So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 38

Chapter 38

“Eh?”

It wasn’t just me who was flustered.

Julie, who had sprung to her feet, was already talking like a dam had burst.

“Of course His Highness the Second Prince is about to come of age, and his beauty is blooming by the day—but the truth is, the one who shone even more brilliantly was His Highness the Crown Prince, the very light and morning star of this empire! I have to speak the truth on this!”

Thud.

After delivering the whole thing like a rapper without taking a breath, Julie plopped back down into her seat.

Woooosh—

A breeze swept by, and the tea table fell into silence.

“Ahem.”

Julie coughed for show, snapped open her fan, and hid her face.

But the ear peeking out was still bright red.

“…Hahaha!”

In the end, I couldn’t hold it in—I burst out laughing.

Through the lace of Julie’s fan, her wide eyes blinked rapidly.

Oh no. Did I laugh too loudly?

Worried she might be offended, I deliberately softened my voice.

“So the Crown Prince is that amazing? I’ve never met him—now I’m curious.”

“Oh my, of course! But you might meet him soon. The Crown Prince’s birthday is coming up. There’s definitely going to be a banquet in the capital!”

“A banquet… I’m not sure I’d even be allowed to go.”

I shrugged, pretending it didn’t matter.

To see anything at all, I’d have to go to the imperial palace.

And no matter how I sliced it, Xavier Celeste didn’t seem like the type to let me go peacefully.

In most romance-fantasy stories, the imperial family is always the main stage.

The male lead is probably the Crown Prince. My gut says so. If Julie’s getting this passionate, how handsome is he?

If Xavier is a cold, sharp beauty, then the Crown Prince might be the warm, gentle type—balance and contrast and all that.

I was busy constructing a face out of pure imagination when a puzzled question flew in.

“But the Celeste Grand Ducal House receives an invitation every year, doesn’t it?”

“We’ll get the invitation, sure… but the Grand Duke gets soooo worried even when I just step outside the castle.”

I’d meant it as a complaint about Xavier’s surveillance and restrictions.

But someone took it differently.

The young ladies’ eyes wavered all at once.

Their gazes slid to one side—and at the end of them was—

“Hm? Katharina?”

Meanwhile: At the Tea Party

As the tea party deepened, Katharina Hugo kept up a polite smile, but only drank milk tea like her life depended on it.

Somehow… things were going very, very wrong.

“…So at the imperial ball, right? I swear the Crown Prince made eye contact with me!”

“Whoa. That’s basically him giving you a signal, isn’t it?”

Renée Celeste’s red eyes sparkled as she eagerly egged Julie on.

“Right?! You think so too?!”

“Oh please! Eye contact isn’t everything.”

Just as Julie was about to launch into an even more intense speech, Serena scoffed.

Renée’s eyes narrowed—mischief unmistakable.

Then she tossed out, playful as anything,

“Serena, do you like the Crown Prince too?”

“W-what? Of course not! Honestly… if I had to choose, I prefer a cold, icy handsome man like Grand Duke Xavier Celeste—oh my! I can’t believe I just said that in front of the Grand Duchess!”

Serena practically jumped out of her skin, stammering, her face bright red.

Renée only shrugged like it was nothing.

“Huh? Why not? We’re talking about faces. So the Crown Prince is probably the warm type, then. Interesting. You know, this is an eternal debate: a cold beauty who’s warm only to his woman… versus a gentle warm beauty who’s kind to everyone. What’s everyone’s type?”

…

Katharina’s hand trembled as she set her teacup down.

This wasn’t what she expected at all—Renée was actually having a fun conversation with them.

And worse…

It was genuinely interesting.

Warm-type vs. cold-type—what kind of topic is that?!

Hmph. Obviously warm-type is superior.

—Wait.

What am I thinking?!

Katharina clenched her jaw.

They’d been chatting so long that it was already late afternoon.

What is this? Do they think they came here to actually hang out? They’re completely useless!

As the evening glow deepened, Katharina’s impatience flared.

“Lilian, I think that young lord is kind of—”

Renée, fully immersed, was giving serious relationship advice.

Katharina deliberately raised her voice.

“Renée!”

“Lilian deserves better—huh? Katharina, you called?”

“We agreed on a boat ride. And we’ve been sitting here talking for hours.”

“Oh! Right! We should go ride the boat.”

Only then did Renée blink like she’d just remembered.

But—

“Renée! You said Antoine is no good? I’m so confused!”

Lilian had grabbed the hem of Renée’s skirt and wouldn’t let go.

Somehow, in a matter of hours, they’d closed the distance so much they were calling each other by name.

That alone poured gasoline on Katharina’s jealousy.

Before she could stop herself, a sharp remark slipped out.

“Is that really what matters right now?”

“Th-that’s…”

Startled by the edge in Katharina’s voice, Lilian flinched.

It felt like there were literal flames behind Katharina.

Meanwhile, Renée—still bright and cheerful—gently took Lilian’s hand.

And with a face full of sincere seriousness, she declared something that sounded completely ridiculous to everyone else.

“Lilian. Listen carefully. That ‘ugh, this feels off’ feeling? It’s your ancestors sending you a danger signal. Like wee-woo, wee-woo! You can’t ignore it!”

“W… wee-woo?”

“We’ll talk more another day. Next time, you can even sleep over.”

Even if it didn’t make total sense, Lilian absolutely understood the last part.

“Sleep over… at the Celeste Grand Ducal Castle? Is that allowed?”

“Hm… well. If the Grand Duke says no, we’ll all secretly sleep together in my bed. It’s honestly big enough for all of us.”

“Hohoho! My, what an amusing idea!”

“I’m not joking…”

The young ladies laughed, fully convinced it was just a joke.

Smacking her lips like, fine, whatever, Renée stood up.

Katharina followed, glaring hard at the three young ladies.

“Lady Lilian, Lady Julie, Lady Serena… today was sooooo enjoyable. Wasn’t it?”

Katharina emphasized every syllable.

“Y-yes…!”

Only then did the three look sheepish.

They were supposed to humiliate Renée, not become her fangirls.

But in person, Renée had a strange, magnetic charm.

Nothing like the rumors—or Katharina’s trash talk.

“…Haah.”

Katharina’s breathing grew rough with barely contained fury.

“Aha ha…”

The three young ladies tried to laugh it off.

But then—

A small hand suddenly grabbed Katharina’s.

Naturally, it was Renée.

Katharina’s eyes widened at the unexpected touch.

Before she could even unfreeze, Renée spoke to the others, calm and direct.

“Today I came out to ride a boat with Katharina—just the two of us. So sorry, but we’ll take the boat alone. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

So, see you.

Renée then dragged Katharina away, as if she were nothing but a tall accessory.

As they walked—pat, pat—Renée leaned in and whispered quietly.

“You’ve been so quiet. We came out to have fun together—were you upset?”

“U-upset? Do you think I’m a child?”

Startled, Katharina forgot her mask and snapped in her usual prickly tone.

Renée took it as pouting—and let out a small laugh.

“Okay, okay. From now on, it’s just us two, alright? No one else.”

Renée smiled.

And Katharina’s heart thumped.

This is weird. Why am I like this?