I Don’t Want A Prince In My Life - Chapter 6. Second Meeting

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The maid kept on walking further and further.
The Theophilus castle was as complex as Percival, as if it had prepared itself for an enemy’s attack that could happen at any time.
Without a guide, one would be lost immediately.
I had lost track of how far I walked when finally the maid in front of me stopped.
She stood in front of a door guarded by two knights and asked one of them to allow me in.

“This way, please.”

The expression on the knight’s face was unreadable like the maid’s. The maid, who had guided me so far, left after delivering me to the knight.
If I could, I wanted to leave this place without entering the room.
The door opened, and I followed the knight into the room.
I had feared that there would be many strong knights inside to prevent me from escaping, but this was not the case. Albert, who was sitting on a sofa in a familiar parlor, stood up and greeted me. He and Serge, his squire, were the only people in the room.
I didn’t realize until I saw the décor that this was the same room where Lionel and I had been entertained on our previous visit to the castle.
In other words, it is a reception room of the highest level of hospitality for state guests.
I wondered why he had chosen this room as there must be several reception rooms for guests of different ranks in this vast castle. This was not an appropriate room to invite a commoner with no family name.
The knight, who had entered the room with me, stood silently against the wall to keep an eye on me.
In this situation where he was unsure of my identity, it was only natural the knight would do that, but only one guard? What is he going to do if something goes wrong? Such as, for example, if I went mad and attacked Albert.
Come to think of it, I was not inspected for weapons so far. It’s hard to imagine that a commoner was allowed to see the Prince without being inspected first.
When I glanced at Albert, he looked sad.
I wondered why he looked like that?
It’s more likely that I was the one who wanted to grieve.
In my head, the other me was grumbling.
Albert then gave an even more unbelievable order.

“You stay back.”

For a moment, I thought he said it to me.
But when I looked at him closely, I could see that Albert’s gaze was fixed on the knight standing behind me.

But…

The knight, perhaps uncomfortable with this, retorted with a hint of bewilderment in his previously composed expression.
But Albert glared coldly at him, and the knight left the room frustrated that he was not allowed to reply.
What on earth did he think he’s doing?
If he suspected that I was Cecilia, he should be even more cautious because of the possibility that I could have a grudge against him and was carrying a hidden knife.
Did he think he could handle one little girl, or did he not think I have a grudge against him in the slightest?
As I stared into the blue purple eyes that I thought I would never see again, Albert did something I never thought he would do.

He knelt down on the floor.

It was unthinkable for the Prince to kneel to a commoner.
The only person he would kneel to would be his father, the King.
He was currently the first to succeed to the throne, and he was on the top of this country’s social status system.

“What is the meaning of this?”

I was going to keep my cool and be calm no matter what, but his action was too unexpected.
When I last saw him in Percival, he had stared at me so coldly.
I looked at Serge as if to ask for context.
But in the end, he did not respond, because Serge also followed his Lord’s example and fell to his knees.

“Cecilia, I must apologize to you that I didn’t help you. Instead, I helped Lionel, who was trying to ostracize you.”

“I did not remonstrate with my master. I am deeply sorry to you, Cecilia.”

I could not believe it.
I was sure that I heard them, but I could not understand a word they said.
Did they apologize? Did they say they were sorry?
They said they were sorry for their mistakes.
But for what?

If Albert had a hand in my banishment, did that mean he also had a hand in the annulment? Was it true that he was there when the annulment was announced?
I looked down at him with cold eyes as I couldn’t understand.

“Why?”

The question spilled out of my mouth.
I couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Why had he done it? Why had they done it?
Why was he apologizing now?