Meanwhile, the protagonist of this banquet, Prince Lucius, appeared only after all the commotion had settled. 

He appeared in the form of a typical white horse-riding prince charming whom the girls had imagined, with bright, brilliant-colored blond hair and warm amber eyes.

The Empress watched him with a faint smile as he exchanged greetings with people.

“He’s not the kind of child who comes out so obediently…”

A lady-in-waiting who was standing next to her cautiously spoke up.

“Perhaps there is someone among the noble ladies attending the party who has caught his interest?”

“That seems highly unlikely.”

He had rejected countless encounters with women until now. 

Was it because some wind blew and he suddenly developed feelings for a woman? 

“The Prince asked his servants to make him look his best today.”

“Huh? Is that true?”

“Yes! I heard it clearly.”

The Empress persistently paid attention to Lucius’s behavior with a sense of anticipation.

At that time, Lucius was looking for a woman who stole his heart, greeting countless people without knowing that the empress was watching.

However, no matter how much he looked around the banquet hall, the woman was nowhere to be seen.

“Ha… Where did that woman disappear to?”

“Who are you referring to?”

Lucius aide asked with a curious voice.

“She looked like a goddess, like a fairy. Someone who is difficult to find in reality but can only be imagined in dreams.”

The advisor furrowed his brows at Lucius’s peculiar description. Apparently, the prince was seriously ill with lovesickness.

“Shall I try to find her? If you can provide me with specific characteristics, I will do my best to look for her.”

Lucius’s eyes sparkled at his words.

“Can you really do that?”

“Yes! I am quite skilled at finding people.”

“Good. Well, she is…”

Lucius was fervently explaining, but in reality, the Emily he was desperately searching for was in the palace garden with Killian. 

She was struggling hard to explain the affair with Duke Sadie a while ago.

“You knew I was engaged, right?”

“Yes, I knew.”

At Killian’s words, she let out a sigh of relief.

“But…”

Killian was displeased and added a comment at the end.

“I didn’t know you had such a close relationship with him.”

“Me?”

Emily felt unjustly accused. Far from being intimate with Charles, she only had two encounters she could recall. 

“When was that?”

“Um…”

Emily struggled to recall as she forced the memories back and began recounting her past to Killian.

Their first meeting happened by chance.

***

On the way from the northern region to the capital, Count Sinope’s estate was located along the way. The road that he usually passed by without a second thought happened to be the place where the Duke visited that day.

And at that same time, Emily happened to have went out of the mansion without her parents’ knowledge, picking raspberries, playing in the water, and was drying her clothes while reading a romance novel under a tree.

“What? He’s talking about his first love? A dog should poop on his face.” [T/n: She’s talking about the male protagonist in the book she is reading]

She was reading rather roughly.

“So that’s why Mom says there isn’t a trustworthy man.”

The content of the novel is that the male protagonist secretly meets the female protagonist when his first love appears. Excitedly, Emily turned to the next page.

How many minutes had passed? She was deeply engrossed in an important scene when she felt a strange atmosphere. The wind that had been rustling behind her suddenly disappeared.

“Ramis grabbed Lola’s waist from behind and kissed her?”

“What, what!”

Startled, Emily turned her head quickly and accidentally bumped her forehead against someone else’s.

“…Who-who are you?”

After letting out a startled scream, Emily found herself face to face with a handsome man who could never be found around this area. The man wrinkled his brow and rubbed his forehead.

“Your head is quite hard.”

“I’m sorry about that….but why read aloud a novel that others are reading… .”

Emily hid the novel under the width of her skirt and pouted. She couldn’t believe how embarrassed she felt. Come to think of it, she didn’t even know why she had to apologize for having a hard head.

“Are you Lady Sinope?”

Emily hesitated for a moment and nodded in response.

“Your father asked me to find his missing daughter.”

“I’ve only been gone for three hours?”

As Emily frowned, the Count’s men arrived. She threw the book into the bushes to hide it completely.

“You’re here, miss.”

“Yes, Butler. I was about to go back.”

Emily swallowed the words ‘You’re all overreacting.’

The butler didn’t respond to Emily’s remark and immediately expressed gratitude to Charles, who was standing next to him.

“Thank you for finding the young lady, Your Grace .”

“Uh, Your Grace?”

Emily momentarily couldn’t recall what “Your Grace” meant. It wasn’t because she was ignorant, but rather because she was too surprised. [T/n: Your grace is usually used exclusively to refer to duke/duchess’ that is why she is shocked when she hears this because it means he is a duke]

“Miss, you don’t know yet. This is Duke Charles Sadie.”

Emily shook her head and looked up at the Duke. Charles was looking down at her with one corner of his mouth raised as if he was having fun.

***

This was their (unlucky) first encounter as Emily remembers it. Although he stayed in the estate for a few more days after that, she didn’t bother to bring it up.

Anyway, Kilian wasn’t feeling particularly happy after hearing Emily’s recollection of the past.

“Well then, when was the second meeting?”

“It wasn’t a very pleasant meeting either.”

***

Mae’s ‘In case you didn’t know’ translator note:

{Educational note for future reading reference}

The rankings of nobility go: 

Duke/Duchess

Marquis/ Marchioness 

Count(sometimes referred to as Earl)/Countess

-Viscount/Viscountess 

-Baron/baroness

Also in general:

Your Majesty-King/Queen

Your Highness- Other royal family members but not the king/queen, think prince/princess

Your Grace- Duke/Duchess

Your Lordship/Your Ladyship – Marquis and below (aka Count, Viscount, Baron)- 

Sir/Dame- knight, Sir for Men, Dame for women. 

That’s the guideline I’ve been sticking too while translating but again I’m a novice and I probably will make mistakes 😛 Also I love that she straight up threw her smutty book in the woods rather than get caught lol ~Mae

Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/maetranslations