Chapter 28

Rose Alicia Royal was always irritated.

Born into a marquis family, she received a proper education and grew up to be incredibly beautiful. Her beauty was known even in the capital.

When she moved to the capital to attend school, she was noticed by the king at her first social event and became his concubine.

The king, who was young, fell in love with his young (busty) and beautiful (busty) concubine, and she soon became pregnant.

That was it.

Whenever she thought about her life, she always felt it had only gone that far.

She had always been in the spotlight.

From a young age, she had been the center of the world.

But then.

The moment the prince was born, everyone, without exception, looked at the prince and his black hair first. Then they looked at her and praised the prince.

The prince's hair, blacker and shinier than any other royal, captivated the people.

She felt like she had become an accessory to the prince.

It's not that she wasn't cute. It's not that she wasn't loved.

Because she was cute and loved, she hid her frustration and spent her days making sure no one noticed.

The only solace was the king's favor. The king still looked at her. She couldn't afford to lose that.

She maintained her position as a concubine and supported the king alongside the queen.

For ten years, she managed to get by.

For ten years, she was treated not as herself, but as the prince's mother.

No one understood what she was unhappy about.

The more she explained, the more she was whispered to be selfish and arrogant behind her back.

In such a precarious mental state, she gave birth to a second child.

The king's first princess.

Like her brother, the princess was born with jet-black hair and was doted on by the king. Finally, even the king stopped looking at her first.

To regain even a little of the king's attention, she wore expensive dresses and accessories, polished her skin and hair.

The time, effort, and money she spent pursuing beauty were meaningless in the face of the princess's daily adorable growth.

People who had only seen her as the prince's mother began to look at her with disdain.

The extravagant and tasteless concubine.

She was criticized more and more by both the king and the queen.

Even though she knew it was meaningless, she couldn't stop pursuing beauty. She was afraid of what would happen if she stopped.

Rumors about her being bad spread.

Her opportunities to appear in public decreased.

The king's visits became less frequent.

She felt her position was getting worse and worse.

When she wore dresses that showed off her beautifully polished body, she was called tasteless, and if she acted meekly, no one talked to her.

In that case, she might as well become the extravagant and tasteless concubine. A dark, irritable feeling had been living in her stomach for a long time. She couldn't calm down.

A letter from the king, which she hadn't received in a long time, told her to take a break and rest in her hometown.

Her hometown was far from the capital. If she left, the king would probably forget about her.

Even while resting in her hometown, her irritation didn't subside. The people of her hometown, whom she rarely saw, openly favored the prince's black hair.

She suspected that the queen was behind the decision to move the prince, who was still young, and the princess away from the capital.

She had always supported the king, but some foolish nobles were starting to form factions, thinking her son, who had blacker hair than the queen's first prince, would be the next king.

Her son, who could not act appropriately as a royal, looked at her coldly and criticized her. Her daughter constantly watched her irritable face.

The prince was 15, and the princess was 5.

It was unusual for a royal to not have a fiancé at this age.

To amuse herself and pass the time, she decided to attend a tea party of a neighboring noble family, pretending to be a commoner to inspect potential fiancés. She would be exposed early due to the prince and princess's hair color, but she laughed at the nobles' panic when they found out and alleviated her frustration by saying mean things.

Then, she heard about the tea party at the Stewart family's estate.

The lord of the wealthiest palace in the kingdom was looking for a fiancé.

Although the Palace was far, as an extravagant and tasteless concubine, she wanted to be on good terms with them. If one of the Stewart family's daughters could become engaged to the prince, it might increase her available funds.

However, her invitation to attend was declined, but she later heard rumors from those who were invited.

"The eldest son, Georg, is 15 and has the skills to hunt monsters, is tough and reliable, and takes good care of younger children."

"The eldest daughter, Emma, is shy and seems to be reserved, but her earnest efforts to entertain guests make her endearing and incredibly cute. She is just so cute. Extremely cute."

"The second son, William, is a delicate and beautiful young man who had the mothers and maids of the children he accompanied swooning."

It was impossible for a tea party mainly for children to have only good rumors. However, no matter how many rumors she gathered, there were no bad ones.

Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that her fake letter was declined. The Stewart family was capable of such perfect information control.

She wanted to meet them.

Fortunately, she learned that Urban Stewart, who was supposed to be in the capital, had taken lodging in the neighboring Kiari territory.

She immediately sent a messenger to convey her request.

She wouldn't be refused after this.

Soon, an invitation to the tea party from the Stewart family arrived.

As usual, she arrived about an hour late.

The Stewart lord greeted her.

She felt something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what it was.

As usual, she used a sweet voice in front of the Stewart lady.

She felt something was off here too.

The estate, owned by the wealthiest lord in the capital, was neither large nor ostentatious, but its solid and tidy construction was appealing.

When she was led to the hall and the courtiers raised their heads after bowing, she finally realized what was off.

About twenty children and their accompanying parents and maids were, as usual, looking at the prince. They were fixated on the prince's black hair.

Among them, three children with the same shade of blonde hair were looking at her. They looked at her with the same expression others used to look at the prince.

They were probably the Stewart family's three siblings.

She also noticed that the Stewart lord and lady had ignored the prince's black hair and looked at her first.

The Stewart family was the only ones looking at her.

It was the gaze she had been pursuing since the prince was born.

Everyone held their breath when they saw her, thinking she was beautiful.

The familiar feeling from back then.

The Stewart family was praising her beauty.

Just that made her feel gradually satisfied.

She was being recognized not as the prince's mother, but as Rose Alicia Royal, an individual.

After that, the three siblings came to her, ignoring her son and daughter.

The eldest daughter, Emma, who was rumored to be shy, praised her beauty in a torrent. Even when her older and younger brothers warned her, she didn't falter and praised her with insights that were beyond her age.

It was so cute and funny that she couldn't stop laughing.

How long had it been since she had laughed so genuinely?

She had forgotten how to laugh.

One thing was certain.

Emma Stewart, the eldest daughter, was incredibly cute. Just so cute. Extremely cute.

When she playfully asked Emma if she would marry her son,

"I would rather marry Rose-sama than the prince!"

she answered.

She is really cute.

She is so cute that she is too good for my son.