Chapter 86

The Crown Prince's POV.

Earlier.

"Your Highness, can you spare me a moment of your time? I have something to tell you."

Claire said quietly.

She had something to say, so she asked the Crown Prince to come out the back of the building.

Seeing that she had a bad complexion, it seemed that something happened again this time.

When the time of the appointment came, the Crown Prince arrived at the place and saw a group of young girls there.

They were mocking and tormenting Claire.

It seemed that it was a mistake to choose a sparsely populated place for the meeting place.

It was very ugly to see the noble girls acting all innocent in front of people but behaving like this from behind.

Claire, with her thin body like a willow branch, endured the pouring insults.

It was very upsetting to her like that.

Why did this always happen to her?

The Crown Prince went straight to Claire and grabbed the woman's wrist, who was about to slap her.

At that moment, the young ladies were bewildered at his appearance.

They didn't seem to know that someone was watching.

The noble girls who changed their attitude like flipping their palms according to the opponent in front of them, was disgusting.

"Does Lady Flynn was taught to treat guests this way? It's disappointing."

"Your Highness, you are mistaken. This...."

Lady Flynn looked at him with a crying face.

Embarrassment, shame, bewilderment....a myriad of emotions on her face.

He knew from the beginning that Lady Flynn was the leader and had often tormented Claire.

He didn't know why she kept bullying Claire.

Every time they met, she blushed with shyness, but how could he not know?

He knew her actions but decided to let it go many times as he had never caught her act red handed.

Considering the loyalty that her father, Marquis Flynn had shown in the past, the atrocities of his daughter, lady Flynn, was overlooked.

But this time seeing the bullying with his own eyes, he was very displeased.

She needed a warning so she wouldn't act recklessly like this in the future.

Then, suddenly, he felt a gaze from somewhere.

He felt a presence from above and raised his head.

His fiancée stood there where he thought no one was.

'Roxana...?'

The timing was not good.

He relaxed his hand that had been wrapped around Claire's shoulder.

But it was already too late.

"Roxana, now this is......"

Roxana turned away with a cold face.

She left without him having time to give an explanation.

It felt like twisted knots were getting tangled more and more complicatedly.

He needed to explain, but he couldn't come up with the right words to say. Frankly he shouldn't need an excuse because he was just helping someone in trouble.

But Roxana would not understand.

It was a difficult situation.

"ha......."

The Crown Prince paused in his seat, pondering, and exhaled heavily.

In any case, he shouldn't have left Roxana like that.

As he was about to step away to pursue her, Claire spoke up.

"I'm fine, so go see the princess."

He then remembered the existence of Claire, who was by his side at that moment.

He looked at her with an apologetic face.

"I'm sorry. Then I'll go first, let's talk about what we didn't finish next time."

"Yes."

Claire smiled sadly.

But he couldn't afford to comfort her.

Then he walked away.

When he met Roxana's eyes a little while ago, recalling her cold gaze, a corner of his heart automatically became cold.

He headed straight to the banquet hall where Roxana would be present.

Duke Lillian was talking to people.

But Roxana was not by his side.

Although he had been looking for a long time, Roxana was nowhere to be seen in the short time she left.

She was not in the banquet hall, nor the garden and other places.

'Where the hell did you go?'

In the end, the Crown Prince had no choice but to return to the banquet hall without any income.

However, as time passed and Roxana did not return, he became increasingly anxious.

Suddenly, he remembered that Elvin was also present at today's banquet.

The Crown Prince looked around the banquet hall.

Neither his fiancée nor Elvin was seen.

Elvin didn't usually show up at parties or banquets.

Even if he attended, he quickly disappeared somewhere, leaving his absence for a long time or returning early.

However, these days, he appeared frequently as if he were stamping his attendance.

Was it a coincidence that the two disappeared together?

The Crown Prince frowned.

He moved his steps again and instructed the knight by his side.

"Quietly find out where Roxana is and with whom she is and report it to me."

The knight disappeared to fulfill the order.

The Crown Prince left the banquet hall.

For some reason, his chest tightened.

He left the noisy place and walked haphazardly down the hallway.

Then he saw a man and a woman standing on the other side of the hallway.

The distance between the man and the woman was very close, and they looked friendly.

It was Roxana and Elvin.

The Crown Prince's face hardened quickly when he saw the two of them.

It was hard to tell what they were talking about, but the atmosphere seemed friendly.

Contrary to the usual expressionless expression, there was a playful smile on Elvin's face today.

A faint smile appeared on Roxana's lips as she looked at him.

The Crown Prince's heart sank when he saw that smile towards someone other than himself.

It was the most beautiful smile he had seen in a long time.

The two looked back if they also felt his gaze.

The moment their eyes met, the smile on Roxana's face was scattered like smoke. Without the slightest sign of embarrassment, she turned to the Crown Prince with a calm face. The Crown Prince was perplexed for a moment.

Roxana's face looking at him looked colder than the water of a pond in the middle of winter.

"Ha!"

A laugh came out.

In an instant, an unknown rage surged.

"What were you two doing here?"

***

Roxana's first pov.

Earlier.

Just as I was just getting out of the terrace, I encountered the 2nd Prince.

"I didn't know you were here, and I've been looking for you for a long time."

"Second Prince, is there something wrong?"

"I have something to tell you, would you like to walk with me?"

I pondered for a while and agreed.

I was thinking of staying friendly with the 2nd prince, and I was curious as to what he'll say.

"Tell my father that I'm going for a walk."

"Yes, Miss."

While Joan was puzzled, she went to the Duke to faithfully carry out my orders.

The 2nd Prince held out an arm to me.

I put my hand on his outstretched arm.

We left the banquet hall.

"Wait." (Roxana)

The 2nd prince looked at me with a puzzled face.

"Why?" (2nd Prince)

I looked in the direction I was walking and if I went that way, there was a garden.

The Crown Prince had just been there, so if we went that way now, I might run into him.

"I heard people talking earlier that the recently built glass greenhouse is quite impressive. If we go now, there will be fewer people and it will be quieter, so it would be a better place to have a conversation."

"Then let's go there. Do you know which way to go?"

I nodded and turned around.

Then the second prince followed me.

As I entered the glass greenhouse, I could smell the flowers' fragrance.

The vermilion sky was visible through the open windows, and under it, colorful flowers such as roses, hydrangeas, and lilies were in full bloom.

Second to the beautiful scenery, the quiet and uninhabited one was more suitable for conversation than the garden.

I gently lifted my head and looked at the second prince.

It seemed that his wound was already healed, his face was intact without a single scratch.

Soon the sun began to set.

The whole world was dyed red.

Red light was cast in the greenhouse made of all glass.

Seeing the flowers dyed in the same color as the sunset, it was very beautiful and elegant.

I turned my head and found lisianthus blooming on one side of the garden.

There were many varieties, from white to pink to purple, but the colors were pale and faint. There was nothing as dark red as the gift from Elvin.

"Do you like lisianthus?"

The second prince asked because I had been staring at it for too long.

"I like it. I just realized it just now."

I was just answering about the flower, but somehow I felt awkward.

I looked away from the lisianthus, and looked elsewhere, and found a strange-looking flower.

Although it looked similar to a lily, the petals were patterned and the color was orange, so it was very conspicuous.

"What is the name of this flower?"

"It is a tiger flower."

"Is that what it is called?"

"Yes. It's tiger lilies."

I asked the question without much thought, but unexpectedly, the answer came back immediately.

"I see."

"The princess seems to be very interested in flowers. What flowers do you like the most?"

"In general, I like them all. Roses, hydrangeas, cosmos, plums, violets... but you know a lot about flowers. The second prince seems to like flowers too."

"Not very much."

"Then how... Did you learn about flowers when you were in the army?"

At my question, the second prince couldn't stand it and laughed out loud.

I stood silently until he calmed down.

Now I realized it was a bit of a stupid question.

But was it so funny that he laughed so hard?

After a while, the second prince found me standing there with a silent and dissatisfied face.

Then he answered honestly with an apologetic face.

"The military briefly teaches the difference between poisonous and medicinal herbs, but not about flowers. I was able to answer your question because the same kind of flowers are blooming in my palace garden."

The garden was usually managed by the royal courtiers, but it reflected the taste of the owner.

For example, the Crown Prince was a person who liked neat and unified things.

For this reason, there were no special flowers in the garden of the Crown Prince, except for roses and tulips.

The gardens of the Empress Palace were much more splendid than the garden of the Crown Prince's Palace, and the types of plants they grew were diverse.

However, I had never visited the garden of the 2nd Prince.

After a brief conversation now, I could see that all kinds of unknown flowers were blooming in his garden.

Also, the garden of the second prince seemed to have a distinctly different feel from the other gardens of the Imperial Palace that I had visited.

I wondered if the second prince might have another side that I didn't know about, and what his palace looked like.

But he didn't like it much while growing unusual flowers in his garden that were not often grown in the homes of ordinary aristocrats?

Wasn't this a contradiction?

I was suddenly puzzled and looked up, and the second prince seemed to have read my thoughts.

"I heard it from the royal family who raised me when I was young, but unlike me, my mother seemed to like flowers."

It was a calm voice, but his face seemed sad.

Her mouth had a bitter smile.

His dry gaze contained longing and resignation.

"She used to take care of the garden and grow plants, but she didn't find it particularly enjoyable. Well, it's all a thing of the past."