Chapter 85 ….
The young countess’s face flushed the moment she understood the meaning of my words. She looked so embarrassed that tears had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.
As soon as I stepped back, she hastily grabbed her stained dress and ran out of the ballroom.
Huh, so it seems my “scary” words scared her off. Well, it didn’t really matter either way.
Theodore shot a displeased glance at the young countess rushing out of the ballroom and then asked me,
“Were you saying that you wouldn’t forgive her if she didn’t leave the ballroom immediately?”
“No… I was just letting her know something had gotten on her dress…”
“Tch. You’re far too soft. We could have enforced any punishment you wished.”
“I’m fine.”
All three of them looked slightly disappointed at my mild response, but my firm refusal left them without anything more to say.
“There will soon be an audience with Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress. Wrap things up here properly and go. You’ll have more opportunities to meet people your age later.”
“An audience with the Emperor and Empress?”
“Yes.”
I had assumed I couldn’t avoid meeting them entirely, but I hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. My heart started racing at the thought of this unannounced addition to the schedule.
If the mastermind behind the schemes wasn’t a member of the imperial family, my chances of survival would be higher. I needed to gather as much information as possible during this meeting. The earlier I obtained it, the more valuable it would be.
“…Understood.”
As the three of them began to leave after explaining the upcoming schedule, I was stopped by the young noblewoman who seemed to be the instigator of this childish game.
“Um, um, Your Highness! I am Estelle of the Adellate Count family.”
With her face flushed with excitement, the Adellate Countess introduced herself. Only Theodore paused at the greeting, though his expression clearly read, “So…?”
The Adellate Countess flinched at his cold expression but continued undeterred:
“If it’s not too much trouble, could we have a private conversation?”
“That would be extremely rude.”
Theodore’s wall of a response was sharper than a rose blade, leaving me momentarily speechless. No matter that he was a duke’s son—could he really handle social affairs this way and still maintain a good reputation?
My eyes darted back and forth between them, caught in the middle. Seeing the young countess babbling nonsense, Theodore seemed to decide there was nothing more to be done and tried to lead me away again.
“Let’s go. You come with me, Lasetia.”
“Ah… yes.”
“W-wait! Y-Your Highness!”
‘Now it’s my turn?’
Curious why she kept calling people over, I held on to Theodore’s hand and stopped him in his tracks. The young countess, emboldened by my attention, made her proposal with confidence:
“Lady Elouise has expressed that she very much wants to have a conversation with Your Highness. Earlier, we were trying to ask for your consent, but an accident occurred unintentionally.”
“An accident?”
I asked in disbelief at her boldness, but she continued unfazed:
“Yes. It was certainly an accident. The outcome wasn’t clean, but I’ll apologize on behalf of Lady Flace.”
‘You saw me signaling to the countess…’
Her expression of sincere apology looked so genuine that I almost believed her—for a moment, if I hadn’t remembered that this was clearly orchestrated by the young countess.
And instinctively, I knew: there must be a marquis’s daughter behind her.
What should I do? Should I go along and meet this marquis’s daughter too, just to see?
“How about having a tea time with us for a while?”
For someone who had just tried to trick me, this was a sudden and unexpectedly friendly invitation.
“You haven’t been a noble long, so you probably don’t have many close friends. This is a good chance to get closer. If your interests align, it could even become a beneficial relationship.”
“Well…”
I pretended to hesitate, and the countess, not expecting a refusal, hurriedly added:
“Y-Your Highness, you’ll soon debut in society. Making connections early will surely be helpful!”
Her desperate attitude only made me more suspicious.
She clearly doesn’t like me… so why insist on having tea with me?
Ah.
‘If I don’t go, that marquis’s daughter will probably retaliate. Tch, the child has already learned how to be mean.’
Not for the young countess, but out of curiosity for the marquis’s daughter, who seemed to be the real power in this group, I decided to accept the invitation.
Either way, both sides disliked me. It didn’t matter which way I spent my time.
For efficiency, it was better to seek information from someone I knew nothing about rather than someone familiar.
Normally, I would have rejected such a suspicious proposal, but meeting new people couldn’t hurt. Even if they were around ten years old, how much trouble could they really cause me?
With my decision made, I released Theodore’s hand. He looked confused and demanded an explanation.
“Brother, I’m going to enjoy tea with Lady Dalante.”
“What? With the Adellate Countess?”
Theodore glanced between me and the countess with an unamused expression. He didn’t entirely believe that the incident was an accident caused by the young countess.
But knowing that trying to stop me would be useless, he resigned himself quickly.
“I’ll let you go, but… there’s an audience with the Emperor and Empress soon. Keep the tea time brief.”
“Yes.”
As I followed the countess, she thanked me profusely. Theodore, still lingering, asked again about my intentions. He seemed uneasy about leaving me alone in society.
“…You really are going alone?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“…Yes.”
“Are you sure I don’t need to come along?”
“You want to join the tea time with the noble girls…? Are you serious?”
I couldn’t hide my astonishment at the thought that he might actually consider joining a noble girls’ tea time.
“…I misspoke. If you feel out of place, you may leave immediately.”
“Yes.”
“I’m serious.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll go then.”
Cutting off Theodore’s persistent chatter, I walked after the countess. Glancing back, I saw him standing there, staring at his lowered hand with lingering regret in his eyes.
‘…Did he actually want to join this tea time?’
Curious, I followed the countess. Once we distanced ourselves from Theodore, she spoke:
“You two seem quite close, don’t you?”
“Who?”
“You and the young lord, Your Highness.”
“What? Not at all.”
“Huh.”
Seeing my clear disagreement, the countess snorted. She didn’t forget to mock me for being close to someone like him.
She seemed to be trying to keep me in check because I appeared close to Theodore, but she overlooked one fact:
‘…I’m adopted and can’t marry Theodore anyway…’
Why is she trying to control me? I’m the least likely candidate for marriage with Theodore in the empire.
‘Children’s thinking really is cute.’
Smiling to myself at this wholesome thought, I swallowed my laughter.
Soon we arrived at a room. The attendants checked the countess’s face before opening the ornately decorated door. Inside, several noble girls were already having tea.
I locked eyes with the girl seated in the most prominent spot. She was undoubtedly the marquis’s daughter—the true leader of this group.
‘…But what was her family name again?’
I decided to bluff again.
“Hello, Lady Noise. I’m Lasetia Delphinium.”
“What did you just say?”
“You’re intentionally obscuring your family name, right?”
“Trying to assert dominance as soon as you arrived?”
…My first impression is ruined.
