When we returned to the palace after a brief walk, Princess Louisa was in the lobby, surrounded by an array of shopping bags. As soon as we entered, the princess turned and waved enthusiastically.
“Oh! Brother, Duchess!”
Overjoyed, she quickly approached us.
“Were you out for a walk? I just got back too!”
I glanced at the pile of shopping bags over her shoulder and nodded.
“I heard you went out with the knights. Looks like you had a good time.”
“Yep! There’s a shopping district just a short walk from here. Since it’s a tourist spot, they have all sorts of unique things.”
Her cheeks were flushed, and she was chattering excitedly, clearly having enjoyed her outing.
“Wait a moment! I found something I really liked. I’ll show you.”
The princess darted back to the shopping bags and then quickly returned, holding something in her hands.
“Look at this! Isn’t it pretty?”
What she showed us were small accessories made from mother-of-pearl.
“They’re hair ornaments made from seashells. Aren’t they unique and beautiful? I guess they make things like this by the sea.”
So there were people in this world who did mother-of-pearl crafts too.
“It’s perfect timing. I was planning to show these to you, Duchess. If you have time, why don’t you come to my room and help me pick one out, and we can—”
The princess, who had been talking excitedly, suddenly paused, as if she had noticed something. Her gaze was fixed on the space between me and Ian.
“Princess?”
Following her gaze, I realized something that made me want to faint on the spot.
I was still holding hands with Ian.
“Oh my gosh.”
Startled, I yanked my hand away as if I’d been shocked by electricity. Though Ian released my hand without resistance, the princess’s eyes had already taken on a mischievous gleam as she stared at us.
“Hehehe.”
“…Princess?”
“On second thought, I think I’ll just keep this to myself! Yes, yes, after all, I’m turning fifteen in a few days. I can’t keep acting like I need a babysitter!”
‘Just a moment ago, you were practically begging me to hang out with you…’
I stared at her, bewildered by her sudden change in attitude.
“So don’t worry about me, you two!”
The princess winked at me playfully.
“Go on, go upstairs and enjoy your time together!”
She let out a loud laugh as she gave us playful nudges with her shoulders. Honestly, there wasn’t anyone as cunning as she was.
“Alright, I’ll be on my way!”
“Wait, Princess…”
Before I could stop her, she had already disappeared, heading off with her servants and their pile of luggage. As I watched her disappear, I couldn’t help but feel like I was seeing a glimpse of the emperor in her.
Still staring blankly at where she had been, I turned to look at Ian. He seemed just as stunned as I was.
“The princess is really… quite bold, like His Majesty, isn’t she?”
“You don’t need to sugarcoat it.”
“She’s also inherited His Majesty’s tendency not to listen to others.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Ian readily agreed, as if he had been waiting for me to say that. Then he turned to face me and met my gaze.
“Why don’t you go after her?”
“Go after the princess?”
“If you don’t have anything else to do back in your room.”
“Well, I don’t have anything pressing to do, but…”
I looked away from him and back toward the stairs the princess had gone up.
“I guess that’s for the best.”
I was afraid to leave her alone, wondering what sort of wild imagination she might come up with.
…Also, it was still awkward that we had been holding hands for so long.
I shrugged my shoulders and started walking.
“Well, I’ll see you later, Duke.”
“Yes.”
Ian responded politely, and I turned away. Somehow, I could still feel his gaze lingering on my back for a long time. Again.
I arrived at the second-floor bedroom and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
When I cautiously opened the door, I saw Princess Louisa sitting on the sofa in the living room, surrounded by shopping bags she was in the process of unpacking. She looked up at me with wide eyes.
“Oh? Why did you come back?”
“I’ve spent enough time with the Duke. I wanted to be with you, Princess. May I come in?”
She tilted her head, then waved me in with a smile.
“Well, since you’re here, come in.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed and stepped inside. The princess, narrowing her eyes as she scanned me up and down, mumbled mischievously.
“After all that effort to send you off…”
“…”
“Well, the night is long anyway.”
What is she talking about now?
I stared at Princess Louisa in disbelief, but she shrugged it off, pretending innocence.
“Come sit here. I was just going through the stuff I bought earlier!”
In the short time it took me to come upstairs, it seemed she had already gone through most of the unboxing. The low coffee table in front of the sofa was piled with empty shopping bags and paper boxes.
“These are shoes from the shoe store, and this is a bag I got from a souvenir shop. The design was so unique, I had to get it. Isn’t it pretty?”
She spread her arms wide, showing off her purchases.
“Yes, your taste is impeccable, as always, Princess.”
“Ahem! See, I knew the Duchess would appreciate it. Oh, and these are the hair ornaments I showed you earlier.”
The princess, still brimming with pride, cleared the table of the empty packaging and spread out the accessories she had in her hands.
They were all beautifully crafted from mother-of-pearl.
“Aren’t they gorgeous? I bought them because I wanted to have fun with you, Duchess!”
“With me?”
“Yeah! I’m going to wear a white and black dress for my birthday banquet, and I thought these would go perfectly with it.”
She then spent the next ten minutes enthusiastically describing how beautiful and extravagant her dress, made by Madame Zed, was.
“Anyway, you have great taste, Duchess. I’d love to get your opinion on which one I should wear to the banquet.”
So that’s what she meant by wanting to have fun together—she wanted me to be her temporary stylist.
“I’d be honored. Should I help you try them on one by one?”
The princess lit up at my response.
“Yes! Do you know how to style hair, Duchess?”
“I’m not a professional, but I can handle simple hairstyles.”
“Perfect! Let’s head to the powder room right now.”
The princess jumped off the sofa and grabbed my hand, leading me along. The maids, who had been waiting silently by the wall, quietly followed us, carrying the accessories.
We arrived at the dressing table, which had three mirrors attached. The princess plopped down into the chair.
“Of course, I’ll look beautiful no matter what I wear, but since it’s my birthday banquet, I want to look the absolute best I can!”
Her eyes sparkled brightly as she looked at me through the mirror. Just moments ago, she had been acting mischievous like a forty-year-old man, but now, she was every bit the young girl she was supposed to be.
“Well then, let me show you my skills.”
I playfully rolled up my sleeves, matching her energy.
We spent quite some time together, trying on different accessories and hairstyles. Then, all of a sudden, the princess spoke up.
“The Duke came because you convinced him, didn’t he?”
Caught off guard, I paused while picking the next accessory and looked up. The princess was watching me through the mirror, and our eyes met. She shrugged lightly.
“There’s no way my brother would have agreed to come on holiday so easily. Normally, he wouldn’t have even bothered to listen.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
“I only gave a little nudge. The Duke made the decision himself.”
“The Emperor—sorry, I mean, His Majesty—said that you were held hostage to persuade him.”
So the emperor had already spilled the beans. Both the emperor, who casually admitted to holding me hostage, and the princess, who nonchalantly relayed it to me, seemed like they were perfectly in sync.
“Well, yes…”
In the end, I could only respond with an awkward smile.
The princess laughed softly, scrunching up her nose.
“Actually, I wanted to thank you, Duchess.”
“Thank me?”
“Yes. I’ve always had a distant relationship with my brother since I was little. According to Her Majesty, we used to be close before I was born, but after that, he rarely visited the main palace and stayed mostly in the second palace.”
“Oh.”
There was quite an age gap between the princess and Ian, so by the time she was born, he was probably already preparing to inherit the dukedom.
Realizing this, I let out a small exclamation.
The princess, who had been scratching her nose, smiled brightly.
“But thanks to you, my brother came to celebrate my birthday with me, didn’t he? Even though it might have been half because of you, he still gave me a gift.”
She giggled shyly, and I silently cursed Ian in my head.
‘How could you call such an adorable sister “irrelevant,” you jerk Ian.’
“But you know…”
While I was internally berating Ian, the princess subtly glanced at me. Her indigo-blue eyes gleamed mischievously.
“What’s really going on between you two? Why were you holding hands like that? Are you dating?”
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