– I think it's a fraudulent marriage

Camilla's words seemed plausible when she heard it at first, but in fact, her words all had hidden meanings.

At that time, no one thought that the Crown Prince's curse would be lifted, so Ancia went all out to lift his curse.

She didn't take even a day off to relax and always kept an eye on his condition.

But despite Ancia's warning, Camilla kept talking.

"I've been with him longer than you have. But as soon as you came back, I was kicked out. The world is unfair. No matter how hard you try, your luck could run out soon."

Ancia was irritated when she heard Camilla say that her effort was luck.

She had worked so hard, but before she could reply, she heard another voice.

"You talk too much."

Camilla turned around in surprise.

"Your Highness..."

Blake stood in front of us.

Camilla called him with a pitiful voice, but Blake walked past her and approached Ancia.

"So you went to the Amoria Palace...I was so startled when you were gone."

"I need to talk to her for a moment."

Only then did Blake glance at Camilla.

"All the maids except Chelsea were fired, so why is she still here?"

"Did you know that I was a maid?"

Blake looked at her coldly, but Camilla was moved by the fact that he recognized her.

At least he knew she was there, so her time wasn't wasted.

But her expectations soon fell apart.

"The maid who tried to throw away Ancia's dishes."

Blake had no idea of Camilla's nice deeds even though she had served him for five years.

She was just remembered as the woman who bullied Rose. Camilla was shocked.

"I don't want my wife to feel burdened so I tried to end it with only firing you. I should've gotten rid of you faster."

"Blake."

Ancia was startled and called Blake's name. Then, Blake smiled affectionately at her.

'So he had that side of him too...'

Camilla became sad. She couldn't tell whether it was disappointment or something else.

And on the other hand, her anger soared.

"I'm a maid of Forens Palace and I've stayed here for a long time."

"Is that what you have to say about your rudeness just now?"

"I love you! I love you more than she ever did!"

Since Blake knew of her existence, she tried to confess.

As soon as she was notified of her dismissal, she wanted to say those words that she couldn't say before.

"Even if your curse hadn't been lifted, I would've still loved you! I'm the only one who will love you without hoping for anything in return!"

"Is this a joke?"

Blake spat out cynically.

"Pardon?"

"I've heard that a hundred times already."

Camilla bit her lips. She knew that other women would've already said that to him. But...

"I'm not like them! I mean it! I don't have the power of light. But, I would protect you with my life!"

"You overestimate yourself."

"What?"

"The things you do are your own efforts, while what others do are mere luck?"

Blake looked at Camilla coldly.

"You'll protect me? What a shallow thought."

"I-I..."

"You didn't even know me back then when I was cursed. You don't even mean it."

Camilla went pale.

She thought she understood Blake better than anyone else.

She thought Blake was similar to her, that he suffered a similar pain, so only she could fully understand him.

But he said that Camilla had never even faced him properly.

"Get out of here right now. If you act disrespectful to Ancia again, I will not forgive you."

Blake left with Ancia after warning her.

Camilla, who was left alone, slumped to the ground as she sobbed. Her unrequited love ended just like that.

***

Blake and I went back to the Forens Palace. Camilla shed tears until the moment we left, but I didn't feel sorry for her.

When I read the original novel, and even at this moment, I thought Camilla had never been sincere.

In the original novel, she thought she could understand Richard's pain, and this time, he was replaced by Blake.

In the novel, Camilla was on the verge of being executed because of Richard.

But right when the guillotine was about to cut her throat, she expected Richard to come to save her.

"I'm sure Richard will come to my rescue. I understand him. He will come. There's no way he would abandon a woman who really loves him."

But her expectations broke down in a terrible way, and her head was sliced off by the guillotine.

Unlike the novel, the man Camilla chose this time was Blake. And she was not unjustly executed. She was only fired.

Until now, she couldn't tell exactly what she really felt.

"I'll have to wash it."

While I was lost in thought, Blake rubbed my earlobe and whispered.

"Wha-wash what?"

I shouted in a fit of surprise.

"You thought of something dirty huh? I meant that I need to wash your ears."

Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been surprised.

"It's okay."

"Don't listen to things like that from now on. You don't have to deal with them."

"Okay, I won't do that next time."

"I regret it. I should've gotten rid of her right away."

"You're joking, aren't you?"

"...of course it's a joke."

Blake smiled awkwardly. I felt that he hesitated for a moment before he answered, but maybe I was mistaken.

"You act a little different from before."

"Me?"

"Is it because of me?"

I thought of Blake, who was always gentle back then.

If he had changed, I was probably the cause.

But Blake shook his head and denied it.

"I've never heard such a thing. Of course, I was a little sensitive back then because I was worried about you, but I never acted too harshly, so don't worry."

He smiled awkwardly like before.

"And don't mind what she said."

"Don't worry. I forgot about it as soon as I heard it. The founding day is just around the corner. There's no time to care about anything else."

I really meant it.

Three days later, Blake would officially announce my return.

It was the first party I would attend in seven years ever since I became an adult.

Of course, I was not directly in charge of the party since I was the Crown Princess, but there was a mountain of things to prepare just for my attendance.

"We'll attend the party soon, so let's enjoy it together."

He held my hand as he said sweetly, as if he knew of my worries.

"And I'd like to ask you a favor."

"Tell me."

Blake smiled brightly.

"Are you aware of what I will be asking of you? What if I ask you for a weird favour?"

"I don't care. I'll do whatever I can."

I could do anything for Blake. Besides, I believed that he wouldn't do anything that could hurt me.

"Don't. I hope my wife always puts herself first."

His expression was sad. He was probably blaming himself for the sacrifices I made for him.

No matter what I said, the guilt wouldn't go away easily.

So instead of comforting him, I smiled brightly.

"You'll do whatever I ask you to, right?"

"Of course."

"But what can I do for you?"

"Please pick out your dress."

"My dress?"

Does he mean my dress for the party?

He led me into the hall on the third floor, and I saw a row of beautiful dresses.

"Pick a dress for yourself. If you don't like it, I'll buy other dresses."

"No, no. I like everything."

In fact, the most agonizing thing was the dress.

It was a grand party to celebrate the founding day. At the same time, it was also a place to announce my return.

But there was not enough time to create a dress.

It would be best to get an already completed dress and alter it.

But even if it was only modified, it would still be difficult to make a dress for the occasion.

But as soon as I saw the dresses that filled the hall, my worries disappeared in an instant.

I went closer and inspected the dresses. The fabrics and decorations were all beautiful and looked as if they had prepared it carefully.

"How long have you been preparing this?"

"The day I brought you back to the palace."

He was already planning to attend the founding day with me while I was still Rose.

He did it secretly. If I knew he had prepared dresses for me to choose, I would definitely refuse it.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you for coming back."

Blake wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him for a while.

***

When the problem of preparing the dress was solved, another problem arose.

The dresses were all so pretty that I couldn't choose one.

After much thought I chose only one dress and was going downstairs, when I suddenly heard a loud noise.

"Sister!"

A woman wearing a black academy uniform with her hair tied in a ponytail was running towards me.

I exclaimed as soon as I saw her.

"Diana!"