They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 373: I Won’t Force You

Outside the grand coronation hall, the velvet lined doors closed behind them with a soft, echoing thud, silencing the murmurs and music of nobility within.

The torch lit hallway was quieter, cooler, but the tension between Abel and Jane burned hotter than ever.

Abel didn’t say a word at first. He just kept walking, his grip on Jane’s wrist firm but not rough, his jaw tight. Jane, still fuming, tried to shake him off.

“What are you doing?” she snapped. “You saw how she was eating and hiding, how can that be a princess?!”

Abel finally stopped and turned around, his eyes dark with something Jane rarely saw on his face, disappointment.

“Do you even hear yourself right now?” he said, his voice low but cutting. “That was the second princess. Nnenna. And you humiliated her, in front of the entire continent.”

Jane flinched.

“But, but I thought she was—”

“You thought?” Abel scoffed bitterly. “You thought, so you screamed at her like a market thug? You made a scene in the crown prince’s coronation ball, Jane. Do you even understand what that means?”

“I was just trying to help! I didn’t want anyone to get in trouble for bringing some, some impostor!”

Abel dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. “You weren’t helping anyone. You were loud, rude, and wrong. I regret ever letting you come.”

Jane’s eyes widened, stunned. “You… regret bringing me?”

He looked at her, no longer angry, but tired.

“Yes. I do.”

Jane took a step back, like the words had struck her physically. Her voice was smaller now. “You’ve never said that to me before.”

“Because you’ve never embarrassed me like this before,” Abel said, turning away. “You don’t listen. You never stop to look or think. You just act. And tonight, you humiliated yourself, and me.”

of the coronation began to swell again, muted by the doors but still echoing with grandeur. Inside was a world Jane no longer belonged to.

bit her lip, shame crawling up her throat like bile. “I… didn’t mean

was already walking away, not cruelly, but

sparkled once more as the tension from the earlier commotion

guests resumed mingling, assuming that whatever the Crown Prince had to deal

it wasn’t

standing near a tall, golden pillar lined with climbing roses, clearly ready to disappear again. She hadn’t touched another bite

as she sensed him approaching, her eyes flicked up, and her

yet

voice was calm, low, almost gentle, but there was something behind it. A

she could bolt again, Somto reached out, not to grab her, but

Their fingers touched.

But it

crystal flutes, their curiosity momentarily piqued, was that the Crown Prince asking his sister

talking, since they weren’t moving towards the dance floor. Maybe it was a casual chat to check if she was okay. After all, that brute girl was so

stiffened, her nervousness almost

at their joined hands, then up at his face. Somto’s

a dance

it seemed like it

what made

barely a whisper, “I

stung more than she meant it to, and she saw

immediately,

he said. His voice was even, but clipped. “I

somehow heavier now as he stepped back into the crowd. Guests watched him curiously, waiting for the music to change, waiting for the Crown Prince to pick someone and lead the dance that would signal the

Somto did not stop

walked right

that night, the room fell quiet again, not from drama,

was the Crown