/

Chapter 55 - Aiden And Grapefruit Jam Cookies




55. Aiden And Grapefruit Jam Cookies
Most adult men were afraid of the stand-in-Emperor, but Enrique didn’t budge. This much fear wasn’t enough to pressure Enrique.
People hummed and looked sideways at the interesting sights, pretending not to be.
“I didn’t expect His Majesty to keep check…”
“As expected, Her Majesty and Prince Javier are indeed…”
The buzzing from all over the place made Esteban’s face crumple.
Even though he only left for a little bit, a fly got twisted with his cute Mabel. On top of that, it was Enrique Javier from the annoying Javier Duchy.
‘This happened before.’
They hadn’t met in three years, acting this close was unexpected.
‘To think you remember clearly what happened three years ago, Mabel is indeed a genius.’
In the meantime, Esteban was constantly silly for his daughter.
The murmur grew louder and louder.
“Then… as expected, His Majesty, the stand-in-Emperor…”
“He is against their relationship…”
Grit.
Esteban grit his teeth.
He wanted to wipe out all the teeth that were spreading unbelievable rumors.
“Daddy?”
However, he couldn’t reveal his temper in front of the cute Mabel, who was looking up at him with big eyes.
Esteban covered the child with his body so that Enrique couldn’t see Mabel. Mabel whined because of her blocked vision, but Esteban did not move.
He had a duty to protect his precious daughter.
“Mabel has no intentions to dance with you.”
“The person I asked for the dance is Her Majesty the Emperor, not Your Majesty the stand-in-Emperor.”
He thought he would back off with one word, but Enrique was more persistent than expected.
‘There’s no helping it.’
He didn’t want to go this far, but there wasn’t much to do if he came out like that. Esteban glared at Enrique with a grim face.
“If you want to ask Mabel to a dance, you’ll have to go through me first.”
“……”
Silence fell.
Enrique, the party concerned, and all the other nobles spectating were silent. The act of risking his life to dance with the cute Emperor was too reckless.
It was said that his temper had died down a lot now, but Esteban was once called the murderer of the battlefield.
There was no one who could go through him.
“…I accept Your Majesty’s wishes.”
Enrique, who eventually backed down, bowed his head and stepped back.
Esteban’s eyes scattered the crowd amid the deadly atmosphere. The people shivered and avoided eye contact.
At a time when everyone was afraid of the stand-in-Emperor, only one person criticized him.
“Daddy, you dwummy!”
It was Mabel.
“Mabel, your Daddy is doing this all for you…”
“Daddy, don’t ruin the atmothphere and go away.”
“Mabel…!”
The little Emperor defeated the murderer of the battlefield, whom everyone feared, in just two words.
People’s mouths gaped as they watched the stand-in-Emperor’s back, which was trudging sullenly.
‘She destroyed His Majesty!’
Duchess Donovan, who was watching the situation, spoke to Mabel.
“As I said, you didn’t need to learn how to dance.”
“Haha…”
‘That’s what you meant…’
In fact, Mabel thought that the scariest was Duchess Donovan, who saw through the stand-in-Emperor’s fiery nature.
.
.
.
The last stop for Duchess Donovan was where young people of Mabel’s age gathered.
“D-Duchess Donovan!”
One of the oldest young ladies them was surprised and greeted her as an example.
Duchess Donovan pointed out the young lady’s mistake with an expressionless face.
“You must greet the Emperor first.”
The young lady’s face turned pale when she realized that she greeted Duchess Donovan before the Emperor.
“I-I beg you, Your Majesty. Please forgive my mistake!”
An unintentional disregard to the Imperial family. Of course, it wouldn’t be passed over.
But why was it.
Mabel grinned at the young ladies.
“Ith okay, ith okay.”
The young ladies were deeply moved by the Emperor’s generous gesture, which seemed insignificant.
‘She’s cute and generous!’
Mabel gave a motherly smile.
‘Ahh, so cute!’
The young ladies dressed up in pretty clothes were very lovely.
How could you not be cute when your cheeks are blushing because you don’t know what to do?
It wasn’t a big deal to say hello to the Duchess first when you don’t know I’m here anyway.
Duchess Donovan spoke, “Will you introduce yourselves to Her Majesty?”
It was a great honor to introduce themselves to the Emperor. The girls greeted themselves with blushing cheeks and flushing skirts.
“I am Sandra Salaman of Count Salaman.”
“I am Christine Oberitt of Marquis Oberitt, Your Majesty.”
“I am Louise Hildea of Viscount Hildea.”
After the introductions of several girls, there was only one left.
“I am Emily Javier of Duke Javier. It’s an honor to see you again, Your Majesty.”
Mabel looked pleased at Emily’s greeting, the girl with red hair.
“It’s nice to see you again, Emily.”
The surrounding girls were surprised. This was because Emily never brought up that she met the Emperor.
It was a curious topic. As curiosity was focused on the veiled baby Emperor, it was the center of conversation.
“After meeting Your Majesty, I was scolded because I wanted to see you again. I waited for the day of the banquet to come.”
Mabel smiled happily when she said she wanted to meet her again.
“Thwank you.”
“Is the dress Your Majesty is wearing one you got with the Duchess that day at the boutique?”
“Ung.”
“It’s a very bright dress. It really suits Your Majesty! Her Excellency has a great eye indeed.”
Emily praised Mabel and Duchess Donovan at the same time.
“Thank you.”
Duchess Donovan thanked her with a simple nod. The other young children were surprised to see Emily talking to the Emperor and Duchess Donovan so naturally.
‘They look really close.’
It was a conversation between friends to whoever saw it, so no one could intervene. It was natural for Emily to take the initiative in the conversation.
“If Your Majesty doesn’t mind, would you come to my tea party later?”
Mabel’s eyes opened wide at Emily’s invitation.
‘Tea party?’
The tea party itself wasn’t a problem. The problem was Emily’s family.
I can’t walk to Duke Javier’s house, full with snakes, on my own.
Mabel glanced at Duchess Donovan. She remained silent as if letting Mabel do what she wanted.
“Brother Enrique will also be there.”
Mabel’s heart became weaker with Enrique’s name. So Mabel answered vaguely,
“Can I think about it first?”
“Of course! I will send an invitation.”
Despite her vagueness, Emily smiled brightly. Duchess Donovan’s cool eyes were watching Emily.
***
The founding banquet lasted until late into the night, but the young ladies and young men returned to their homes early.
Emily and Enrique waited for their carriage to come outside alone.
“Emily.”
Emily replied brightly at Enrique’s call.
“Yes, Brother.”
“Do as you usually do. No one’s watching.”
“Well, okay.”
Emily’s expression changed in an instant. The smile on her face disappeared, leaving only a look of annoyance.
Emily Javier. On the outside, she was an angel-like beautiful girl, but in reality, she was different. If she wanted something, she seduced others by killing her personality, eventually obtaining it.
It was Emily, who was the ‘Javier-like’ child, whom even Duke Javier acknowledged.
Only a few members in the Javier family, including Enrique, knew Emily’s true personality.
Enrique warned Emily.
“No matter what Father said, don’t do anything to Her Majesty.”
“Who is Brother to say that?”
“Emily.”
“Are you ordering me right now?”
Emily snorted. Even though he was a few years older, she had no thoughts of treating him so.
“Enrique Javier. Choose your brotherly route properly.”
“……”
“Are you trying to be the national anthem?” (T/N: She’s talking about his loyalty to Mabel.)
Enrique didn’t speak again this time. Emily shrugged her shoulders.
“Your eyes looking at Her Majesty were dripping with honey.”
“You’d better refrain from making rude remarks.”
“What of it, Her Majesty isn’t here anyway. And Her Majesty would forgive such rudeness, wouldn’t she?”
Emily, who perfectly understood Mabel’s personality through only two meetings, smiled.
“If you really want to be the national anthem, you should smile at the cute Emperor and watch her well. Wag your tail like a puppy. Then maybe she’ll like Brother?”
“…watch your words.”
“If not, then you’d better wake up. Unless you want to be deprived of your succession rights.”
Emily’s eyes on Enrique were cold.
“It’s annoying that Brother was chosen as the successor as if it’s normal for the eldest of the family to.”
Even though she was a child of the same family, her position as the successor went to Enrique. She couldn’t accept that fact.
‘I’m more suited to that position than that broken brother.’
She thought so from the bottom of her heart, but her conservative father never gave up on Enrique to the end. He never thought of Emily as his successor.
When her father called her a few days ago, she would be lying if she said she didn’t have any expectations.
“Emily,