I knew I sang high praise of myself, but I had to admit I was outstanding.
As the daughter of a duke, I stood at the top of the nobility. I had long silver hair that glimmered in the sunlight, deep ocean-blue eyes, and unblemished skin as fair as snow. If you asked a hundred people to assess my appearance, they’d all give the same answer: I was beautiful.
I was educated and had always shown great talent in academics, etiquette, martial arts, and magic. Most people would agree that the gods had blessed me.
As far as I could remember, I had been engaged to the crown prince and was to become the future queen.
Never did I have qualms about my situation. Even if I had not chosen this path, I was aware of my duty as a noble lady to dedicate my life to the well-being and happiness of my people.
Or at least, that’s what I thought until that fateful day.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Elizabeth, I cannot keep forgiving your wicked deeds!”
A man’s voice suddenly interrupted the refined music played by the orchestra of the royal family and echoed in the dance hall. The music and idle conversations stopped at once. All heads in the formerly perfectly peaceful hall turned to stare at both the speaker and me, Elizabeth Leiston.
Those gazes were unpleasant, but I deliberately did not let my feelings show. I remained calm and addressed the man who had blown up at me out of the blue—my fiancé and the crown prince of the Kingdom of Haldoria, His Highness Prince Friede.
“Prince Friede,” I started. “We’re welcoming important guests to celebrate the founding of our kingdom tonight. I’d appreciate it if you could please leave the jokes for another time.”
Today was the anniversary of the occasion I’d mentioned, and we had invited eminent nobles and officials from neighboring countries.
Under normal circumstances, His Majesty the King should have hosted this event, but he’d left the country to attend a meeting regarding a monster attack that had occurred a couple of months ago.
The crown prince had stepped in as his proxy and, for some reason, deemed tonight to be the perfect moment to condemn me publicly. His behavior was so disgraceful that I couldn’t even begin to describe it as anything but scandalous.
Regardless of what Prince Friede hoped to achieve by airing his dirty laundry aloud, I had to resolve this matter quietly.
“Come now, let’s forget about this,” I said with a smile, hoping to ease the atmosphere. I extended my hand toward the prince. “Would you care to dance—”
But the one who took my hand instead was Robert Arty, the son of the knight commander.
“What are y—”
I tried to complain, but Robert didn’t allow me to finish my sentence. He twisted my arm and brought it behind my back, forcing me to kneel.
Then, I let out a surprised groan. Although I could have resisted, I didn’t want to create a greater commotion. That would be unwise, considering the circumstances.
Prince Friede didn’t seem to agree.
“Elizabeth, I know what you did to Sylvie!” he declared passionately—and loudly—as if he were an actor onstage. “You’ve gone too far this time!”
My eyes instantly went to the young lady standing behind him. A group of young noblemen surrounded her, eager to protect her.