It worked.
Shortly after, Prince Sidhar began to show his interest in Lara. At first, he sent his aides. They gave all sorts of excuses to meet Lara, such as holding a commemoration party and celebration party. Lara returned all of their invitations without reading them.
"I don't like this stuff because it's lame."
It was such an insincere refusal that anyone could tell she was not interested in the Prince.
Whenever she happened to see the Prince from afar, Lara took Demian's hand and leisurely left the place. When the Prince showed any interest, she visibly expressed her disgust, turned her back, and disappeared in a carriage with other men.
Eunice and Ximena also did not just sit still. They spread the word secretly in society.
"Why would a Prince go after a merchant's daughter? It doesn't look good. It's disgraceful."
"That's all because of Thousand Gold Isadora. I'm sure everyone thinks so. Who doesn't know about Bailey lottery these days?"
"I guess money is good after all."
Of course, the rumor did not cause Prince Sidhar to give up on Lara.
A few days later, a letter from Prince Sidhar arrived at Lara's house with a carriage. The white carriage that the royal family rode was full of red flowers.
"Milady, what's this?"
"He must be in a hurry."
Lara looked at the carriage with cold eyes. The royal attendant approached her in an elegant manner and handed her the letter. As she could not just tear up and throw away the letter sent by the royal family, she stood there and insincerely cut open the envelope. Then, after scanning through the content, she called the attendant who was about to leave.
"Stop there."
"Pardon?"
"Go and tell the Prince. My apologies but I can't accept his invitation."
The attendant looked at Lara as if she just said something that did not make sense. There had never been such a case where a royal invitation was declined like this. This was highly impolite. Moreover, Lara just abandoned her name as a Bailey not too long ago, so she was a commoner in terms of status.
"Milady, it may be presumptuous of me to say this but…"
"It is presumptuous, so don't say it."
"Pardon?"
"Go ahead and tell him. The daughter of Isadora is already invited by Princess Sonnet, so she cannot obey the Prince's call."
It was a clever excuse. If she accepts Prince Sidhar's invitation now, she will be breaking her promise to the Princess, so she's politely declining the Prince.
'Is that how it works?'
While the attendant wandered with a puzzled face, Lara—who was staring at the carriage—reached out to Konny.
"Give me a handkerchief."
"What's with all these flowers? My lady is allergic to pollen… Oh my God, look at how red her nose has become!"
She did not have any allergies. She probably won't even have any problems rolling naked on a flower bed. But Lara buried her nose in the handkerchief and rubbed it hard on purpose. Then, she sneezed loudly and showed her red nose.
"As you can see, I'm allergic. Take that carriage back."
"Huh…"
"I really hate flowers."
The attendant had no choice but to return to the palace.
After the flowers, Lara was showered with gifts. A very famous dress designer from the capital visited Lara. She said she would make Lara the most gorgeous autumn dress in Hautean. She even said something ridiculous like how the Prince's bright blonde hair and Lara's clear scarlet eyes would look great together.
"Why should I wear the dress you made?"
"There will be a party welcoming the saintesses soon. It's a large-scale party hosted by the royal family. You have been invited, haven't you, milady?"
"I see. I'm not going."
"Pardon?"
"Did you know that the fake saintess used to call my friend a bimbo without a mom when she attended the academy?"
"W-what?"
"I didn't study theology hard, but I don't think God would have chosen someone like that. I might grab her hair if we happen to meet at the banquet."
"Pardon? Well, I mean."
"When the temple reveals who the real saintess is, I will attend the party. So go back for now."
"But this is a gift from the Prince. You're not going to decline, aren't you? Get it together! He's the Prince."
"Will I be a traitor for refusing a gift from the Prince?"
"Pardon?"
The designer had no choice but to return empty-handed. She tried her best to persuade Lara, but when the daughter of Isadora asked her if she thought Lara could not buy a dress with her own money, she surrendered with both hands up.
Isadora's daughter, Lara—the woman who did not budge even when the Prince gave her attention, invitation, letters, and gifts.
At first, the nobles did not pay much attention because they thought Lara acted like that because she already had a lover. But as time went by, they felt like something was strange. Lara ignored Prince Sidhar as if he were a horribly ill-mannered and unattractive little boy.
Until then, the best man in Hautean was definitely Sidhar Hautean. He was the Prince that the girls had dreamed of. Furthermore, he was known for his perfect blonde hair, friendly personality, and gentlemanly manners, as if he was taken straight out of a romance novel, so it was only natural for Lara—who hated him—to be the one who seemed abnormal.
'What in the world is wrong with the daughter of Isadora?'
A lot of people had such a question. How dare a mere merchant's daughter, who was a prodigal rascal, to treat the Prince of this country like he was a plague. All this happened while a banquet was being prepared to welcome the fake saintesses in the royal palace. And one day before the banquet, another attendant came to Lara. This time, it was the attendant for Princess Sonnet.
"The Princess wants to invite you to the palace."
"The banquet will be held soon. Is that going to be okay?"
"She said she would like to meet you before the banquet."
As he had heard the story of Lara hating and declining Prince Sidhar's invitation, Princess Sonnet's attendant looked at her with a nervous face.
"Okay. I will get ready now."
Unlike his concerned face, Lara had a bright smile on hers.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Lara took out the dress that she was going to wear to Eunice's party before. It was the dress that she liked because Konny had said that she would look so scary in it that no one would talk to her.
"What if the Princess becomes afraid of you because of your dress?"
"The Princess is strong-minded. She doesn't judge people by their clothes. She didn't judge me last time, did she?"
When Lara asked her, Konny smiled and fixed her dress.
"It's not easy for a 14-year-old to act like that. Sometimes, I think our country will be ruined soon. But with the Princess as our King, this country will last long."
"Where did you hear that?"
"Valentine said it. He said that there would be no future in this country unless the Princess becomes the King."
"Valentine?"
"He said guys like Sidhar pretend to be nice only in front of the people, but they are actually playing wolf in sheep's clothing…"
"Konny, don't ever say that after we enter the royal palace. You could…"
"Vanish without a trace. I know."
It was useless to warn her even with the most frightening words. Konny was very excited to finally meet Princess Sonnet. She carefully packed the sandwiches—that she might or might not be able to give—and put them in the basket. Then, she held the basket tightly in her arms.
"You're too much. You have never made such a fancy sandwich for me."
"Wow, how can you be so childish to be jealous over food? I packed this for us to eat together."
"Don't lie to me. I saw you put a letter in that basket."
"Milady, being too quick-witted won't make you popular."
Just look at this brazen maid.
Lara glared at Konny with an absurd face. Demian, who was sitting next to her in the carriage, just smirked.
When Lara asked Sonnet if she could bring Demian and Konny with her, she gladly agreed. Sonnet's ladies-in-waiting also came to like Lara after the escort incident, so there was no objection.
But when she arrived at the Princess Palace, the atmosphere was strange. From the attendants to the knights, everyone in the Princess Palace was walking on eggshells with an awkward look. They looked at Lara with eyes that wanted to say something whenever she passed by. When she greeted them, they did answer, but they did not say anything else.
Lara—who followed the ladies-in-waiting and arrived at the outdoor banquet hall in the backyard of the Princess Palace—could only find out the reason after meeting Sonnet.
"Lara!"
Lara could see Prince Sidhar behind Sonnet.
I see. So you are here.
Prince Sidhar, his ladies-in-waiting, and his knights took control of the backyard of Sonnet's palace. As Lara did not want to meet him no matter what he did, he ended up making a surprise visit to Sonnet's palace.
Lara's lips were twisted.
Sidhar stared at Lara. He was wearing the mask of a loving brother, despite his eyes looking emotionless.