CH 20

“I will relieve you of your feelings. Don’t worry, Your Grace.” Irik jumped out of his seat and chased after Siani, who had left.

There was only a cool, still silence in the meeting room. The vassals were taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. Besides, the duke’s expression sitting in the upper seat was too stiff.

“I can’t believe His Majesty sent such a letter to the princess.”

“What is going on here? Ahem.”

One by one, the vassals opened their mouths.

“So, how does the princess’s recent purchase have anything to do with the imperial family?”

“How did the princess discover the imperial family’s plan?”

Everyone seemed puzzled, as if they had not yet realized it. But in any case, the letter from the emperor was real.

“K-keheum. Now then.”

The eyes of the vassals quickly turned out. What’s going to happen now? First, they had to decide how to react.

“We still don’t know what His Majesty’s true intention is. We can’t understand in detail why he wants to meet the princess, just from the letters.”

“His Majesty is a thorough person, so we don’t know what else he will say when he meets her in person.”

The vassals responded, catching each other’s intention. It was clear that the duke regarded Siani as a nuisance. That wouldn’t change easily.

“Anyway, the princess always did something like this once in a while.”

“It’s only now that the humiliation she suffered from her engagement being annulled by Grand Prince Benio has finally calmed down.”

“Does she seem to be interested in the monsters of the basement these days? You must be troubled, Your Grace.”

The synchrony of the vassals, exchanging words, was skillful and proficient.

“Ahem. It’s a big deal because she’s getting more and more compared to Lady Luna.”

“Lady Luna is praised for being pure and innocent.”

At the same time, they gently looked at the duke’s eyes. They didn’t know what the duke’s eyes were directed at. It just feels like he was lost in some thoughts.

“Again with this nonsense. Why is it our princess’s fault that the engagement was annulled?”

At that moment, someone’s voice was heard from the far end of the table.

“This means that our family has the possibility to influence the imperial family.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to one place.

“To be exact, it must be the princess who gained such power.”

A man was standing there.

“Aeron Port? Why are you speaking like that? You have no authority on this matter.”

“Even if you’re getting old and your mind is weakening, you must still speak correctly.” A man called Aeron Port gave an indifferent reply. He had a neat and intelligent impression.

“W-what? How dare you?”

The face of the old vassals turned red at the sudden ultimatum.

“Have you forgotten that you are alive with the help of our Felicite?”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you this.”

Aeron was the duke’s vassal and son of the fallen Viscount Port. Since then, he has been taking classes as a professional scholar at the national academy, sponsored by the duke. He was also the heir to the Viscount Port, and although he was young, he had become the duke’s vassal.

“It’s the same no matter how much time passes. Even the habit of making the young princess sit at her seat and yelling at her is still the same.”

The mouths of the vassals who were protesting before were tightly shut.

“I’ve been watching every single one of you these years when His Grace was away from the duchy. How adults turn a child into a fool.”

Aeron kicked his tongue softly as he recalled his memory. It was when he was young enough that his feet didn’t even touch the ground when he sat in this chair. Siani Felicite was even smaller than him. Even though the vassals scolded her loudly, Siani sat there without expression. It was as if she couldn’t hear anything…

“You will have to take responsibility for insulting me carelessly.”

“And I have never once tarnished Felicite’s reputation.”

But Siani Felicite was different today. That was the reason why Aeron, who was trying to kill time as usual, opened his mouth.

“Forgive me for the rudeness, Your Grace. My loyalty to the Felicite family is sincere.” Aeron bowed his head towards the duke who was sitting in the upper seat.  

“Who on earth created those rumors that saying the princess is a disgrace to the Felicite Family?”

“…T-that’s!”

“If you have a brain, I hope you use it to think. Don’t just roll your eyes. Figure out where you belong.”

Then, he lashed out at the vassals who trembled.

“I’ll get going now.”

“That’s cheeky!”

Aeron went out like that.

“Huh, what a turn of events.”

The faces of the vassals who suffered a series of embarrassing incidents turned red.

“He’s so cheeky, right, Your Grace?”

“How can he raise his voice in front of His Grace on the subject that he doesn’t have the right to speak in the meeting yet!”

Unlike them, the duke only fiddled with the ointment in his hand. A small box with simple wildflowers on it… It was a method from a beloved woman who used to give him a gift. And now her daughter presented him the same way.  

“Your Grace should deprive Aeron Port of his right to attend the vassal meeting—!”

“Let me ask you one question before that.”

Then the duke raised his head and looked at his vassals.

“Is everything Aeron said true?”

His voice was very cold.

* * *

If the emperor is really coming to see me…

Obviously, I would get more attention at Ash’s welcoming ceremony. I could watch the grand duke and Ash’s faces distorted in real-time.

“…A-ahem.”

Just when the sense of victory welled up, the tailor’s clearing of her throat was heard.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ah, t-t-t-that’s, Princess.”

Far from measuring, Redian remained immobilized and hardened. I was trying to approach him, wondering what was going on, but Redian turned his head.

“Because I’m shy.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

So the tailor wasn’t doing anything because Redian was shy? It was unusual for someone with his experience to struggle with fitting when he was already fitting for the imperial family before.

Why is he so pale? Besides, looking at the condition of his face, it seemed like the tailor was shy, not Redian.

“Are you saying you couldn’t do anything just because of that reason?”

“I-it’s not like that, Princess!”

“Otherwise…”

Redian, who interrupted the tailor’s answer, asked back. “What?”

“I-i-it’s nothing.”

Oh my. It was only when I saw the blue eyes under the hood that had changed in an instant that I understood the situation. Because he was hiding his face… His gaze was so intense that it seemed like he could break your wrist if you touched him carelessly.

“That’s enough. I will measure him myself, so you go out and organize the fabric.”

“H-how could Princess do such a thing herself?”

“T-then I will.” The shaking tailor rushed out without looking back.

“I’ll do it for you. Open your hands.”

“…”

Then Redian obediently handed over his hand. It seemed that it wasn’t because he wanted to hide his face but rather trying to make me do it. Who is really the slave, and who is the master?

“Am I that hideous?”

“What?”

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

“Everyone is startled when they see me and avoid me. Even though I’m wearing a robe…”

“That’s because…”

You looked at the tailor with a look that you would kill him if he touched you. But why did you make such an expression in front of me now? I chose my words because I didn’t know where to begin.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“I’m used to this kind of treatment.” He muttered as if it was natural for him to be treated like a monster.

“…No.”

It’s quite difficult to deal with.

“It’s because you’re handsome. Even though you wore a robe, it didn’t cover your handsomeness,” I said while meticulously measuring Redian’s hand.

“You know what it means to be handsome, right?”

You would hear that every day just looking at yourself.

“Anyone would have looked surprised when they saw you for the first time, but it looked like you didn’t know about that.”

“Was the Princess also surprised?”

“That’s…”

I was about to give a standing ovation when I first saw him, but I stopped to answer that. Then Redian nodded his head as if to ask me to elaborate further. Ugh, I didn’t know why he was curious about my answer, but…

“The tailor must have chosen the fabric. I’ll have to go check it out myself.”

I turned the topic around like that. Overusing the carrot wouldn’t be effective when you really need it.

“Just wait a moment.”

Feeling Redian’s gaze following me, I left the room.

“Daisy?”

“Lady!”

Daisy stood in front of a pillar in the hallway, which was visible before me.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“T-that’s…”

It was the moment when Daisy’s face became nervous when she saw me.

“Long time no see, Princess.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a figure walking out from behind the pillar.

“It’s hard to see your face.”

There, Ash Benio was smiling with his hands behind his back.

What’s wrong with this human being?