“It appears that the engagement party will take place next month, Countess.”
Fabrice and Giselle were on their way back in the same carriage after seeing the opera.
Public opinion of their engagement wasn't too bad.
Thanks to the interview conducted by Yvonne Dubois in a newspaper.
She concluded the interview with the phrase: “I realized that I am not fit for the position of princess, and I only hope that he will reach a higher rank in the future.”
It was suggested that Fabrice and Yvonne had broken off their engagement for political reasons and not because of his assault scandal.
Thanks to this interview, not only has the fog of rumors about Fabrice dissipated, but the public's expectations of Giselle Lomaxin have also increased.
As if in response to her recent increasing popularity, Gisele's dresses looked more luxurious than before.
Despite her disguised appearance, isn't she, after all, a popularity-sensitive little girl?
Fabrice laughed at Giselle in secret.
Giselle was only two years old.
A young girl ignorant of worldly matters.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The engagement contract proposed by Giselle, after many turns and obstacles, was able to reach a mutual agreement between the two parties.
Giselle looked at Fabrice with expressionless eyes.
“Please be careful in your actions until the engagement party, Your Highness.”
“Significant words.”
“As long as no accident befalls you, Your Highness, we will definitely bring you to the throne.”
incident.
Fabrice's mouth twisted.
He also knows that the “accident” that Giselle means is not like a car accident, for example.
Rather, they are the events and problems that he caused.
“Well, Countess, I will be careful.”
Fabrice answered, shaking his head.
“If you don’t, I will do what is written in the contract.”
"What?"
Fabrice's memory was vague about the contents of the forty-page contract.
“I will prevent any accident from happening to Your Highness.”
Fabrice let out a disapproving laugh in response.
“Your words seem to mean exactly that you are going to lock me up, Countess.”
“I just hope it doesn't happen.”
At Giselle's response, Fabrice finally burst out laughing out loud.
"What did you say?"
As if Giselle's words ignited the fire of his anger, Fabrice shouted.
"Don't talk nonsense!
I am the Prince of Valois!
The one who will be king!"
“I'm still just a prince now.”
At Giselle's cold words, Fabrice rose as if to grab her by the neck.
Fabrice raised his hand threateningly.
Giselle looked at him without any fear at all.
Two eyes met in the darkness of the car.
Meanwhile, the carriage had stopped.
“We have arrived at the palace.”
The carriage had arrived at the door of Giselle's palace.
Fabrice stood there, groaning.
Giselle opened her mouth and said boldly:
“Accompany me, Your Highness.
Your engagement must not be broken again.”
Fabrice seriously considered twisting the girl's neck here and there.
Giselle was waiting for Fabrice in silence.
Fabrice stroked his hair violently.
His carefully arranged hair was spread out randomly.
If that girl gets off the carriage without an escort, it will also become a seed for rumors.
The reckless second prince who does not accompany his fiancée.
They'll write an article to chew on with a title like that.
It has not been long since the scandal subsided.
He didn't want to think about complicated things.
As he began to feel a headache, Fabrice opened the carriage door and jumped out.
In front of the carriage, standing and waiting was the head butler of the Lomaxin Palace.
“Welcome, Your Highness.”
Fabrice ignored the butler and raised his arm under the carriage.
From inside the dark carriage, Giselle peeked her head out.
She stopped between the two open carriage doors and looked at Fabrice.
A condescending look.
With no one getting off the carriage quickly, Fabrice looked at her with a face wrinkled in distress.
Just then, Giselle came down to receive his escort.
Her figure was so elegant that Giselle and Fabrice at first glance looked like queen and knight in a city parade.
“Did you have a nice time, Miss Giselle?”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Giselle grabbed Fabrice's arm and thanked him, laughing.
The rosy cheeks and shy smile that covered her face made her look like a jealous girl in reckless love.
Seeing the girl who changed her face in an instant, Fabrice decided to adjust his evaluation of the girl within himself.
She was not an easy girl.
“It was very wonderful, thanks to you, Your Highness.”
“So, I'm leaving now.”
Fabrice turned around.
As he jumped and grabbed the roof of the carriage, Giselle called out to him.
“Your Highness, next time, I will invite you to our palace.
I wish you a safe journey upon your return.”
"Good."
Fabrice immediately inserted his body into the carriage and closed the door.
He left without even turning around once.
Giselle stared at the carriage in which Fabrice rode until it became a dot.
"crazy."
Fabrice loosened the tie that was violently choking him.
He had not arrived at the palace yet.
Harsh breaths leaked from his mouth.
It was not in his nature to simply surrender like this.
He needed a place to release his anger.
Once he arrived at the palace, Fabrice summoned Baron Barbier.
He needed stronger hallucinogenic herbs than last time.
Perhaps because his body was already accustomed to the drugs, he did not feel the effect even at three times the dose.
But Baron Barbier, who arrived immediately after his summons, and unlike the previous time, spoke in an uncertain voice.
“Your Highness, it seems that your party inside the palace last time leaked and became a hidden topic of conversation.
If so, why don’t you have fun outside the palace this time?”
“Where outside the palace?”
“I have a small house that I have prepared separately.
I hope you will rest there with the women I have prepared.”
As he said this, Baron Barbier bowed his head.
There was a saying that the palace had ears even in the walls.
It seemed that he was worried about Fabrice's indiscretions.
After hesitation, Fabrice answered.
“Okay, show me where he is.”
"present."
The palace prepared by Baron Barbier was near the slums.
As Fabrice got out of the carriage and looked around, the Baron said to him.
“You see, it's the perfect location because new women are always being supplied through the back door.”
Baron Barbier spoke as if he were talking about fresh milk squeezed every morning.
Seeing the sight of Baron Barbier visibly rubbing his hands and praising, Fabrice felt uncomfortable inside.
But thinking about what would happen next, he felt pleased and did not object.
When Baron Barbier opened the main palace door with a key, a barren garden appeared.
“I still haven't paid much attention to the garden, but I have arranged the inside very elegantly.”
When the entrance door was opened, an interior space of the building appeared, decorated with various luxurious items.
The walls were thickly hung with hunting trophies, tapestries, and paintings, and the floor was covered with fine, underfoot English carpet.
The exaggeratedly decorated appearance seemed to please Fabrice, and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.
“It looks like you made some effort.”
“Ah, certainly, Your Highness, and if you look into the bedroom like this...”
He said that, and Baron Barbier began to guide him.
Opening the door at the end of the corridor revealed a bedroom that at first glance seemed surreal and decadent.
In the middle of the room, there was a large bed.
Curtains had been hung on the four bedposts, and the curtains were a dark red color embroidered with gold threads, so they looked very luxurious at first sight.
On the small bedside table, there was a small incense burner, and on the tea table in the middle of the room, there was a large incense burner made of gilded copper.
Incense had already been lit in the incense burner, emitting a scent that enchanted a person.
“I have not yet been able to obtain the tools you are accustomed to using, Your Highness.”
"Good."
“If I shower first, I'll let the women in.”
The Baron extended his hand and opened the door of one of the rooms, and four women were standing in a row.
It was a shower room.
Inside, a steaming bathtub.
“They will serve you while you shower, Your Highness.”
"Good."
Fabrice slowly looked at the women's features, then smiled satisfied.
After the introduction was over, the Baron bowed his head and offered his regards to Fabrice.
“Have a good night.”
“Okay.
Thank you.
You can go now.”
Baron Barbier left hurriedly through the back door.
As he crept through the narrow alleys connected by the back door, he reached the back of a building.
There were piles of trash and food scraps piled up until the entrance was no longer visible.
However, he expertly pushed through the pile of rubbish and found a door.
It was a small door.
When the Baron knocked: knock, knock
The door, in which there was no sign of anyone, was opened, and the baron entered through it.
The door through which the Baron entered led to the kitchen of a commercial place.
The chefs were cooking non-stop, and no one paid any attention to the Baron even when he entered.
Leaving the kitchen, decadent music was flowing under dim lights.
And a scent that lifts the mood from somewhere.
Sounds of hysterical laughter were heard from one place, and sounds of screaming from another place, but the customers did not even care about that.
While people with their faces half-covered carried glasses of wine and staggered to their rooms, people could be seen playing cards through the gap of an open door.
The Baron climbed the stairs to the second floor.
When he reached the second floor, before knocking on the door of one of the rooms, he shook his shoulders in vain and then knocked.
The door was opened from the inside.
Under bright lights with a very different formal atmosphere than downstairs, a familiar figure was sitting.
That person first asked about women's safety.
“Are the women okay?”
“Sure.
I added herbs to the bath water, and lit sleeping incense in the bath room as well, so I think they're sound asleep now.”
“I worry that the prince will cause them harm.”
The women who would serve Prince Fabrice today were all trained and distinguished individuals.
Although they were brought in disguised as women from the slums, their features remained anxious.
The Second Prince was a completely unfathomable character.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was worried that he would cause some trouble.
Daniel, who was next to her, reassured her.
“Don't worry, they are all highly trained individuals, and in case of an emergency, they can even beat the prince to death.”
"Oh my God.
He shouldn't be dead yet.
Well, can you give me the content of the article that will be published tomorrow first?"
Upon saying that, Danielle went out and came back with a manuscript.
The landlady took the manuscript and began to read it quietly.
“‘The Self-indulgent Second Prince’?
Isn’t the title ordinary?”
“Do you want me to order them to write a headline in stronger language?”
Danielle took out a small notebook and began writing down what her mistress said.
“Yes.
It must certainly contain pictures.
It is important that we establish the image of the prince as someone who lost his morals at this opportunity.”
"present."
“The room is prepared enough too, isn't it, Baron?”
“The photo will certainly seem to exude a luxurious and decadent look.”
“Hmm.”
After the landlady had studied the article for a long time, she nodded to Daniel that it was all right and then returned the manuscript to her.
“Okay now go ask them to take pictures.”
"present."
“Don't forget to hand them out when they go out.”
Therese pointed to the bags she had given to Daniel earlier.
The bags were filled with shiny silver ikui coins.