ATPL 24

“In any case, I hear that Lord Resaloniki has come to find the Crown Prince, by order of the Dragon Lord.”

“Yeah.”

Abelard casually picked his ear as he responded. The Empress shot him a sharp glare.

How embarrassing to behave like this in front of the Dragon Knight Commander.

To the Empress, the Crown Prince had always been a source of pride, but that hadn’t been true for the past three years.

Moreover, having the Dragon Knight Commander sitting right in front of them was especially irritating.

While Abelard might match Lord Resaloniki in appearance, standing side by side only highlighted the contrast between the dignified commander and Abelard’s flippant demeanor.

Adding to that, the Empress had once been close friends with Princess Lidens, Abelard’s mother.

In their youth, the Empress had often been overshadowed by Princess Lidens’s beauty.

It was maddening. Princess Lidens had been so pretty, and now her son had such accomplishments, while her son just wandered about, indulging in one affair after another!

“The Dragon Lord mentioned that we must find a match for the Crown Prince—”

“What kind of idle dragon from some random neighborhood is this?”

The Empress finally slapped the Crown Prince on the back.

“You!”

There was a sharp smack.

“Aren’t you the Crown Prince of Brosuhart? Of course, the Dragon Lord would be concerned!”

Abelard wrinkled his nose and was about to rub his back, but he straightened up instead. Still, his tone was defiantly unrepentant.

“Are there really people who care about the mating of mayflies?”

“Mayflies?!”

“The Dragon Lord is over three thousand years old, and the Empire is barely two hundred. To the Dragon Lord, someone like me must seem like a mere mayfly.”

“Isn’t that right?”

Abelard looked at Elliot. Elliot smiled gently.

“The Dragon Lord values all life deeply. Crown Prince, how humble of you to lower yourself in such a way. Truly fitting behavior for the Empire’s heir.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Abelard!”

The Empress cried out in shock.

Though he was her friend’s son, she had no idea how to deal with the Crown Prince’s confrontation with the Dragon Knight Commander, who had come on official business.

Abelard snorted and crossed his arms.

“So, who am I supposed to marry? Will it suffice if I marry that Lady Florence?”

His gaze turned to Anais, who stood beside Elliot. The Empress widened her eyes, pressing urgently.

“Is this true, Lord Resaloniki?”

“No.”

Elliot cut in firmly, but Abelard continued smugly, paying no attention.

“You said yourself she’s not a knight, so she’s not from the Dragon Knights. But when I see a lady accompanying you while promoting my marriage, what am I supposed to think?”

While this could have caused anger, Elliot remained calm.

“You should simply consider her as just another woman. While it’s fortunate for the Empire’s citizens that their Crown Prince takes everything so seriously, sometimes it’s unnecessary to read too much into every little thing.”

‘Eek.’

Anais, standing off to the side, made an odd expression.

This was because Elliot’s way of speaking was exactly how she used to speak among the young ladies of Belfast society before she turned nineteen.

In other words, to summarize:

“Do you think every woman has something to do with you, you narcissist?”

Having thought this far, Anais unconsciously bit her lip, trying to suppress a laugh.

Of course, both Abelard and the Empress had caught the meaning as well. The Empress looked displeased but couldn’t say anything. After all, her son was being far more discourteous.

Instead, she pressed on cautiously.

“But isn’t this young lady strikingly similar in appearance to the one Abelard first took a fancy to? You shouldn’t be too harsh about such a misunderstanding…”

“Mother.”

“No.”

Abelard cut off the Empress’s words with a furrowed brow. Meanwhile, Elliot responded firmly.

“She is merely someone who received a mission from the Dragon Lord along with me, and has nothing whatsoever to do with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“…”

“She wears the Dragon Knights’ uniform merely for convenience. Even temporarily, as someone who received direct orders from the Dragon Lord, she is fully qualified to wear the Dragon Knights’ name.”

This was quite different from what he had told Anais a few days ago. Anais remembered that conversation.

* * *

“There’s something Anais has always wanted to try.”

“What is it?”

“A masquerade ball!”

The Belfast social circle was conservative when it came to young ladies.

Though nineteen was considered adult age, Anais, whose body had been taken over by a possessor just one day before her nineteenth birthday, had never attended a masquerade ball.

Elliot groaned.

“We’re not going to a ball, nor are we going out to play.”

“But since we’re doing this anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to make it fun?”

Anais pouted.

The point was that she wanted to hide her face while it was still healing. And while she was at it, it would be nice to conceal her identity too. That’s why she ended up wearing a mask.

However, playing the role of a Dragon Knight had been Elliot’s idea.

“Since Crown Prince Abelard is famous for being a womanizer, it would be better to dress as a knight in men’s clothing rather than wandering around in a dress.”

“Is that allowed? Wasn’t the Dragon Knights something not just anyone could join?”

“Though temporary, Lady Fleur is also serving under the Dragon Lord’s orders, so wearing the knights’ uniform shouldn’t be an issue.”

But Anais wasn’t keen on the idea. Her reasoning was somewhat surprising.

“Anais’s beauty won’t be hidden by just a knight’s uniform?!”

Elliot immediately shot back.

“You’ll be wearing a mask, so your face won’t show.”

But Anais was quick to counter.

“Ha! I knew you’d acknowledge my beauty!”

Elliot made a face as if he’d bitten into something sour.

In any case, Anais said she didn’t mind as long as her mask was accepted and donned the knights’ uniform.

With her burns slightly cleaned up and her hair tidied, Anais, in the uniform, indeed looked somewhat like a young male attendant at first glance.

However, when Crown Prince Abelard laid his hands on Anais, Elliot’s argument seemed irrelevant.

Anais shot Elliot a look.

‘See? It all fell apart because of Anais’s beauty, didn’t it?’

Elliot deliberately ignored that look. The Empress, watching the glances between the two, tilted her head.

“Could you perhaps be more than just colleagues with Lord Resaloniki? If so, our Crown Prince would have made a truly grave mistake…”

The Empress’s question had no particular intention behind it.

It was merely that Elliot was unusually stern with Anais, and the two kept exchanging glances, prompting her to voice the most common possibility.

However, the Empress’s timing wasn’t ideal.

As a result, Elliot responded with sarcasm.

“How could that be possible?”

Ah… The Empress narrowed her eyes.

Abelard, sulking while rubbing his cheek, tactlessly added,

“Even I would find it unpleasant to be involved with someone like Sir Florence.”

How rude of him.

The Empress stuffed a fan into the Crown Prince’s mouth and smiled brightly.

“In any case, we are grateful that the Dragon Lord is concerned even about finding a match for our Crown Prince.”

“Please, speak comfortably, Your Majesty.”

The Empress brightened.

“Oh my, would that be alright? Actually, Lord Resaloniki’s mother and I shared a friendship in our younger days.”

“I’ve heard about that.”

Elliot gave a faint smile.

Something about that distant smile made Anais tilt her head in curiosity.

Regardless, the Empress continued,

“So. What kind of woman did the Dragon Lord say would be suitable as Crown Princess? That boy is likely to miss his prime marriage age because of those possessed people or whatever first love business. Yet he still can’t get his act together, chasing after one woman after another…”

“Mother.”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

The Empress glared at Abelard, who quickly closed his mouth.

Speaking further would only disadvantage him. Elliot hesitated awkwardly before speaking again.

“This might be a bit difficult to discuss, Your Majesty.”

“Go ahead.”

“Could I hear about this first love matter?”

The temperature in the gazebo suddenly dropped.

Anais felt she had been transported to the northernmost snow-capped peaks of the Vidna Mountains.

The Empress turned cold, and the Crown Prince let out a scoffing “Ha.”

“Lord Resaloniki, I’ve never heard that the Captain of the Dragon Knights was fond of gossip.”

“It’s not because I enjoy gossip. It’s because the Dragon Lord wishes to know.”

Elliot answered calmly. The Empress and Crown Prince exchanged glances before simultaneously sighing.

They both knew well that someone of Elliot Resaloniki’s stature wouldn’t ask such things out of mere interest in gossip.

Still, Elliot’s directness in asking was startling.

In the end, it was Abelard who spoke first.

“I would think you’d already know, given how extensively the empire’s newspapers have covered it.”

“I do not.”

Elliot replied. Abelard sighed.

“It’s rather embarrassing to say it myself.”

“Then shall I tell the story?”

Anais cut in lightly. Abelard narrowed his eyes.

“Go ahead, let’s hear it.”

“Ah, when you were fourteen, you fell off a horse, fell in love at first sight with the stranger who saved you, and then rushed back to the imperial palace without even asking their name, isn’t that right?”

Abelard changed his mind.

“I’ll tell it myself.”

Elliot looked up at Anais with a wordless gaze. Anais smiled sweetly.

Anais certainly had a knack for getting pretentious men to open up.