– I think it's a fraudulent marriage

"Ancia, what's wrong?"

"You woke up too late, get up!"

"No."

Blake grumbled as he rubbed his face against my hands.

"It's so nice to see my wife's face right after I wake up."

Ancia's heart beat wildly thanks to his cute antics.

"Get up!"

I quickly went under the blankets to hide my red face.

I pulled away his blanket too.

"You're too much..."

"Too much? It's already 10 o'clock!"

I wasn't saying all that deliberately. We really did wake up too late.

"I can't believe you took it off in the morning."

If anyone heard that, it would cause a misunderstanding!

His habit of making ambiguous comments was still the same. Though, before he didn't understand any of it.

"You should say it clearly. I only took off your blanket!"

"Take what off..."

He looked at me coyly while holding the edge of his blanket.

In contrast to his innocent eyes, his voice was husky.

I couldn't tell whether or not he was making fun of me.

In any case, I couldn't be swayed by it.

I pulled the entire blanket off of him.

"Wake up!"

***

"Were you really Rose before?"

Chelsea looked at my face.

"Yes."

I said while nodding.

Chelsea was dumbfounded.

"Your Highness, please speak to me at ease."

"Oh, right..."

It was very awkward for me to talk informally, perhaps because of my time as Rose.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the truth, Chelsea."

"No, I'm sure you had your reasons."

She answered calmly and added, "But it really is amazing."

"Huh?"

"I thought the Crown Prince wouldn't even look at another woman. But I thought I was wrong when I saw him treating Rose well. Turns out, you two were the same person."

She bowed politely while holding the hem of her skirt.

"Congratulations on your return. It's an honor to have you back."

Chelsea greeted me politely. I held her hands.

"Chelsea, thank you very much for being so nice to me."

"No need to thank me. It's part of my duty as a maid."

"I heard it was you who insisted on giving my food to the Crown Prince."

"I just didn't want to see the dishes you made so painstaking be thrown away. Besides, even if it wasn't for that, the Crown Prince had already recognized you."

"Still, thank you very much."

Chelsea never discriminated against my appearance and status. Rather, she helped me alot when I was Rose.

I would never forget what she did for me.

***

Except for Chelsea, the other maids had all quit their jobs. It wasn't just the maids.

Those who mocked Rose's appearance, whether they were a knight or servant, were all forced to leave the palace.

It wasn't because they resigned voluntarily.

Before I came back here as Ancia, Blake had ordered all of those who mocked Rose to be fired.

The day when I went to cook, Melissa came back late because she was busy sorting out the list of people she needed to fire.

Some people still despised me, but they endured it.

It was because they were afraid and didn't want any trouble.

Now that I think about it, I didn't say anything about them because of Blake.

Blake was hurt a lot as a child because of his appearance. If he knew that people judged me because of my appearance now, it might make him remember those bad memories.

So I just kept my mouth shut.

I never really took it to heart either since I would die soon anyways.

The people who were fired came to meet me before they left and apologized for what had happened before.

"If I knew that it was Your Highness, I would;ve never done that. I'm sorry."

"I was very startled by your scars back then. I'm sorry."

"I made mistakes so I've been wanting to apologize."

But their apologies didn't sound sincere in the least.

If they really felt guilty, they should've apologized to me before they were even fired.

They didn't do it until it became known that I was the Crown Princess.

Since that fact was revealed, they were scared of being punished more.

But I didn't really think of other punishments than to fire them.

There was only one person who apologized truthfully.

Unlike the other generic apologies, Charlotte came to me and told me her honest feelings.

"Your Highness, I'm so sorry. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Your Highness was Rose. I hate myself for not recognizing you."

Her apology was indeed strange. She blamed herself for not recognizing me but didn't apologize for all the things she had done to Rose.

"Your Highness, I really really like you. Let me serve you again. I can serve you much better than Chelsea."

She said she liked me but she didn't do much to serve me.

When Ser came back in my body, Charlotte was happy, but it was purely because of my appearance.

"I didn't fire you for not recognizing me."

Charlotte was now no longer a maid of Forens Palace but a noble daughter, so I treated her as such.

"Then why? Is it because I'm ugly?"

"What?"

Charlotte's answer was unexpected.

I was bewildered but she continued.

"Everyone made fun of me when I was younger. Only Your Highness treated me nicely. You're my role model! I tried to look like you. I'll try harder. Is it not enough? I'll become someone that you won't be ashamed of!"

I thought of Charlotte's appearance in the past. Back then, she had some baby fat, but she looked very cute and not at all ugly.

Did she act like this because of what other people told her back then?

"It's not like that. You were pretty back then and you still are now too."

"You're the only one who thinks that."

I shook my head seeing her.

"I'm not. I'm sure other people think the same too. If there is anyone who has spoken ill of you, then they are the one who's strange. You don't pay them any mind."

Charlotte cried as I continued to comfort her.

"There are so many things in this world that are more important than appearance. I really want you to know that."

"If I make a mistake, you can teach me."

I shook my head.

"You've been a maid for a long time. Don't you think it's time to be free and see the world? "

Charlotte was obsessed and judged people by their appearance. But she was still young. It wasn't that she was born evil, but her attitude came from childhood trauma.

I decided to give her another chance.

"If you don't change your mind after you understand the reason why I fired you, then you can be my maid again."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Thank you, thank you very much! I'll try my best and become a great person!"

After repeatedly thanking me, Charlotte left the palace.

***

I tried to do my duties as the Crown Princess but Tenstheon and Blake insisted that I should take a good rest.

"Ancia, just take a break for the time being."

"That's right, don't work. You need a break."

They were so awkward with each other throughout the meal, but surprisingly, they always had the same opinion when it came to me.

They were worried about me holding a knife so they watched me carefully. When I drank a lot of water, they asked me whether I felt unwell.

I felt too embarrassed being protected this much. I had never experienced this extent of their protection even when I was younger but I understood why.

If Blake were to come home after 7 years of disappearance, I'd be happy, but at the same time I'd be worried too. I wouldn't know what to do or say to him except tell him to rest more.

Now that I understood how they felt, I only nodded at everything they said.

Besides, I had been in that dark place for a long time. So many events happened at the same time and I was exhausted, so I decided to take this opportunity to rest a little bit.

A lot of time had passed since I left.

This empire wouldn't change drastically like Korea in that amount of time, but there would certainly be some changes.

When I went to the square, I observed what the ladies wore. I could tell that the fashion trends had changed.

With Blake's curse lifted and the fall of the Cassils, the ranks among the nobles must have changed too.

For the time being, I would study and live comfortably.

Besides, there was something I wanted to check.

I headed to the Amoria Palace. Chelsea and Edon said they would follow me but I refused.

I wanted to check this thing on my own.