Chapter 88

Chapter 88 – Ringleader of Rebellion

Bella was more objective than anyone else about this crown princess competition…

…Except that she thought that the winner of this contest was Rosanne. Opportunities were given to the daughters of all families, but as she thought before, there were only certain people who could be good candidates anyway.

It was just a political show where they had to take advantage of it as much as they could.

“What do you mean what’s wrong with that? No matter what, they are the people who will become His Highness’s wife…”

Maybe that was why Bella didn’t like that word.

It was like saying that all court ladies of the Joseon Dynasty were the King’s wives? She didn’t know what kind of poor lady Serena was swearing at, but if Bella had to get involved in gossip, she refused.

“Can all the ladies of the empire belong to the crown prince?”

Meanwhile, Serena did not understand Bella’s logic, which she had never thought of.

“But, from the position to select the Crown Princess… It is.”

“Yes. It’s a competition. It’s like taking a test though do I have to love the Crown Prince with whom I don’t even know?”

Even as she spoke, Bella was stabbed a little. It was as if she hadn’t met the prince, and she didn’t even love him.

“Still, isn’t that an insult to the Imperial Family?”

She felt sorry for the lady who was swept away by the rumors, whoever it was, so she had to say something.

“It’s blasphemy for a person who may or may not become the Crown Princess to date.”

“….”

“The original heart cannot be changed with the head.”

For Jenkins, the impression he received of Bella after a long time doubled. Suppose it was the Demon King who thought like that.

‘…I guess she can cheer on Sir Zanbar and me.’

There was such hope.

Serena had a hard time managing her expression. Even though she knew it was a hell of a road coming here to fight, she didn’t expect to receive strange sermons.

“Th-then she shouldn’t have been in the contest.”

She couldn’t even step back from here, thinking that she shouldn’t lose her ground. At the same time, Bella saw the seed of a villainess in Serena in front of her.

‘You are now the number one suspect for stealing my clothes.’

With this level of action, she was suspicious enough.

“She’ll fall out of the contest on her own. Everyone has their own situation, so isn’t it the best choice?”

Bella tried to close the conversation with a smile.

“So… so, are you dating this person?”

“….?”

“Really amazing.”

Bella wondered what kind of poor young lady would be swept away by such rumors.

‘Wait, was it about me?’

If that was the case…

As Bella looked at Jenkins, his expression also got crumpled. Normally, it would be, ‘I can tolerate curses at the Miss, but I can’t stand curses at me.’ However, Jenkins, impressed by Bella, acted differently.

“Are you saying that there are rumors about me and Miss Bella?”

‘How dare you insult the Demon King, who has such a big heart.’

“Miss seems to develop your thoughts by yourself. I am Miss Bella’s assistant.”

Serena was then convinced that she had walked an irreversible path.

“Well. Maybe you didn’t know since you’re not from a family worthy of a throne or something.”

“Ah…”

“You seem to value order, but this person represents Duchy Cruelle.”

At those words, Serena glanced at her surroundings, her face blushing.

“A family that only dares to live like a servant under Duchy Merken without a family territory is not someone to make fun of the Miss.”

Hearing Jenkins’s words, Serena and the ladies beside her all turned their gazes to Bella as she laughed a little when she saw the girls’ eyes.

‘Are you setting the next target?’

Truly, a person’s nature showed.

After memorizing their faces, she thought she should stop talking to these kids.

‘It’s good that I did as Kiehl said.’

She didn’t like that grumbling, but now she came to like it.

‘When he’s on my side, he’s a reassuring brat.’

It was usually just stressful.

* * *

Since then, the atmosphere has changed a bit. Right before the Crown Princess competition, Rio, who couldn’t bear to ignore the reports that came up every day, turned to Kiehl.

“Hey, Kiehl. They say there is a strange current flowing between the ladies.”

“What? Are they really bothering Bella?”

“No. It’s not like that… ‘They were not people who wanted to become the Crown Princess, but a group of ladies who competed’.”

When Kiehl heard that, he laughed pathetically.

“If that’s the case, don’t come from the beginning, why did they come?”

“That… that’s right.”

“Keep an eye out for any rebellion.”

Suddenly, Kiehl had a thought that disgusted him. It was up to them not to become the Crown Princess, but making and instigating a group was another matter.

“Who is the ringleader? Bring them in front of me.”

“That—”

Rio paused, and Kiehl urged him on by tapping the desk a couple of times.

“It’s Miss Bella…?”

“…Bring her.”

Kiehl’s lips twitched, and he smiled dejectedly.

‘What is this cat doing?’

The circumstances of the case were as follows.

After Bella’s words passed, she was visited by one of the powerless ladies who had similar thoughts to her.

“Excuse me, hello…”

At first, neither Bella nor Jenkins was positive about someone talking to her.

‘Looks like Miss is finally escaping her bullying.’

‘As expected, Serena took the initiative.’

The lady came to her as if she was so shy and then said this and that without hesitation. Somehow, the content of the conversation flowed a little strangely.

“How do I know how to get out of the competition?”

“Haha…”

Bella was at a loss.

“I’m so worried that if I lose from the start, I’ll be called ugly when I go home.”

Then, why did she come forward and speak of that on her own?

“But, if you lost the second time… won’t it be fine?”

Rough answer 1.

“The person I like is a commoner… I want to run away with him, but I’m not sure.”

“I see…”

Bella was possessed by the novel and lived a life building a relationship, so what should she say?

“Leave your status aside and think realistically. What kind of life would you live if you ran away…”

Rough answer 2.

This ambiguous answer, one of the two, gave her comfort like an oasis in the desert.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Before anyone knew it, whenever Bella ate her meal, people would gather around her and she would give advice on their lives and relationships.

“He said he loves me, does it make sense to sleep with someone else?”

That said, she couldn’t tell them to shut up and only agreed moderately.

“What a bad guy…”

“I guess I’m an idiot for not being able to forget it, right?”

“…It will be forgotten in time.”

It was something anyone could really say. Maybe it was because she was the adopted daughter of the Cruelle family from another world… They went so far as to take Bella’s word for it.

This side, too.

“Oh, you’ll have to get revenge to make sure you forget.”

Bella’s handmaid Iwer, who stuck to her like chewing gum, advised them as if she was very proficient in love.

“If you show a better side of yourself, that man will regret it no matter what.”

The misunderstanding that started from a brief conversation with Serena, combined with Iwer’s performance, packaged Bella as a person who was very romantic.

The day before the competition.

Bella stood still, motionless, among the ladies having a heated discussion. Meanwhile, Iwer was excited about consulting.

‘Why does it happen…to me.’

She wasn’t the kind of person to care about what others were saying about her.

‘It’s all because of Iwer…’

To be honest, Pur got bored and went out to play, and Jenkins would not join the meeting. Sometimes, the group would have Bella’s meeting without Bella, and then Iwer would come in and speak like her agent.

‘I just want to tell everyone to go away as per their personality.’

She wishes someone would tell her it was okay.

At that time, Rio Proha, the Crown Prince’s escort, came to the place where the ladies were gathered. As soon as Bella saw Rio, she sent a look of salvation, asking him for help.

“…Well, Miss Bellatrice Cruell. A moment—”

“I will go!”

Replying quickly, Bella stood up and strode across the ladies without needing to hear what Rio was talking about.

“…Could it be because we talked too impurely?”

While the ladies were worried about Bella, Iwer realized as soon as she saw Rio.

‘I’m going to die now…’

Bella felt good when she first followed Rio at the thought of escaping from those ladies. However, as her steps headed toward Kiehl’s room, she suddenly became frightened.

“Did Kiehl call me?”

“…Yes.”

“Looks like I caused serious trouble.”

“…You know?”

She did not think that the ladies who had gathered for the crown princess competition were instead, having group counseling in front of Bella was normal.

“Is Kiehl angry by any chance?”

It was the first time Rio had ever seen Bella in such a low position and embarrassed.

“He seems a little angry.”

He handed Bella the documents he had reported to Kiehl in the morning.

“I am a bit worried.”

“As soon as you enter, say you missed him.”

“There’s no mercy with him when he’s angry. How stubborn he is.”

“…You do know.”

As Bella glanced around her to make sure no one was there, she then hit Rio on the head with the documents.

“You know, then why do you make me do it?”

“Why don’t you try to do that to those ladies?”

“I wish I could. I’m afraid I’ll make a fuss for no reason.”

“There’s already a fuss…”

When she glared at him, Rio quietly knocked on Kiehl’s door without saying a word after that.

“Your Highness. I am with Bellatrice Cruel.”

Perhaps because of this formal statement, Bella moved her steps through the heavy door, feeling the pressure.

At the sight of Kiehl sitting on the couch, she couldn’t think of anything for a moment. Since coming to the human world, she had seen his pretty decent figure, and she had seen Kiehl’s figure in pajamas in an accident.

…However, this was actually the first time Bella had seen the Crown Prince properly.

The figure of the Crown Prince, who seemed noble and pure just by sitting, matched so well with this gorgeous room.

‘Too…’

Eventually, she came to her senses as Rio cheered him up behind her.

“Miss Bella, fighting.”

Wait a minute, what was she thinking?

So, as soon as the door closed…

“Kiehl, I missed you!”

Playfully, as usual, she ran up to Kiehl before bending down and hugging him.

“…Bella.”

“Yes. It doesn’t work…”

Bella licked her lips and untied her arm while Kiehl grabbed her arm.

“No. It works.”

Then, he pulled her back to him. Unexpectedly, Bella ended up sitting on Kiehl’s lap, and he hugged her.

“Tell me.”

“Ah, that…”

As she tried to pull her body back, he hugged her tighter.

“If you loosen this up, I won’t let you go.”

As Kiehl spoke, the sound of his breathing touched Bella’s shoulder.

‘I…I guess I’ll have to loosen it up.’

His tickling breath reminded her of her long-awaited dreams.