The engagement banquet to be held at the royal palace was drawing near before anyone realized it.
As night began to fall that day, carriages one after another headed for the royal palace, crossing the bridge to the island in the middle of the lake and entering directly through its gates.
This scene continued for a long, long time, without stopping for several hours. It was easy to imagine just how many nobles were preparing to attend this engagement banquet.
Many citizens had deliberately come here to watch. Seeing the brightly decorated royal palace preparing to host an official engagement banquet, they felt deeply envious.
"I really want to go inside and have a look."
"Yeah."
"I heard Princess Roxie will be wearing a formal dress today."
"If only I could catch a glimpse of her."
"Stop dreaming. Princess Roxie is about to get engaged to Viscount Poztut—no, Count Poztut."
"B-But it's only an engagement, right?"
"That's right, only an engagement."
"Who knows? Maybe they'll suddenly call off the engagement later."
"Exactly."
Quite a few people chatted while clinging to such rather pathetic hopes, as though desperately grasping their final lifeline.
In the end, people still did not want to see Roxie marry another man.
Even if they could not have her themselves, they did not want anyone else to have her either. That was one of men's worst instincts.
As long as the Goddess belonged to no one, she belonged to everyone. Countless people harbored such thoughts.
Perhaps, even if Roxie truly got married, there would still be many people in this world who admired and adored her.
The Kingdom's Treasure would always be the Kingdom's Treasure, dearly loved by the people of the kingdom.
People could only admire that Princess while cursing Shien countless times in their hearts.