The hot tea soaked my dress and legs, but it didn’t matter. I shouldn’t have shown myself shaking in front of Blake Ariandel. But her answer was more important than that.
“A very tall man with silver hair.
No, it can’t be.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
I grabbed my dress at that fact. Blake Ariandel’s servant came in and gave me something to wipe, but it felt rather cumbersome.
“Do you know anything else?””
“No, I said almost everything.”
“…I see.”
I took a breath for a moment, covering my eyes with my palm. After doing that for a long time, my mind, which was about to be clouded, became clear again.
“I’m sorry. For showing my ugly side.”
“No. I was rather surprised that you were calmer than I expected.”
It might not have been her intention, but I was a little ashamed to think it was as if I had been teased.
Wait, she said she was close to the former minister. I never thought of it, but if I used it well, I could get more information. I could use it if I made a deal with Blake Ariandel. As she said, the former minister was very close to the previous emperor and the current emperor.
I completely suppressed my emotions and got up from my seat.
“I heard you well. The deal is established.”
Then Blake Ariandel just looked up at me. Shouldn’t she like it if it’s established? It didn’t matter.
With the intention of going back, I completely turned my back on her.
“I have absolutely no intention of becoming a crown princess. Even if Sister can’t stop me.”
“…”
“Just in case you care.”
Those words reminded me of what I had said to Valery that day. My mouth felt bitter. There were many better ways, but this was the most childish of all.
“…I don’t care about that.”
“I knew you would care.”
“Anyway, I…”
I tried to speak, but I decided not to.
“I will find you when the time comes.”
“Yes. If Sister needs anything, you can find me like today.”
I meant to find her when her request was over, but she seemed to have misunderstood it. Well, since I might need it, I don’t think I need to refuse right away, so I nodded roughly and returned to the mansion.
Chapter 7. Secrets and Triggers That You Want To Keep Hidden
“…”
After I returned, I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, idly killing time. Suddenly, when I came to my senses, I heard a knock on the door from outside for a long time. Even after noticing it for a moment, I heard another knock. They will go back if I haven’t heard it once or twice, but what’s the matter?
“Come in.”
It was Ian who opened the door and came in. He had something in his hand.
“I’m sorry. I thought I should deliver this right away.”
“It’s okay. What is it?”
“A letter has arrived for Lady.”
“From the second prince?”
I reached out my hand familiarly. Ian, who had a somewhat stiff expression, said, passing the letter. “A letter from the Marchioness Segbay.”
“…Marchioness Segbay?”
I’ve never met her before though?
“She’s the empress’s person. She had been living as the empress’s exclusive servant for quite some time.”
“Ah… I see. It must have been sent by the empress.”
“It seems so.”
Listening to Ian’s words, the reason for the existence of this letter became clear.
That’s right. There was no way she would leave me alone after the fox hunting as she had been keeping an eye on me. I thought this was the time for her to move. No, it was rather a late move.
I knew it was a natural price as I put my head into the lion’s mouth while trying to avoid a tiger. On the contrary, I should say thank you for inviting me in such a polite way. I opened the envelope without delay.
“Tea time…”
However, according to the standard, the name of the empress’s palace or even the name of one of the imperial palaces would have been written, but the location wasn’t written. The letter was really addressed to Blake Ariandel, but did it mean she wanted me to meet Valery secretly? Indeed, the letter itself was sent by borrowing the hand of an exclusive servant, so it was even funnier to think about it.
I was lost in thought for a moment, pressing down on my temples. The meaning of this letter was that she wasn’t happy at all. I wondered how far the empress had found out. I couldn’t even guess why she wanted to meet me. No one had yet to dig deep into Blake Ariandel. Except for Valery and Blake Ariandel herself.
Was it simply because of Blake Ariandel’s relationship with his son or whether she wanted to meet my real existence on her own? If it’s the latter, wouldn’t I die as soon as I get there? She might even think about getting rid of me.
Her character was reputed to be warm, docile, and wise, but she wasn’t like that at all when with Lucellai Rudbihi. I expected a reaction from either side, but when I received it, the risk of me dying seemed to have come.
If the empress knew about my real existence and things escalated, then what about the promise I made to Valery… I had no intention of stopping what I started and did to stop my mother. But I intended to hide as much as possible until I left him.
I was thinking about whether there was a good way, and suddenly realized what I was thinking, and I laughed in vain.
“I must really be crazy now.”
I’m worried about my own life.
“Yes?” Ian asked with a questioning look at the words that burst unknowingly.
“Nothing. I’ve been thinking about some useless things.”
Anyway, when I thought about it, I was already far from the fact that I had to tell my mother. Even so, this wasn’t a problem that I could move on my own. Maybe it wasn’t just time to check something.
“Four days, four days…”
Fortunately, there was still some time left. Because the empress scheduled to meet me four days later when my schedule was empty. Feeling tired again, I held out a letter to Ian.
“…Send it to Sir Shubart.”
“Yes. Do you need anything else?”
“I will be taking a break until Sir Shubart contacts me, so don’t look for me unless there’s anything special.”
As Ian went out, I felt like my head was about to explode, so I lay down on my back and covered my forehead with the back of my hand. Something around my neck felt itchy, so I groped my neck with one hand. A small, acorn-shaped pendant the size of a pinky fingernail was caught.
“I’ve been doing this.”
I didn’t wear jewelry unless I had to dress up, especially for a banquet or tea party, but somehow I’ve been wearing this around my neck for two days.
What shape was it? It was a simple shape that could not be found as a jewel, hardened with resin with a small feather inside. Even the tiny feather inside it was unknown what kind of bird it was.
I remembered picking it up inadvertently because it looked like a pumpkin, probably because of the orange lights that were turned on all over the night market. I’ve been wearing this around my neck.
I thought of Valery, who was seriously putting on the necklace I had chosen casually. Unlike our initial plan, the two of us had a rather dark atmosphere, but that was why we were able to be honest. It was pretty fun at the end though.
I remembered the day again.
* * *
“Be careful.”
“Get out of my way! It’s my turn!”
While following the loud noise, he shouted loudly, saying it was his turn, and almost bumped his shoulder with a person running like an arrow. Just as I was about to bump into the stranger, a large hand caught my shoulder and almost hugged me, but fortunately, I didn’t bump into the stranger at all.
It was a stranger who jumped out of nowhere to the extent that I couldn’t avoid him, but I looked up at Valery at his quick action.
“Have you been watching?”
“Yes, wait… are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I didn’t know someone would pop out of nowhere.”
“I think it’s better to go there when there are fewer people.”
People were flocking in an instant to see if there was anything else to see besides the person who ran. I didn’t know it would be this crowded, even though it was a noisy night market.
“Then shall we watch something else?”
We began to walk in the opposite direction of the crowded place. Due to the crowds on one side, the other side seemed rather quiet. I was walking next to him, fearing bumping into a stranger again. He carefully interlocked his fingers into my fingers. The warmth of his hand, which was unusually warm, quickly spread.
“I want to walk hand in hand.”
“…You’ve already done it though?”
As I raised my hand to show it, he smiled shyly. I smiled at him, looked down again, and saw our hands holding each other. As I was walking, there was a little more crowd, so when I was about to let go of his hand, the hand that was holding me undoubtedly gave more power.
When I saw him paying attention only to me, I suddenly realized I had forgotten what to say.
