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However, such an abrupt response was exactly what was needed right now.
‘A guy who doesn't just lack interest in any woman who isn't Stella, but actually loathes them, doesn't enjoy drinking, and doesn't get along with others—the fact that he even attended the Huya Festival is shocking enough, but he crawled all the way to this remote spot just to follow Stella?’
There was no need to think deeply about it.
It was clear that Raymond had been tailing her.
The sheer creepiness of it sent shivers down her spine.
Just how long had he been watching, and how much had he seen?
Dancing during the main ceremony of the birthday banquet was fine.
Even meeting Yulan at the Huya Festival... was barely acceptable.
The venue had been dark and noisy enough that the excuse of staying close to talk would have worked.
But this place was different.
‘According to Yulan, this place was actually built for secret trysts. Everything from the location and the garden paths to the design was made with secret meetings in mind, meaning that if there's even a shred of suspicion, it's a place where that suspicion can bloom rapidly.’
Even someone who knew nothing of the Imperial Family's hidden history would find this garden suspicious.
Therefore, Yevgenia had to somehow completely distance herself from that suspicious atmosphere.
...Even if it meant becoming the Young Lady who crawled out to the garden to throw up from the banquet hall!
“Don't make me laugh, Yevgenia.”
“You're the one making me laugh, Young Noble. I said I am, so what is your grievance that makes you keep nitpicking my words?”
With a scoff, Yevgenia pointedly wiped her lips.
In reality, she was tidying up her mouth, which had been messed up by the kiss with Yulan, but to those who didn't know about Yulan's presence, it would look entirely different.
Indeed, Yevgenia's actions seemed to help, as she saw the Young Nobles crowding behind Raymond subtly stepping back.
A smile almost escaped her lips, but she forced herself to hold it in.
To smooth over this situation, she had to act it out properly, even if she actually had to vomit.
“Ugh. Looking at your face makes it want to come back up. Could you please move out of the way?”
“Uh. We, we should probably move, move out of the way...!”
“I-It's absolutely not that we're avoiding the Imperial Princess, but rather, we are simply maintaining the courtesy of a gentleman...!”
Seeing them say things that didn't even need to be said, they were clearly the type of people who would spend their time trailing after Raymond.
Tsk. Clicking her tongue inwardly, Yevgenia draped herself over the railing of the pavilion like laundry.
Her long, crimson hair fluttered and swayed with the night breeze.
Raymond seemed slightly swayed by her soulful acting, but...
“...Ha! I suppose there's someone you feel the need to protect, even at the cost of dragging your honor through the mud? I'll have to check if you've secretly brought that commoner into the Imperial Palace!”
“T-That, Young Noble Larsen, don't you think that's going a bit too far...?”
“Even if the Imperial Princess is, uh, sharing a deep love with her lover, surely she wouldn't go as far as bringing a commoner into the Imperial Palace...?”
The Young Nobles' voices were trembling violently, but their words hit the nail on the head.
Raymond seemed to feel this internally, as he showed a moment of hesitation.
Nevertheless, he firmly believed what he had seen with his own eyes.
The Imperial Crown Prince must be hiding somewhere here!
“If it's truly a deep love, it's entirely possible she'd drag a commoner into the Imperial Palace. Especially if it's the Princess Martyr and no one else.”
“That's...”
“But...”
Wasn't Raymond the one who had suffered the most damage from the 'Princess Martyr's' love?
Perhaps that was why his absurd insistence sounded surprisingly credible.
Faced with the gazes gathering on her once again, Yevgenia could only shut her eyes tight and pray.
“I really have no idea what you're talking about, ugh!”
...All while doing her best to act like a Young Lady suffering from a hangover.
‘Please, let the adultery pillar built by the Imperial ancestors still be working!’
Leaving the repeatedly heaving Yevgenia behind, Raymond began to search the pavilion thoroughly.
His meticulousness—going beyond simply poking around to checking if the floorboards could be lifted—was enough to make her shudder.
While diligently fake-retching, Yevgenia stole glances at Raymond from the corner of her eye.
Every time he approached the adultery pillar, her breath hitched.
Just as she started to think that something non-existent might actually come up.
“...Young Noble, surely even the Imperial Princess wouldn't do such a thing.”
“Bringing in an unauthorized commoner is practically an act of treason; surely she wouldn't go that far!”
“Ray, Ray, the Imperial Princess really seems to be unwell, so why don't we let the other Young Nobles attend to her and we go search the garden...?”
Faced with the exhausted voices of Stella and the follower Young Nobles, Raymond seemed to finally give in.
Tsk. Raymond clicked his tongue loudly, as if wanting Yevgenia to hear, and snapped.
“I don't know how rat-like the fellow is, but he's definitely hiding somewhere, holding his breath. Isn't that right, Yevgenia?”
“Young Noble, please stop talking nonsense. I feel like my stomach lining is about to come up.”
Raymond ignored Yevgenia's criticism as if he had grown accustomed to it.
Still unwilling to let go of his obsession, he turned his head sharply like a roly-poly toy and spoke.
“Yevgenia, surely you didn't give your body to that man?”
At such an absurd and novel piece of nonsense, Yevgenia forgot to fake-retch and widened her eyes.
The follower Young Nobles seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
In the heavy silence, only Raymond continued to speak brazenly.
“I know. Your talk of loving a commoner or whatever is just to tame me. I heard that's what Young Nobles usually do before marriage, but I didn't know a human like an Imperial Princess could be this petty.”
“....”
“And if you're going to say you have no intention of marrying me—words you don't even mean—just give up. After all, I'm the only man in this empire with a status high enough to marry you, aren't I?”
Yevgenia's marriage partner.
To be precise, Raymond was indeed the only one with a status fitting to become the 'son-in-law of House of Martyr.'
However, the part Raymond failed to consider was that House of Martyr was not so obsessed with rank that they would strictly consider status when choosing a son-in-law.
‘He probably can't even imagine it because rank and status are the most important things to him. That's why he thinks I'm the only woman of a fitting status and keeps pestering me.’
To someone obsessed with status like Raymond, love and marriage would be two entirely disconnected things.
In the original story, due to 'Yevgenia's' various misdeeds, he would have felt his love for Stella deepen, leading to some realization that would make him abandon 'Yevgenia' and choose Stella.
‘I have to devote my life to giving him that realization? Just how stupid is this bastard? In the current situation, I don't even have a clue how to give him that realization.’
Grinding her teeth inwardly, Yevgenia glared at Raymond with eyes full of irritation.
Mistaking that gaze for agreement, Raymond pushed the follower Young Nobles back.
Of course, Stella tried to hold out until the end, but...
“You all, Young Lady Aer seems to want some rest, so escort her back to the banquet hall.”
“Ra-Ray?! Ray!”
Soon, the nuisances vanished like a swarm of cockroaches seeing bright light.
Only after they were left alone in the pavilion did his blatant inner thoughts spill out.
“You, so when exactly did you seduce the Imperial Crown Prince? You wouldn't have encountered him at the Academy, so how do you know him?”
“I don't know, but I do know that the Young Noble is currently committing the crime of insulting the Imperial Family.”
Despite Yevgenia's denial, Raymond did not stop.
“Well, I don't care. Just don't roll your body around. Even if you have a separate lover, shouldn't your first experience be offered to your husband?”
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