PRKE 34

 CHAPTER 34………………………………………………..

After finishing my preparations to go to the princess’s palace, I came down to the first floor. Jenny slipped a pair of white lace gloves onto my hands.

“I went to every shop I know and picked the prettiest pair. With these, you won’t lose out at all even compared to the other young ladies!”

Jenny, I’m not entering a beauty contest.

Seeing Jenny’s solemn face, where excitement and tension coexisted, I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

Although I had taken charge of managing the count’s household in Hubert’s stead, I was far removed from high society.

Because Mrs. Emerne insisted that my background as a former maid diminished my dignity, there were countless times when I couldn’t attend even if I received an invitation.

Watching Mrs. Emerne and Aris head out dressed to the nines while I stayed behind to guard the house had become my daily routine.

At first, invitations arrived out of curiosity and goodwill toward me, but their number gradually dwindled, and eventually I didn’t even receive one a month.

On the other hand, letters for Aris increased day by day.

Given that situation, it was understandable that Jenny was thrilled by the flood of invitations arriving lately.

“A tea party hosted by the princess, no less. The tea must be unimaginably fragrant, and the sweets delightfully sweet, right?”

“If they’re good, I’ll bring some back.”

“Huh? No, you don’t have to do that just for me!”

Jenny waved her hands in protest. I grinned, finding her adorable.

“If what the princess says is true and we’re practically one family, do you think she’d begrudge us a few cookies?”

“I-Is that so?”

Jenny clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. It was a nice sight.

When she had been serving an incompetent mistress, her face had always been clouded with worry and gloom, but these days Jenny looked like a girl her age—bright and carefree.

She had always been kind and diligent, but in her past life she’d suffered endlessly just because she’d met the wrong mistress.

If I could repay even a little of her effort, how could a few sweets matter? I could ask not just the princess, but even the king.

“Will it be all right to go together with Miss Aris?”

Jenny asked cautiously, suddenly worried.

“Oh, I didn’t mention that.”

“M-Mention what?”

“Well…”

Just then—

“Miss, the carriage is ready.”

A servant opened the front door and called out.

“I’m all ready too.”

Click, click. The sound of heels echoed on the stairs.

Aris was coming down, dressed to the nines. Georgiana followed behind her, looking utterly exhausted.

Even for small parties, Aris would turn the wardrobe upside down and put great effort into her preparations.

And this was a tea party hosted by the princess. One could only imagine how much fuss there had been. Just looking at Georgiana’s face made it clear.

“It’d be nice if Hubert were coming too, but of all days he has to leave for the west today!”

Hubert was a well-mannered and handsome scholar, quite popular in high society.

I’d heard there were many young ladies who envied Aris for always being escorted by Hubert at parties. I had been one of them in my past life.

“Everything’s ready, right? Is that all you’re wearing, sister?”

Aris looked me up and down, frowning.

“What’s with those mismatched gloves?”

Jenny shrank back, her gaze darting anxiously between my gloves and dress.

I brought my hand up in front of Jenny’s eyes, clenching and unclenching my fist.

“I like them.”

Her crestfallen face instantly brightened into a smile. It looked much better.

“Honestly, sister, you really need to cultivate your taste.”

“……”

“For now, let’s hurry. We’ve already wasted too much time getting ready.”

As Aris walked ahead of me, I spoke to her back.

“What should we do, Miss? It looks like it’ll be difficult for us to attend together.”

“…What?”

Aris spun around to face me.

“W-What do you mean by that?”

“Please read this. Someone from the princess’s palace came earlier and left it.”

When I handed her the pink stationery, Aris hurriedly began reading from the top.

Her expression, which said What nonsense is this?, darkened rapidly with each line.

I sidled up beside her and read the letter aloud.

“Although I am well aware of Miss Aris Dolencia’s reputation as a valuable asset to the kingdom, at today’s tea party I wish to engage in intimate conversation with like-minded friends. This will not be the last tea party, so I hope Miss Dolencia will attend the next one and grace the gathering.”

When I finished reading, I looked at Aris. Her face was turning red, then blue.

Put simply, it meant:

‘The princess says you shouldn’t come.’

Aris glared at me fiercely, clutching the letter as if she might tear it apart. I made my face look as apologetic as possible.

“……”

Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she pressed them tightly together.

With her beautiful face and her power over water, when had she ever been treated like this?

Even noble families more prestigious than the Lorenst household were eager to befriend her as a holy maiden.

Only a royal—more beautiful, with greater holy talent and bloodline than Aris—could have done this.

Perhaps it wounded her pride to even open her mouth and blame me. Aris thrust the letter back at me.

Thump!

More precisely, into my chest.

Temper, honestly.

Moments later, she stormed up the stairs with a loud bang-bang-bang. Georgiana, pale-faced, hurried after her.

As I smoothed out the crumpled letter that had been crushed against my chest, Jenny frowned.

“Are you all right, Miss? No matter how angry she is, how could she act like that?”

I handed the letter to Jenny and shrugged.

“Well, it’s fine. It’s understandable. Let’s hurry and go.”

“Huh? You’re just going like this?”

She glanced toward the stairs where Aris had disappeared.

“Normally I’d go comfort her, but this time it’s difficult. We can’t be late for an appointment with the princess. We can’t stain the family name.”

The servants who had been pretending not to look this way pricked up their ears. I chuckled lightly and walked on.

“That’s true!”

Jenny’s reply was louder than usual, the corners of her mouth twitching upward.

“What will we do with the count away too? Miss Aris must be very upset. Georgiana’s going to have a hard time comforting her.”

Jenny said this as we climbed into the carriage. Though her words sounded concerned, her tone was almost cheerful—an odd contradiction.

She seemed pleased that Princess Laratou had refused Aris’s visit, while also thinking about Georgiana having to deal with Aris’s hysteria.

“It looked like she spent five hours getting ready for the tea party.”

“Oh dear. I should have told her sooner.”

Even to my own ears, my voice lacked sincerity. Of course, it wasn’t intentional—though Aris wouldn’t believe that.

But it was true. What could I do when the attendant delivered the letter only today?

Leaning my elbow against the window frame of the moving carriage, I sank into thought.

Still, it’s surprising that the princess told Aris not to come. That means there’s a good chance she has business with me.

The veiled maid who had vanished from the ballroom.

I’d wondered about it, and now—

Could she really have been the princess?

“Oh my, Miss Lorenst, you have eyes the color of water. They’re beautiful.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Most people in the kingdom think blue eyes are the prettiest, don’t they? I did too. But lately, I think other colors have their own charm. Black, for instance.”

She spoke toward someone else, then glanced my way again.

I smiled reflexively.

She was trying to be indirect, but it was almost too obvious.

I thought it would be harder because she’s a princess.

Unlike the sly, brazen king, the princess wore her heart so plainly it almost made her look naïve.

“Black eyes make me think of the guests from the Empire.”

When I played along as if unaware, her face lit up.

I chuckled inwardly.

She was making it so obvious she wanted to talk about Giovanni—how could I steer the conversation elsewhere?

“That’s right. Do you find him charming too, Miss Lorenst?”

The problem was that she’d been like this for a while now—not only curious about Giovanni, but also eager to know what I thought of him.

One wrong word and this could get tiring.

“I do think he’s charming.”

Seeing her disappointed look, I naturally added,

“But personally, like others in this kingdom, I find blue eyes the most beautiful.”

Her face brightened again.

Is it really okay for her to be this honest?

In a kingdom without a queen, Princess Laratou was the most esteemed woman.

She stood at the very top of society, yet her frank expressions seemed oddly out of place among a social circle full of schemers.

Ah, maybe it’s precisely because she’s a princess. There’s no one who can tell her otherwise.

Now she had turned her body fully toward me, clearly focused on our conversation.

“So that’s what you think, Miss Lorenst. Speaking of which, what kind of person do you think the crown prince is?”

“What kind of person, you say?”

“Things like his personality, what foods he likes, what he usually does during his free time.”

Now she was openly talking about the crown prince. Given what little I knew of her personality, roundabout conversation probably frustrated her.

I told her what I knew about Giovanni, leaving out the important conversations we’d shared.

“He doesn’t seem picky and eats most things, but he especially likes meat.”

“Oh, I see!”

“He doesn’t touch desserts or sweet drinks at all. He seems to handle alcohol fairly well, though.”

“I knew it. Exactly how I imagined!”

“Once, when we passed a dessert shop, he wrinkled his nose at the smell of sugar.”

“Oh!”

She likes even this kind of trivial story?

Even as I talked about insignificant things, the princess’s eyes sparkled twice as brightly, and I felt oddly at ease.

No matter what I said, as long as it was about Giovanni, she seemed ready to listen eagerly.

I spoke as objectively as possible, careful not to give the impression that I harbored feelings for him, and she seemed quite pleased with me.

At this point, it was fascinating.

“Which part of him do you like, Princess?”