The Useless Duchess' Second Chance

Prince Raoul

“Raoul greets Her Majesty, and His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Ariana fell silent as she watched the eldest prince lower his body without the slightest shame. Even though Emilio was his younger brother in terms of age, the difference in their status forced Raoul to bow his head to his brother. Whispers were heard everywhere after Raoul come to the room. Compared to Ariana who came in pants, people dared to insult the prince who didn't have any power in the palace.

“Thank you for being willing to come despite your poor health, Prince Raoul. As a brother, your presence alone is sufficient as a gift to Crown Prince Emilio.”

Not only Ariana, even Duke Andrew slightly frowned when Queen Melisa blatantly insulted Prince Raoul. Since the sickly prince rarely received affection from the people in the palace, Raoul seemed forced to come without bringing any gifts. His attire was also too simple, even though he was a prince. For comparison, Ariana's clothes can be judged to be far more luxurious than the prince's clothes.

“I'm grateful that Your Majesty is willing to forgive this child's shortcomings. Your Highness, happy thirteenth birthday. May you always be healthy and happy forever.”

“Thank you.”

Even his brother only replied to Raoul's words with cold words. Ariana's gaze grew colder as she watched their interaction. It's not a mistake anymore that from the start, the royal family was indeed a sickening place as she was witnessing right now.

“Ah, because of your arrival, I almost ignored the presence of someone who has a special place in my life. Ana, what is my present for this year?”

Emilio passed by Raoul just like that, as his focus returned to Ariana. Ariana was almost caught off guard watching Raoul because of Emilio's sudden movement. But the girl remained calm, as she smiled and then showed the gift box that James had prepared beforehand.

“Since I have just recovered from illness, I can only prepare a simple gift for you, Your Majesty. But I hope you'll still like this gift.”

With great anticipation, Emilio opened the gift Ariana had given him. But his enthusiasm slowly faded, as he only saw a brooch with a beautiful gem that was similar to the color of his eyes.

“Oh my, isn't that brooch made of hard-to-find gems? Prince, you should thank Ariana for this gift.”

Seeing her son just freeze after opening Ariana's gift, Melisa immediately intervened and brought Emilio back from his thoughts. Ariana always prepares many homemade gifts for Emilio's birthday. Of all the expensive gifts Emilio had received, the man had always only looked forward to gifts made by his fiancé. But this time Ariana only gave him one gift, which looked like it was chosen at random and only served as a formality.

“Thank you. I'll definitely be wearing it often.”

Emilio forced a smile after he was reprimanded by his mother. Ariana wasn't concerned about Emilio either. The girl just nodded politely, before asking permission to enjoy the party with her grandfather.

However, Duke Andrew had not had time to find peace when a wave of people began to seek his attention. Being the only Duke in the kingdom is indeed not an easy responsibility. Duke Andrew was forced to leave Ariana alone, while he reluctantly exchanged a few words with the crowd.

“Don't make trouble, and don't forget to take James with you if you want to take a walk around the palace.”

Ariana could hear her grandfather's message clearly before they parted ways. When Ariana walked out of the crown prince's palace, James actually went straight to her. The girl then looked at James, who was faithful to sticking with her. If she had not brought her grandfather's loyal servant to find Raoul, she would never have found the answer to the strange dream she recently had.

But there's no guarantee that his grandfather won't be angry if she tries to approach the royal family again, even if he's just an abandoned prince. Ariana racked her brain, until a loud noise disturbed her concentration, who was wandering with the excuse of getting some fresh air.

“Hey, you've gone too far! After all, he's still a prince. What if someone saw your actions and called you a traitor?”

“You worry too much. No one wants to care about that stupid prince. He can't even think properly. How can he snitch on us in the future?”

“Nonetheless ….”

“I am the first child of Marquess Daedalus. Apart from the Alison family, my family is one of the strongest families in the Sigmund Kingdom. With my status, do you think they would prefer to please me or that useless prince? Even the king doesn't want to see his face again.”

Near the palace fountain, two teenagers were arguing as they continued to walk away. Ariana immediately had a bad feeling when they kept bringing up the useless prince's name in their conversation. The girl immediately followed the direction where the teenagers had gone, while James was immediately ordered to look for Prince Raoul's whereabouts around the palace.

“Lady Aria, here!”

Ariana stared in disbelief at Raoul, who was injured and fell into the fountain. With James' help, Raoul was rescued and now sat in front of Ariana. But with his wet clothes, even a small breeze was enough to make the prince's thin body tremble because of the cold.

Seeing that pitiful figure, Ariana's motherly soul burst out as she took off her outermost cloak to give to the trembling Raoul. Raoul only looked like a child in Ariana's eyes. The girl couldn't help but feel frustrated when faced with this kind of sight, especially when she couldn't save Raoul before the bad boys beat up the poor prince.

“Your Highness, did someone bully you inside the palace?”

Ariana asked worriedly as she watched Raoul tightly grip the robe she had previously given him. Ariana knew that Raoul had indeed had a sad ending after the death of King Alexius. But the girl just found out, that Raoul's palace life was even worse than the treatment she received when Emilio locked her in a separate castle.

At least in Ariana's case, she still had plenty of people who cared about her before they all died. However, Raoul's case was different. It was hard to believe that even the son of a Marquess could calmly endanger the life of a member of the royal family.

Maybe because Ariana was really annoyed when she accepted this new fact, the girl didn't notice that Raoul was pensive as he stared at the expression plastered on Ariana's face. Raoul stared at Ariana for a long time, before suddenly jumping up and running away from both James and Ariana.

"Your Highness!"

“Lady Aria, it's best if we just stop here.”

Before Ariana could catch up to Raoul, James' hand had stopped her first. The man lowered his head slightly, especially when James knew Ariana was angry at his presumptuous actions to stop the girl.

“Prince Raoul is known to be an eccentric person, where he doesn't allow anyone to enter his residence. I'm afraid you'll only get in trouble if we insist on following Prince Raoul when he returns to his residence, My Lady.”

Since Ariana had very little information about Prince Raoul, Ariana finally calmed down a bit, even though her expression remained dissatisfied. The girl looked in the direction Prince Raoul had gone with a frown. Prince Raoul in her dreams was always smart and kind. His demeanor was far from the Raoul she had met today.