The woman scowled at me, then asked, "You. What's your name?"

I could have simply told her, but if I did, then she would be considered having committed mutiny against the daughter of a duke. For this reason, I decided to keep quiet about this and replied, "I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours."

She shut her mouth for a moment, then opened it back up as she glared at me. "Whatever. I'll just remember your face."

I silently lamented when I realized that she might cause trouble if we ended up bumping into each other again at the banquet hall. I was lost in my thoughts, when I noticed I was beginning to feel strangely cold. Not wanting to stay in this room any longer, I said, "If you have nothing more to say, I'll be on my way. I'll never tell anyone about this, so don't worry." As I was about to stand up, she hurriedly grabbed my hand.

"W-who said I was done talking?"

For some reason, I found that the way she spoke and looked at me was adorable. Without realizing it, I started to laugh.

* * *

"So, what is it that you want to tell me?"

Beatrice stared at the silver-haired girl. Looking into her beautiful eyes, which were akin to a scenery of periwinkle flowers scattered on a blue lake, seemed to gradually calm her down for some reason. 'Okay, I've warned her, and she doesn't seem to have a big mouth… Maybe it won't be a bad idea to tell her.'

With her mind filled with complacent thoughts she would normally never have, Beatrice parted her lips. "Today… I did my best to get on my father's good side, but it didn't work out as planned. Everyone laughed at me, and my mother scolded me." When she recalled what had happened, something inside her broke and she felt her tears welling up. The view in front of her soon became muddied like a watercolor painting.

She had a cold father and a mother who pressured her to work harder. Beatrice tried her best to not make any mistakes because she wanted to be loved by them. However… "I don't even know how I can improve from here. No matter how hard I try, I'll never be accepted." The emotions she had been suppressing until now gushed up. Although she vowed to never show her weak side anymore, Beatrice became so overwhelmed by her sentiments that she couldn't stop the tears dripping from her eyes.

'You're probably going to laugh at me now for being pathetic, aren't you?' Beatrice was about to glare at the silver-haired girl, but to her surprise, her shoulders were wrapped in the warmth of another person's body temperature.

"You've had a hard time until now, haven't you?" The gentle voice she heard was so warm that it permeated to the inside of her aching heart. Those words were what she needed to hear after she had become exhausted from all of her fruitless efforts. "But you don't have to try so hard to get someone's approval," the girl continued.

"Are you really unaware of the fact that you'll fall behind if you don't get recognition from others in this society?" Beatrice shot back in a disgruntled tone.

A bitter smile formed on the silver-haired girl's delicate face. "I'm saying this because I've been through the same thing. I made great efforts in the past to determine my worth by how others evaluated me." Beatrice stared at the silver-haired girl with shaky eyes. She could sense a hint of weariness coming from her eyes. "But I realized that it was me, not others, who could decide my worth," the girl concluded.

Beatrice tightly closed her mouth, then asked, "How are you living now, then?"

"I've let go of everything and am trying to live for my happiness," the girl replied with a carefree voice.

"Happiness…" Beatrice muttered unconsciously. It was a value that she had never thought of before, as she was under the impression that she could only gain happiness from her mother's recognition. However, her resolve was shaken when she heard the girl's words. 'Can I really let go?' She was trying to answer this vexing question, when her eyes connected with the warm blue ones looking at her. She gazed into those eyes as if she were possessed, then clenched her fists as if she had made up her mind.

* * *

'Has she calmed down now? I think we can start heading back to the banquet hall…' I thought for a moment, then noticed her tear-stained face. The nobles were definitely going to start talking if she entered the hall teary-faced. Although I had told her not to feel constrained by others, I wasn't an advocate of letting go of commonsense. I held out my handkerchief once again and said, "Here, wipe your tears." I was going to let her handle it herself if she shook me off, but she ended up accepting my favor. Her actions somehow reminded me of Max.

Without realizing it, a laugh was about to slip from my mouth at the sight, when she looked at me with her red eyes and said, "You can call me Bea."

Bea. I was thinking I had heard that name somewhere before when she suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Let's go." She ushered me out of the room first, then closed the door behind us. Then she looked back at me and warned, "Don't tell anyone that you've been here."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's not a very pleasant place."

As I thought, she must have chosen the spookiest place in the palace to threaten me. I pondered about the identity of the room for a moment, then decided it was simply a haunted room. We had exited the cell-like room and were walking in the hallway, when a dreary voice came from behind us.

"It was you."

I instinctively turned my head, then recoiled in fright. I took a step back as the sight before me was scarier than any ghost. The crown prince, covered in black, was standing in front of me with his mask on. The bleak aura surrounding him made him look like the grim reaper.