My Fiancée Hates Me novel Chapter 46

"May I ask if there are assigned seats today?" I asked someone sitting near the door.

"Assigned seats in a conference room? There is nothing like that here," Prince Erik answered crisply.

...Weren't you the one who made assigned seats the first day?

I found his mood swing a bit odd but decided not to pry any further. It seemed like bad manners to ask.

A girl had come up from behind me and began walking towards the seat I had sat at the other day.

"I suppose that His Highness will not mind if I sit by your side today," she said in a high-pitched voice.

"Your perfume is too much," Prince Erik replied. "It is annoying, so move to a seat over there," Prince Erik pointed towards a seat more than four seats away.

He must be in a really foul mood to outright reject her like that.

"But! Your High–"

"If this is a game to you, then leave," Prince Erik said crisply.

The girl moved to the seat. It seemed that she would almost into tears. I almost pity her...

Prince Erik has been kind to me, so I almost forgot about this side of him. I had forgotten that he could be mean when he wanted to.

"Are you not going to sit, Lady Arielle?" Prince Erik asked me in a less sharp tone.

Lady Arielle?

"I apologize for blanking out," I said as I quickly looked around for a seat.

"...Just sit here," Prince Erik said as he pointed to the seat right next that he rejected to the girl earlier.

Seeing as though he asked me himself, I had to take the seat anyways. The saddened girl had begun to look at me with contempt.

How uncomfortable...

"Thank you for your benevolence, Your Highness," I told him before I sat down.

Again, I am sitting close to him...

I wonder why he seemed different today. Was it that we were taking too long or our ideas were not good enough for his tastes?

"I have gone over the budget with the people on bridge maintenance with the builders and have come up with a design," he said as he handed out a few sheets of architecture design. "You may all point any flaws that you may have against the design."

Upon closer inspection, I noticed some problematic areas that could be detrimental to the design and circled the areas and placed some notes by them on how to improve them.

Everyone else nodded in agreement that there was nothing to change. Seeing the group act like that, made me hide my paper away slightly. I can always present my paper after everyone leaves...

"The ongoing issue from last week then...We have leftover budget from fixing up the bridge. Seeing as though I was able to get building material at a much lower cost, it is even higher," Prince Erik said as he straightened the pile of papers on his desk.

The girl from earlier rose her hand.

"I believe that we should put the money towards the upcoming dance," she suggested.

She seemed proud of her suggestion from how she puffed up her chest.

Prince Erik glared at her.

"The budget for the dance already exceeds what we originally planned for due to the expensive orders of imported delicacies that were approved without my knowledge. There is no way that I am putting more money towards the upcoming dance."

The other day, he would only give one worded rejections or short rebuttals. His words today are like a blade.

A girl with straight long light brown hair, light green eyes, and a large pink flower ornament in her hair raised her hand. She seemed calm and refined in her movements. She was the only one absent the other day, so it was my first time hearing her speak. However, she feels familiar...

"I believe that we should add more light fixtures around the towns for as crime deterrents," she said.

Areas that had better lighting reportedly had lower crime rates. As for if they were related, no one could really make sure...

I was surprised that someone else shared my ideas of public safety.

"That is an excellent idea, Lady Elsie, but that would go under a different budget like public safety."

Elsie! A relative of Senior Glen Elsie?

She smiled in my direction. My heart thumped for a moment. The clan produces beautiful people as well.

I held my face for a moment to calm down.

"What should we do with the leftover budget?" Prince Erik asked. "Any ideas?"

The ideas that were presented suited only the benefit of other nobles. Lady Elsie decided to take a break with some tea. Occasionally, she would side with Prince Erik's decision and add on her own thoughts.

What an amazing young lady...She could have the capacity to become a Queen herself.

When I thought that, my heart began to hurt.

I am fine as long as the person he marries is anyone but Kaya Ouchi...

"Nothing..."

As expected, most of the ideas were placed to benefit the nobles. The student council held the same power as government officials of this island. Unfortunately, nobles are often closed minded towards matters that are outside of their expertise which include dancing and living in luxury...

"We should use the money to push the poor people out of their homes," Channing Wells suggested. "Lady Arielle is such a commoner pleaser...It would be difficult to continue looking over those people as long as they continue living there, right? Give them a bit of money and they will happily go away."

Again, he is putting out such an outlandish idea...

Even indirectly insulting me...