137. Crown Princess Selection
by rosalie“Is she insane?”
Simons’s hands trembled at Caitlyn’s enormous expense bills, which couldn’t simply be called mere extravagance.
“Caitlyn Pochet!”
Simons screamed with wild eyes at his sister who wouldn’t return.
* * *
It was the day of the crown princess selection that had excited the capital.
Caitlyn sat at her dressing table in excitement.
“Make my hair fuller! More ribbons! More, more, more!”
Today, neither Anette nor the Grand Duke of Inkheart could ignore her. It was finally the day for Caitlyn to become the protagonist.
Swish, swish.
She looked at her reflection in the dressing table mirror with dissatisfaction. After having her hair pulled out by Anette and witnessing her father’s increasingly thinning hair, Caitlyn had developed an obsession with full hair.
“Add more wigs, I said!”
Caitlyn shrieked as she personally held a red human hair wig against the side of her head.
‘At least I have red hair, so I can add wigs. That Anette girl has rare pink hair, so when she gets older and her hair thins, she won’t be able to fake it with wigs.’
Today, even Anette had allowed her maids to help adorn Caitlyn. It was a kindness offered since their contractual relationship would end today.
‘I will be the crown princess.’
But then again, why should the fullness of hair matter? Once she became crown princess, her status would be higher than that of the Grand Duchess.
She had been waiting for this very day, suppressing her humiliation.
Once she wore the crown princess’s tiara on this head, those foolish people who had failed to recognize the pearl in the mud would rub their eyes and look at Caitlyn anew.
‘Idiots! They talk among themselves about who’s likely to be the crown princess candidate, not knowing it’s all wrong!’
What good was it to have a high reputation in society and be a charming young lady who captivated people’s hearts?
Margarita from the east? Other promising crown princess candidates? By this evening, they would all be forgotten in everyone’s minds.
Only the new crown princess dancing with the crown prince would remain in people’s memories.
Caitlyn Pochet, her name would become the new flower of society.
* * *
It was when Caitlyn was about to leave her room after finishing her long preparations that had begun at dawn to finally depart for the imperial palace. A maid called out to her.
“Miss Caitlyn, a letter has arrived from the Pochet family. Wouldn’t it be better to check it before departing?”
Yesterday and the day before, Simons had sent letters looking for Caitlyn. It was around the time when the credit purchases she had made using the Pochet family name, as she had no other source of money, were arriving at the marquis’s residence.
Feeling guilty, Caitlyn thought she knew the contents of the letter without reading it.
“Forget it, throw it away. It’s probably just telling me to do well anyway.”
“What? But even if you read it after you return……”
“Ah, I said throw it away!”
By this evening, it would be revealed that she hadn’t been spending money on useless things, but Simons really couldn’t wait that long!
Caitlyn chose to ignore it and headed to the lobby. At the end of the long staircase, Darius Inkheart was waiting for her, well-dressed.
“After making such a fuss since dawn, you’re only coming out now?”
Everyone in the Inkheart townhouse was waiting at the front door for Caitlyn’s departure. It was a joyful send-off for this troublesome young lady who would finally leave after today.
“The protagonist always makes a late entrance!”
Despite Anette’s grumpy words, Caitlyn responded with a contemptuous smile. Then her greedy gaze turned not to her sister who was speaking to her, but to her sister’s husband.
“You must escort me today, brother-in-law. Who else but you could take my hand and enter that ballroom?”
When Caitlyn smiled shyly and extended her hand, Darius had to make an effort not to openly show his displeasure.
“It’s your chance to hold the hand of a woman who will soon be the crown princess for the last time.”
Darius brushed back one side of his forehead. Caitlyn gazed admiringly at his forehead, which was only half exposed for style.
It was both shocking and unpleasant that all the rejections he had expressed directly and indirectly hadn’t reached Caitlyn at all.
At that moment, thanks to a servant who brought a letter saying there was an urgent message for the Grand Duke, Darius was able to naturally ignore and avoid Caitlyn’s request.
Eventually, Caitlyn boarded the carriage without an escort and glared at the Grand Duke through the window, but he checked the letter without minding such a gaze and called a knight to give some instructions.
A moment later, Darius was seen smiling at someone approaching him.
Seeing the pleasant smile on his handsome face, Caitlyn forgot her bad mood and blushed again.
“What’s happening?”
When Anette asked, Darius was escorting her to the carriage when he caught a glimpse of Caitlyn fixing her hair in the opposite carriage. He quickly turned his head and answered.
“Nothing important. Come, let’s go.”
Caitlyn watched the two disappear into the carriage and slammed the window shut.
‘Hmph, they’ll all regret it tonight.’
Not knowing that Darius was thinking, for different reasons, that something unexpected might happen at today’s crown princess selection.
* * *
Lilith’s salon was becoming less like a salon where young nobles engaged in wholesome exchanges and more like a mystical society engaging in depraved debauchery.
Lilith woke the sleeping emperor.
“Your Majesty, it’s time to wake up.”
“Oh…… Lili. Don’t wake me from this dream. I want to stay like this. I don’t need anything else……”
“That won’t do, Your Majesty.”
Lilith pushed away the emperor who clung to her as soon as he woke up.
“Today is the day your daughter-in-law will be decided. Today of all days, you should be with your family.”
Lilith’s seductive lips whispered a name to the emperor who had lost his judgment.
“If you want to receive my love, go and say this name. Then I’ll adore you as much as you want.”
The old emperor nodded with a blank expression.
* * *
Hundreds of crystal-decorated chandeliers sparkled, showering light like a blessing throughout the banquet hall. The hall was filled with anticipation for the new crown princess who would soon be born and with hearts welcoming the new imperial family member.
On the supreme throne sat the emperor and empress, looking at the subjects in the banquet hall with dignified expressions.
Only a few attendants would know how anxious the empress, with her calm expression, had been about the emperor possibly not attending this occasion.
On the step just below the emperor and empress’s throne stood the crown prince. He had transparent silver hair like moonlight and purple eyes, a trait passed down through generations in the imperial family.
It was difficult to guess the crown prince’s emotions from his composed expression at this moment when his lifelong wife would be decided.
With the announcement, more than ten candidates stepped forward.
“They are all young ladies with excellent qualities to be crown princess. I am very satisfied that such outstanding young ladies have volunteered to become my son’s consort.”
As the emperor’s tone suggested he would soon declare the crown princess, Caitlyn gripped her skirt tightly with tension.
Caitlyn recalled the promise like a spell.
The promise to enter the imperial family and help each other.
〈We can help each other.〉
No one, not even the empress, could decide the crown princess.
No reputation could make a crown princess. In the end, it was the emperor’s judgment that decided the crown princess.
And the person who could truly influence the emperor, the one the emperor cherished most recently, had proposed an alliance to Caitlyn a few days ago.
The emperor’s hidden new favorite. A secret identity that couldn’t appear before others. But that woman who controlled the emperor’s body and mind, Lili.
“After careful consideration, I have chosen the new crown princess.”
Everyone present would witness Caitlyn’s glory.
The emperor’s mouth finally opened after taking a moment to compose himself. At that moment when his opening mouth seemed to form either Margarita or Caitlyn.
“The crown princess is Cai……”
Yes, it’s Caitlyn. My name! Just as Caitlyn was about to scream in jubilation, certain of her name.
Darius frowned and looked at the ballroom door.
When the Grand Duke in the front row suddenly turned to look at the door, several people’s gazes also shifted in that direction. Until then, people hadn’t noticed what was happening.
The door opened smoothly without a sound. A person with manners would have, even if entering in a hurry, seen the emperor about to make an important announcement and kept quiet.
“Caitlyn!”
However, Simons Pochet, who appeared trembling from head to toe, did not.
“Caitlyn, how dare you!”
‘Simons?’
Caitlyn’s eyes widened at her brother’s unexpected appearance, and people murmured, not understanding the situation. The emperor’s words had long been interrupted.
“Our Pochet family withdraws from this crown princess selection!”
Simons Pochet, filled with anger, shouted that in the middle of the banquet hall.
* * *
That day, the undignified quarrel between Simons Pochet and Caitlyn Pochet in front of everyone became a long-lasting topic of conversation in the history of imperial palace balls.
“You ruined everything! You, you! Aaagh! I could have made it! His Majesty was about to declare me crown princess! What have you done, Simons!”
Caitlyn blamed Simons, crying so hard her makeup was washed away, while Simons looked coldly at his sister.
“You’re still talking such nonsense?”
If Caitlyn had merely spent money lavishly and passed the bills to the marquis family, Simons might have endured. Just by confronting Caitlyn directly.