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☾ sixty - seven ☾

"You've been spending your time drinking tea! How will you turn the tables?!"

"Mother!"

The Princess looked at her mother with a bewildered expression, but the Empress did not stop her abusive language.

"Am I wrong?! If you had only been born as a boy in the first place, I wouldn't have had this much trouble!"

Beatrice bit the flesh inside of her mouth without realizing it.

Boy! Boy! Boy!

She wanted to have tea with her mother because she was angry and sad about what she heard the other day.

'Why did you give birth to me then?'

She felt like her stomach was burning.

However, Beatrice persevered and clenched her fist at the thought that she would be loved by her mother if she overcame this crisis.

She chewed on her lip before opening her mouth once more.

"Mother, what if Maximilian spoils the banquet?"

The Empress raised one eyebrow at her daughter's words.

"What? By what means?"

Beatrice spoke softly.

"Think about it. Who is inside the palace, while Maximilian was at the battlefield? The person preparing the banquet will be one of the maids in charge here, so we are one step ahead." [2]

The Empress's lips gradually rose.

"Yes, lovely Liche. You're right. This is an opportunity to spoil the banquet."

She returned to the form of a benevolent mother.

The Princess had a twisted smile on her face.

"Yes, only then will those pretentious aristocrats see."

_

"It's so sweet."

It had been a long time since he last ate strawberry cake, now that he finally had it, his face looked a lot better than before.

"Yes, it's sweet and delicious."

He laughed at my words, showing me that he indeed was feeling better.

I smiled at him in return before asking him something I was curious of the whole time.

"How have you been?"

As he had said before, he spent about two months on the ploughs, and I was very worried that he might have gone bad or suffered from the aftermath of the war.

But the answer that came from him was an answer that sounded insincere at first glance.

"Well."

His expression was very serious.

"Really?"

"Yes, because I gained a lot."

His nodding face revealed his composure.

I'm glad he made a lot of money.

"That's a relief."

At my answer he stared at me gently.

"What about you?"

"Yeah?"

When I asked, he snapped the strawberry with a fork and opened his mouth.

"How have you been?"

At his question, I briefly explained what had happened.

His expression, who was listening to the tea party talk indifferently, changed subtly when I began talking about my father.

"So you're saying that your father is recommending that you decorate the Prince's banquet with your splendor?" [3]

"That's right."

"So what kind of dress did you get?" He asked, with his chin on his hand, staring at me.

Strange, it was somewhat embarrassing to look at his face head-on.

'Is it because I haven't seen him for a long time?'

I looked down at the teacup, slightly lowering my eyes so I couldn't see his face.

It seemed a little less burdensome.

"Well, when I went to the boutique, everyone there said that they would be using primary colors."

"So?"

"So I chose the color that I thought wouldn't stand out."

"What color is that?"

"Pink beige."

"You'd go well with black." He murmured at my answer.

"What?"

When I asked back to his unexpected words, he gave me a thoughtful look.

"Maybe the Crown Prince will ask you for his first dance in black armor."

I wasn't sure what he was trying to say, but I didn't want to get mad about it so I answered calmly.

"I'll never get caught. I'll be hiding."

Then, he smiled and said.

"Yes, that's great."

My eyes widened in amazement as I watched him suddenly reach out to me.

He gently rubbed my lips with his index finger.

Only then did I realize that I had cream on my mouth from the cake we were eating.

'Oh, I make a mistake...'

Then he said.

"Because it would be better not to show yourself to anyone."

'No matter how clumsy I am, I can't believe you're giving me such a straight face-to-face teasing.'

At that, I tried to speak up.

"Stop teasing..."

But then I became even more surprised at what he did next.

He lifted his index finger towards his mouth and licked the cream right off.

'What? What?! Why is he doing that?'

He stared at me with a fierce gaze, almost as if I was his prey.

I couldn't say anything.

"So, hide well so that you won't be noticed."

_

[1] she's scared he's gonna insult the prince and if commoners insult nobility they get executed

[2] they will try to sabotage the banquet so that something goes wrong and make max look bad

[3] regis wants juvel to stand out at the banquet, like the prettiest one there

[ note : max is really showing his possessive side isn't he haha ]