Episode 88. Don’t Appear in Front of Me Again
I was now giving up and wanted to call the Count or anyone. I just wanted lightning to strike my room.
But that bastard wouldn’t stop talking.
What’s with that worried expression while he kept saying such strange things!
“I’m a quick learner, so please excuse me for now. You’ll understand when you go to Kydel. It’s similar to the military there. That’s how I grew up.”
Prince Kydel frowned slightly as if to say, ‘Now that I think about it, my environment was unfortunate,’ and I let out a long, long sigh.
‘Why am I going there?’
I barely managed to gather my strength to say.
“Prince Kydel?”
“Yes. Miss Loire.”
“From now on, please don’t say the word ‘body’ in front of me.”
Then he stared at me for a moment with a puzzled expression.
“Have confidence. Miss Loire can do that.”
How fortunate I was to have eaten breakfast.
If I hadn’t, I might have lost all my strength to hold back my anger at that moment and fainted.
I gritted my teeth and called out,
“Your Excellency.”
“You can talk about my body if you want. That would be fair. Actually... I wonder what kind of words you would choose.”
“Enough!”
When I cut him off, his face turned pale.
Perhaps he had never made so many mistakes in his entire life.
Growing up in a household full of men with swords, living with only the praise of women, he probably had no chance to be pointed out how crazy he was.
“Yes. I’ll think about it alone. You don’t have the right to stop me.”
Then he turned to me and gave me a subtle smile.
What were you thinking just now...?
I clenched my molars and said,
“You should go back now. Besides, there’s also Misha in this house. She’s a classmate from the academy who fell in love with you!”
Prince Kydel flinched so much that the teacup he was holding to his lips rippled slightly. He seemed quite shocked by my remark.
Who on earth said that man was the genius of the empire?
I was laughing in vain, feeling my lifespan shrinking, when he suddenly asked as if he had remembered something.
“Since we’re talking about Miss Misha Loire, shouldn’t we reveal the truth about that letter now? How about a three-way meeting with Miss Misha? They said that honesty is the most important thing in climbing the ladder of relationships.”
The ladder of relationships?
Whoever it was, I had to twist the mouth of that teacher.
“Let’s go.”
I said very calmly, and he looked back at me, not understanding what I was saying. However, he wiped his smile when he saw the fork trembling in my hand.
He stood up politely and said,
“Thank you for the tea, Miss Loire. Next time, please give me the honor of inviting you.”
The corners of my mouth trembled, but I was able to pretend to smile.
“Don’t ever show up in front of me again, Your Excellency.”
“Miss Loire. No matter how much you ask, there are things I can’t do. Heh.”
He smiled charmingly, but he sighed softly at my boiling, murderous intent and disappeared beyond the balcony.
It was as if he was sorry that he could not give me a goodbye kiss.
The first lion must behead the instructor who is polluting his son’s mind.
For the future of the Kydel family and the empire.
***
I returned to the palace without resting at the Count’s residence.
It was unexpected and, in fact, a bit shocking that I had made a sort of reconciliation with Misha. Misha was acknowledging me in that way.
I didn’t hate it, but after facing a new situation with her like that, I felt like I didn’t know how to act anymore.
However, Prince Kydel’s sudden appearance gave me no time to think about it.
I suddenly thought that the amount of madness that exists in the world is not fixed.
Right now, Prince Kydel is monopolizing it, and Misha is coming to her senses...
“Ah, I should come to my senses.”
I went to help Her Highness the Princess dress up for the party being held tonight.
The Agael envoys arrived safely, and the administrators confirmed that the refiners they brought were indeed capable.
The Empire was rapidly reconciling with Agael, who had been fighting a proxy war over the lands of the Amata tribe for two years.
In the meantime, I was mulling over the Count's words. If the contest had now become a competition without conditions or restrictions, where exactly should I lead Her Highness the Princess?
One fortunate thing was that I didn’t have to step forward and do anything.
How to make Her Highness look like a dignified royal family member while remaining as defensive as possible. That was the problem I had to worry about.
After the evening dressing up, Her Highness Milliora was dazzling. I also dressed up in the dress the Countess had prepared and accompanied her.
She asked softly as she walked to the grand banquet hall where the welcoming party for the envoys was to be held.
“Lorisha, what should I do today?”
“The envoy might show his friendliness to Your Highness, who was the first to welcome him. Then, accept his greetings and if he has any other questions, refer him to the administrative officer in charge.”
“The construction of the steel mill is a technical issue?”
“That’s it, Your Highness. You just have to show that you welcome him.”
“That won’t hurt my brothers’ feelings, right? If I'm not careful, I might...”
“Of course it’ll be fine, Your Highness. Don’t worry.”
“I understand. I understand.”
As I watched Her Highness the Princess enter the grand banquet hall, taking a deep breath, I felt like I was marrying off my grown daughter.
As expected, this dress was great, and the nobles complimented her dress as they greeted her.
Her Highness Miliora greeted them with an indifferent attitude, as if to say, “When was I not pretty?”, but I found that to be secretly cool.
Even though she was secretly excited.
His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Prince also appeared in their finest attire, and the faces of the major nobles also appeared one after another.
Kalin Ankart pretended not to notice me when our eyes met.
Not long after the banquet began, Agael’s messenger asked Her Highness Miliora to dance, and this time she elegantly walked onto the floor as if she had been waiting for it.
I sat in a corner and watched her dance, feeling a strange feeling.
“No one could have done it better than her, Lorishia.”
When I heard the Count’s voice, my heart started pounding for no reason. Is it okay for me to hear such words...
The dancing Milliora looked innocently happy, and the space I was in was filled with luxury and joy. But it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before.
I was practicing accepting where I belonged for the first time.
Up until now, I thought the world rejected me because I was an illegitimate child, but I hated the world just the same.
The fact that I was an illegitimate child despised by the world had not changed, but now I might not be as angry about it as I used to be.
I looked around the banquet hall, fanning myself gently.
“Haa. It might still be hard.”
When the women’s eyes all moved to one side, I saw Prince Kydel coming in.
He must have been late because he couldn’t sleep well due to a really strange dream.
He greeted the familiar faces at the entrance, and his eyes were searching for someone.
I turned my head sharply, covered my face completely with my fan, and looked at the floor. But that wasn’t a very good solution.
I felt strange and lowered my fan, and he was approaching me with a bright smile, drawing the piercing gazes of the ladies who filled the banquet hall.
I quietly muttered from behind my fan.
“Damn, here we go again.”
To be honest, he was shining brightly today. His deep navy uniform was outstanding.
I don’t know how to describe men’s clothing, but anyway, his uniform fit him perfectly and suited him very well.
When he mentioned the female body, I took a look, and the body of the man named Locard Kydel was exceptionally well-composed. He was tall, had a firm chest, and good proportions.
His ruined personality and bad conscience were completely separate issues.
While I was searching for another way to find fault with him, he was standing in front of me.
He was unnecessarily tall, and I didn’t like the fact that I had to lift my chin to look him in the eye while sitting down.
Even his smoothly combed black hair was a show-off, one strand at a time. Those purple eyes focused on me were full of passion.
There was only one word to describe such shining eyes set on such a perfect face.
Unfair. God is unfair.
But today I couldn’t be so easily taken advantage of as I was at the Count’s residence the other day.
Before he could open his mouth, I rolled my eyes and whispered with a smile.
“Would you mind getting out of here?”
“Miss Loire...”
Look at that kid’s hurt face.
The one who had been telling me exactly what was on his mind for the past few days was somehow acting shy today. It seemed like he had changed his strategy.
I straightened up my fan to hide my snicker.
At that moment, the heat rushed in from behind him. It was the flames of jealousy from the ladies who were pretending not to notice.
Ha. This is it.
This guy is trying to burn me to death with that flame without getting his hands dirty.
Despite my rude words, he took a step closer with a serious expression.
It was a gesture as if he would cherish even the scars on his heart if it were something I gave him.
It was a performance that the women who cherished him could not help but be angry about.
I swallowed dryly. This party was attended by all the people who belonged to the high society of the empire. If you misunderstand them, the rumor will spread in an instant.
Prince Kydel seemed to be leaning there and trying to corner me, but it was impossible.
I opened my eyes as if to say, 'Stop right there!' and he was looking at me with moist eyes.
How can he make me the enemy of the ladies of the empire with that pitiful face?
I don't know if he has captivated the empire with that overwhelming expression, but I have no idea.
Where on earth can I find eyes like that? Damn it.
As I momentarily lost focus, he barged in.
“Miss Loire. I was going to ask you to dance, but if I made you uncomfortable, I apologize in advance. However, if there was a misunderstanding, I would like to clear it up. May I talk to you for a moment?”
“What kind of conversation do you want with someone who has poor hearing?”
Didn’t you hear me tell you to get out?
Then he straightened out his chest and answered.
That person probably wouldn’t know how much that shining self-esteem and confidence bothered someone like me, even if he came back from the dead.
“Miss Loire, why did you give me a chance...”
I cut him off. Knowing what kind of play he was trying to put on right now, I could never be dragged along like this.
I laughed fiercely and whispered so that only he could hear.
“Do you think I don’t know your true intentions, Prince? You devil!”
Prince Kydel looked shocked, his mouth forming an ‘oh’ shape, but the corners of his mouth slightly twitched.
This kid was having a blast right now!
I glared at him, gritting my teeth.
Mom, I’m a bad kid. When I was young, I thought the village kids were bad, but now I think it was because I was bad that they threw rocks at me.
I was worried. Should I pour him a drink from the glass he had just touched, or should I pretend to comply with his request and take him to the balcony and scratch his shins?
But both were difficult. If I dared to publicly insult the first lion of the empire, the eldest son of Duke Kydel, my father, Count Loire, would also suffer the consequences. He was below the Duke in terms of rank.
But if I went to the balcony with him, it would be like getting a notarized certificate that I was in love with him.
The people watching us now would not believe that a woman who spent time alone with Prince Locard Kydel did not fall in love with him.
This bastard knows that and is acting like this. He must be rubbing his shins, which were scratched by m,e and laughing.
I glanced at the stinging gazes directed at me and said lowly and quickly.
“Enough, go back. The victim right now is the Prince, so isn’t that enough?”
Then he smiled broadly and said,
“They say that when it comes to feelings between men and women, the one who harbors greater feelings is the winner. So what Miss Loire said may be right.”
“Oh. Yes.”
That teacher again. I’ll break that sword someday.
“We may serve different masters, but that’s no reason for us to be close. Miss Loire... If I kneel down, will you open your heart?”
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