𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝟒: 𝐈𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞
Mid-afternoon.
Having vented her discomfort about the Robertson matter, Lulumia heads to the royal greenhouse for a tea party with the crown prince.
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“Your Highness, how are you feeling?”
“Lulumia?”
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In an arbor designed like a private room with a sofa, the crown prince looked at Lulumia without strength.
Frustrated by his drained face, Lulumia creates some space and sits next to him. The crown prince seemed to have lost weight again.
His beautiful silver hair, in this state, didn’t look different from an old man’s gray hair.
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“I heard you skipped lunch. I’ve prepared some light yogurt for you. Let’s eat it with tea. There’s honey too.”
“. . . . . .Sorry. I have no appetite. I think I can only eat a little. . . . . .”
“Please don’t push yourself. Your health is the most important thing. If only my saintly powers could cure loss of appetite, I feel useless for not being able to help.”
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Even as she says this, she inwardly scoffs.
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(. . . . . .That’s why, even though he’s the crown prince, he’s treated like a puppet. That’s why he’s worth using.)
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The crown prince didn’t touch the tea or the snacks. He asked Lulumia a question as he watched her enjoy her drink.
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“Even though you’re the leading saint. . . . . .is it okay for you to leave the church?”
“Nothing is more important than meeting with you, Your Highness.”
“Is that so. . . . . .I haven’t been able to meet with Charlene for a while.”
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Lulumia nearly lost her ingratiating demeanor for a moment. She quickly managed to compose a smile.
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“Please forget about that lying vixen. I’m your current fiancée.”
“. . . . . .Right.”
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He stiffened when she took his hand and his gaze wandered.
When Charlene’s past was exposed and the engagement was broken off, that was the peak of the crown prince’s trust in Lulumia. She supposed he still trusted her, but whenever they were together, he seemed to be tormented by memories of Charlene’s death.
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(That woman. Even in death, she gets in my way)
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Suppressing her urge to click her tongue, Lulumia soothingly stroked the prince’s back.
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“. . . . . .Your Highness. Lulumia wants to be close to your heart.”
“There’s no point in being close to me. . . . . .Why are you, of all people, with someone like me? I’m just a stand-in crown prince until my brother comes of age.”
“It’s because you’re Prince Lewis. Not because you’re the crown prince.”
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He seemed to be taken aback by her compassionate smile, which suggested she understood him.
Finally, she sensed a slight response.
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(Finally, you’re seeing me, not Charlene.)
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“I don’t see you as a puppet, Your Highness. I am on your side. That’s why I investigated the suspicions about Charlene and told you about them. If I thought of you as a puppet. . . . . .I would have advised the king first.”
“Lulumia. . . . . .Yes. . . . . .You were indeed the first to tell me.”
“Yes. I admire you as a person, Your Highness.”
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Lulumia calculated the angle and showed him a modest smile.
The fact that she’s eyeing him not because he’s the crown prince, but because he’s Lewis, is true.
After all, a convenient position of the crown prince is filled by a meek puppet who has a gap to exploit.
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The current king treats his 20-year-old son Lewis, who is the crown prince, as a failure of a puppet, and uses him as a stopgap until the rise of the second prince, who is currently studying abroad at the age of 15. The second prince, unlike the handsome Lewis, who resembles the queen, resembles the king, already tall with a sturdy build, brave and bold in character, and is a highly regarded prince among the nobility.
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After passing the throne to the Crown Prince, the reigning king continued to hold power by adopting the previous monarchy system. He intends to let the second prince succeed him once the latter has gained experience and proven his abilities as the king’s right hand. The second prince has already secured an engagement to a distant princess.
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The period during which Prince Lewis holds the throne as king is, so to speak, the last opportunity for the Prime Minister and the Church to expand their power through connections with the royal family. Hence, the Church sent in Charlene, and the Prime Minister introduced his illegitimate daughter, Lulumia. The king, too, is promoting engagements with his puppet Crown Prince and the two leading saint to adjust relations with other powers.
Positioned at the midway point of these three powers, Prince Lewis became the trophy.
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No one expects Lewis to awaken to his role as Crown Prince.
He has been continuously humiliated from his childhood by the king and his brother, who is favored by the king, which has only propagated his reputation as an unreliable Crown Prince.
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“Your Highness. Unlike Charlene, I have both my father’s connections and collaborators within the Church. I can meet you every day and soothe your heart. . . . . .Please, depend on me.”
“. . . . . .Thank you.”
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Lulumia believed she had sold herself with all her might, but in the end, the Crown Prince did not open up any more, only weakly nodding as the tea time came to an end.
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She could only think it was good that there was even a slight response.
Upon returning to her room and taking off her veil, Lulumia clicked her tongue in front of the mirror.
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“That’s why you are looked down upon by your brother and father. . . . . .Rather, I’m jealous. You can live comfortably as a trophy prince, despite being so timid.”
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Lulumia glared at the mirror.
She continuously refined her naturally blessed beauty and voluptuous body, maintaining herself as the best saint.
From a young age, she learned to flatter, to articulate, how to knock people down, how to lure men, how to eliminate women.
All for the sake of survival.
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“If I don’t leave a scar of achievement on my father, I’ll become a pawn to be married off somewhere. I hate such a life. . . . . .I am not fodder for my brothers and sisters. I am also Duke Horsewood’s daughter.”
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She would do anything to survive, to laugh at the top.
The discarded veil entered her view. Suddenly, she remembered a stray cat that wore the same veil.
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“. . . . . .Even that stray cat managed to become the leading saint. As Duke Horsewood’s daughter, I should be able to climb higher.”
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Charlene Hiraes is dead.
At least that’s the truth according to the information Lulumia has obtained.
Yet, those orange eyes are constantly burnt into Lulumia’s consciousness and won’t let go.
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🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
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While Lulumia and Prince Lewis are suffering from the scars left by Charlene,
Charlene herself was cheerfully working as a signboard girl at a stall.
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