Volume 3 - CH 23

v3c23 - Extra: Sophia and Cyril's tea party

A few days after Cyril had been chosen as Lady Sophia’s marriage candidate. 

Lady Sophia was leisurely drinking tea in the courtyard of the Rosenberg Marquis household’s secondary residence. I was by her side as her exclusive butler. Yes, as her exclusive butler.

Our circumstances hadn’t changed much even after I became her marriage candidate. Naturally, the fact that I had been chosen as such was real and was something I didn’t even dare to dream of but, Lady Sophia was still a debutante. She would still be a minor until she stopped being a debutante. Moreover, physically, she was still just a child as well. In that sense, our relationship as a young Lady and her exclusive butler continued.

“…Cyril, what are you thinking about?”

She placed her teacup on top of the saucer and tilted her head to the side. Lady Sophia became more coquettish than she had been before…Or, perhaps the way I looked at her had changed, despite the fact that until very recently, I thought that while she was charming, she was still just a young child.

“Cyril?”

“My apologies. I was wondering about when you started planning this, my Lady.”

“You mean my engagement to you? Since the first time you have escorted me. I asked my father for a favor, begging him to let you be my escort.”

“Since that time…?”

That time, I was told something along the lines of ‘I’m entrusting you to be her escort as  there is no other appropriate partner for her.’ …I see, so everything from that point on had been training?

In retrospect, it was also around this time that Lady Sophia had started hiding things from me. She would tell me that it was a secret and while I was happy about my Lady growing up, I was also feeling a little melancholic at the same time…

“…Cyril? Your face is a little red.”

“Of course something like that is going to make my face go a little red. I mean, you’re also blushing, Lady Sophia.”

“That’s…I mean…ugh, Cyril, you meanie!”

I quickly averted my gaze. By the way, since I was only retaliating, the real meanie here was Lady Sophia.

“However…then, the current situation also went according to your plans, Lady Sophia?”

“In general, yes. My father told me that your social standing isn’t good enough to make you my fiancé so he said we should let you play a more active role in the situation.”

“…I see.”

She was saying that she accepted the role of a guide for the foreign Imperial Prince of her own free will. In other words, she expected that on top of me peacefully stopping her political marriage, I would achieve some great deeds as well. 

“However, it seems that the Queen has also been planning some things. Wasn’t there the possibility of your plans being ruined by her, Lady Sophia?”

“No, it was actually my father’s plans that could have been ruined. The winner didn’t matter to me, whether it was my father or the Queen.”

“…That’s…”

“Because you told me that you’d be by my side, no matter which path I chose, Cyril.”

“I certainly did say that but…ah, nevermind.”

What I wanted to ask her was if she would have become a Royal, a Marquess, or even a commoner for the sake of getting engaged to me. Knowing that this was what she meant made my face grow hot.

“More importantly, how long do you plan on standing there?”

“I’m your exclusive butler, Lady Sophia.”

“But you’re also my fiancé, are you not?”

“Your marriage candidate.”

“Ugh, why are you saying such mean things?”

“It’s not a mean thing, it’s just the truth. It’s a spoken promise that serves as an excuse to reject other marriage proposals and something that might be revoked immediately if I were to commit any mistakes.”

“Then, do you plan on committing any mistakes, Cyril?”

“No?”

“Then, isn’t it the same as being my fiancé?”

Well…it certainly was as she said, but there were some things that would be better if they were left ambiguous to the outside world. For example, the fact that I was Lady Sophia’s marriage candidate served as a deterrent from Lady Sophia and I receiving marriage proposals. However, if we were to confirm that I was her fiancé, situations such as ‘the difference between your social standings are too big so marry me instead’ were bound to pop up. When I asked her: ‘You do understand that, right?’, Lady Sophia grinned.

“I’ll eliminate anyone who would want to come between our relationship, so that’s not a problem. I’m actually more concerned about others taking advantage of this ambiguity.”

""

There was Alicia and Pamela—or more precisely, their parents—but my Lady didn’t particularly mention the fact that they offered marriage to me. This topic was only bound to stir the hornet’s nest, so I pretended that I hadn’t heard her.

Of course, Lady Sophia wouldn’t back down from me doing so and opened her mouth as if to say something. So, I stuffed a cookie into that adorable mouth of hers. Lady Sophia let out a small groan and chewed on the cookie.

“…Cyril, if you think that you’re going to dodge the issue by doing thi—”

When it seemed like she wanted to say more, I whispered into her ear: “I’ll only do this sort of thing with you, Lady Sophia.”

“…I–I guess I have no choice then. I’ll let it slide.”

My Lady then irritably pretended and put on a brave front which was extremely adorable. Even though she was still a child, she was desperately doing her best for my sake. Lady Sophia is very charming like this, I thought, taking a seat next to her. And then, I popped another piece of cookie into her mouth.