The next morning, I started the day screaming upon seeing that the letter envelope I had left on the table was gone.
Madame Marie, who had rushed up in a hurry thinking something big had happened, belatedly grasped the situation and smiled blushingly.
“Since it said ‘To Duke Albrenovich’ on the envelope, I sent it.”
“Why did you send it without even asking me!”
“I sent it quickly because I was afraid you’d change your mind once you woke up.”
Ah, this auntie, as if she knows what kind of content I wrote!
“How far along must your relationship have progressed for you to think of writing a letter right after having lunch together.”
“That’s… that’s not it. This is a really serious problem, Madame Marie!”
“I can tell everything without you saying it.”
Madame Marie patted my despairing shoulder.
She doesn’t know my heart even a speck. The reason the letter came to mind as soon as I woke up was because I remembered the cringeworthy lines I had spouted off in the dawn sentiment of last night.
Aah… Now everything’s ruined. Brandt will read my childish letter and laugh heartily. No. If he laughs, that would be fortunate. What if he throws the letter away, saying something like ‘Are you trying to deceive me again with this childish writing?’
“It all starts like that at first. Hohoho.”
Regardless of my despair, Madame Marie still had a flushed face.
For several days, there was no reply from Brandt. Was no news good news, or was he lulling me into complacency to strike a blow?
I sighed in frustration, and the mirror in front of me fogged up white. After a while, the steam on the mirror cleared, and the figure of a woman with fresh, blonde hair appeared.
“Are you really going like this?”
The maid in charge of my hair asked as if she couldn’t understand.
“Yes. Isn’t it pretty?”
“……”
To me, who hadn’t yet adapted to this world’s sense of beauty, the maid responded with silence. She probably hadn’t adapted to my sense of beauty either.
However, I really liked the Edita in the mirror right now.
Instead of piling my hair up like a mountain, braiding the beautiful blonde hair and pinning it up neatly gave an air of elegance. Of course, in compromise with the hair maid, I also placed some of the burdensome accessories she offered on my head. But once I put them on, they looked better than expected.
‘Since the base face is good, it looks pretty no matter what I do.’
Especially, the canary accessory, I initially thought ‘How do you even put that on your head?’ but when I saw it for real, it was cute. Excluding the fact that pressing the wings makes it actually sing, that is.
“Lady!”
To push through with this hairstyle, there was one more mountain to overcome. It was my nanny, Madame Marie, who called my name with a face full of dissatisfaction.
“Duke Albrenovich likes a simple style.”
Of course, overcoming that mountain was easier than crossing the hills in the garden.
“Come to think of it, he is a very frugal person.”
“I suppose so.”
Still, today I put on that dreadful corset and the torture device-like pannier without complaint. This world’s clothes were unnecessarily flashy and cumbersome, but once worn, I had to admit they were beautiful.
The women here dressed like ladies spending their best day every day. But for me, today was less the best day and more the first day.
In Ludenbach, after every Privy Council meeting, the Emperor would invite prominent nobles to a banquet. ‘Lady Edita’ was attending that banquet for the first time today.
Even though it was called a Privy Council meeting, in reality, it was just unilaterally hearing the Emperor’s opinions or raising agenda items representing the nobles’ interests, so the subsequent banquet was attended only by influential royals and nobles related to their gains.
Therefore, even though she was of the Emperor’s bloodline, Edita, a remote royal from the outskirts of the outskirts, had no opportunity to attend.
Even if the Emperor wanted to include her, there was no pretext. But now that she had become the fiancée of Brandt, the chairman of the Privy Council, Duke Albrenovich, the story changed.
My footsteps trembled as I headed to the Saint-Liselle’s main palace where the banquet was held. The anticipation and trembling for the first time attending such an event were great, but more than that, what oppressed me was the ‘letter’ I had sent to Brandt.
It was the first time seeing him after sending the letter to Brandt. Expectations and fears about what reaction he would show alternated in knocking on my chest.
The banquet hall already had many royals and nobles seated. The familiar faces were only Crown Prince Fabio, Princess Lena, and Lady Zita, the noble lady who had been rebuked by Princess Lena.
Madame Marie escorted me to the place where the banquet was held and then stepped back. From now on, I had to do it myself.
‘I managed to sneak out of the annex alone and come all the way to the Saint-Liselle palace. I can do it!’
I knew well that waiting for someone to approach Edita was futile. I walked straight toward Princess Lena. Perhaps not expecting me to approach her first, Princess Lena’s complexion turned cold. The more so, I smiled even brighter and greeted her.
“It’s nice to see you again, Your Highness Princess Lena.”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Edita.”
People’s gazes focused on me and Princess Lena. The rumors about what happened in the Liselle Garden had already spread widely. Despite such an incident, the always quiet Lady Edita approaching with a smiling face and greeting Princess Lena first was enough to draw everyone’s attention.
The young Princess, raised preciously, didn’t know how to treat me and was hesitating. She was bold when attacking, but when I came out like this, she seemed flustered.
But for me, my business with her ended here. By approaching first and greeting confidently to seize the initiative, and then drawing attention and withdrawing, that was it.
Lady Edita could remain more silent than anyone if she wanted to be silent, and receive more attention than anyone if she wanted attention.
“By the way, Lady, didn’t you put on less hair ornaments?”
Just as I was about to turn away, Princess Lena said with a tone still unable to hide her tension. I was surprised by her, who didn’t hesitate to attack the opponent even while flustered. On one hand, I wanted to praise her, but anyway, counterattacking came first now.
“Since it’s my debut at the Privy Council banquet, I thought it would be better to show my usual simple appearance rather than specially styling my hair up. As a woman, adornment is important, but I think dignity is more important. Do you have any particular words about my style?”
If I could, I wanted to ask why pay money to endure hair torture, but that would hurt the delicate ladies’ feelings, so I held back.
But honestly, wasn’t Princess Lena’s head, with what looked like a watermill on it, stranger than my simple hair? She was wearing an excessive outfit with the neckline collar raised high, making the watermill stand out even more.
Piling hair up like a mountain wasn’t court etiquette but just a fashion, so Lena couldn’t catch onto my words that particularly emphasized ‘simplicity’ or ‘dignity.’
She could curse me behind my back, but would the words coming from behind be only that? There was no need to mind each one.
As the banquet seemed about to start soon, I followed the guidance and found my seat. With the Emperor at the center, on the right were seats for Crown Prince Fabio and Princess Lena, and on the left was the seat for Brandt, the chairman of the Privy Council. Normally, I should sit next to Princess Lena, but now as Brandt’s fiancée, it was inevitable to sit next to him. Even though Brandt hadn’t arrived yet, I was already trembling.
“Lady?”
“Yes?”
I was already trembling, and when someone suddenly called my name without warning, I jumped up in surprise. The one who called me was Lady Zita, standing there with a startled face instead.
“Did I startle the Lady?”
“No. I was just lost in thought…”
Seeing my embarrassed appearance, Lady Zita smiled softly.
“Your hair is so beautiful today.”
I looked at her in surprise at the unexpected compliment. She added as if wondering what I was surprised about.
“I also want to do my hair with the same elegant style as the Lady next time. Is that okay?”
“Of course. Anytime.”
In fact, the large palm tree-shaped ornament erected on Lady Zita’s head would probably look prettier if taken down.
“Were you two talking?”
At that moment, a gentle voice interjected between me and Lady Zita. It was Brandt. A serene smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, dressed in his usual black attire. To me who flinched, he deliberately turned his head and gave a smile with his eyes. Seeing his sharply chiseled eyes curve into crescents, my heart pounded loudly without me realizing.
‘Is this a response to the letter I sent?’
A small hope bloomed in my chest. Since this man had such a different impression when expressionless versus when smiling, if our relationship improved, we might somehow get along well.
Lady Zita also seemed captivated by his smile, her cheeks flushing red.
“Ah, ah, Duke Alvrenovich…”
It was pitiful to see her even stuttering her words. Then, suddenly, I realized that not long ago, I had stuttered even more than that, and my cheeks flushed like hers.
“His Majesty will arrive soon. Please return to your seats.”
“Y-yes…!”
Lady Zita, whose face had turned strawberry red, ran back to her seat. Looking at her, Brandt said to me.
“Please sit, Lady.”
I took his offered hand and sat down. Soon, as he said, the Emperor appeared, and the banquet began.
Having spent some time here, I had expected it, but the banquet also had many trivial and complicated procedures. Prayer was basic, from the setting to who picks up the fork first. I had learned from Madame Marie, but encountering it in real life made my head hurt even more.
At least Brandt, with his kind demeanor, took care of my clumsiness, so I could avoid showing my dazed appearance to others. At his manners that seemed like they would melt like butter, I was convinced that the ‘letter’ had succeeded.
The main topics of the banquet ranged from the Privy Council meeting to state affairs and even petty rumors circulating among noble families. Brandt didn’t take the lead much, but when it came to topics he spoke on, he presented his opinions firmly and logically. I, who used to stumble even during group presentations, looked at Brandt, who handled words freely, with eyes of admiration.
‘Edita and him don’t seem to have much age difference, but there’s a reason he’s the chairman of the Privy Council.’
The biggest reason he was the chairman was probably the title of Duke Alvrenovich inherited from his father, but if he lacked the ability basically, someone else would have acted as proxy. However, this young man had returned from the battlefield and immediately handled the position of Privy Council chairman excellently.
When the banquet had ripened, the Emperor said to me.
“Edita, is this seat uncomfortable for you?”
The Emperor was asking my feelings sincerely, without any calculation or falsehood.
“It’s too comfortable, Father. I’m regretting that I could only attend now.”
“Hahaha. Yes! Indeed. I should have made more effort to have Edita attend more often.”
The Emperor laughed loudly, satisfied with my answer. At the Emperor’s laughter, others followed like machines. I also felt like I had to laugh, so I forcibly pulled up the corners of my mouth.
“But Edita, your hair is really simple. Is it because the annex lacks materials or people?”
As soon as the laughter subsided, Crown Prince Fabio said. The atmosphere turned awkward in an instant.
Seeing Princess Lena smiling beside him, I could easily guess that she had tipped him off.
“No. For a first-time attendance like this, I thought I should keep it moderate, so I came simply.”
“The appearance and the spirit dwelling in it are both beautiful.”
At the voice that jumped out as if catching the tail of my words, the hall fell silent. I looked at the owner of the voice in disbelief. Brandt smiled faintly and met my eyes.
‘Such a sudden temperature change… does that make sense?’
Now, with me and everyone else unable to speak up readily, the only one who could break this heavy silence was one person.
“Uhahahahaha! Newly starting lovers, eh. It’s nice to see.”
Starting with the Emperor’s laughter, laughter began to be heard here and there again.
Ah. These guys are all like parrots.
“I learned today for the first time that Duke Alvrenovich is someone who can say such things.”
“They haven’t even had a formal engagement yet, but they already seem like a married couple.”
“The Duke has fallen hard for the lady.”
Ha… Haha…
A barrage of insincere fuss poured down, making me even more awkward. Brandt kept a smile on his face, as if he didn’t feel the forced nature of those empty words. He seemed to like such exaggerated words.
“Since it came up, let me say. I’ve been worrying lately about when to hold the formal engagement ceremony between Duke Alvrenovich and Edita.”
The Emperor said. His words carried concern for Edita, who had lost her original fiancé Baron Orleans. He had hastily arranged the engagement with Duke Alvrenovich in case she ended up living alone for life, but as a father, he couldn’t help but worry about Edita’s wounds.
For me too, the engagement with Brandt wasn’t urgent. I had told Brandt to take it slow and make efforts to understand each other.
“I would like to skip the engagement and proceed directly to marriage.”
My eyes, which had been sitting leisurely, widened round. The same went for everyone else in the hall except Brandt. Princess Lena even dropped the fork she was holding.
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