Unfortunately, I'm an Evil Villainess

Chapter 64 - A Disagreeable Princess (I)

Rumours flooded high society as February faded into March, and the novel continued to progress, with Catherine's next encounter and one of the most anticipated events of the year quickly approaching: Princess Elizabeth's birthday ball.

In the original, this was when Catherine danced with Prince Oscar for the first time. Since that had already happened, I didn't know exactly what to expect, just that I absolutely had to prevent their relationship from developing further. Thus, I arranged an entire line of other ladies for my fiance to dance with, and once I was done with another business that had to be taken care of I intended to never leave his side.

"Good evening, Your Highness."

A royal birthday required some sort of celebration, and it was basically tradition for an unengaged royal to host a ball, as much as the princess in question may despise the very notion. Immediately, she was greeted by her brother and his lovely fiancee, as the highest ranking couple in attendance.

"Oh, it's you."

On her seventeenth birthday, Princess Elizabeth scowled at me with disdain. One would expect that after so many years, she would've finally learned manners, but she was simply too stupid. Unlike me, she took pride in her clean conscience, of all things, and didn't face the risk of losing everything to a certain female lead.

In defiance and protest of society, her auburn hair was cropped very short, and her dress was a statement. From the material, accessories, and design, it was without doubt a commoner's garment. Maybe expensive for a middle class family, but less than a day's expense for any noble. Utterly unbecoming of a princess and a disgrace to our kingdom.

"Happy birthday, Sister."

Oscar stood by me, with the regal, slight smile he reserved for formal occasions. In the novel, the relationship between them was fairly close, but I felt I had changed that. Elizabeth softened a little for him, but still glared at us with hostility. By association, I had tainted her brother with my corrupt practices. At least this meant she would have less of an influence on my prince even if she ended up being on Catherine's side, as written, though it was the very thing I was going to try and prevent.

"Thank you, Brother. But now, I have to go. I don't like being in the presence of filth."

Elizabeth looked directly at me, and I returned a smile. Very well, so this was how it was going to be. As the music for the first dance began, she turned and strode right out of the room, inciting a round of startled gasps and whispers.

I deposited my fiance with the nearest reliable lady and followed after her, through numerous turns and hallways, and finally into a small empty sitting room. She was stretched out on the couch, her shoes kicked off and her feet up on the armrest. Books and snacks were on the table, clearly prepared beforehand. She groaned and rolled her eyes as I glided in gracefully and sat down in a chair beside her.

"What a nice hole you have, Your Highness. A good thing it's so private, lest our people be distressed knowing their princess was living like a rat."

"Better than knowing their future queen is thoroughly an actual rat. You may be good at disguises, but the truth never stays hidden, not when there's so much scum."

"Oh? We'll see about that."

I caught myself before I returned an insult and questioned my life choices. Why must I do this? Surely, I was good enough by myself to not need her support in taking down Catherine? How could I possibly ask my pride to suffer that much?

Alas, my many nights of contemplation had reached a clear verdict. Fighting a scheming baron potentially allied with the royal family instead of my expectation of a white lotus female lead at best meant I needed all the support I could get, and the princess was almost as popular as me among commoners, perhaps because she actually cared about them.