“Explain yourself, Miss Arsene.”
Helena, Princess of the Voron Empire, spoke with a voice sharp as an icy blade.
“Today’s banquet is an official affair between our two empires. Is this how Savaya welcomes me?!”
She pointed at what could no longer be called a gown, reduced to shredded rags no human being could possibly wear.
The garment had originally been a ceremonial dress prepared by the Empire of Savaya specifically for Princess Helena to wear during the banquet’s finale.
“If you have a tongue, explain what happened at once!”
Selina cast an imploring glance at Eric.
‘What do you want me to do?’
Crown Prince Eric of Savaya muttered under his breath, appearing genuinely lost. Better than anyone else, he knew Selina Arsene was not the culprit.
He had been right there beside her when the dress was torn to shreds. Yet how could he openly admit they had been alone together elsewhere?
Childhood friends though they were, they had both reached adulthood and now stood in society as a grown man and woman.
If word broke that the two of them had been sequestered away in private, neither of their reputations would survive intact. Worse still, Selina had been engaged for three years, and his heart belonged to another woman. The situation was tangled beyond measure.
‘Sort it out yourself. I can’t save you right now.’
His eyes and subtle nods conveyed as much.
‘Are you seriously telling me this right now?!’
Selina gritted her teeth, glaring at him with pure fury.
Among the high nobility, the romance between the Crown Prince and an impoverished baron’s elegant daughter was the talk of every parlor, setting imaginations alight.
Though the Emperor and Empress held their tongues, most of the nobles secretly rooted for this forbidden romance.
And ironically, the one who had played the greatest part in weaving that fairytale was Selina Arsene herself.
“Miss Arsene, are you deliberately ignoring me? Offer at least one excuse! Never in my life have I faced such an insult. I shall take this matter directly to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Savaya—”
The princess’s tone grew sharper, while Selina’s mind raced to find any path to extricate herself from this disaster.
“I…”
‘If this reaches the Emperor, there will be no fixing it. I must end everything here in the guest lounge, passing it off as nothing more than a minor mishap.’
“I did not do this.”
She finally managed to force the words past her lips in a steady voice.
“A single sentence? Do you believe that suffices to excuse this?”
Princess Helena asked disdainfully.
Had Selina possessed a better reputation or allies among the nobility, someone might have stepped forward by now to defend her:
“Miss Arsene isn't the kind of person who would do such a thing!”
Yet not a single person dared. Quite the contrary, the onlookers were whispering among themselves, having already judged her guilty in their hearts.
“Perhaps she mistook it for Miss Hazel's gown—the Crown Prince's beloved—and tore it out of sheer jealousy?”
Whispers flared anew, accusations traveling like the wind.
‘No! I didn’t do anything!’
Selina screamed within, but the sound never escaped her chest.
At that moment, another young woman stepped out from the gathering, trembling as she spoke.
“Miss Arsene, you have gone entirely too far! Would you have done the same if this dress were mine?! How tragic… You have truly disappointed me.”
It was Ingrid Hazel, the poor baron’s daughter who had stolen the Crown Prince’s heart.
Her quivering words, paired with her picture-perfect innocence, were enough to sway the room’s sympathy entirely to her side.
“Even if you detest Miss Hazel, you had no right to do this!”
“To dare incur the wrath of the Voron princess herself!”
“Every time any of us tries to speak with you or offer counsel, you insist that what passes between you and Miss Hazel is a private affair! Now look—another victim! If you have a tongue, speak up!”
The atmosphere grew increasingly hostile, until it seemed everyone was poised to strike. Rattled, Eric let his eyes dart about for an escape.
Suddenly catching sight of Selina’s fiancé standing among the back rows, he called out hastily,
“Was Miss Arsene not with Lord Patel all along?!”
“He was with us, actually,”
one of Patel’s friends chimed in, while another added sneeringly,
“He was just telling us of the misery he endures with his violent fiancée.”
“He mentioned that he intends to ask his family for a formal dissolution of the engagement very soon.”
The third finished, the group moving in unison as if rehearsing a collective stab in the back.
‘You were just whining to me moments ago about how terrified you were of having the engagement called off! And now you say this?!’
Selina nearly erupted, clutching her chest in fury and utter disbelief.
Yet the damage was done, and the murmurs began to swell again.
“Look at her, feigning innocence.”
“Hardly a surprise her engagement is being broken off; her conduct alone explains why.”
“One look at the state of that dress… and you can see she’s getting precisely what she deserves.”
“Can we truly permit such a vicious young lady to remain within high society?”
The room refused to quiet down. Eric shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do, before freezing on the spot.
“What terrible wrong did I commit for you to hate me so?”
Ingrid Hazel asked in a sorrowful voice, tears rolling down her cheeks one after another.
In an instant, Eric pushed through the crowd, approached her, and held out his handkerchief.
“Miss Hazel, dry your tears. Just as I have always been… I am by your side.”
“Oh… Your Highness…”
Ingrid dabbed at her tears with demure melancholy, while Selina stared at Eric, who seemed entirely absorbed in playing the noble knight.
‘Even in a mess like this, you have the nerve to play at romance? You won't give me a single excuse before everyone, yet off you go chasing your love? Thanks to you, my engagement is on the brink of ruin, and now you’ve dragged me into a diplomatic incident, too?!’
Indeed, Selina was the victim here.
This whole spectacle was nothing more than a cruel farce scripted and set in motion under Eric’s unvoiced command.
It had all begun three years ago, when Eric first laid eyes on Ingrid Hazel at her debutante ball.
“She is… truly beautiful.”
There was a gentle melancholy that naturally drifted across her features.
An innocence that radiated whenever her eyes smiled, and an enchanting, mysterious air unmatched by any other lady her age.
On that day, many men fell for Ingrid. Indeed, practically overnight, she became the peerage’s quintessential ‘first love.’
Yet Ingrid could not make frequent appearances in public. As a mere baron’s daughter, the venues she was permitted to attend were limited, and the cost of dressing up each time weighed heavily on her family.
Eric, however, desperately sought any means to see more of her, to spend time alone in her company. Yet his lofty station made it impossible to openly declare his affection for a humble baron’s daughter.
As more and more nobles—barons and counts alike—began to circle around Ingrid, he could do nothing but seethe with inner fury.
His first move had been to send her gifts without leaving his name.
He sent dresses and matching accessories, but they were returned every time. The reason was invariably the same: ‘I cannot accept such excessive kindness from a stranger.’
Yet this rejection only deepened his fascination with her unblemished character. Until, at last, he resorted to something he never should have done.
He fabricated a ‘fake villainess.’
Two years ago, when he summoned Selina to the palace, he seized her hand.
“Pretend to harass Miss Hazel.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? Try speaking in a way that actually makes sense.”
Selina slapped his hand away.
They were childhood friends and academy classmates, bound by a deep familiarity. Eric paid no heed to her rebuff and pressed on eagerly.
“For instance, you spill a drink on her at a party and go: ‘Oh, I didn’t see you there!’ Then I present her with a new gown to make up for your mistake. What do you think of the idea?”
“And what about my reputation? Do you want my face banned from every social gathering from now on?”
Selina complained, but Eric continued trying to persuade her.
“You’re already engaged, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am engaged.”
“And your marriage into the Patel family is for the mutual benefit of your businesses.”
“True.”
“Then you have no need for a spotless reputation at balls. You’re not peddling goods with your own hands, and most young women attend parties to find a suitable husband. You, however, are already spoken for.”
Selina answered this sheer nonsense by delivering a light smack to his head.
“Ow!”
“Stop spouting rubbish. If the Empress heard this, she would faint on the spot.”
“You… How dare you strike a member of the imperial family! If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to say it.”
“Say what?”
At that, Eric, who had been feigning irritation, issued a grave and unyielding declaration:
“It is an imperial order… Be a villainess.”
