“Episode 26”
Early in the morning, what greeted me was none other than a pile of documents and letters.
I had to handle the aftermath of the preparations I had made before the founding festival ball.
‘It’s likely that Lucas won’t back down easily like he did yesterday.’
It would be great if he could just leave me alone like he has until now.
Why do people like him always cling to the bus that’s already left?
‘It’s not just because of Lucas; now that I’ve taken Solare Trading Company under my name, it can’t be helped.’
Until now, Lucas was the one handling things, but now I had to take care of them myself.
And then, my brother came to the capital as well.
‘He’ll become the marquis now.’
In fact, it was somewhat late. He would have inherited the title long ago if he had come to the capital, but he kept postponing his move.
Then suddenly, this spring, he decided to take the title and came to the capital in time for the social season.
‘He should have taken it earlier. Now it’s only inconvenient for me to have our terms overlap.’
I puffed out my cheeks slightly in dissatisfaction.
Our parents had already stepped back from the marquisate’s affairs about seven years ago.
They had even moved their residence to a villa in the southern part of the marquisate.
‘You’re old enough now to handle things on your own.’
They handed over all responsibilities to my brother and decided to live a relaxed life.
Of course, to me as well.
‘Live as you please, Alicia.’
It was somewhat irresponsible… No, they gave us a free life.
I wasn’t really hurt by it. I knew our parents weren’t the type to interfere much with their children.
And we were materially affluent, and they visited once a season, surprisingly.
‘And they send letters like this regularly.’
I chuckled at the familiar seal. Among the pile of documents and letters was a letter from my parents.
I started with what I expected to be a short letter from my father.
[To my daughter Alicia,
How is life in the capital? If it gets too bothersome, you can quit everything.
Cesare can handle it all.
Take good care of your health.]
My father’s letters never exceeded five lines.
And he told me to quit if I wanted to.
‘Father, your daughter is full of enthusiasm to mess with her childhood friend right now.’
Since moving to the capital, his letters had been more or less like this.
Although there were some incomprehensible ones occasionally.
One time, he just sent a map of the capital, and when I visited the marked spot, it turned out to be a shop selling uniquely designed scented candles.
I thought he might have wanted some, so I picked a few good ones for a gift, and I also bought some for myself because I liked them.
The scent was subtle, bringing peace to my mind, which I enjoyed.
Next, I opened my mother’s letter.
[Alicia,
With Cesare around, you’ll have more work.
If it gets too annoying, just run away.]
My parents were really a well-matched couple. They had such similar thoughts.
[It might actually be simpler to just not work at all.
Cesare might prefer that too.
He never liked you doing anything, did he?]
And my parents knew very well about the peculiar relationship between their children.
‘…My brother always looked displeased whenever I tried to do something.’
I sighed briefly.
‘Why are you doing this?’
When was it? When my brother came back from the academy after a long time, I had gathered flowers, braving my fear, to welcome him, only to hear those words.
I had hurt my hand on the thorns, but I endured the pain to gather them.
Of course, what I did as a child was clumsy and unsophisticated…
So when I apologized, he sighed again.
‘Why can’t he just trust me a little!’
I set my mother’s letter aside in a huff.
Though longer than my father’s, her letters never filled an entire page either.
The rest of her letter had the name of a shoemaker.
‘Seems like mother wants new shoes.’
I’ll have to order some new shoes for her soon.
With that thought, I started dealing with the documents in earnest.
*
After the founding festival ball, I wrote formal replies to the letters I sent out of curiosity and kept the belatedly arrived curses.
‘If they wanted me to break up with Lucas, they should have sent the letters sooner.’
Well, this will likely continue for about a week.
Since the prince and the knight left after the founding festival ball, late letter deliveries were inevitable.
Feeling a bit amused, the corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
The people who sent those letters didn’t bother to hide their handwriting, even though they omitted their signatures.
Finding out who they were wouldn’t be hard at all.
Finally, I opened the letter from the head of Solare Trading Company.
They must have been surprised to find out that I, not Lucas, was now the head.
[Things will be a bit easier to handle now.
I felt that something was different in the past few months.
I’ve sent some urgent approvals along, so please process them as soon as possible.]
The head of the trading company seemed to have had a tough time during the past few months when Lucas distanced himself from me, sending a letter full of minor complaints and a lot of work.
Among them, of course, was a request for funds from Count Chena’s household.
‘Of course, I’ll refuse.’
With a light flick of my hand, the documents started piling up neatly on one side of the desk, carried by a gentle breeze.
These were the pieces of information I had gathered with the help of wind spirits since before the founding festival ball.
My adorable spirits listen to people’s conversations on my behalf and record them for me.
“Thank you.”
As I thanked them for their hard work, they playfully tickled my ankles with a soft breeze as if they understood.
‘Nature over humans, any day!’
Such tranquility. Although the content of the documents was anything but peaceful.
Since the information recorded by the wind spirits was akin to a transcript, it was solely up to me to find the necessary details.
Rustle, scribble.
For a while, the room was filled with the sound of flipping through papers and jotting things down.
After several hours of this,
‘This should allow me to have some fun for a while.’
To the Countess Chena and others who sent me threatening letters, and those who mocked me because of Lucas.
Let’s all have some fun together.
The social season began with the founding festival ball.
Until now, I didn’t care what people said as long as Lucas was doing well.
‘Not anymore.’
I’m involved with Joshua, and my brother has come to the capital.
I couldn’t remain the naive provincial noble girl who followed Lucas to the capital without a clue.
‘That would disgrace both of them.’
Stretching, I moved my hands.
With the urgent matters settled, it was time to respond to the letters sent at dawn by a servant.
The wind spirit fluttered and responded.
“Yes, I’m going to talk to His Highness.”
A playful breeze passed through my hair.
Soon, a gentle voice accompanied by a small laugh reached my ears.
「I didn’t expect you to give me a heads-up.」
“Of course, this time is different from the last.”
Last time, I sent a spirit secretly to gather information at an ungodly hour…
‘I must observe proper etiquette.’
When I cleared my throat briefly, a small laugh came from the other side.
“I thought you might be worried. I was surprised to hear that you sent a letter as soon as you woke up, Your Highness.”
「Since you understand my feelings, please call me by my name.」
“Because Joshua seemed worried!”
I need to get used to it quickly.
He usually laughed things off, but he was oddly insistent on how I addressed him.
‘Lucas used to like it when I playfully called him Your Highness.’
Joshua doesn’t act like a typical prince.
As I mumbled to myself, Joshua let out a small laugh, which slowly subsided as he spoke in a serious tone.
「I was very worried. I stayed with you until the palace visiting hours ended, but I heard my brother went to the townhouse. I wished I could have taken you home.」
His voice was filled with concern.
Because of the palace visiting hours, I declined his offer to escort me further.
“There was nothing to worry about.”
「Somehow, I feel like you would say that even if something did happen.」
Why doesn’t he trust me on this?
I grumbled, slightly sulking.
“Really, nothing happened. There couldn’t have been.”
「Nothing at all?」
“Yes, because my brother is here in the capital.”
「I see.」
Joshua’s response was cheerful and understanding, which made me feel a bit strange.
‘Am I really that unreliable?’
Both my brother and Prince Joshua reacted the same way.
I sighed softly and added,
“Even if my brother hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been unable to handle it.”
It might have been somewhat drastic, but since it was within the townhouse, I could have silenced any rumors—
「I believe you could have, Alicia. But my worry isn’t because I don’t trust you.」
“Then, why?”
He seemed so relieved when I mentioned my brother was here.
「It’s because you are important to me.」
