The Engagement of the Baron of Flowers and the Withered Tree Lady.

Chapter 37 The Fateful Connection Between the Withered Tree Lady and the Crown Prince

When Julia was troubled about her dress, neither Rufie nor Robert expected her to be worried about such a thing (excuse the rudeness…). They thought something significant had happened.

“I’ll go get help, so please take care of things here!” Robert said to Rufie before quickly hurrying off somewhere. Rufie soon realized that he had gone to see the Crown Prince.

However, it turned out that the Duchess, the Crown Prince’s betrothed, had taken action before him, causing a slight complication.

As a Duchess, she seemed to be trying to support Julia and approached the two of them. She must have known that Julia had never attended any social events before, so she probably thought Julia would be in trouble at her first party.

After all, the social sphere was a world where all sorts of cunning individuals roamed. No matter how powerful Julia’s fiancé might be, it would be of no use in the realm of women. In fact, with the Flower Baron being the most popular person in the country, he could even become a nuisance to Julia!

That’s why she had repeatedly asked to be introduced to Julia… If only she had been introduced earlier, she could have given Julia some advice. Everlotte gritted her teeth in frustration.

She had no way of knowing that Romand, her fiancé and the Crown Prince, had kept Julia away from her to protect her from him. Romand, who had not yet inherited the title of Baron at that time, was startled when the Duchess called him “Master.” He lowered his head and pleaded with her to stop, asking her to address him by name.

However, Everlotte’s gaze, filled with respect and gratitude, remained unchanged towards Romand, who always listened to her worries and subtly provided positive solutions, giving her hope in life. In fact, her respect and admiration for him had grown even stronger after their engagement with the Crown Prince was announced.

Of course, this passionate gaze from Everlotte, full of her earnestness, led to misunderstandings among those around them, much to the inconvenience of the young Lord Romand during his school days.

While intentionally distancing himself from Everlotte, his primary candidate for engagement and the person he had feelings for, the Crown Prince couldn’t help but feel intense jealousy towards Lord Romand.

The unjustness of it all made Lord Romand exasperated.

Furthermore, those around them who were unaware of the circumstances began spreading rumors and hurling insults, claiming that a relationship between lord a commoner like Everlotte was inappropriate, insolent, shameless, and that it showed disrespect towards the Crown Prince.

Amongst all the hardships, what irritated Lord Romand the most was being accused of ingratitude for utilizing the Plant Baron’s estate as an official royal garden while supposedly stealing the Crown Prince’s love interest.

The truth was, the previous supplier of fresh flowers for the Queen’s birthday party suddenly became unable to provide them, and the royal family had desperately pleaded with Lord Romand to assist them as a replacement. And yet, this was considered ingratitude…

Moreover, it was the Crown Prince who had approached Lord Romand in the first place, but being accused of ingratiating himself was truly infuriating.

To be honest, Lord Romand had initially been cautious of the Crown Prince. He wondered if the Prince’s approach was due to his status as the wielder of the “Green Thumb” or the possibility that he was the “Green Spirit User,” trying to assess that potential.

And it wasn’t entirely unfounded. When Lord Romand was just thirteen years old, soon after entering the academy, the Crown Prince had gone out of his way to express his views on the defense of the country through the “Green Spirit User.”

However, this is what he had said.

“The true role of the ‘Green Spirit’ is to protect people’s living environment, while defense is the duty of the royal family. However, somehow the ‘Green Spirit’ and the ‘Green Spirit User’ have been excessively exploited for defense tasks. This is absurd. The responsibility of defense should lie with the royal family and the government.”

With a contrasting nature to the carefree and somewhat irresponsible king, the Crown Prince earnestly and faithfully devoted himself to his duties as a member of the royal family, wearing a mask of a forced smile on his youthful face that still bore traces of immaturity.

I wonder if this is a reaction to having had a terrible parent or more of a destiny? In my case, it was my uncle rather than my actual father.

Witnessing the burdening of oneself with unnecessary obligations, Lord Romand couldn’t help but empathize, as he inadvertently saw himself reflected in the Crown Prince, and they naturally grew closer.

During their first year at the academy, they avoided public contact in order to avoid attracting attention. However, as the year passed, the Crown Prince began approaching Lord Romand with familiarity regardless of their surroundings.

Initially, there were some who didn’t welcome the presence of Lord Romand, a commoner born to an illegitimate child, beside the Crown Prince. However, as Lord Romand consistently achieved top grades since enrollment, excelled in martial arts and swordsmanship surpassing the knight course students, people ceased to openly criticize him.

This was because Lord Romand had become a person respected by those around him, excelling in both academic and physical prowess, exhibiting a remarkably elegant demeanor that was hard to believe for someone of common birth, and possessing a stunning beauty.

When Lord Romand first met Julia, he was a somewhat chubby boy with a round face covered in freckles, cute in a way. However, since he began training his body with the desire to become a strong man capable of protecting Julia, he slimmed down considerably and then grew taller.

Perhaps due to the purification of the land and the improved quality of well water, his skin, which used to be covered in blemishes and freckles, gradually became fair and smooth, almost flawless.

Moreover, although his hair and eye color were inherited from his father, his facial features originally resembled his mother’s, so when he lost weight, his face became more defined, transforming into a truly beautiful young man.

No, he returned to his original appearance. After all, everyone had praised him as an angel when he was born.

With such transformations, Lord Romand became just as popular as the Crown Prince. Consequently, anyone who tried to belittle or provoke him experienced the wrath of the female students and soon realized they would be subjected to severe scrutiny. While they might have muttered behind his back, no one dared to meddle with him anymore.

However, when Lord Romand turned seventeen, he was thrown into a storm of baseless rumors and slander due to the infamous Everlotte.

According to the rumors, he was an undesirable commoner trying to intrude between the Crown Prince, whom he had mutual feelings with, and the Duke’s daughter, their childhood friend, using his own beauty and well-toned physique.

As a result, not only the male students but also the female students who had been infatuated with him started looking at him with disdain.

Although Lord Romand had a woman he had set his heart on, Julia, and felt relieved that the female students stopped causing a commotion, being unjustly criticized for fabricated accusations frustrated him.

In light of this, Lord Romand, although he knew it was disrespectful, lodged a complaint with the Crown Prince.

Surprisingly, the Crown Prince, who hadn’t realized that his own attitude was the cause of the rumors, desperately apologized.

In response, Lord Romand couldn’t help but lose his temper and felt the urge to choke the other person when he asked the Crown Prince why he was deliberately pushing away his beloved with such a poor performance.

“What? You’re looking for a female ‘Green Spirit User’ to fulfill your responsibility as a member of the royal family in defense of the country? And you intend to marry that person once you find her?”

“I have heard that female ‘Green Spirit Users’ are rarely found. What would you do if you couldn’t find one? There’s no guarantee that you’ll definitely find one, right? What about the heir to the throne?”

“The royal family consists of more than just me. Even if I don’t marry immediately, I can always adopt my younger siblings’ children if need be.”

“Nevertheless, realistically speaking, the likelihood of finding one seems low. It’s even questionable if they truly exist.”

“No, I had a prophecy from the ‘Star Reader’ that a female ‘Green Spirit User’ was born about fourteen years ago. Her predictions have never been wrong. So she definitely exists somewhere in this country.”

The Crown Prince declared confidently.

Indeed, a female ‘Green Spirit User’ existed, and Lord Romand knew it. Of course, it was Julia. And she had been at a certain farm until recently. Yet foolishly, he had lost sight of her.

If Julia were to be found by the Crown Prince’s men… The thought filled Lord Romand with an unimaginable fear. As a commoner, he couldn’t fully protect Julia from the Crown Prince.

Lord Romand advised the Crown Prince to stop fixating on finding an uncertain ‘Green Spirit User’ and instead focus on the most important woman in his life. She had unwavering feelings for the Crown Prince and devoted herself to stand by his side. Every day, she worked hard to become someone worthy of being the queen of this country. She didn’t want to burden him, but she wanted to share in his hardships. If the Crown Prince wished to part ways with her, she would remain steadfastly loyal to him for the rest of her life. That was her definition of happiness.