TCBCVF 22

~Chapter 22~

“She actually convinced the princess? Not bad.”

With that thought, Seraphina opened the letter with sparkling eyes.

And then—

“W-What is this even supposed to mean?!”

Seraphina’s pretty face twisted in anger.

[To my dear Seraphina,
Hello, Seraphina.
How have you been?
Today’s the day of the salon, but I noticed your name wasn’t on the guest list.]

Was this a joke? A prank?

Seraphina’s eyes widened in rage.

[Honestly, I was a bit shocked.
I know how much you care about me.
So I really thought you’d show up to support me today…]

Seraphina felt her blood boiling.

But Larit’s calmly sarcastic letter wasn’t done yet.

[I figured, ‘No way she couldn’t get an invitation.’
So I started thinking maybe… you just didn’t care that much about me.]

“What kind of nonsense is this?!”

Grinding her teeth, Seraphina continued reading.

[Seraphina, I always believed we were true friends.
But after what happened today, I’m starting to doubt that.
I hope next time, you’ll show a little more sincerity.
Have a nice day.
—Larit Ansi]

The letter ended after completely turning Seraphina inside out.

“What the hell is this?!”

Crunch!

Unable to hold back, Seraphina crushed the letter in her hand.

The veins on her clenched hand turned blue from the tension.

Gregory, alarmed, called out.

“Seraphina?”

“What did it say?” the baroness asked, confused.

Oops.

Snapping out of it, Seraphina quickly composed herself.

“Oh, um…”

But now she had nothing to say.

What—was she supposed to admit that Larit just mocked her in a letter?

“Larit? Mocking me? Me?!”

“What’s wrong, Seraphina?”

Gregory asked again with concern.

“Nothing…”

She couldn’t hide her expression no matter how hard she tried.

Seraphina covered her face with a fragile hand and stood up.

“Sorry, I just feel a bit short of breath… I’ll go get some fresh air.”

“Should I escort you…?”

“No, I’ll be fine alone.”

She smiled and refused him gently.

Then quickly stepped out of the parlor.

In the empty hallway, she no longer had to fake a calm expression.

She let her face contort in fury.

“Larit! How dare you treat me like this?!”

Grit.

Her teeth clenched audibly between her pretty lips.

Trying to calm down with deep breaths, Seraphina’s eyes narrowed darkly.

“I won’t let this go.”

Meanwhile, the salon ended successfully.

“Wasn’t this salon really nice?”
“Yeah, it felt well-planned.”

The guests praised it highly.

“And the princess did a great job as host.”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect her to be so composed.”

Naturally, the princess’s reputation seemed to rise.

And so, throughout the event, she wore a bright smile.

Soon after—

“You worked really hard today, Lady Ansi.”

The princess smiled brightly at me.

“Not at all. You worked the hardest, Your Highness.”

“What? I just followed your advice.”

The princess replied coyly, sneaking a glance at me.

“Anyway, it’s getting late now… so what are you going to do?”

Huh?

I blinked in confusion.

“Go home, of course?”

Our townhouse wasn’t far—it was right in the capital. I could easily ride home.

“Ah, I already had the carriage prepared. I was going to head back now…”

“You’re going home?!”

She jumped like a startled cat.

“Why? What’s wrong with going home?”

I stared at her with wide eyes.

“Ahem.”

She cleared her throat a couple of times and spoke stiffly.

“Um, Lady Ansi. Isn’t it a bit too late to go home?”

“Is it?”

I glanced out the window.

Sure, it was getting dark—but not too late to travel.

Then she suddenly declared:

“So just sleep over.”

“What?”

Out of nowhere?

Blushing, the princess raised her voice.

“I-I heard about pajama parties!
It’s when friends sleep in the same room, eat snacks, tell secrets—things like that!”

She said it all at once, then quickly turned her head away.

But I saw it—her ears were glowing red.

“They say it’s something all friends do!”
“The pajama party?”

“It’s not that I wanted to or anything!”

She added quickly, looking at me for a reaction.

“So… are you really going back to your townhouse?”

I barely held in a laugh.

She was trying so hard to act cool, I couldn’t possibly say no.

“She’s too cute.”

It felt like abandoning a grumpy kitten on the street.

“Of course not.”

I shook my head.

“I want to have a pajama party with you too.”

Her face lit up immediately.

“Yay!”

She excitedly rattled on.

“What snacks do you like? What drink should we have? Want to play cards? I have chess too!”

“Anything’s fine, as long as I’m with you.”

At that, the princess looked at me quietly.

Then softly mumbled:

“A-Actually…”

“Yes?”

“…I wanted to.”

But her voice was too small—I couldn’t hear what she said.

I looked at her, puzzled.

“I-I wanted to have a pajama party with Lady Ansi too!”

She blurted it out with her eyes shut tight.

Then turned and scolded me:

“I’ll be in the bedroom first! Hurry and wash up and change, okay?!”

With that—

The princess dashed off to the bedroom.

I stared after her, stunned.

“Wait, Your Highness… If you run off like that, what am I supposed to do?”

Luckily, she sent a maid to help me.

I bathed, changed into clean, fluffy pajamas, and was led to her bedroom.

“Ah, you’re here?”

The princess greeted me with a pouty face.

And just like that, we spent the evening together, rolling around on the bed, chatting.

We played cards, chess, ate snacks, and shared silly conversations.

Then, casually, she asked:

“So… Lady Ansi, are you really not interested in your ex-fiancé anymore?”

She said “ex-fiancé” vaguely—as if she didn’t even remember Gregory’s name.

Which she probably didn’t.

But anyway—

“Your Highness, of course not.”

I answered seriously.

“If I still had any feelings left, I wouldn’t have sent the breakup letter in the first place.”

Even if she was the princess, I wouldn’t let her pair me with Gregory again.

She nodded, satisfied by my firm response.

“Good. Looks like you’ve finally come to your senses.”