If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 24

As soon as the art lesson ended, a maid entered the study room as if she had been waiting.

“Young Lady! Lady is calling for you in the drawing room!”

“Mother is?”

Huh? This sense of déjà vu?

Don’t tell me, it’s the Crown Prince again?

Feeling an ominous premonition, I headed to the drawing room and once again saw Mother looking at an invitation with a serious expression.

When I glanced at the seal stamped on the envelope, it was indeed the Crown Prince’s.

‘What is it this time?’

For now, I pretended not to notice anything and ran over to Mother with a smile, hugging her.

“Mother! Miela is here.”

Mother hugged me back and kissed my cheek enthusiastically while asking.

“My daughter, was the art lesson fun?”

I endured the intense display of affection and mumbled my answer.

“Mm-hmm. Today I made a teddy bear with clay.”

“Really? Show it to Mother later too.”

Mother somehow understood my garbled pronunciation.

“Okay!”

Nodding my head and slipping out of Mother’s embrace, I looked at the invitation as if just noticing it and asked.

“Isn’t this an invitation sent by His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“That’s right.”

Mother’s expression looked complicated as she answered.

‘What’s this about?’

I carefully observed Mother’s mood.

And the reason was soon revealed.

“But this time, it’s not asking you to come see His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Then where?”

“You said you’ve been there before, right? To the palace where the Second Prince resides.”

‘Huh? The Crown Prince invited me to the Separate Palace?’

When I tilted my head as if puzzled, Mother added an explanation.

“Just as Lester is friends with His Highness the Crown Prince, it seems he wants you and the Second Prince to become friends too.”

“Ah, I see.”

I nodded my head half-heartedly for now.

However, as soon as I heard Mother’s explanation, I had figured out the Crown Prince’s scheme.

‘The way the invitation mentions something about giving loyal advice to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and so on, it’s completely transparent.’

This was the Crown Prince’s retaliation.

‘At this point in time, just meeting Leonhardt would cause a scandal. Even for the House of Roderick.’

It seemed he sent the invitation as a warning not to interfere with Leonhardt anymore if he didn’t want to see his beloved youngest daughter get caught up in scandal.

‘Does he think this will work as retaliation?’

At least in the House of Roderick, there was no one who believed in the ‘curse of red eyes.’

Mother wasn’t weak enough to be swayed by what others said either.

‘If the invitation had come to Mother, she would have noticed the Crown Prince’s true intentions and still been bold enough to pick out gifts first, saying she didn’t know what a four-year-old boy would like.’

From how she casually brought up Leonhardt’s existence, which the Empress who held real power in the Inner Palace wanted to erase, you could tell what kind of person Mother was.

However, since I was the one involved this time, Mother’s concerns seemed to deepen.

After a long silence, Mother carefully asked.

“What would you like to do, Miela?”

If I didn’t go in this situation, it would upset the Empress and look like we were backing down with our tails between our legs.

That would put Mother in a difficult position, but the eyes looking at me were only affectionate.

My answer was already decided.

‘A woman lives and dies by her dignity. And we’re already friends anyway.’

“I think it would be nice to be friends with the Second Prince!”

At my readily given answer, Mother smiled faintly and stroked my head.

“Our Miela seems to have taken a liking to the Second Prince. But you know, there’s something Miela needs to know before becoming friends with the Second Prince.”

After hesitating, Mother briefly explained the prophecy about the ‘curse of red eyes,’ which said his very existence would bring about the empire’s destruction.

“That’s actually why other people don’t like being friends with the Second Prince.”

It seemed she thought it was better to tell me in advance since I would naturally learn about it if I became Leonhardt’s playmate and frequently visited the Separate Palace.

“They must all be cowards and fools. The Second Prince was born and nothing happened, yet they still believe such things.”

Remembering the looks that followed Leonhardt like a tag for a very long time even after he awakened his abilities and the real prophecy was revealed, I criticized with sincere feeling.

Perhaps the discrepancy between my child-friendly vocabulary and my relatively direct expression was amusing, as Mother laughed and poked my cheek.

“Mother thinks so too.”

Mother lifted me onto her lap and hugged me.

“It seems our Miela takes after Mother.”

“Especially in being cute?”

When I acted coquettish, blinking my eyes while cupping my face, Mother burst into laughter.

It was a bright smile that seemed to instantly dispel the troubled look from just moments before.

I laughed along with Mother.

“But when are we going to the Separate Palace?”

Things I needed to prepare kept floating around in my head.

‘Even though it hasn’t been long since I visited, should I bring a book or something as a visiting gift?’

But there was no need to worry about what to bring.

“Today.”

Because there was no time to prepare.

“Hello! Your Highness! We met before, didn’t we?”

When I waved and greeted him cheerfully, Leonhardt, who was startled to see me, responded with a very awkward attitude.

“Y-yes. Hello?”

His gaze darted everywhere and his voice broke at every syllable.

‘What? Didn’t he hear I was coming?’

Since the appointment time was almost immediately after receiving the invitation, we couldn’t send word from our side, but I assumed the servants at the Separate Palace would have informed him.

However, Leonhardt’s reaction was like someone who had no idea I was coming.

‘It’s written on his forehead: “Why are you here?” Oh dear.’

We had known each other for 16 years, four of which we lived as husband and wife.

It was understandable that we’d be awkward having to pretend we’d only met twice, but…

‘You’re being a bit too much. It’s the kind of awkwardness that makes anyone think there’s a hidden backstory.’

I stepped up more actively to make up for Leonhardt’s poor acting skills.

“Nanny, is His Highness shy? We played well together last time.”

Speaking in a voice too loud to be called whispering, directly and innocently, the nanny answered with difficulty.

“It’s probably because it’s been a while. You’ll become close again quickly once you spend time together.”

“Right?”

Leonhardt, who belatedly realized I was giving him hints, smiled awkwardly and rolled his eyes.

He seemed to know he was acting awkward but didn’t know how he should behave.

‘He should have grown up reading people’s faces plenty… Sigh.’

Inwardly sighing deeply, I quickly spoke up again.

“Nanny, does His Highness’s palace have a drawing room and playroom too?”

I spoke in a loud voice again, too loud for whispering.

“…There is a drawing room.”

Leonhardt, who caught my signal, answered instead.

“Oh my! Then would His Highness guide us to the drawing room?”

When the nanny naturally interjected, Leonhardt nodded slightly and took the lead.

‘The drawing room’s condition isn’t bad, but there’s no one here either?’

Even in the drawing room we finally reached, there were no servants attending.

“I should ask for tea to be served.”

The nanny, speaking with a sigh, asked us to wait a moment before leaving the drawing room.

‘Actually, that’s better.’

There was much to say while the nanny was away.

“The maids didn’t say anything?”

“Well, I heard that a guest would be visiting…”

I could roughly guess what the omitted words were.

‘Mother said she personally selected new servants to work at the Separate Palace.’

These people also seemed to only do their assigned duties and didn’t regard Leonhardt as their master.

Even the Empress Dowager only intended to guarantee Leonhardt minimal treatment, and didn’t seem to have any intention of caring for him attentively, so it was natural.

‘Come to think of it, the Crown Prince’s target for revenge wasn’t just House Roderick.’

Rather, revenge against Leonhardt might be the original purpose.

The Crown Prince was the type who enjoyed making someone who was relieved to have avoided a trap fall into an even deeper trap and despair.

What if someone who had been neglected all along finally made a friend, but that friend turned out to be terrible?

‘The Crown Prince wouldn’t have thought I was a child who came to see Leonhardt reluctantly because Mother made me, and would just play quietly and leave.’

Like when I threw a tantrum demanding punishment for the maid at the Crown Prince’s Palace, he would have expected some kind of trouble to occur.

Removing the attendants was probably intended to let me run wild freely.

Even if neglected, he was still a prince, so that could be used as grounds to hold House Roderick responsible.

But that was only if things went the way the Crown Prince wanted.

Remembering how talented a villain the adult Crown Prince had been, I felt something tickling like right before a sneeze.

Since the Crown Prince had strong controlling tendencies, he probably wouldn’t plan revenge that depended on variables.

‘There might be something more. It would be better to prepare.’

I grabbed Leonhardt’s wrist and brought my lips to his ear.

What I was about to say from now on was a secret between just the two of us.

“Listen, it seems like the Crown Prince…”

As soon as I started speaking, Leonhardt’s ears turned bright red and he was startled.

“B-but we’re still children!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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