SPMB 78

Chapter 78

Argon had chosen the increasingly popular trend of holding an outdoor banquet.

Orbs of light made from magic stones hung from the tables and various trees, illuminating the night.

Pretty. It looks like stars have settled on the trees.

Meanwhile, Prince Argon was stretched out on a large golden silk cushion inside an East Continent-style pavilion, greeting his guests.

Isn’t he being a little too casual?

Argon looked like a lazy beast.

Two or three buttons at the top of his shirt were undone, and his platinum-blond hair was messily disheveled.

His appearance was shockingly relaxed, and Kanna instinctively realized something.

Prince Argon definitely has no interest in the imperial throne.

Otherwise, there was no way he would neglect his public image to this extent.

“Look at His Highness the Prince. He’s so handsome!”

“Ahh! Doesn’t he look adorable today?”

“Look at that messy hair. I want to brush it for him.”

Strangely enough, it seemed that his disheveled appearance appealed to some noble ladies.

“Happy birthday, Your Highness.”

When Kanna approached, Argon’s mouth fell open.

“Oh.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re beautiful.”

“It’s an honor, Your Highness.”

Kanna answered without losing her composure.

“Why don’t you be careful when walking through the garden? I’m afraid all the flowers we worked so hard to prepare will wither because of the Duchess.”

That compliment is even more impressive.

She got goosebumps, but Kanna calmly bowed her head.

“Thank you.”

I did put some effort into my appearance today.

She had left her hair loose but neatly arranged, with a hair ornament made of strings of pearls draped through it.

The white pearls scattered across her black hair looked like starlight sprinkled across the night sky.

“Why don’t you sit here for a while and have a chat with me before you go? This chair was imported from the East Continent, and it’s incredibly comfortable. Would you like to try it?”

At that moment, Kallen, standing beside her, drew a clear line between them, unable to hide his displeasure.

“We’ll take our leave now, Your Highness.”

“All right, you may go, Lord Kallen. The Duchess can stay with me a little longer—”

“Your Highness, I apologize, but—”

“I wasn’t asking you, Lord Kallen.”

Argon smiled, his eyes curving pleasantly, and put the mouthpiece of his hookah to his lips.

“Besides, if I’m not mistaken, Lord Kallen, you’re the Duchess’s younger brother, not her nanny.”

“As you know, my sister isn’t accustomed to attending parties. As her younger brother, it’s only natural that I help her.”

“Oh, really? Is that so? Then, Duchess, would you like to dance with me? They’re playing one of my favorite dances right now.”

“My sister only recently recovered from being bedridden. She hasn’t recovered enough to dance, so I ask for your understanding.”

Kallen was putting up an absolute wall.

This is too much.

His blatant hostility was making even Kanna feel embarrassed.

“You’re impressive. Anyone watching this would think you were her husband.”

“Then I hope you have a pleasant evening, Your Highness.”

A little while later, once Kanna was certain they were sufficiently far away from Argon, she asked,

“Kallen, are you on bad terms with Prince Argon?”

“He is notorious for having dirty hands. There is nothing to gain from getting close to him.”

“……”

Oh, right.

Kanna gave him an awkward smile.

I appreciate you keeping him away from me, though.

She had no intention of getting close to Argon either.

But he does seem a little too overprotective.

She had thought he was going a little too far ever since he named the perfume “Kanna.”

Apparently, something had become firmly engraved in his mind after the day Kanna had nearly died—the day she had put on her little performance.

Guilt.

A protective instinct.

Something equally trivial.

I wonder if he’ll cling to me later when I’m done using him and throw him away.

Once she had built up enough capital and it was time to discard Kallen, dealing with him if he became clingy would be annoying.

Well, I can just keep pushing him away until he lets go.

If he clung to her, she would push him away.

If he latched on, she would kick him off.

Kallen would be the one hurting each time, so it didn’t matter.

Ugh. It’s annoying just thinking about it.

Suddenly, a spark of imagination flickered in her mind.

Now that he had completely opened his heart to her, being betrayed by her would probably hurt him terribly.

That would be troublesome too.

Although it might be fun if I hurt him. He might even cry.

Kallen crying?

Surely that was impossible, but imagining it was so amusing that Kanna giggled mischievously.

“You seem to be in a good mood, Duchess.”

At that moment, a man who embodied the very image of a proper prince approached.

Unlike Argon, who looked as though a few screws were loose, Prince Crescent had every strand of his hair perfectly slicked back.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Have you been well?”

Of course I have.

She had nearly lost her wrist and almost been hunted like prey.

But Kanna merely smiled sweetly.

“Yes, thanks to you. Thank you.”

“As always, you are beautiful, but you look especially lovely today.”

“You flatter me.”

Kallen, who had been watching them, asked stiffly,

“Your Highness, forgive me for asking such a personal question, but are you acquainted with my sister?”

“Yes, I am.”

Was it her imagination?

For a moment, Kanna thought she felt a wave of coldness emanating from Kallen.

Why? Is Crescent a womanizer too?

He didn’t seem like that type.

Kanna awkwardly studied Kallen’s face.

His expression was emotionless, but for some reason, it felt unusually cold.

“Regarding the perfume recently released by the Addis merchant guild…”

Fortunately, Crescent smoothly changed the subject.

“It has a very captivating fragrance. The first night I smelled it, I was so enchanted that I couldn’t sleep properly.”

Then he smiled pleasantly.

“I gave some to my elder sister Amelia and my mother. They both liked it very much.”

“Thank you.”

Kallen answered in her place.

Crescent stared at Kanna with a strange look.

“The perfume is called Kanna, isn’t it? It is as enchanting as its name.”

“Thank you.”

Once again, Kallen answered for her.

Is he deliberately preventing me from talking to him? Surely I’m imagining it.

A short while later, Crescent eventually left after barely getting to exchange a few words with Kanna.

“Kallen.”

Kanna asked more seriously than before,

“I think you prevented me from talking to Prince Crescent. Am I imagining things?”

“You are.”

“……”

“I apologize. That was a lie. You aren’t imagining it.”

Kallen sighed and rubbed his dry face.

“Please forgive me. However, Prince Crescent had another intention.”

“Hmm?”

“Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said that nonsense about being unable to sleep at night… Excuse me. That foolish remark.”

Kanna looked up at Kallen with complicated feelings.

You’re the one talking nonsense, Kallen.

“He was talking about the perfume. The perfume. He wasn’t talking about me.”

But Kallen refuted her argument in a perfectly organized manner.

“That fragrance was one that had previously only lingered around you, Sister.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Prince Crescent had already met you before the perfume was released. Furthermore, he said that when he smelled the fragrance for the first time, he couldn’t sleep that night.”

“……”

“In other words, he was indirectly saying that he couldn’t sleep the night he first met you.”

Kallen’s argument was so elaborate that Kanna almost wondered where he was going with it.

It was simply an extremely well-organized load of nonsense.

“That’s not what he meant. I told you I’ve been giving perfume to Her Majesty the Empress for a long time. So he must have smelled the fragrance long before he ever met me.”

“No matter how pleasant a family member’s scent may be, no idiot would lose sleep over it.”

“……”

They weren’t getting anywhere.

Had Kallen always been this dense?

“Anyway, there’s no way. Prince Crescent is much younger than me. There’s about a five- or six-year age difference between us, isn’t there? Besides, I’m a married woman.”

“But you’re beautiful, Sister. Very beautiful.”

Kallen seemed to realize that he had made a mistake as soon as he said it, because he quickly added,

“If that offended you, I won’t interfere next time. I’m sorry, Sister.”

“……”

Kanna deliberately didn’t tell him it was all right.

I want to avoid Argon, but there’s nothing wrong with becoming friendly with Crescent.

It was too early to make a definite judgment, but from what she had seen, she suspected Crescent would become the next emperor.

Besides, he was the Empress’s son.

There was certainly nothing wrong with becoming friendly with someone powerful.

Kallen really does have a tendency to imagine things.

If she kept bringing him along like this, she had a feeling he would block every single conversation she tried to have with other people.

Fortunately, the perfect excuse appeared.