I Became Crown Prince's Wife
What seems to change does not change (7)

Come to think of it, if the three people did not come, the next target was Tenstheon.

The Queen's seat had long been empty. Since Tenstheon did not have any Empresses or concubines, there were many people who wanted to secure the second marriage of the Emperor for themselves.

In addition, there were many women chasing after him.

It was no exaggeration to say that all noble ladies had a crush on Tenstheon at some point in their youth. According to Chelsea, Tenstheon is second only to Blake in terms of how many noble women have a crush on them.

If the three of them are not present tomorrow, Tenstheon will be asked about his marriage back.

Normally, he would keep his mouth shut the entire time, but there were still some people who were too drunk to notice and continue talking to him.

It would be difficult for Tenstheon to get angry during the party.

But he planned to use the three as a shield. He's a bad boss!

When I glanced at Tenstheon, he placed another dessert in front of me.

"Eat.you have to eat a lot to recover your stamina.”

“Yes, dad.”

I cut a piece of cheese cake. The cheese cake melted as soon as it entered my mouth, and the delicious taste of cheese overpowered my senses.

"It's so delicious!"

Tenstheon smiled at me.

"Dad, you should eat it too."

"I'm full just by looking at you."

I don't push anymore because I know he doesn't like sweet things.

***

After eating all that dessert alone, my stomach felt like it was about to explode.

I thought I should exercise, but the weather was so cold that I shivered.

I walked a little and quickly went to the library in front of me.

"Your majesty."

“Collin!”

When I saw Collin, I quickly greeted him.

"Are you here to read?"

"Ah yes."

I originally wanted to take a walk but it was too cold outside.

"Did you come here often?"

I didn't meet him when I went to the study before. He must be in the library.

"Yes, I was thinking of leaving work today."

"So fast? Are you sick?"

It was morning. Moreover, it seemed like there were a lot of documents piling up in the workspace.

I was worried about whether he was sick but Collin shook his head.

“No, I don't hurt.”

"Then…?"

“Lusa.”

"Well…"

Realizing what Collin meant, I nodded my head.

He deliberately delayed his work so as not to have to go to the wedding.

"Aren't you going to Ron's wedding?"

"Frightly so."

He nodded firmly without hesitation.

"But His Majesty said you'd come with us."

"I'm not leaving. I'll never go.”

He spoke with a stern expression.

Although Collin often whines at Tenstheon, I never thought that there would come a day when he refused His Majesty's orders.

Looking at him like this, it seemed like he really did not want to leave.

"I hope you get what you want."

I said it sincerely.

He's very pathetic. His boss wanted to drag him to the wedding and use him as a shield even though he didn't want to leave.

No matter what you say, I'm on Collin's side.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

He spoke in a grateful tone. I've never seen Collin become like this. It seems like she is very grateful that I am taking her side.

"Collin, there's no news of him yet, right?"

Ser being the Goddess of Light was a secret that only Blake, Tenstheon, Collin and I knew.

There was no one around us at the moment, but just in case, I revealed it faintly.

“Not yet.”

"What about Camellia's orphanage?"

Camellia was the name of the orphanage Richard owned. It was also where Ser first appeared.

“She didn't go there either.”

Tenstheon had also investigated Richard for carrying a fake Ancia, but released her quickly.

Richard had absolutely no idea about Ser's whereabouts. He brought it to the Palace because he thought it was really me.

But it might as well be a lie.

I was careful because I didn't know exactly why Serphania went to Richard's side.

I wouldn't tell them about my past life, but I told them Richard was Phillip.

Even now, we don't know what he's planning right now.

Even after exiting the Door of Darkness, Ser spoke of Phillip as if he had any lingering feelings.

"Yes please."

At first, I will wait quietly until Ser appears in front of me.

However, the anxiety in my mind continued to increase.

What if he asks for my help but I can't hear him like before…

Of course, I didn't think so because Ser had appeared in my dream, but I really wanted to meet him.

***

The palace is scheduled to undergo extensive repairs starting tomorrow.

There are a lot of places to fix because it has been empty for seven years.

Originally, I only intended to repair a little damage, but due to Blake and Tenstheon's strong insistence, we finally decided to overhaul everything.

I checked the list of things that had to be fixed one last time, and then gave it to Chelsea.

"Okay, continue."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

It hasn't been long since I've returned to my own body, yet I already have a lot of work to do.

Chelsea were very helpful because of their intelligence.

After the renovation of Sephia Palace was completed and I started working as the Crown Princess again, I planned to choose Chelsea as my official assistant.

He's more of a waiter than a waitress.

“Actually, I went to Camellia orphanage yesterday.”

He asked me for leave yesterday, so I guess he went to Richard's orphanage back then. She must have gone there to see him because she knew I kept thinking about him.

"How's the condition?"

“Facilities are very good. I almost thought I came to the wrong orphanage. They teach the kids there how to read and write, and give them excellent food and clothes too.”

"What's that…"

Colin said the same thing.

I continued to monitor Richard just in case, but no problems were found.

He named the orphanage after the flower, Camellia. He must have worked there sincerely. After all, he named the orphanage after his mother's favorite flower.

That doesn't mean I believe Richard has changed.

Due to his meticulous nature, he would not carry out any illegal activities at his own facility.

Even if he did something bad, he would not do it in the orphanage that was under his name while the Imperial family was watching him.

It must be true that the facilities were good and he treated the children well then.

He probably ran an orphanage to build a good reputation for himself, so he definitely paid more attention to it.

However, it was somewhat surprising that he had even received children from Roum's blood.

Even though his Roum bloodline had been revealed in the previous trial, I thought he would just ignore it and forget about it.

It was strange because in the original story, other than hiring Domiram, he had nothing to do with Roum. Moreover, he had hired Domiram because of his outstanding skills.

Even after he became Emperor, there was no talk of applying the policy to the Roums.

“But there is a slight problem with the treatment of the children Roum.”

"Are they discriminated against?"

I was a little surprised to hear what Chelsea said.

Knowing Richard's character, he would reject them in the first place rather than accept them, and then discriminate against them.

Did he have any other intentions behind bringing them aside from building up his reputation?

I thought it was suspicious for some reason, but Chelsea shook her head.

“Not really, but it seems like the other kids are a bit reluctant to play with the Roum family. They formed a separate group and did not include Roum because of their deep-rooted prejudices.”

"What's going on?"

No matter how smart Chelsea are, it will be difficult to understand the relationship between children from just one short visit.

“There was a fight. A child cursed in one of the Roums. Roum's son became angry and quickly turned into a physical fight. The teachers were surprised and quickly stopped them.”

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Yes. It could have ended quickly, but one of the Roum would not stop until the end. It was a little boy named Karuo, and in a good sense, he was very vengeful.”

According to Chelsea, it was really just a quarrel between the kids. Richard did nothing.

However, I was unable to draw any conclusions because I did not see it directly.

"Is Richard Cassil with the kids when they're fighting?"

"No, he's not there."

I heard that she had stopped by the orphanage lately, but coincidentally, she didn't come yesterday.

I don't know if it's because Ser is hiding it or he's busy preparing for his wedding, but I've heard lately that Marquis Westin is not out of the house at all.

“Ah, and Richard Cassil's wedding date has been advanced.”

I was surprised to hear Chelsea's words.

Their marriage was less than a month away, but he was still advancing the date?

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? That fast? In what order?"

"Marquis Westin is said to be in critical condition."

I remember the original story. Marquis Westin is a character who does not appear until the second half of the novel.

There was not a single line describing his poor health or the record of him suffering from a chronic illness.

Someone like that suddenly fell into a critical state? That's too suspicious.

***

Chelsea said Marquis Westin was suddenly in critical condition.

That's why he had the wedding ceremony early. So she could see her daughter getting married before she died.

At first, it sounds reasonable, but there are a lot of suspicious things about it.