Chapter – 22
“Seriously. How on earth do you have less popularity than Jin?”
It seemed like a scolding would be the first thing out of their mouths if they opened them, so Kyle gritted his teeth, not intending to answer. Then, Rona faced him, propping her chin on her hand just like Kyle did.
“Hmm? Son.”
As she said this while tilting her head, Kyle made an expression as if he was going to go insane. Rona seemed to find this absolutely hilarious. Ever since her marriage, Rona seemed to live for the fun of tormenting Kyle.
Kyle desperately needed Dii right now. Because if it was her, she could probably use some trick to pull him out of this nagging hell.
William continued.
“If Sian dies, Jason Deb, the King of the South, will try to seize the Imperial throne. How are you supposed to beat that kid with this reputation of yours! And he said he’s coming to this ball to talk to you too!”
“Father, Sian isn’t dead yet. It’s too early to worry about that.”
“He’ll be dead soon!”
“Have some hope.”
Kyle said, even showing a clenched fist as if to encourage him. Both William and Rona were taken aback, wondering since when their son had started giving such cheeky replies. William frowned and said.
“Talking about hope. Don’t you remember that kid even tried to loan-shark you? The one who suggested to me that I should quickly write a will and die?”
Sian Claes’s favorite thing was money. Compared to money, he considered family to be on a similar level to a passing neighborhood dog. That being Sian, people were already stirring from all directions to try and take possession of the money he had once he died.
One of them was Rona, sitting in front of him, and her cousin, Jason Deb. Moreover, even William seemed a bit interested in the immense fortune his eldest son had accumulated.
Kyle sighed.
When Sian was alive, he was a headache because he was alive, and if he were to die, that would be a headache in its own way.
Having barely escaped the terrible nagging, Kyle just wanted to rest for a moment. He wanted to quickly get this damn welcoming ceremony and ball over with and send those two back to Vitenxia.
Wanting to stay as far away from the Emperor and Empress as possible, he was moving away from the building when he heard a light, cheerful laugh coming from the direction of the annex.
The annex was the place that oversaw all the food within this palace. In the backyard of the annex, vegetables that needed to be eaten immediately were being grown.
Kyle had never been here before. But that laughter strangely drew him in.
When Kyle opened the door, he saw Dii sitting at the end of a long island, holding a bowl and scooping up the scrambled eggs inside it to place on buttered toast and eat.
“It’s delicious……. Isn’t it genius? How do you make something like this with just eggs? Even the peas taste good when eaten together!”
“Oh, Your Holiness, what’s the occasion, finishing all your vegetables? You’re growing, in your own way!”
Into the noisy, laughter-filled kitchen, as Kyle entered, the cheerful atmosphere receded like an ebb tide, replaced by a chilling aura. Everyone’s expressions stiffened as they grew wary of Kyle.
The head chef hurriedly rushed out.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness!”
“……For what?”
“I’m sorry I don’t know what for!”
“You folks aren’t the problem. It just seemed like Saintess Diana was bothering the kitchen, so I came.”
‘Your Highness is the one bothering us!’
The kitchen staff barely held back what they wanted to say.
As Kyle gestured for Dii to come out, she came forward, generously piling scrambled eggs on a piece of bread, and said.
“Kyle, try this. It’s simple but really delicious. The eggs are like cream.”
Then, the kitchen atmosphere froze even more. Kyle wasn’t someone who took meals very seriously. He was the indifferent type who would just eat whatever was given, even if it was burnt, without noticing. But they were still afraid he might scold them for it tasting bad.
Kyle took the bread. After taking one bite, he put the rest in his mouth in the next bite.
“It’s good. But come out quickly, don’t bother them.”
“Really good, right? I’m telling you, being able to get food like this right away is the biggest perk of being a Saintess.”
Dii chattered as she headed for the door. Kyle smacked his lips and said to the head chef.
“Have scrambled eggs served for dinner tonight.”
“Y-Yes, understood…….”
The head chef, who had almost no chance to converse with Kyle due to his lack of food requests, answered in a daze. After the two left, the head chef muttered.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard His Highness say something like that…….”
Following Kyle out of the kitchen, Dii complained.
“I wasn’t really bothering them. I was sitting quietly and eating.”
“Did you get the dress you’ll wear for the ball?”
“Not yet, they said it’ll arrive this evening.”
Dii answered with a face full of anticipation, then cautiously asked, observing Kyle’s cool expression.
“Ah, but…… I heard your brother is in critical condition?”
“Yeah.”
“That must hurt.”
At those words, Kyle made an awkward expression.
If he said it didn’t really hurt, he’d be called cold-blooded! Mean! A bad person! He couldn’t say anything, fearing such criticism. Dii continued.
“Kyle. What kind of person is Crown Prince Sian?”
“Sian? Hmm, how should I say. Pretty, affectionate, and laughs easily even at pointless things.”
“Ah, a good person…….”
“Loan shark.”
‘A demon. He was a demon. That brother of his.’
Dii, who had been calmly trying to offer comfort, was shocked. Kyle, seeming relieved that he would die soon, continued.
“He loan-sharked devout believers to amass his fortune. So everyone is dying to take possession of his assets once Sian dies.”
Dii recalled how, not long ago, Jin had said that among his family, Kyle was the most normal. She urged him on with her question.
“Y-Your younger sister?”
“You mean Huiliya? To put it nicely…… a thug?”
“Y-Your real mother, what was she like? She was good, right?”
“……Let’s not talk about that person.”
“Huh? Th-That person……”
‘Kyle’s expression darkened! What kind of messed up family is this!’
Dii, on the verge of tears, said to Kyle.
“For a normal person like you to come from a house full of such weird people. It’s a relief…….”
“Why are you suddenly like this.”
A father so scary he made the youngest run away from home, a real mother referred to as ‘that person’, a thief, a thug, and a loan shark making up the family.
‘And among them, such a decent kid was born.’
Dii, having heard Petun people say it so often it became a habit, unknowingly let the words slip from her own lips.
“Lord Roxand must have helped.”
Kyle, who had been flustered by Dii tearing up, soon calmly nodded.
“If you say so, then it must be.”
Dii had spoken without thinking, and Kyle had answered indifferently, but…
The Vitenxian Imperial officials who had come to Petun following the Emperor stopped in their tracks as they passed by, startled.
‘Even Prince Kyle, who was the most decent one, has become strange!’
The officials who had watched Kyle since childhood knew he didn’t believe in Lord Roxand. Yet, to give such a reply to the Saintess’s words… It was like he had become a different person.
The officials fidgeted, rolling their eyes, then seemed to think they must report this to the Emperor, and hurriedly ran off.
A short while later, a maid from the Western Temple approached where Dii and Kyle were.
“Your Holiness. The dress has arrived. I’ll be preparing it, so please come quickly.”
“Wow, really? I’ll be right there, Rill.”
Dii said with a brightened face. As the maid returned to the Western Temple first, Dii excitedly said to Kyle.
“Then Kyle, I’m going to go try on the dress.”
“Why are you in such a good mood?”
“It’s amazing, the ball. Stephany and I decided to look for handsome guys at the ball.”
Saying that, Dii tried to leave, but Kyle grabbed her arm.
“The first man you dance with is important.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes. So, don’t dance the first dance with just any man.”
“Umm. Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Dii answered and then excitedly ran towards the Western Temple.
After she ran off, Kyle took refuge in the Royal Library, a place his parents would absolutely never come to, to avoid them. While quietly hiding there, Zed, who had leaped over through the window, said to Kyle.
“Your Highness. His Highness Jason Deb has arrived, but…… he suddenly disappeared along the way, they say.”
“Disappeared?”
Kyle stood up from his seat with a pained expression.
“What scheme does that kid have, showing up here.”
Kyle muttered as he left the library.
The smile on Dii’s face gradually faded upon arriving at the Western Temple.
Seeing the three dresses that had arrived, Dii whispered softly to Stephany.
“Hey, Stephany. Am I…… being married off by any chance?”
“Huh? What are you talking about, Your Holiness?”
The dresses brought for the ball were all, without exception, white. Dii, on the verge of tears looking at dresses that seemed like wedding gowns no matter how you looked at them, asked.
“Am I in some arranged marriage with a noble I don’t know? If so, is he at least handsome?”
“Goodness, how can you say such a dreadful thing! Don’t even joke like that! And what does being handsome matter!”
“If not, then why are they wedding dresses?!”
“Wedding dresses? You mean the dresses worn for marriage?”
“Yeah, those!”
“Ah, come to think of it. I heard some countries wear white dresses for weddings. But in Vitenxia, traditional formal wear is worn. Petun is the same, of course.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. The white is just because you are Saintesses, so they made them white.”
“Wait. Stop.”
“Yes?”
“If it’s because we’re Saintesses, then don’t tell me…… Amira’s dress is white too?”
“Of course. Naturally?”
“……If she and I both wear the same white, we’ll be compared a lot, right?”
“Aish, what comparison. The Western Saintess won’t even be visible next to you.”
“Stephany. I don’t need honest opinions. Just say things that sound good.”
“What does the Eastern Saintess have to do with anything. The Western Saintess will look good in white.”
“You can’t even say, even if it’s lip service, that I’d be prettier than Amira, can you, Stephany?”
“No.”
“You’re the one who should go into politics.”
Dii nodded her head.
Stephany took off the saintess robes Dii was wearing and put on her a corset used only for balls, pulling her chest together as much as possible.
As Stephany tightened Dii’s slender waist, for some reason, she felt greedy and said.
“Your Holiness, if Saintess Amira mercilessly pulled this here…….”
“No way. I can’t give Amira a chance to kill me.”
“Right, let’s stop. We can’t lose our Saintess over something as trivial as a waist.”
Dii, starting to feel short of breath, said to Stephany.
“But do I have to wear this for the ball? It’s hard to breathe.”
“Huh? Ah, if you don’t wear it, what about your chest?”
Stephany made an expression as if she had lost something precious. It seemed Stephany valued the chest as much as the waist.
Although suffocating, putting on the gorgeous dress made her feel good. As Stephany experimented with various hairstyles to find one that suited the dress, Dii asked.
“If I find a handsome guy at the ball but he’s a priest, what should I do?”
“Oh my, who cares? Everyone secretly dates. As long as he’s handsome.”
“Stephany. Are you honest, or not?”
Fortunately, on this continent, unlike priests, Saintesses were free to date. Priests were clergy who conducted religious ceremonies and also acted as state officials handling various matters to keep the Roxand Church running, while Saintesses were dispatched personnel directly sent down by the God.
Saintesses were beings to be served by the priests, closer to a god than a person, so people dared not tell them what to do.
Dii asked.
“But Stephany, is the first person you dance with really important?”
“Of course. Regardless of anything else, you’ll remember it for life, won’t you? Like, ‘Who was the first person I danced with?'”
“Oh, thinking of it that way makes it important. But there’s hardly anyone more handsome than Kyle, right?”
“Yes, there’s no one like that in Petun.”
“Yeah, it would be weird if there was.”
Dii nodded in agreement. Stephany tried tying her hair in two pigtails and asked.
“How about this?”
“I like it. But Kyle will probably tease me, saying I look like a kid again.”
