“W-What’s up with you all of a sudden?!”
While Violet was lost in thought for a brief moment, Cairn jumped in surprise. Whatever it was, Aldin had decided that the issue lay with Cairn, so he sent a slight sigh in his direction.
Cairn was shocked by the fact that Aldin had chosen love over friendship.
“……?”
“These cookies are delicious.”
Aldin casually responded to Violet’s puzzled expression. This only made Cairn even more aggrieved. No one here was on his side. It was his karma.
“By the way, I’ve heard that you’ve been visiting the Imperial Palace recently.”
Holding himself off from sending killing intent towards Cairn, Aldin swiftly changed the topic. Violet responded to the question given to her.
“I’m currently working on a portrait commission. There hasn’t been much progress.”
“A portrait, you say?”
“Yes, a portrait.”
While there were reports of the empress commissioning a portrait from the Ducal Lady of House Everett, the exact nature of the commission wasn’t disclosed, leaving room for misunderstanding.
Some wondered if she was painting a portrait of the Crown Prince.
Aldin looked down at his teacup.
“Shall I paint a portrait of you as well, Sir?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Aldin returned to his usual expression, but his ears turned red.
“…I thought you were meeting with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“What?”
“Well, it’s… There have been rumors, and… I just thought…”
Violet was genuinely shocked to hear Aldin’s words. Although the news of the empress’s portrait commission was out, how could such a rumor have spread?
People really loved other people’s love stories.
“I do see him occasionally, but it’s nothing like that!”
“I-It’s just a rumor I happened to hear— that the painting requested by Her Majesty the Empress is a portrait of His Highness the Crown Prince…”
Aldin began to stumble over his words. Violet sighed at the plausible rumors.
“It’s just a rumor. I just didn’t expect that you would have any interest in such rumors…”
“What?! No, Your Ladyship! I only heard such stories!”
Aldin stammered, waving his hands in bewilderment. Cairn, who had been excluded from the conversation, looked at him with a subtle expression. Seriously?
A man who had never shown interest in worldly rumors was suddenly so intrigued by murmurs carrying Violet’s name around.
Even though it was quite obvious, Violet herself either didn’t know or pretended not to know.
“More than anything, I don’t have any positive feelings for His Highness.”
Aldin looked surprised as Violet declared this so surely. Among the unmarried noble ladies, there was no one who disliked the crown prince.
But starting from their first meeting, things had gone awry. How could she ever be partial to that man?
Their second and third meetings were not so pleasant either. Violet shrugged lightly.
“Why is that?”
“Can I be honest? You’ll keep it a secret, right?”
“Of course.”
“It’s because he’s a straight-up a*shole.”
“What?”
“The more I see him, the more I feel like he’s rotten to the core.”
“……”
Aldin looked dumbfounded at Violet’s unhesitating answer. Cairn nodded in agreement beside him.
There was a reason the crown prince hung out with Roen. Compared to Roen, Rajaden was even more of a snake.
“Still, isn’t he a splendid person?”
“In the public eye, I certainly believe he’s a good person.”
“…There are rumors that Your Ladyship will become the Crown Princess.”
“……”
Violet’s expression turned cold. She had never paid attention to rumors involving herself, but this time she couldn’t hide her displeasure.
“And, I mean, I keep hearing that the two of you look very good together…”
Aldin hastily added an explanation as he saw Violet’s souring expression, even though he didn’t need to explain himself. Violet let out a sigh.
“Regardless of official positions, I have no interest.”
“…May I ask the reason, then?”
“I mean, apart from him being a prick, I guess it’s because he’s not my type?”
Violet’s frank answer once again made Aldin baffled, and Cairn was just out here having a good time, holding back his laughter the best that he could.
Aldin carefully made his best effort to school his features. The crown prince was not to her taste, she said.
Saying that a handsome prince like the crown prince wasn’t her type made Aldin feel even more insecure. He was already struggling with his low self-esteem, and now he felt even less confident.
Not knowing about Aldin’s feelings, Violet casually remarked.
“If I had to talk about preferences, I think it would be Aldin.”
“Pardon?”
Aldin stiffened at her sudden statement. This time instead, Cairn jumped up.
“Hey, you can’t say something like that!”
“Why not?”
Violet’s nonchalant response left Cairn flustered, stammering voicelessly through his goldfish-like mouth, opening and closing.
By the looks of his face, it looked as if he was completely bewildered, like he was wondering just what was wrong with her.
The casual expression that served as an answer to him made Cairn clutch the back of his neck in despair.
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
“…I mean, um, I guess it’s because I resemble my mother.”
Aldin answered as such, and he meant to say that he resembled his mother in terms of appearance. He was in a state of panic to the point where he brought up the topic that had been a taboo for a bastard child like him.
Nevertheless, Violet seemed unconcerned of this fact.
