Pristin bit her lip without even realizing it.
“I think it would be better to leave separately.”
“Why? We’re going the same way anyway.”
“Because of the public’s gaze.”
“Why?”
Jerald looked at Pristin with a piercing gaze.
“Are you afraid of rumors?”
“If I said I wasn’t, I’d be lying.”
“You are overly conscious of the empress candidates.”
“One of them may become your consort.”
“You’re mistaken, Pristin. I’m still single.”
Jerald narrowed his eyes slightly, reminding Pristin that her worries were unnecessary.
“There’s no rule that the empress has to be chosen from the candidates. There are plenty of precedents where that didn’t happen. Most people in the palace know that.”
“…”
“There’s no need to feel unnecessary guilt. Becoming an empress candidate is already a significant honor for their family, and they might even get extra points for marriage. It’s like a trophy.”
Pristin was well aware of that as well.
‘…In fact, what I said earlier was just an excuse.’
Deep down, she wanted to avoid getting closer to him.
If she got any closer to him, her emotions would become uncontrollably stronger. It felt like she would fall in love with him all over again, making her past wounds seem insignificant.
Pristin was afraid that it would truly happen to her.
“…Earlier.”
Then, Jerald started a different topic in a slightly subdued voice.
“When I heard that story, I felt guilty.”
Pristin looked at Jerald as if asking what he meant.
“After we broke up and met again, I promised that I would never hurt you again. I swore to God that I would protect you no matter what happened.”
“…”
“But it feels like I’ve already broken that promise.”
“Your Majesty.”
Pristin quickly opened her mouth in a flustered voice.
“No one, not even Your Majesty, could have prevented what happened this time. Please don’t blame yourself unnecessarily.”
“But…”
“I mean it, Your Majesty. It was natural that Princess Gennant was nominated for empress, and Your Majesty can’t stop her from plotting. Unless Your Majesty is a god. So don’t talk about that any more.”
After finishing speaking, Pristin naturally furrowed her eyebrows.
“You seem to blame yourself a lot in situations that can’t be helped. Have you always been like this?”
“…”
At that, Jerald smiled knowingly. The smile somehow appeared sorrowful, making Pristin feel uneasy and uncomfortable.
“And I can protect myself. Look, I handled this situation well, didn’t I?”
“But I can’t help feeling sorry…”
“Shh.”
Pristin brought her index finger over Jerald’s lips as if she didn’t want to hear more. Jerald was quite surprised by the sudden action, but Pristin didn’t seem to notice.
“Let’s stop talking about this, Your Majesty. It’s already in the past. And…”
“…”
“Pristin?”
It was only then that Pristin noticed something strange and narrowed her eyes. Soon, she realized what she had done and her face quickly paled.
She quickly distanced herself from Jerald.
“I, I’m sorry.”
“No, you didn’t need to apologize.”
His voice sounded strangely pleasant.
“I actually feel like giving you a reward now…”
“Anyway.”
Pristin cleared her throat awkwardly and returned to the original topic.
“I hope you won’t hold unnecessary emotions, Your Majesty. If you don’t want me to feel uncomfortable.”
“All right. Understood.”
For some reason, Jerald felt pleased that she was speaking like that, as if taking care of him. He smiled for a while and then spoke again.
“A diplomatic envoy from the Perk Empire is scheduled to arrive in a month.”
Upon hearing the name she hadn’t heard in a long time, Pristin found herself momentarily speechless.
“From the Perk Empire?”
“Yes.”
Jerald looked at Pristin and asked.
“You can speak Perkian, right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you handle the reception for the envoys’ wives this time?”
Surprised by the unexpected proposition, Pristin asked with a bewildered face.
“You mean me?”
“Yes.”
“But that…”
Pristin answered with a perplexed expression.
“Usually, it is customary for the empress to handle the reception for the envoys’ wives. If I, who is not even a empress candidate, take on such a significant task…”
“I’ve said this before, but candidates are just candidates.”
Jerald casually replied.
“I already looked into it. None of the candidates can speak Perkian.”
“…”
“If someone fluent in Perkian handles the reception, it will surely be beneficial diplomatically. Pristin, please.”
It was harder to refuse a request for official duties than for personal ones. However, even if it wasn’t the empress, someone equivalent to her position in the court usually handled the reception for the envoys’ wives, so Pristin couldn’t help but feel awkward.
“There are actually few people in the empire who know Perkian.”
It was true that Pristin, whose mother was from the Perk Empire, was fluent in Perkian. And, Perkian was known to be difficult to learn.
In the end, Pristin nodded her head after thinking about it.
“I understand, Your Majesty. But I’m not yet familiar with the palace’s protocols, so I’m worried about potentially committing diplomatic courtesy mistakes.”
“There’s no need to worry about that. Madame Korsol knows more about this field. I’ll inform her.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
After it was decided that Pristin would handle the reception for the Perk Empire envoys’ wives, her speaking decreased significantly. Perhaps she felt the burden of such a heavy duty, Jerald encouraged her with a gentle voice.
“My mother became an empress at a young age and the first thing she did was to entertain the envoys. But she did well.”
“…”
“You are intelligent and mature. And you are fluent in Perkian, so you will surely do better than even my mother.”
“I’m embarrassed to hear such a comparison, Your Majesty.”
“But I really think you will. I believe you can do it.”
Jerald smiled faintly and slowly stopped walking. Only then did Pristin realize that they had already reached Camer Palace.
“Anyway, don’t worry too much and I hope you will do it. I know this is a burden for you, but I’m begging you.”
“…Yes.”
“Yes. You must have had a difficult day today, so rest well.”
With that concise farewell, Jerald turned around and immediately headed towards the central palace.
Watching Jerald’s figure move further away, Pristin felt a strangely unfamiliar feeling when she realized that he was heading straight to the central palace without asking if he could go to Camer Palace.
As she continued to silently gaze at his receding back, Pristin couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret. Normally, he would have asked if he could drop by Camer Palace before going to the central palace.
But just as she was starting to feel a sense of regret, Pristin suddenly shook her head in disbelief.
“…You’re crazy, Pristin.”
It was undoubtedly because she had felt too much pressure from the request she had just received from Jerald. Pristin forcefully slapped her cheeks twice to regain her composure, and then quickly walked into the palace.
Fortunately, by the time she returned to her chambers, her cheeks had regained their normal color.
“You’re here, Your Highness. You’re later than I expected.”
Aruvina, who was guarding Camer Palace, greeted Pristin carefully. Pristin nodded awkwardly and told Aruvina about the events at the princess’s palace.
Aruvina seemed slightly surprised at first upon hearing that the emperor and the princess were informed of the incident, but soon she encouraged Pristin as if saying she did well.
“It’s better to hear it from your own mouth than from someone else’s. After all, it’s not something that they won’t find out eventually.”
“Yes, that’s why I just came clean and told them everything. But more importantly…”
Pristin lengthened her ending words as if implying that what comes next is important.
“Next month, will we have a delegation from the Perk Empire?”
“Oh, yes. There is a visit scheduled by the envoy for trade issues, but why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“His Majesty asked me to handle the reception for the envoys’ wives.”
“Oh my, His Majesty?”
“Yes.”
“You know how to speak Perkian?”
Pristin asked in amazement.
“How did you know?”
“Well… unless there was a significant reason, the countess would have declined this task.”
“…”
As expected, Aruvina was sharp-minded.
“Languages as difficult as Perkian are rare. I tried to learn it but gave up halfway, so I can’t use it now. It’s surprising that you learned Perkian.”
“My mother was from the Perk Empire.”
“Oh, I see!”
Aruvina shouted as if she did not know, and soon looked carefully at Pristin’s expression and said.
“Well, looking at your unusually beautiful eyebrows, it’s not really surprising.”
Long and lush eyebrows compared to other ethnicities were one of the characteristics of the people of the Perk Empire.
“Well, I’m glad you can speak Perkian. I’m sure the envoys’ wives will appreciate it.”
“But I’m still not fully knowledgeable about palace etiquette, so I’m worried that I might unintentionally offend them.”
“There’s no need to worry about that at all, Countess. Etiquette exists before palace etiquette. Considering your character alone, it’s highly unlikely that there will be any problems.”
Aruvina reassured Pristin with a confident voice as if to trust herself.
“I will make sure you are well-informed about everything else until the day the envoys arrive from the Perk Empire. Don’t worry too much.”
“Thank you, Madame Korsol.”
“But I am worried about one thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“When people find out that the countess is hostess for the envoys’ wives, I’m afraid she might say something.”
Aruvina muttered, looking worried.
“Other candidates have become friendly with the countess today, and they may not think of such evil thoughts, but…”
“Are you talking about Princess Gennant?”
“Yes. I hope she doesn’t hold a grudge and do something foolish because of today’s incident.”
“If she were to commit such an act and it was exposed, it wouldn’t simply end with her being removed as a candidate.”
Pristin dismissed Aruvina’s concerns with a tone that told her not to worry too much.
“From my perspective, Princess Gennant is not someone who would recklessly interfere with diplomatic matters. Even if she holds a grudge and schemes something because of today’s incident, at least it won’t be related to this particular matter.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. If this matter goes wrong, the Gennant family will also suffer significant consequences.”
Pristin murmured in a low voice.
“I don’t think she is that foolish. We should hope for that.”
