Chapter 60
The hostess of the social circle was obviously the Empress Ageni, but there was a real head of state.
The Marchioness de Belfort.
The hostess positions of the five ducal families that were supposed to be occupied were already vacant, two on the estate and one abroad, so naturally the Marchioness de Belfort was able to dominate the social scene.
“Huhuhu, mother.”
“Leslie, stop crying.”
The Marchioness de Belfort was ambitious.
Ambitions to make her pretty daughter, Leslie, an Crown Princess with the connections and influence she had cultivated.
‘Very likely!’
Of the five duchesses, the first to be mentioned, there was only one young lady, and even she was flawed.
The Marchioness de Belfort had no doubt that she could make Leslie the Crown Princess.
“What on earth has happened to you to make you cry like this, my dear?”
It broke her heart to see her daughter sobbing so hard that her pretty face was puffy.
Leslie began to sob harder as her mother soothed her.
‘I can’t forgive you.’
Until that morning, Leslie had been the happiest child in the world. It was the tea party she’d been invited to for lunch that was the problem.
Sperom’s twins had appeared out of nowhere, still angelic and cute, but for some reason their eyes were cold and distant.
They both warned Leslie in a cheesy way.
“Moderation, Leslie.”
“Right, Leslie.”
“What did I do?”
The twins continued to pester Leslie.
“We know, Leslie.”
“You know it, Leslie.”
Leslie was frustrated.
She couldn’t understand why she deserved to be treated like this.
Why are they talking to her like she is bad?
And the twins?
Leslie liked twins, too.
‘They’re pretty.’
Her delicate, angelic appearance, as if she’d just stepped out of a holy fire, was enough to win everyone’s admiration. It was only a matter of time before she became a vicious accident.
“Arellirin is our dear friend.”
“She’s cute.”
“Anyway, if you keep that up, we’re going to get you.”
“Didn’t we warn you?”
Tears welled up in the corners of Leslie’s eyes again at the thought of the twins’ warning.
“Hwaaaah!”
“Why, why are you crying again. Leslie!”
Leslie threw herself into her mother’s arms.
“Mother, I hate you so much.”
When she finally stammered out the whole story of the day’s events, the Marchioness de Belfort drooled.
“The Sperom twins…”
The twins of the Sperom family, who control the wealth of the Empire, were a little difficult for anyone else.
The Sperom family is difficult, but the twins’ unpredictable temper is the most difficult to deal with.
But fortunately for the Marchioness, it wasn’t the twins that Leslie hated.
“It must have been Arellin who called me names in front of the twins, after acting so nice in front of me.”
“Arellin?”
“Well, she did it before-!”
Leslie rattled off the story of her humiliation by Arellin. How she’d tried to intervene and been shouted down.
“I want to humiliate her.”
Arelin Halbern, who has many flaws, is different from Sperom’s twin.
The Marchioness de Belfort smiled.
“Mother has an idea.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Leave it to me. My daughter.”
Leslie’s face lit up. Marchioness de Belfort beamed at the sight of her daughter, who looked so much like her.
“Don’t worry about it, my daughter, but think of the future. The Crown Princess is yours.”
Who else could sit in that seat but her daughter?
***
“Her Majesty the Empress sent me this.”
“A friendly exchange tea party for the children?”
The official letter Mehen held out was an invitation to an event he had never seen before.
Mehen made a pained sound.
“What is this?”
What’s wrong with it?
When you’re in a novel romance fantasy, it’s a party.
In the novel, social gatherings were the modern equivalent of social media, and while they were lightly motivated by fashion, information exchange, maintaining family prestige, honor, business, and connections…
“In a month’s time, the Founding Festival will begin.”
‘Big events like this are different.’
The novel has its signature events.
There’s the Founding International, the hunting tournament, the debutante, the Tanshin Party, the harvest festival, the jousting tournament, the tournaments, the religious events, the delegation reception, and so on.
These huge events cost a lot of money. The preparation period was also long.
“By then, the imperial family and the social circles will be busy, so His Highness the Crown Prince’s Collection Meetings will be on break for a while, so they’re planning to hold a light-hearted children’s tea party before then.”
“Aha.”
“The guests will be family members or guardians of the children.”
He was in the midst of making a nonchalant comment about how cute this was.
“…?”
The light-green eyes that looked at her today were filled with concern and worry.
“Why?”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“What?”
Mehen pursed his lips, trying to keep the words from falling out.
“Family, I mean.”
“Oh.”
He looked dumbfounded for a moment.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“You can leave it out if you want.”
Mehen seemed to be hoping for the latter.
“I’ll take care of it.”
As usual.
Her heart melted at the thought of Mehen acting as a shield for her.
“It will be an uncomfortable seat, Valar, and there will be no guests to invite, no. His Highness won’t be coming.”
Mehen did not tell me that ‘Dad’ would come, not even in empty words.
Better to crush her with his own hands than to give her false hope and cause her unnecessary disappointment.
It was very Mehen-like behavior.
‘This is why I was afraid of Mehen.’
It was harder to be scolded by a stubborn protector who was as stubborn as a knife, even if she now understood why.
“It’s okay.”
It’s comfortable to hide. It’s cosy to be protected. But…
It’s going to be hard on Mehen.
She didn’t want to hide behind Mehen, even though she knew better than anyone how capable he was.
‘There’s no reason to avoid him.’
She is grateful to Mehen for thinking of her as a dainty little girl, and she is sorry, but she doesn’t care if they bite, tear, taste, or lick her.
It’s a problem she can’t solve by avoiding it. She has to face it sometimes.
“I’ll just show up.”
“Arell…”
Mehen’s expression darkened sharply.
“I don’t see why you can’t invite someone. I have a family.”
“…!”
“Mehen is my mum.”
“But.”
“I’m inviting the Parenting Corps.”
Because you’re my guardians, too.
“Would Dylan like to come?”
“I’d be honored, Young Lady.”
She smiled at Dylan’s cheer reply. Still, Mehen’s expression remained stony.
“Mum.”
Arellin stood up and ran to him, throwing his arms around her.
She knows he cares about her, and it makes her feel good, even in this situation.
This kind of affection, this kind of concern, this kind of interest.
It’s the first time she ever felt such sincerity, which makes it all the sweeter.
Mehen really does care about her.
“There may come a time when I won’t be able to protect you.”
“But you’ll still be there for me.”
Mehen gives her a pained look.
“It’s really okay.”
Memories of her previous life come back to her, and she realizes that when she first saw Mehen’s face, she never thought they would be this close.
“All I need is Mehen.”
Mehen’s eyes wavered.
The way he pulled her into his arms was as careful as if he were handling glass.
“Arell…”
She reached out, her hands shaking unsteadily, chartreuse eyes peering into his.
Mehen’s cheek touched mine.
If this handsome young man is her mum, maybe this life won’t be so bad after all.
‘Even hell is still hell, and a fake family is also a family.’
You don’t have to be a family to be part of one!
“Mum, is it hard to raise me?”
Mehen answered softly.
“No. If anything, I’m afraid I’m getting out of hand.”
“You’re lying. You’ve been struggling.”
“…”
Mehen pursed his lips, not sure she could lie.
“Mum, do you hate me for not listening to you?”
Mehen’s face stiffened as he clung to her. She was surprised to see the hurt in his eyes.
“I was joking.”
“You said that.”
Barely able to get the words out, Mehen demanded in a fearsome tone.
“Don’t ever say that again.”
It’s weird, he’s so angry and she feels so good.
“Yeah. I won’t.”
“You promised.”
“Yeah.”
Hugging her again, Mehen sighed deeply.
“I don’t know why Her Majesty the Empress Ageni would have planned this.”
Isn’t this a dangerous thing to say?
She looks at him, worried that he’s going to take her away, but Mehen strokes her hair with a little less force.
“If at any time, you want out, just let me know. Do you understand?”
She smiled at the reassuring words.
Wow, I’ve got one.
