“Luna, the dress looks very good on you. The colors are bright too.”
“…”
“Who did your hair?” said Irik in the carriage.
But Luna just looked out the window without answering.
What’s wrong with her? It was a day she had been looking forward to, but Luna seemed to be in a bad mood.
“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been looking forward to today.”
“No. I’m just a little tired from getting ready early in the morning. “ Luna, shaking her head, was staring at something the whole time.
“By the way, Brother.”
“Yes?”
“How wide and nice would it be inside that carriage His Grace is riding in?”
It was the carriage in which Duke Felicite and Siani were riding. The magnificent carriage showed the prestige of the Felicite family. The emblem of the goddess’s arrows and wings was majestic, and the large waving flag was overwhelming.
“Will there be a day when I can ride that carriage too?”
“Our carriage is very nice now too.” Irik opened his mouth as if to appease. “Think about when we lived in an orphanage. Did you ever expect the day would come when we would wear such nice clothes and attend a formal meeting?”
“…”
“Now, no matter what anyone says, we’re family of the duke. I help His Grace as his confidant, and you listen to him as an adopted daughter.”
Sometimes, the two talked about the past.
Every time we did that, Luna, we really got ahead of ourselves, right? He threw a joke and gave a maritime smile. However,
“I don’t want you to talk about it anymore.”
“…Uh?”
“Why do you keep bringing up those pathetic times?”
For a moment, Irik, who was dazed, could not give any answer.
“Right, thanks to you, we are alive like this.”
Luna, who was silent for a moment, spoke. “Then what are we doing? Until now, Brother has been acting as His Grace’s successor, and I have been acting as His Grace’s daughter…”
At the same time, her eyes became cold. “But we’re still Lev, not Felicite.”
“Luna!”
“We have often gone out with His Grace in the meantime.”
“…”
“But His Grace has never once let us ride in the Felicite family’s carriage.”
Irik felt his fingertips numb. He never thought Luna, who always smiled and said she was grateful for the present, would be thinking like this.
“But older sister…” Then Luna’s expression became strange. “After spending the past decades locked in her room and doing nothing.”
“Luna, what are you talking about?”
“If she wants, she can hold His Grace’s hand like that whenever, right?”
Luna’s gaze again turned to Duke Felicite’s carriage, which was visible outside the window. Her always kind gazes were nowhere to be found.
“Older sister really looks beautiful today.”
In her mind, Siani’s appearance was reflected in detail from head to toe.
“How can she be so elegant when she’s just wearing a red dress with no jewels?”
“…”
“How is her golden hair, flowing down to her waist, so beautiful?”
Luna suddenly turned her head and stared straight at Irik. “Brother thought that too, right?”
“That’s…”
Irik pursed his lips.
Luna smiled at Irik, who couldn’t say no. She already knew that as much as her older brother hated Siani, he also admired her.
“Especially that ruby necklace.”
“…”
“Even if I combined everything I have together, it’s not even worth one of older sister’s necklaces.”
Luna let out a shallow sigh mixed with exclamation. “The things older sister has are really, really beautiful.”
“But Luna, the servants follow you more than Siani. Everyone loves the way you smile.”
“Pfft, really, Brother. No matter how pretty I smile, will I be able to keep up with older sister’s smile?”
The sight of Luna laughing at him was very unfamiliar to Irik.
“Ah, by the way, Brother.” As if something occurred to her, Luna clasped her hands together. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“…A favor?”
Undoubtedly, Luna’s eyes touched Irik’s neck.
“Underground castle.”
To be exact, it was the small key hanging around Irik’s neck.
“Now that His Grace has given you the underground castle keys, there must be only three.”
“…”
“Since Brother has one of them, I can meet Norma too, right?”
* * *
“Why don’t you wear this? The banquet hall is so large that the air will be cold.”
“It will cover the dress Bergman worked so hard to prepare, Father.”
The Duke offered me his coat all the way out of the carriage and into the Grand Duchy.
“If you catch a cold, you’ll suffer.”
“Father, it’s summer.”
“Summer colds are scary.”
That coat is so ugly. I was going to wear it out of sincerity, but what is this? It was like a combat uniform suitable for going to war right away. Alas, he’s a duke who didn’t care what he wore when walking around…
Seeing this, I wondered if he didn’t like it at all. “Don’t I look pretty today? You said I’m beautiful.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. Today you look like you came down from heav-, cough.”
The duke seemed to be about to offer a compliment, but he seemed to change his mind because he was embarrassed.
“Anyway, remember that everyone except me is a wolf, Siani.”
“…Wolf?”
“They especially will have a way of pissing you off by mentioning your mother.”
Then, he glanced at the vassals of the grand duke, who were guiding us, as if he was displeased. “Doesn’t that guy keep looking at you?”
The grand duke’s vassal shrugged his shoulders at the chilling look in his eyes. “…Haha. I-I just simply followed the order to bring His Grace and Princess through a passage that only grand duke goes through.”
At that time.
“Who is this? Duke Felicite.”
Someone who seemed to have been waiting for us walked in.
“Oh, Princess Felicite.”
He was a middle-aged man with a tall physique and soft eyes.
“Greetings to Grand Duke.”
It was Grand Duke Benio. The person who almost became my father-in-law but then abandoned me.
“It’s been so long, Princess. But how could you…”
Grand Duke Benio looked genuinely embarrassed when he saw me. He never revealed his true feelings in the original work, but he seemed to be surprised.
“You’ve changed a lot since I haven’t seen you, Princess. This must be why Ash can’t help but feel anxious!”
Ash is feeling anxious? I got goosebumps just hearing it but smiled as best as possible.
“I also heard that Princess is active in the capital these days.”
“That’s too much praise.”
I thought I had a pretty strong stomach for smiling in front of someone who had almost become my father-in-law.
“Duke Felicite, thank you for coming. You must be glad that your daughter is so beautiful.”
It was the same with Grand Duke Benio. He smiled gently, seeming to have forgotten about the past.
“Did you just realize that now?”
On the other hand, the Duke’s answer was cold. He was an indifferent person who didn’t know how to pretend.
“Why did Grand Duke come all the way here in person?”
“They say Duke Felicite’s family is coming, so of course I have to come out and greet them. And…”
Grand Duke paused for a moment.
“There’s also a story I would like to share closely with Duke.”
A story to share closely?
“Wouldn’t it be better to allow the young people to enjoy the first part? I will take care of Duke.”
Then, the Grand Duke beckoned into the darkness. “Take the Princess to the inner parlor. You’ll have to serve her as best as you can until the party starts.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The woman who walked from there greeted me politely. She seemed to be a high-ranking maid serving the Grand Duchy.
“Duke, please come with me to my room. We’ll use a private passage to get there, so it won’t be crowded.”
“But.”
At parties, it was common for the head of the family to have separate seats. However, the duke seemed reluctant to leave me alone.
“I’m fine, Father. The party will be chaotic from the beginning.”
Of course, I knew what the Duke was worried about. However, as the grand duke said, it would have been better for me to attend the first part alone. Because I didn’t know what villains would be waiting for me.
“I can meet you in the second part after you finish talking with His Excellency. Daisy is also waiting over there.”
Daisy and our family’s bodyguard were also standing a few steps away.
“Okay. Then, let’s do it.”
When I said it was okay, the Duke seemed to have no choice.
“Let’s go, Duke.”
“Still, you should wear this coat.” But until the end, he couldn’t give up his lingering feelings about the ugly combat coat.
“Go ahead, Father. You can’t keep His Excellency waiting.”
I saw him off almost as if I were pushing him back. Eventually, the duke left after saying he would meet me at the banquet hall.
“If you need anything, please let me know, Princess.” The maid was beyond polite. She led me into the parlor with perfect courtesy.
Even though it was the grand duke’s private parlor, it seemed like no one would come there except me.
“Can I get you some lukewarm water? The water temperature is about 24 degrees Celsius?”
“Yes. I will prepare it immediately.”
“Ah, I’m sensitive to scents. It would be nice to float some herb leaves on the water.”
“Ah… The rosemary.”
“No. I would like some young hyssop leaves, please.”
“Pardon? H-hyssop?”
“Young hyssop.”
Since it’s not a commonly used herb, there’s no way it would have been prepared in the parlor. She’ll have to go to the main building’s kitchen to get it, so it’ll take at least a few minutes.
“Can you go quickly? I really need to drink that water during this time.”
Since I was aiming for that anyway, I applied subtle pressure.
“My maid and escort are waiting outside, so it won’t be a problem.”
“I understand. T-then, please wait a moment, Princess.” The maid, who hesitated, eventually walked out the door quickly.
She’s finally gone. It was only after sending the maid out that I felt at ease. It was clear the grand duke put her on surveillance.
“But the grand duke took my father to talk about something.”
In fact, the duke was someone I didn’t need to worry about. Rather, I felt sorry for the grand duke who ended up alone with the duke.
I looked at myself once again in front of a full-body mirror in the parlor. It was a shame that I had to go alone without an escort. I guess I can get escorted by Redian later.
Redian suddenly came to my mind. The thought of receiving his favor had already made me smile.
“Where is everyone going?”
But then.
What is it? Most people couldn’t go in and out of this here.
The parlor door opened, and someone walked in. At first glance, he was a man of great status.
“Who…”
Is he a member of the imperial family? If he’s a high-ranking noble, there’s no way I wouldn’t know about it. There was no evidence of his identity on the clothes he wore. It seemed like he was intentionally trying to hide his identity.
“Why is Lady here alone?” The man tilted his head and smiled.
Wait, come to think of it… Doesn’t he resemble the statue built in the central square?
It’s interesting how Irik seems much more thankful than Luna, who we have seen depicted as the picture of grace. It’s funny how Irik has treated Siani tho, very ungratefully if you ask me.