A Fake Marriage? Sure! …Wait, Is It Actually Fake? Something’s Not Right Here! - Chapter 14

The day after discussing the exhibition match with Alex.

While Lidoria was checking Crown Princess Sophia’s outfits with the maids, Alex hurriedly arrived.

“What’s the matter?”

The maids shrieked as the door to the dressing room opened without even a knock.

Shielding them, Lidoria stepped in front and glared sharply at Alex.

“This is Crown Princess Sophia’s dressing room. Though she’s not here now, this is where Her Highness might come to relax! Visiting without an appointment is—”

“It’s urgent.”

Alex spat out the words.

“I’m afraid the Crown Princess isn’t here,” Lidoria replied, puzzled.

She had just been summoned by His Majesty and should have headed to the audience chamber.

“I know. Their Majesties and His Highness the Crown Prince are present, and discussions are ongoing.”

“Eh? Is something wrong with the Crown Princess?”

Was Sophia the subject of the discussion?

As Lidoria grew pale, Alex shook his head firmly.

“No. It’s about us.”

“Us?”

Staring at Alex, whose expression remained as unchanging as a Noh mask, Lidoria tilted her head in confusion.

She genuinely didn’t understand, which irritated Alex.

Clicking his tongue softly but sharply, he beckoned her with his index finger. “Come.”

“Their Majesties and Their Highnesses have summoned you and me. Come on.”

“Huh?”

Why would she, a mere maid, be summoned?

Growing impatient with Lidoria’s stunned silence, Alex stomped over, grabbed her right hand, and pulled.

“They want to ask about our engagement. Let’s go.”

As she was dragged out of the room, Lidoria felt the blood drain from her face once more.

(They found out? They discovered our fake engagement?)

That was the only explanation.

Alex’s father was the King’s brother.

His nephew had entered into a fake engagement.

As his accomplice, wouldn’t Lidoria face some form of punishment—scolding, or worse?

Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and visions of the Zoe earldom’s ruin began flashing through her mind when—

“Princess Melissa is being difficult.”

Alex’s unexpected words snapped her back to reality.

He still held her right wrist roughly, striding ahead, but perhaps sensing her gaze, he glanced back briefly.

“They’re currently searching for a marriage partner for Princess Melissa.”

“Ah… Yes. She’s at that age, after all.”

Wasn’t she the same age as Lidoria?

Yet, she still had no promising fiancé.

In Melissa’s case, it wasn’t due to family circumstances like Lidoria’s. Though she didn’t know the exact reason, it was probably a matter of status.

“I heard Their Majesties dote on her deeply, so it’s hard to find a suitable match…”

Was it a case of not wanting to give their daughter to just any man?

“No.”

But Alex cut her off decisively.

“The princess is obsessed—no, fixated—on His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“…Huh?”

How many times had she said “Huh?” today?

“I’ve served His Highness since he was young. That princess is a bit off.”

“…Did you just call Princess Melissa ‘off’?”

Though she asked timidly, Alex strode down the hallway and asserted, “I did.”

“Her love for the Crown Prince is overwhelming. She doesn’t consider anyone else a romantic prospect.”

“Eh? Was she like that?”

Lidoria tried to recall but didn’t remember the princess clinging to the Crown Prince.

“Well, she’s not foolish enough to be all over him in public, but in private, it was terrible.”

“Ah.”

That’s right.

No matter how noble she was, Lidoria rarely had opportunities to meet royalty.

At most, she’d see them exchanging greetings at official events.

Lidoria only started frequenting the palace after Sophia married in as Crown Princess, and even then, it’s only been a few years.

She knew nothing about when Melissa or Crown Prince George were young.

“Princess Melissa was so pushy that the Crown Prince often stayed at my residence or even joined us in the dormitories for a while. Well…”

Alex pursed his lips.

“Though we’re called the Crown Prince’s ‘hunting dogs,’ it was all to deal with Princess Melissa. She tried to sneak into his bedroom, and at worst, even attempted to enter his bath naked.”

Lidoria was stunned.

“But they’re real siblings, right?”

“Of course. They’re both Her Majesty the Queen’s children.”

Lidoria had a younger brother, Finley, but she’d never seen him that way.

“Let me be clear, only Princess Melissa is off. The Crown Prince was always distressed, genuinely troubled, wondering if her strange behavior was due to something he’d done in the past.”

She could somewhat imagine it.

“So, before anything went wrong, His Majesty seized an offer from a neighboring kingdom and arranged the marriage with Crown Princess Sophia.”

Nodding along, Lidoria let Alex lead her.

They had already left the building housing Sophia’s dressing room and were crossing a corridor toward the central part of the royal castle.

“We thought that seeing the Crown Prince establish a residence in the castle and begin his newlywed life would make Princess Melissa give up, but—”

“Ah!”

Lidoria couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Could it be that she bullies the Crown Princess so relentlessly because she wants the Crown Prince back?!”

“Back? He was never hers to begin with.”

Alex spat out the words bitterly.

But Lidoria was utterly dumbfounded.

Completely and utterly dumbfounded.

Sophia was simply in the way.

A woman loved by the brother she adored.

(And Crown Princess Sophia was so troubled by it…)

Had she done something disrespectful to Princess Melissa?

What would it take to win the princess’s favor?

As sisters-in-law, she wanted them to get along somehow.

She knew how much Sophia had struggled since marrying into this country.

Not just Melissa, but even her maids and the noblewomen around the princess looked down on her, yet Sophia persevered.

And for this reason?

Feeling a deep weariness, Lidoria let out a heavy sigh.

“After the Crown Prince’s marriage, we thought Princess Melissa’s strange behavior would stop, but her hatred for the Crown Princess is so intense that even the stationed diplomats have complained to His Majesty.”

“I can imagine.”

A flat tone escaped her lips.

If Lidoria were in the opposite position, she’d want to complain too. Their own princess was being bullied by her sister-in-law in her new home.

“So, Their Majesties seriously began searching for a husband for Princess Melissa. The Crown Prince also recommended it as a countermeasure.”

“Ah! Now that you mention it, he said something like that at the tea party!”

At the tea party hosted by the Crown Princess.

There, the Crown Prince had said, “I’m concerned about the princess. We’re secretly working to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

“That was about the princess’s marriage prospects?”

She gasped for breath between words.

Because.

Alex was walking far too fast.

Lidoria prided herself on her martial arts training. She was confident her physical stamina surpassed that of other noble ladies.

But even so, Alex’s pace was excessive.

Between Princess Melissa’s situation and Alex’s self-centered walking speed, there were plenty of reasons for her fatigue.

“Right now, talks are progressing with the third prince of Lavria Kingdom.”

“Lavria? The one across the sea?”

“Surely she wouldn’t cross the ocean just to chase the Crown Prince.”

His serious tone sent a chill down her spine. Was her love that profound?

“But Princess Melissa resisted.”

“I can imagine.”

“She proposed an engagement with me.”

“Huh?”

She came to a complete stop.