AWWEWNR Chapter 19

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After exiting the garden to use the restroom, Hanaella told the maid who was escorting her that she would be going alone from here on out. 

 

She also offered the maid a gift box containing a bracelet she had forgotten to deliver to the Princess. 

 

Expecting the maid to follow her, she prepared herself in advance to get rid of her.

 

“It’s not polite to go to the bathroom with this, so please deliver it to the Princess. I know the way from here, so I’ll go on my own.”

 

“Yes, Lady.”

 

As the maid turned and walked away, Hanaella waited until her figure was out of sight before glancing around and crossing the garden.

 

When she reached the back gate of the Crown Prince’s palace, she saw four guards. 

 

Ducking behind a pillar, Hanaella apologized to them and cast a sleep spell. 

 

All four guards instantly fell asleep. 

 

Hanaella quickly slipped through the door and went inside. She was glad she had learned the dark arts. 

 

No, it was probably not a good thing, since she would be sent to prison if she was caught, but she decided to put that little concern aside for now, since her priority was to meet the Crown Prince.

 

‘I’m sure he’s in his office by now, but where is the Crown Prince’s office? Why is the palace so big, and I can’t even ask a passerby.’

 

Hanaella wandered around the vast palace, trying to find the office. It was quite a coincidence that Crown Prince Lloyd found her.

 

As Lloyd descended the stairs to the third floor with his escort, Tran, explaining to his aide, Jarez, the documents to be processed, his eyes widened when he spotted Hanaella poking around on the second floor, looking for something. 

 

When she disappeared down the stairs, Lloyd ordered Tran and Jarez to wait for him, and quickly descended to the second floor.

 

Completely oblivious to Lloyd’s discovery of her, Hanaella mumbled something about where the hell the office was located, and that’s when Lloyd burst out from behind her and asked, “Why my office?” causing Hanaella to scream.

 

Lloyd quickly grabbed her waist from behind as her legs went limp in surprise.

 

“Oops.”

 

‘…Crown Prince…!!’

 

Hanaella stared at him with a mixture of surprise and joy as she realized that the person supporting her was the Crown Prince.

 

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Lloyd’s hand stopped as he lifted the tea to his mouth, and he looked up at Hanaella. Her words stunned him.

 

“What do you want me to…?”

 

“A fake lover.”

 

Hanaella said with a straight face and took a sip of her tea. Lloyd stared at her, then smiled wryly, knowing something was amiss.

 

“I didn’t know that you had a crush on me. How long have you been in love with me, ah- the day of your coming-of-age?”

 

Lloyd’s words made Hanaella’s face twist in horror.

 

“You must have some sort of grave misunderstanding, Your Highness.”

 

“No. You’re asking me to be your lover now because you like me?”

 

“It’s fake, fake!!”

 

“…”

 

“A fake lover, I mean, I’m asking you to make it look that way in the eyes of others, especially my father and Thearine siblings.”

 

At Hanaella’s words, Lloyd stared at her for a moment, then opened his mouth.

 

“Why?”

 

“I lied to my father about being in love with the Crown Prince, and he thinks I’m lying to get out of it, and he wants to hear the truth.”

 

“…So, you want me to tell Duke Ethan the truth, is that it?”

 

“Yes. No, no. I want you to tell him a lie.”

 

“…Huh…?”

 

When Lloyd scratched his chin with his thumb and forefinger in an expression of incomprehension, Hanaella gave a short sigh and told him.

 

“You’re supposed to tell him that Your Highness the Crown Prince and I are lovers.”

 

“Aaah—”

 

‘Aaah— Is that a bad thing from our little sun, who is to be the Sun of the Empire?’

 

“I see.”

 

“Will you do it?”

 

“Do you strike me as the kind of person who would just barge in and ask for a favor like this, and then grant it?”

 

‘…Ha, this Crown Prince. Such a bad temper.’

 

“But when you say siblings of Thearine, do you mean Count Tharrott and his sister, why do we have to look like that to them?”

 

‘If you wouldn’t help me, why do you want to know.’

 

“…Well, because that Count Thearine is the reason I lied to my father.”

 

“More.”

 

Lloyd asks with a twinkle in his eye, as if something has piqued his interest. 

 

Hanaella hesitated for a moment, but then, as if she had no choice, she began to tell him the truth.

 

“I don’t know for sure why he’s bent on marrying me, but I do know that Count Thearine and Lady Rosaryn have joined forces and are trying to make me one of theirs.”

 

To tell the truth, she would have to tell the whole story of how she was executed and how she woke up and found herself back at a point in the past. 

 

It seemed unlikely that the Crown Prince would believe it, and even if he did, he would be shocked to learn that he would die without ever becoming Emperor.

 

Unless, of course, she marries Tharrott, Lloyd would not die in the battle as he had in the past. 

 

If he was destined to die young and not become Emperor, he would certainly die for something other than exterminating demons.

 

“Hmm… Count Tharrott referring specifically to Ariel.”

 

But the Crown Prince who now stood facing Hanaella was unlikely to be killed by any of the Empress’s schemes. At least, that’s how it seemed to Hanaella.

 

Lloyd muttered to himself., “I’m guessing… that Count Tharrott wants to pull some strings for the Empress.”

 

‘So they need the Knights to pull the Empress’s leash,’ thought Hanaella, remembering that after her marriage to Tharrott, the Knights had moved at the Empress’s command.

 

“Very well. I’ll allow it.”

 

Lloyd said, looking at Hanaella.

 

“Really?”

 

“But there are conditions to my cooperation in helping you.”

 

Hanaella’s face brightened as if relieved by Lloyd’s willingness to agree, but her eyebrows wiggled as Lloyd’s strings attached.

 

And,

 

“I must make my relationship with you official.”

 

Her smile quickly faded as she heard Lloyd’s next words.

 

“…Yes…?”

 

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The annual Hunting Festival was a custom in which royalty and nobles hunted monsters and sprinkled their blood in front of the southern front lines in a ritual to keep the northern monsters from invading the south.

 

While the Knights and many other knightly orders defended the South, the ritual was meant to set an example for royalty and nobility to follow in exterminating monsters. 

 

As generations passed, however, the sacred ritual eventually became little more than an outdoor banquet attended by men and women in pairs.

 

It was during the hunt that Tharrott decided to try to win Hanaella’s favor. 

 

Men and women hunted in partnership, and princes who were not yet married were not allowed to have partners, both as an honor to the future Crown Princess and to prevent anyone from guessing who the Crown Princess would be.

 

The forests where the hunting festival was held were carefully guarded, and the beasts there were not dangerous. 

 

The Knights of the Cathedral were in charge of the hunting festival, so no one would point out that an elite paladin of the Cathedral was letting a single beast loose in the forest.

 

‘But no one will know that the creature will deliberately attack Lady Hanaella. I’ll take advantage of the surrounding opportunity by provoking it, and when it attacks her, I’ll kill it. That way, she’ll think I’m her hero.’

 

Pfft!

 

Tharrott let out a laugh that was mixed with a sigh.

 

‘This is too easy, isn’t it?’ 

 

His appearance and abilities are enough to keep women at bay, but he has a trick up his sleeve to win a woman’s heart so easily.