Chapter 55
It was as the Crown Prince had said.
Jiwoo was not guided to the temple, but to a mansion somewhere in the imperial capital.
She didn’t know where. She didn’t even know much about the imperial capital.
Jiwoo tried to run out right away that day, but security was tight. There were more knights watching over her than servants in the mansion.
It was no different from life of confinement. However, they all treated Jiwoo with respect and served her with great care. Good food was served on time, and the servants created an environment where there was nothing uncomfortable about life in the mansion despite their tight lips.
She just couldn’t get out of here. Oddly enough, Jiwoo stared at the scene through the window with an expressionless face all day long.
The Crown Prince seemed to be very busy after bringing Jiwoo here.
He will have government affairs to deal with on a daily basis as well. Including the temple and other things to do, even to make sure to do what he had told her before.
She held no expectations for the Crown Prince. But that’s why she was surprised when she came across this situation.
“Akarna, you have black hair like the deep night, so you would look great with a white dress and anything.”
“The waist is also thin, so you can pull off any design!”
The women surrounding Jiwoo were chattering. They were not simply seamstresses hired by the Crown Prince. They were the owners of the most luxurious and expensive boutiques in the imperial capital, which led the nobles fashion. There were even nobles among the trainees.
They surrounded Jiwoo and measured her body. Jiwoo, who had never encountered such people in her life, naturally stiffened in front of them.
Whether it was an engagement or a wedding, she would be the Crown Princess, so she had to tailor at least a few dresses.
In the meantime, Jiwoo had worn only a few sets of an Akarna’s robes prepared at the temple, so she was used to those instead.
While quietly giving herself over to them, Jiwoo fell into other thoughts.
‘Why should I be doing this?’
It was like playing house. Jiwoo was a doll for the doll play they wanted to do. She was caught up in a needlessly large-scale prank.
No matter how, Jiwoo did not look like a new bride who was about to get married.
It didn’t matter how good the fabric or silk, didn’t matter what kinds of designs she’d have of the new dresses in vogue, didn’t matter how much jewelry she had.
She was wholly uninterested.
Although she frowned in some ways, she didn’t even complain.
She was rather accustomed to nobles with a dirty personality currying favor, so Jiwoo was particularly taken aback.
“Ah, aren’t you interested? It’s natural. No matter what you wear that day, it will be fashionable.”
“Akarna, they say that before marriage, you get depressed for no reason. But you can’t be like this on that day when you need to change your mood. Just take a look at it.”
Out of necessity, Jiwoo received the catalogue from the head of the boutique.
Right. What sins are these people guilty of? This person must be doing this to make a living.
She’s not sure if it’s the seamstress or the designer, but they’re trying to get her size and get her attention.
She thought it would be better to pick out something roughly and let it go, rather than procrastinate like this.
“I’ll choose from here.”
It was the only sentence Jiwoo uttered today. Hearing that, they gave a visibly relieved face.
It was a catalogue with several pictures that looked like they were done by hand.
She turned the page without thinking and reached the last page of the catalog.
It was just when she grabbed the last page with the thought of going back to the beginning and choosing something.
One of the pages on the back of the catalogue had been ripped off.
“What is this?”
“Ah, this is…”
The head of the boutique, who had been chattering so far, was at a loss for words.
“That’s, that’s just a personal sketch!”
A relatively small, silent person from their group leaped forward.
“Ah, um, why was it there… It’s not very flashy, and for the future Crown Princess, something like this…”
“I want to see more.”
“Ah…”
As the woman hesitated, the head of the boutique gave a slight nod.
Even though the woman seemed troubled, she didn’t look too upset.
“At the end of the continent, there is a place that people can never cross because of a disaster when they cross the sea. But there is a legend that there is another continent that is as white as snow once you cross it. It was designed with a tree that is said to grow naturally there…”
“Oh, isn’t it too white to represent a tree?”
“Since this continent is green, I wonder if the grass growing there is white.”
“Lady must have a good imagination.”
A pattern representing a tree was engraved on the bottom of the dress.
The detailed pattern was drawn on the back page, but it was curiously similar to the tree she saw in the green-gold village where the children of Elandos lived. The length of the branches is longer than the gigantic body, and the branches are spread out as if holding up the sky instead of extending straight upward.
The twigs seemed to match the folds of the dress if they were actually made into it.
She didn’t like the leaves that were the point of the overall pattern of the dress, but she liked everything else.
“Please make this.”
It was the first time she mentioned her preference, but everyone in the room seemed puzzled.
“Bu, but…!”
“I think it’s good, so what’s the problem?”
Jiwoo said while closing the catalogue and handing it over. The head of the boutique seemed puzzled, but immediately smiled and greeted her elegantly.
“Leave it to me. Akarna.”
Jiwoo did not leave the bedroom. When she went outside the door, the knights made sure to chase after her with their eyes.
They politely ask if something is the matter, but it didn’t change the fact that they were surveilling her.
If she was frustrated, they let her take a walk. But at least two knights followed.
So, in the end, she drank tea in her bedroom.
The Crown Prince who dropped Jiwoo here rarely visited for the first few days, but as the days went by, seeing his face became more and more frequent.
“Akarna.”
“…Ah.”
“Why do you keep sleeping in a place like this, hm?”
The Crown Prince asked in a friendly tone.
Jiwoo came to her senses only when the Crown Prince picked her up and hugged her.
Jiwoo always fell asleep in the drawing room of this mansion or on a table by the balcony.
It was because if she slept comfortably on the bed here, it seemed to attach her heart to this place. It wasn’t even comfortable in the first place.
Occasionally, when her body was moved to bed, it was the day the Crown Prince visited.
Like today.
When she saw his face, she let out a sigh.
“Your Highness, until when will it be like this.”
“…Wait a little longer.”
What was she supposed to wait for? She hadn’t been able to communicate since he caught her.
The Crown Prince sat Jiwoo down on the bed and knelt down in front of her. Seeing him rummaging in his arms, Jiwoo thought that something was coming. It was what she had wanted so much, but surprisingly, she felt nothing.
“I have something to give you today.”
What the Crown Prince offered was a small box. When the half-folded lid was opened, a brilliant jewel shone.
It was bigger than the one that shone in the hand of the woman who danced with him. Even at first glance, she could feel it.
She laughed. It was as if he was offering her a better toy—to appease a child who’s been jealous of someone else’s nice toy.
“What in the world is this?”
“I was originally going to give it to you. It just took a long time to prepare.”
Was he calling that an excuse? She was speechless.
“And I have something to say about the succession…”
Haa. Jiwoo naturally looked bored. The Crown Prince was always like that.
If there was something unfavorable that he had to tell her, he would start with the carrot first before the stick. Like saying ‘I love you’. Now that she thought about it, she thought she was crazy for getting so lost in such things.
Jiwoo brushed her bangs and let out a deep sigh.
“I know. So, you’re going to say that you’ll be bringing in a concubine.”
“No, I…”
“…Please.”
The Crown Prince’s expression changed as he stopped talking. It looked like it had been pushed off a cliff.
“But… What do you mean by that?”
“It doesn’t matter whether you have a concubine or a few more concubines, so please do as you wish.
“It doesn’t matter?”
The Crown Prince’s hands who held Jiwoo’s hand grew tense.
“…It doesn’t matter if I make an heir with another woman?”
“Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince who will become the Emperor. Bloodline is important. You don’t have to explain it multiple times.”
“It’s not like that. I’m asking if it doesn’t matter to you.”
“Why should I care?”
“But you…”
The Crown Prince said desperately.
“You love me.”
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