softly and gently stroked the back of my head. Yes, yesterday I attended the Imperial Palace banquet held to commemorate the Crown Prince’s return, and then I was snatched up and carried away as if I had been kidnapped…
‘Haa, Noah…….’
‘Ah… ungh! Hnghh, Adrian, joha, there…, eungh, more, do it more….’
Hmm. There’s no need to recall any further. My head, as the memories returned, was filled with flesh tones. I don’t even know when I fell asleep. I must have fallen asleep naturally, as if fainting.
“Your Highness, you really must go to the Sun Palace now…”
“Shh. Didn’t I tell you to be quiet?”
“……Yes.”
A voice full of restlessness seemed to stick to my ear. It was the Chamberlain of the Crown Prince’s palace, Dale’s voice. It was already time to go and attend to state affairs, so had I slept longer than I thought? Come to think of it, the texture of the clothes touching my face was rough. When I opened my eyes slightly, everything in front of me was dazzling. It was the Crown Prince’s splendidly embroidered formal attire.
“Still can’t wake up?”
The Crown Prince asked, looking down at me as if he found it very lovely that I was just opening and closing my eyes without saying a word. Instead of answering, I just nodded. Then, the pleased smile that bloomed on his face bloomed even more splendidly. It was as if he was proud that I was quietly staying in his territory.
“Your Highness… Please, now…!”
Unlike the peaceful situation on the bed, the Chamberlain’s voice began to mix with a desperate tone, as if he had reached a truly precarious limit. It seemed like it was time for me to get up and return to the mansion. As I awkwardly raised my upper body, pushing against the Crown Prince’s shoulder, he frowned as if dissatisfied, but he still gave way as I pushed him.
“What time is it?”
“Well, would you believe me if I said it was still early morning?”
If I said I would believe him, he would probably skip the day, pretending it was dawn. He must have a lot of work piled up because he had been away from the capital for so long.
‘Your Highness, please…! Please…!’
Beyond the Crown Prince’s shoulder. It was clear from the Chamberlain’s appearance, desperately shaking his head and begging with his hands together.
“Eung? I’m right in front of you, but where are you looking?”
A large hand quickly grabbed my chin and turned it towards him. As a result, the little bit of cheek fat I had was plumply caught between his thumb and forefinger, and my lips protruded like a goldfish. With my chin grabbed and only my lips pouting, I slowly blinked my sleepy eyelashes, and the purple eyes smiled again without getting tired of it.
“Eung? Didn’t I ask where you were looking?”
The hand holding my chin moved from side to side. My head also moved accordingly.
“I don’t know what I saw…….”
The pronunciation was unclear because of the lips that protruded like a bird’s beak, but it wasn’t to the point where the meaning couldn’t be understood. Just in time, my stomach clock rang.
“Seeing how hungry I am, I think it’s at least past noon, Your Highness…….”
“You’re hungry, how pitiful.”
To say that I was pitiful and click his tongue after seeing me sleeping soundly in the soft, body-melting goose-down bedding until I was hungry, and then complaining that I wanted to sleep more, really… Even if I was the apple of his eye, I felt sorry for all the pitiful people who died.
“I’ll have a meal brought out, so eat slowly and go.”
“Aren’t you going to eat with me, Your Highness?”
“I already ate. You sleepyhead.”
“Aah, it’s because Your Highness didn’t let me sleep yesterday.”
“That’s right. It’s my responsibility that my consort is a sleepyhead. So I said I’d take all the responsibility.”
“Really… you’re good with words…….”
Rain-like kisses poured down on various parts of my face, which was glaring at him without dislike, and didn’t stop for a while.
The Crown Prince left the bedchamber, promising to meet again next time, only when the Chamberlain’s complexion had turned from red and blue to downright dark, as if he was satisfied.
After the Crown Prince left, I also quickly filled my stomach and began preparing to return to the mansion. Whether they had received some prior notice or not, the staff of the Crown Prince’s palace seemed to be subtly delaying the time and trying to hold me back, but I pretended not to notice and resolutely got into the carriage.
This was because I wanted to hold the welcome news that had already arrived in my room last night in my hands as soon as possible. I had already stayed in the Imperial Palace much longer than expected.
Every Wednesday night, a letter from the north, filled with cold wind, arrived on one side of the unlocked window of my room.
Thinking about what kind of content would be written this time, my heart swelled with anticipation.
“If you allow, I will be eagerly waiting for the day I can serve you next time, Consort.”
Just before closing the door of the carriage, the staff of the Crown Prince’s palace, led by the Chamberlain, all paid their respects to me.
From some point on, they had been treating me not as the prospective Crown Princess, but as the Crown Princess who had already had the state wedding, and no matter how much I told them not to, they wouldn’t listen, so I had half given up. This must also be the work of the Crown Prince’s influence…
“Yes. If there’s another time I need to be in your care, I’ll be in your care. May you all be at peace.”
I replied casually and leaned deeply against the back of the luxurious carriage that the Crown Prince had provided. The Crown Prince’s direct escort knights followed the carriage in a line.
In the middle of the day when the sun was shining brightly, so confidently. Compared to the time when I carefully went in and out of the Imperial Palace, hiding in the arms of a knight, afraid that someone might see me, it was truly a complete transformation.
Whenever I saw the Crown Prince flaunting his affection for me, I always wondered. Even if it wasn’t as overwhelming as it is now, he had been gaining the upper hand in the power struggle with Duke Grachio for quite some time… Why did he decide to reveal my existence so clearly only now?
There was something unsettling about explaining it simply by saying that his feelings for me had deepened. It was as if the marking was already done, but there was a strange uneasiness that didn’t seem like the right answer at all.
Whether I was lost in thought or not, the carriage ran diligently. It boldly broke through the heart of the Imperial Palace, which no one dared to run through, and went straight to Count Hamilton’s mansion.
“Young Master! You’re here?”
As always, the one who greeted me as I got out of the carriage was Nicole. Frederick couldn’t even say hello properly and stood a few steps behind Nicole, conveying his welcome and concern only with his expression.
Really… I couldn’t help but admit that he had a great tenacity. Anyone would have thought so if they saw him persevering despite my numerous ignorings and cold treatments.
“Sir Frederick also conveyed the message, and someone from the Imperial Palace came separately, so it’s not something to worry about, but still, how can I not worry!”
I wondered if he was so brightly welcoming me because he was planning to pour out a barrage of nagging.
“Unscheduled sleepovers are absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not allowed, okay?”
“I didn’t absolutely, absolutely, absolutely want to do that either, okay? What can I do when you just barge in without warning!”
“I don’t know. Do something!”
The playful bickering was pleasant, perhaps because we knew it wasn’t serious. Nicole and I chuckled and slowly entered the mansion. Behind us, Sir Frederick followed like a shadow, truly brave and valiant.
I went up to the second floor where my room was located, cut off my tail without saying hello, and slammed the door shut. Nicole even clapped her hands, saying I did well. Even though she didn’t remember any of the events that happened in the last Iteration, perhaps because some emotions remained, Nicole didn’t find it strange that I was treating Frederick so harshly and just found it satisfying.
“By the way, did it arrive safely last night too?”
“Of course. I took good care of it in case someone else found it first. Here you go.”
Nicole smiled and took out the neat envelope that I had been waiting for so eagerly from the inside pocket of her jacket and handed it to me. I took the envelope and sat down on the window seat in front of the large window where it was always delivered. The movement of scraping off the hardened beeswax with a paper knife was already cheerful.
Knock knock.
It was at that moment that an unexpected knock was heard from outside the window, where no one should be.
“Are you coming in now?”
A blond man, who was much taller than Andrew, if not Frederick, was looking down at me from the terrace attached to the window with a strange smile on his face.
That tall man, whose aristocratic impression felt particularly cold, was…
“I was wondering when you’d crawl in, but you’re crawling in pretty quickly.”
“……Allen.”
It was Allen, who had completely changed from the appearance of the beautiful protagonist of the original story that I knew.