Chapter 41
The Banquet
“I thought I might see him if I came to the ball, but he’s not here.”
“Who are you talking about?”
Deimond said this as he shifted the topic of conversation.
Even though it was night, it was still summer. Without Yuri’s magic glass barrier, I could feel the heat. Pressing a handkerchief to my forehead, I asked,
“There’s a count in the Kingdom of Lornais that’s famous for magical engineering, even among countries advanced in that field. That count is currently in Owen.”
“Someone you know?”
“I was introduced to him when I toured Owen’s engineering laboratory last time and greeted him. He seemed like someone who liked people, but maybe he doesn’t care much for balls.”
Deimond said it was a shame not to see someone he’d taken a liking to again.
Deimond had been dispatched as an envoy because of magical engineering. Even at the ball, he hadn’t forgotten the mission of the delegation.
Nanessa and Deimond shifted the conversation fully toward magical engineering. Yuri also stopped his strange behavior.
It happened to be a good place to talk about magical engineering.
The Grace family estate—whose owners were said to be deeply interested in magical engineering—had such items everywhere. The lamps attached to the walls and the streetlights in the garden all shone using magical engineering, or so they said.
There were also cool drinks and snacks thanks to a magical-engineering freezer. If you asked the servants, they would even bring out ice cream—something normally only eaten in winter—on this summer night.
I exchanged several questions and answers with the delegation about how much they had learned about magical engineering and how its principles worked. The conversation drifted to the magical-engineering shop Deimond’s group had visited yesterday.
“There wasn’t anything particularly new. It felt like magical-engineering items were just doing things that magic itself could already do.”
Nanessa said this, and I clapped silently once.
“The fact that magic is maintained without a magician—wouldn’t that require an incredible mage?”
When I said this in amazement, Deimond shook his head.
“Surprisingly, not really. The fact that a magician’s individual ability isn’t that important is exactly what makes magical engineering advantageous for countries where magicians are rare.”
“There aren’t many truly great magicians, Princess Daisy.”
Yuri chimed in, having listened to our conversation.
“Isn’t that just your perspective, Yuri?”
“I’ve lived long enough now to have something called objectivity, Princess.”
Yuri waved his hand lightly in the air above my head. Traces of magic scattered from his palm, and the hot air lingering around me dissipated.
“This is just a very brief, temporary spell, so don’t worry. Though you probably won’t need this kind of magic anymore, Princess.”
“Because summer is almost over?”
“Is it?”
Yuri laughed again. Every time, I thought the same thing—I never felt entirely at ease when Yuri smiled. Still, I thanked him for helping.
Bam!
A single blast from the brass instruments cut through our conversation. It signaled the start of a new dance—waltz.
As more people gathered to dance, the conductor increased the volume of the orchestra.
The entire banquet hall became like a concert hall, and the people in the main hall rose to prominence as its stars. Beneath the warm-toned magical-engineering lights, the banquet seemed to be reaching its peak.
“Duke.”
I called Cedric, but with the loud music, my voice probably didn’t carry well. I stepped a little closer to him.
“Yes, Princess.”
Cedric bowed just enough not to be rude. He likely thought the loud music interfered with conversation as well, so I continued.
“How are you finding the ball today?”
“It’s not bad.”
“Thank you for coming with me. Thanks to you, I was able to convey my feelings to Mary Grace.”
“I’m glad to have been of help.”
I smiled, then asked him another question.
“What do you think of my dress today? Does it suit Owen’s style?”
I turned halfway around. Cedric didn’t sweep his gaze over my dress. Maintaining eye contact, he answered,
“You are very beautiful.”
“And my hair ornament?”
“It was an excellent choice.”
“Hm.”
Cedric gave only perfectly proper answers with his composed expression. As I considered my next question, I ended up covering my mouth and laughing softly.
“Princess, why are you laughing?”
“You only ever speak in perfectly proper etiquette, Duke.”
Duke Cedric Deyerton never says the wrong thing.
There was probably no question that could draw anything other than neat, formal answers from him. That thought amused me instead.
Cedric seemed not to understand my amusement. His face remained partly impassive, partly composed. He spoke again.
“The drinks are over there.”
Cedric bent down to roughly my height and indicated the direction with his palm. Looking farther in that direction, I saw servants pushing drink trolleys.
“Are you thirsty, Duke?”
“No. Earlier, I heard you talking with Laraen about drinks.”
“Ah.”
When I looked at Cedric again, seeing those cherry-colored eyes made me realize that I simply smiled whenever I was with him. I laughed even though he hadn’t said anything.
So I smiled at him once more. Cedric met my smiling face without saying a word.
Mm. I should go get a drink.
“Brother, do you need a drink?”
I asked Deimond. He turned to look at me, having been talking with Nanessa and Yuri.
“I’m fine. You two go ahead. I’ll wait here. Fortunately, my dear friends are staying by my side, so I won’t have the experience of being born a prince and left alone.”
Deimond said this while spinning his words around in a very Rundra-like way.
“To my eyes, you already look like a prince left all alone, Deimond.”
“To think I’m a prince who feels lonely even among his sibling and close friends.”
“Don’t worry. In my Lintzhug blood flows loyalty thicker than friendship or love, Your Highness.”
Yuri mixed in honorifics halfway and spun his words around even more. Deimond responded, and Nanessa added to it.
They twisted their words so much that I couldn’t keep up. I decided it was just their own form of amusement.
“I’ll be right back, everyone.”
I said this with a smiling glance especially toward Deimond. He didn’t reply, only shrugged his shoulders.
Following Cedric’s escort, I walked toward the drinks. We parted through the crowd, greeting with nods only those who recognized either of us and tried to say hello.
Before we reached the servant pushing the drink trolley, a murmur of commotion arose near the entrance to the ballroom.
Standing on tiptoe just slightly so no one would notice, I checked—and the person standing at the entrance was Rachel.
From where Cedric and I stood, both Rachel and Deimond’s group were clearly visible.
I looked toward Nanessa and Yuri; as expected, it seemed they had noticed Rachel as well. I saw Nanessa’s eyes widen. She said something, but her voice didn’t reach where I stood.
I also checked Deimond’s face. His expression was the same as always. Deimond wasn’t someone immature enough to show his emotions in a crowded place.
Seeing their faces, I realized that Nanessa and Yuri hadn’t talked about Rachel with Deimond until now.
The name of the Owenian imperial princess was something even the nobles of the Kingdom of Rundra could easily know.
That the Owen princess was named Rachel wasn’t a secret, and it was only a matter of time before Nanessa and Yuri realized that Rachel was that very princess.
And that future had now become the present. Deimond’s friends had encountered her in the same banquet hall. Today, Nanessa and Yuri would learn about Rachel.
I wondered whether Rachel had known that Deimond’s group would attend the Grace family’s ball. And if she had known, with what feelings had she chosen to attend?
Nanessa and Yuri—her longtime friends, now long out of contact. Did Rachel know that her old friends had been constantly searching for her?
Moreover, the conversation Rachel, Deimond, and I had shared in the small sitting room of the ducal residence last time still left my heart unsettled.
Rachel said it wasn’t betrayal, but Deimond had felt betrayed.
I, too, felt confused by Rachel’s words and her past actions. I couldn’t understand why she insisted it wasn’t betrayal.
And yet, not much time had passed before Rachel and Deimond met again like this.
Rachel turned her head toward Deimond’s group. Even now, I couldn’t read her thoughts through her eyes. Rachel began walking in their direction.
I thought about Cedric standing beside me. It seemed better that Cedric—who wouldn’t know that Rachel had lived in the Kingdom of Rundra—not hear the reunion conversation between Rachel and Deimond’s group.
I looked up at Cedric. He met my gaze with a gentle expression. When I slightly pursed my lips, he caught my intention and leaned an ear toward me.
Just then, the current dance was heading into its final movement.
“Duke, I want to dance. Would you dance with me?”
Instead of holding a drink, I asked him for a dance. At my sudden proposal, Cedric hesitated for a moment.
