The Crown Prince's Courtesan - Chapter 19
To be honest, even Marie had been a little cowed when she saw the room she was assigned.
The mirror on the wall alone probably cost more than a year’s worth of her part-time wages.
The ceiling soared high above, and even the carved pillars inside the chamber looked like something from a painting — elegant, lavish, and beautiful.
The bed canopy shimmered like a fairy’s wings, soft and glittering. And the size? Don’t even ask. But what really hit her was the wardrobe. The dresses inside…
‘Such luxury. Do all royals live like this?’
Of course, she realized, this kind of setting was probably nothing new not just to royalty, but to the daughters of nobility in general.
Despite her title as a baron’s daughter, Marie’s circumstances were so humble she’d never even been invited to a proper ball. Forget a débutante — that had always been a laughable dream.
‘Oh, crap. I’m supposed to have a debut, aren’t I?’
She was going to be the Crown Prince’s courtesan. And there was no way that job just meant warming his bed at night.
Now she had to stand beside him, all dressed up, smiling gently and gracefully while displaying their relationship for the world to see.
The thought didn’t bring a blush of happiness to Marie’s cheeks. Instead, her expression darkened like storm clouds gathering over a bleak horizon.
Ironically, it seemed courtesans were, in certain circles, the object of some noble ladies’ envy.
They sold their bodies, their pheromones, to secure a place beside a nobleman, basking in wealth and prestige, yet they could never become someone’s wife.
“How do you like it?”
Maybe they found Marie’s wide-eyed daze amusing.
The maids, who had been explaining the various items in the room prepared for her, were now openly staring at her, clearly trying not to laugh.
Marie nodded obediently, but the maids didn’t stop. They simply began parroting the head maid’s haughty tone, as if it were a game of mimicry they took very seriously.
“These dresses aren’t tailored to your size. We’ll have them altered.”
“Of course, since you’ll be making your debut in society as His Highness the Crown Prince’s courtesan, we’ll need to fix everything from head to toe.”
“Please don’t take us lightly just because we’re maids. We’ll be overseeing everything from your etiquette to your manner of speech.”
Their words were clearly meant to provoke, but Marie didn’t see any issue. She just nodded quickly again.
“…”
“…”
There was a moment of silence. The maids’ expressions stiffened, as if they’d suddenly realized they were dealing with someone unusual and possibly dangerous. But Marie hadn’t meant anything by it.
‘Of course you’re all better than me.’
They were palace maids, refined ladies with proper training. What was there to compare?
And yet, perhaps thinking Marie was playing proud, the maids glared at her, lit with offense. Then, with huffy movements, they began tidying the bed and gathering dresses in a brisk, almost hostile manner, storming out one by one.
Ah, they didn’t forget to let the last words slip out as if whispering.
“…Some recessive Omega!”
Oh, the prince hadn’t revealed that she was a dominant Omega.
Marie thought idly to herself.
* * *
Several days had passed since the beautiful Omega entered the crown prince’s palace as his courtesan.
And now, the head lady-in-waiting of the crown prince’s palace was trying to calm the fuming maids.
“She’s a truly vicious woman!”
“She doesn’t flinch at any insult. I heard she was notorious for being stiff at the academy… And yet, she came here with nothing, and dared to treat His Highness that way!”
The head lady-in-waiting clicked her tongue at the enraged maids and warned them:
“Didn’t I tell you to be careful? We don’t know where this might leak from. But I see you all did your best to make her get into trouble these past few days.”
Everyone immediately fell silent and sulked.
They all loved and respected Crown Prince Russell, the handsome, graceful, and beautiful heir to the kingdom.
After that incident long ago, the palace’s servants and maids had been completely replaced, leaving only those with strong loyalty.
Moreover, their master treated them very well even without that.
Honor naturally followed, and their respect for their master grew deeper day by day.
So naturally, their hatred for the culprit who tormented Russell ten years ago also flared up. How dare she, how dare she put a blemish on his perfection!
“She’s so shameless too. Even when we deliberately provided off-the-rack dresses, she didn’t even blink and instead admired them.”
“Is that all? She’s supposed to attend a ball, but she doesn’t know a single thing, so we had to cram everything into her, from etiquette to dance, under the excuse of emergency training. We hurled every insult we could. Even threatened to bring out the rod. But still…”
Everyone gave a hollow laugh.
Marie Alphrose, beautiful and cold-looking, wasn’t the delicate flower they had assumed. She lived up to that face. She was relentless.
Whether it was her intention to cling to the Crown Prince as his courtesan or not, she remained unshaken, uttered not a single word of complaint, and even horrifyingly seemed to enjoy the education being forced upon her at the palace.
No, that was absolutely unacceptable.
His Highness did not bring that woman here to entertain her!
“She seems to be forgetting something. So are we.”
“Forgetting what?”
“Her purpose.”
