Chapter 23: CH 23

Well, that is true.

A fiance/fiancee is considered a partner everywhere, just like a real couple. 

When attending social events or public appearances, it’s a must that they should always go together as a partner.

However, the Grand Duke and Eve had never been friendly with each other.

The Grand Duke terribly hated Eve,  that’s why he never considered bringing her over to any gatherings.

“So, are you saying that we should act like real lovers?”

The Grand Duke looked at me with an incredulous look and asked.

“Isn’t the biggest reason why I’m going to be labelled as murderer is because I hate the Princess?”

“Well, it is.”

That’s true.

That’s the main reason why the Emperor came up with this plan in the first place, it’s because the Grand Duke hated me so much.

The Grand Duke looked at me and said in a firm tone.

“If we become real lovers, there will be no reason for me to kill the Princess, right?”

Now, I finally understood what he meant.

“You’re talking about acting as if we were lovers in front of other people?”

– Pretend lovers.

The idea itself was not unusual.

In fact, I’ve thought about that as well.

It was the most plausible reason to go when we face other people to change their opinion between me and the Grand Duke, so as to avoid the present danger. 

If they have the impression that the Grand Duke falls in love with me, the Emperor’s plan to “kill Eve and make the Grand Duke a murderer” will also collapse from the root.

Even in the original plot, the Grand Duke acted as if he were in a fake relationship with Sorel.

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When it was discovered that Sorel was dating in the second half, of course, her partner was Mikhail, the male lead.

However, the two had to hide that they were in a relationship.

It would be a big scandal if it became known that the Princess was dating a former commoner, and to add it up that she was an illegitimate child as well.

Mikhail could have been kicked out of his position as the deputy general of the Knights Templar if he made a mistake.

So, inevitably, the Grand Duke pretends to be Sorel’s lover and act together.

But the problem lies here.

‘This man…… Didn’t know how to act.’

The performance of the Grand Duke, who will be playing the role of a lover, was beyond imagination.

The Grand Duke was good at deceiving his opponents for political reasons, hiding his secrets, and maintaining a poker face in the social world.

However, he didn’t know how to play the role of “Man in love” seriously.

Still, no one doubted the two based on the original novel.

It was natural. Because his partner was Sorel.

It was a story that anyone could believe that the Grand Duke fell in love with the lovely and kind Princess Sorel.

Thanks to this, the Grand Duke’s squeaky acting skills was also glorified to the extent that ‘it’s normal to be awkward because it was his first relationship’.

But then the Grand Duke suddenly fell in love with Eve?

Even if we showed a great performance, I know for a fact that they won’t believe it, So how would we be able to deceive other people?

No matter how positively I think of it, I was not very confident with it.

“Why do you look like that?”

Seeing my sullen face, the Grand Duke frowned. I answered in a way that didn’t offend him as much as possible.

“That’s a good idea. But wouldn’t it be so sudden that the people would suspect it?”

“You have to make sure you don’t doubt it first.”

“But wouldn’t it be strange that we just suddenly got along and became close. Since we haven’t had any reason to…..”

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“Wasn’t it known to the society that the Princess apologized to me, and that she started to change her personality and was kind to the people around her. And I fell in love with the Princess after seeing that side of her.”

“……”

No, that’s too far-fetched.

“People believe in what they see anyway. Even if they doubt it, they won’t think that I’m acting. At this point, is there no reason for me to pretend that I am in love with the Princess?”

Oh, so that would be the context.

Due to the nature of the Grand Duke, there was no way he would act to kill Eve.

And that if he really wanted to kill me, wouldn’t it be better to poison me a little after marriage or kill her under the guise of an accidental death.

And why would he pretend to be nice to me when the wedding is about a month away?

I’m sure people’s eyes will be on us.

I agreed with him.

“That’s right. If we’re lovers, it would be a valid reason to always be together.”

Once it was known that I’m together now with the Grand Duke, I would be safe then.

Since we are now lovers, it wouldn’t be strange to attend social gatherings and to spend time together at the Imperial Palace.

It would also be possible for me to go to the Grand Duke’s mansion and stay there for a day or two.

As a prospective hostess, I can tell them that I came to Duchy for me to start on planning the new decoration of the mansion, but due to some circumstances, I could say that It’s a must for me to stay for a while.

In the meantime, since I’ll be visiting the Duchy more often, I would be able to meet the Grand Duke and as well as the people around him, and through them you will be able to see a new foresight.

“And we have less than a month left until the wedding. Until then, we just need to get through it safely.”

Just like what he said, I just have to be safe until the wedding.

I nodded in agreement with his thoughts.

“That’s definitely a perfect plan.”

Anyway, there are still 35 days left until the wedding anyway. We just have to act until then.

In this situation, it might have been better to get the people’s attention in that way.

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Because if everyone was watching us with curious eyes, there would be less chance of something dangerous happening.

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If necessary, we can create a marriage contract that would benefit the two of us.

“We have the perfect opportunity to bring out this plan. The Duchess’s Ball.”

It was a social gathering where the two of us could go out together.

“Will you be able to attend?”

The Grand Duke asked anxiously.

It’s because I can’t go out without the Empress’s permission.

“I think that there’s a way.”

I don’t know if it will turn out well, but I had devised a plan to attend the ball in my own way.

“I will send you a maid tomorrow, so if you need anything from me, you can send it to her.”

“A maid?”

“She’s someone who can protect the Princess nearby until the wedding.”

Is she a maid who acts as an escort?

I nodded my head without saying a word.

Having a maid sent by the Grand Duke would be useful in many ways.

It would be easier than now to communicate with the Grand Duke.

“Okay.”

I agreed to his proposal and added one more thing.

“By the way, I have something to ask of you on the day of the Ball.”

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Eve’s POV)

The conversation with the grand Duke ended quickly, but after that, I stayed in the Great Hall for a while.

It took quite a long time to hear about the whereabouts of the jewels that I donated while eating tea and refreshments prepared by the chief priest, and received thanks to the other ministers.

Unlike the chief priest who was still embarrassed in front of me, the lower priests and priestesses seemed to really appreciate me.

After all, the people who donate alms directly to the poor and go out to serve those people must have been low-ranking priests and priestesses.

That they really appreciate the donation for the poor.

I stayed in the temple throughout the afternoon, and only got into the carriage at sunset.

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By the time I left the Great Hall and returned to the Imperial Palace, the sun had already set.

‘Well, I’m glad the conversation ended well……’

But there’s another problem.

Since I’ll be attending the ball, the problem is that I don’t know how to dance at all.

I asked Nell, who was sitting across from me.

“Nell, do you know how to dance?”

“Of course, Your Highness. I learned all the basic dances.”

“I see.”

It’s a world where even the maid can perform all the basic dances, but what if the Princess can’t dance?

“Can you teach me the easiest one? Like a waltz or something.”

Does the ball start with Quadrille? Or Minuet?

Learning difficult dance even if I practiced everyday in such a short period of time, is something that I couldn’t even dream of.

However, the waltz seemed to be the most comfortable at the very least.

Nell nodded immediately, as if she had expected me to ask for this.

“Don’t worry. The princess was really good at dancing. You will learn it again soon.”

“….. Okay.”

Then that’s a bigger problem, …. I can’t believe that Eve can dance well.

If I awkwardly dance in the ballroom, everyone will suspect me.

‘I’ll have to practice hard for the rest of the remaining days.’

That way, I can dance at least one song with the Grand Duke.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Eve’s POV)

The next day after meeting with the Grand Duke, the maid of the Imperial Palace knocked on my door.

“Princess, a new maid has arrived today.”

The skinny, black-haired maid who was standing behind the other maid stepped forward and bowed her back.

“My name is Chloe, I will start working here today.”

Since she was a maid who would act as my escort, I thought that she would be around mid-30’s or 40’s.

But the new maid was a young woman with her black hair neatly braided.

She had a quiet and calm look on her face, and her skin was white like snow.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

Did she come from the north side because her skin was so white?

However, other than that she was a little tall, she didn’t look much different from the other maids.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the Princess.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, I’ll be on your care from now on

Then Chloe went downstairs and I didn’t see her after that.

I thought it would seem strange to call her first, so I just pretended not to notice it.

It wasn’t until evening that I was able to meet Chloe again.

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