CPSMBD Chapter 00

PROLOGUE

Friedrich Grateful, the one and only heir to the Empire. The Crown Prince.

The man before my eyes had, remarkably, once promised to share his future with me in our childhood.

As I stood facing him in the royal garden, my memories leaped across a decade to that fateful night when the Crown Prince made his proposal.

***

In a dark, eerie chamber.

The Crown Prince and I huddled together, drawing warmth from each other's presence. We could only pray for a miracle to escape this place.

With his boyish face strained with anxiety, the young Prince tried to steady his voice.

"Violetta, if we escape from these kidnappers, I promise I'll propose to you someday."

"Propose to me...?"

"Yes. You protected me today, so from now on, I'll be by your side for the rest of our life. "

Perhaps it was his youth?

'How innocent,' I thought.

To offer his future as collateral simply because someone protected his life.

Fortunately for the Prince, I too was innocent then.

I had no intention of claiming someone's future over such a matter.

"But Mother and Father said marriage is something you do with someone you love..."

The Prince clutched the edge of my sleeve and lowered his head.

"That's exactly it... I think I like you... How do you feel about me?"

'He likes me? What should I do?'

It was the first time I received a confession; I was flustered.

I was only eight years old then. Marriage seemed like a distant dream.

His hand, still gripping my sleeve, trembled pitifully.

'He's rather cute...'

His hair shimmered like the night sky, and those brilliant blue eyes captivated my heart.

'Well, he's handsome and cute, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad...'

With such casual thoughts, I opened my heart to the Prince. Little did I know those words would become a trap that would eventually strangle me.

"Alright. I like you too."

At my acceptance, the Prince's head snapped up.

"Then you must accept my proposal when the time comes!"

When I nodded, he extended his pinky finger.

I linked my pinky with his, my heart fluttering.

But anxiety soon washed over me.

"Friedrich, what if you forget today's promise?"

"I never forget a promise once I make it."

"Really?"

"Yes. Here, take this."

The Prince offered me a button torn from his clothes. It was a golden button engraved with his initials.

"As long as you keep this, I'll never forget today's promise."

That promise of remembrance - was it a premonition of my future?

Those words chained me, and I ended up treasuring that day's promise deep in my heart for a very long time.

***

And now, in the present.

Having entered the palace for my appointment ceremony, I found myself face-to-face with the Crown Prince as if by fate.

The awkward, inexperienced boy from that day no longer existed.

His height, once similar to mine, now towered over me, and the baby fat that had rounded his cheeks had disappeared, revealing sharp jawlines.

The Crown Prince I encountered again was beautiful. And overwhelming.

Those deep blue eyes, like the ocean - distant yet somehow indifferent. The moment our eyes met again.

My world turned upside down with the force of a blow to the back of my head.

Poor Violetta Estrisen.

To fall in love at first sight with the Crown Prince - the very man who had promised to propose to me in childhood but never did.

The Crown Prince's brow furrowed unpleasantly upon discovering me.

"You..."

Ah, I had foolishly forgotten to pay my respects, distracted by his beauty.

I quickly bowed at the waist.

"I pay my respects to the Empire's second sun. I am Violetta, eldest daughter of House Estrisen."

Despite my greeting, the Crown Prince maintained his frown and his silence.

'Perhaps it's because of my greeting?'

After that day, the Crown Prince had never once sought me out.

'He probably never intended to keep that promise.'

It was a promise made in childhood ignorance, one he had no obligation to keep.

I too had long since abandoned any expectation that the Prince would honor his word.

'I won't acknowledge that day either.'

Besides, from now on, I needed to fulfill my duties as the Crown Prince's aide.

'So I mustn't entertain foolish thoughts.'

But... just when I thought he would pass by, the Crown Prince's feet stopped before me, shattering my resolution.

"Raise your head."

Following his command, I slowly looked up, meeting his penetrating gaze.

His eyes churned like storm-tossed waves.

'Could it be... he's remembering what he'd forgotten?'

His fingers slowly reached toward my face.

Did I appear like an illusion to him?

Such a careful touch, as if touching something that didn't truly exist.

The Crown Prince stared at me with disbelief.

"How..."

If by some chance he remembered me even a little. If that day's memory wasn't precious to me alone, but to him as well.

And if that promise still held...

My heart pounded fiercely.

Driven by hope blooming in a corner of my heart, I presented the token I always carried.

"Your Highness, could it be... you remember me?"

Confusion spread across the Crown Prince's face.

"Don't you remember? This button, you gave it to me..."

I pulled out the button I had treasured and held it out to him.

"What is this?"

"It's the token you gave me. When you promised to propose..."

At that moment, the Crown Prince's face turned cold.

Without even properly looking at what I held, he roughly knocked my hand aside.

The golden button fell and rolled across the floor.

"Stop these tricks and get out of my way. You think you're the first woman to try this?"

Ah.

I, Violetta Estrisen.

Just got brutally rejected by the man who promised to marry me in childhood - the same man who would become my superior in a week.

It was the moment my future turned pitch black with despair.

***

─Six Years Later─

How many days has it been?

I can't even remember the last time I went home.

Despite working all day without food or rest, another mountain of documents awaited processing on my desk.

"Brahe... I think I'm dying."

"Senior, me too... I want to go home..."

Working beside me, Brahe looked absolutely terrible.

His once-gleaming hair was completely disheveled, and his dark circles reached his chin.

The face praised as the most handsome in the Crown Prince's office was in pitiful condition.

And I looked no better than Brahe.

But we had no time to dawdle.

'If we're not careful, we might end up sleeping in the palace duty room again.'

Though overtime was unavoidable, today I absolutely must make it home!

While processing documents with burning determination, it happened.

The root of all this chaos and my superior, Crown Prince Friedrich, suddenly burst into the office.

Unlike Brahe and me, the Crown Prince looked impeccable, without a single hair out of place.

How could he look so pristine after pulling the same all-nighter?

The Crown Prince approached my desk.

'No. No. Don't come here...!'

Contrary to my wishes, he stopped right in front of me.

Then he dropped a mountain of documents onto my desk with a thud.

'Surely not... It can't be. It won't be.'

Suppressing my rising anxiety, I opened my mouth.

"What is all this...?"

"Work you need to complete by today."

My fears became reality. I glanced at the clock, then back at the Crown Prince's face.

"Your Highness, there's barely a minute left in today..."

"And? If you can't finish it today, work through the night."

"Your Highness! I can't even remember when I last went home. Please let me go home. Please?"

"You still need to do your work. You're receiving your salary from the state quite regularly, aren't you?"

"The salary doesn't include overtime! This is practically slavery!"

The Crown Prince smirked. My intuition, honed from six years of serving His Highness, told me. That was definitely a sneer.

"Don't like overtime? Then get married."

"..."

"Nothing more to say? Good. Carry on."

Your Highness has made quite a misunderstanding.

It's not that I have nothing to say - I'm just speechless from the absurdity.

As he headed toward the exit, the Crown Prince suddenly turned back at the door.

He pinched his nose and frowned.

"Why does it smell rotten in here? At least maintain basic hygiene. You're conducting official business in the imperial palace - there should be some minimum standard of decorum."

After delivering this insult, the Crown Prince closed the door and disappeared.

"..."

I sat there with a dumbfounded expression.

Brahe raised his arm and sniffed.

"Do we smell? I can't tell..."

The Crown Prince's words were too shocking.

Why couldn't I wash?

I couldn't wash because I was working.

If I had time to wash, I would have used it to catch some sleep.

Or put some food in my mouth.

After working without eating or sleeping, this is the response I get!

It's unfair. So unfair that my hands clenched unconsciously.

The pencil lead snapped. Along with my patience.

I, Violetta Estrisen.

I cannot live like this anymore.

By any means necessary, I will get married.

Absolutely!

Without fail!

Unquestionably!

I will end this overtime life through marriage!

And what I need most right now is a man!

Yes, a man!