It Seemed My Fiancé Hated Me, So I Distanced Myself—But for Some Reason, He Complained - Chapter 35

Peaceful days continued at the royal palace after that.

His Highness Lucas would visit me whenever he could find time between his busy official duties, and the maids would frequently come to my room even outside of cleaning or helping me get ready, telling me all sorts of stories.

Thanks to them, I felt I had become quite knowledgeable about palace affairs.

One day during these peaceful times, a minor incident occurred.

Lady Anastasia came to visit me in my room.

That day, I was getting ready to go to the garden with the maids. Then there was a knock at the door, and when a maid opened it, Lady Anastasia was standing there.

“Lady Clarissa, might I have a moment of your time?”

“Lady Anastasia…?”

Lady Anastasia strode purposefully forward toward me as I stood there dumbfounded.

“Lady Clarissa, I simply cannot accept that you will become Prince Lucas’s consort.”

Lady Anastasia said this while looking at me with cold eyes.

“Um…”

“How dare you come here suddenly and say such things! Lady Clarissa is the fiancée chosen by His Highness Lucas!”

“That’s right! You have no right to say you won’t accept it!”

“Please give it up already!”

The maids retorted on my behalf as I stood there bewildered.

“Silence! You noisy maids!!”

Lady Anastasia shouted with a frightening expression. The maids flinched, their shoulders jumping.

As I stood confused about what to do, Lady Anastasia thrust the fan she was holding toward my face.

“Lady Clarissa, won’t you compete with me?”

“Compete?”

“Yes, let’s settle through a competition which of us is more worthy of Prince Lucas. If I win, will you withdraw from his side?”

Lady Anastasia said this with a beautiful smile on her perfectly formed face.

“A competition, that’s…”

“My, are you running away? Are you afraid of losing to me? Well, I suppose there’s no help for it, but I wonder if someone so timid could possibly manage being the crown prince’s consort.”

Lady Anastasia said with a look of disdain.

I understood she was provoking me, but I felt that what she said wasn’t entirely wrong either, and I found myself at a loss for words.

Then the maids, who had been cowering after being shouted at by Lady Anastasia moments before, stepped in between us.