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“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone use the word ‘lover.’ Though I’ve sometimes seen some having concubines or mistresses.”
Selena frowned at the rejection of the word.
“Anyways, the word ‘lover’ referring to the relationship means little except for the ‘wife’, and how much the Duke treats me,” Count Orlen said.
You could give and reap affection as much as you like. The status of a lover was nothing after all. In the end, Selena felt discouraged by the words that everything depended on the affection that Kalcion gave her.
“You need to show your love towards me more if you want me to go around and use my strength more.”
“….Like today?”
“Today was good, but don’t you think it should be like a once-in-a-lifetime love?”
“That’s a difficult task.”
He didn’t know what part of the praise he got today was good for him, but he had to make up for it. It was all over the mountain. He had been doing crazy things because he couldn’t control his emotions, but he was being asked to go crazy more than this? Kalcion, who was wandering in the open sea, asked for help.
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Oh, me?”
“Yes. I think it will be a little easier for me to understand if you tell me what love is like.”
“Uh….,” Selena’s eyes moved up, down, left, right, and then back up. Kalcion waited, gazing at the flamboyant movement of her eyeballs. “You know….” Selena took a long time even though he didn’t ask her to tell the secret technique of swordsmanship that had been handed down from generation to generation.
Selena’s words, which she managed to bring up with hesitation, were a wild confession.
“…I’ve never been in love either……”
“What?”
She acted like she knew everything, but Selena was actually an inexperienced novice. She had shouted like a master of love and now she had been caught. To her embarrassment, Selena added something unquestionable.
“Um, I haven’t been in love before, but I’ve acted it out a lot, right? It’s an important time for the Duke to shower his love for me, so I can direct you.”
“….Yeah, so what is it?”
Kalcion didn’t have to point out Selena’s career, but moved on. Though he was kind, his manners were respectful as a Duke.
“Well, the truth is, what the crown prince is doing is almost the answer. That’s why I’m not sure.”
Naturally, Kalcion’s face hardened as soon as he heard that it was what the crown prince did. Selena made a hasty excuse.
“He’s an example. You’re not on good terms, either, because of the Irelle incident. Won’t you keep getting into trouble while you’re in the Capital?”
“….What kind of behavior does he show?”
Looking at Selena’s face, which was obviously depicting the crown prince in her head, Kalcion clenched his fist among the soaring nervousness for nothing.
“Well, except for the odd urgency, his eyes twinkle every time he sees me, or his sweet, gentle voice. It’s the most impressive part to use only fine words and not spare any expressions.”
“Only that?”
Come to think of it, he was fussing over nothing.
“Only?”
“Yeah, only. Isn’t he getting away with it too easy because you’ve never had the experience?”
“No, but I’ve been shown a lot, so I can make that distinction with my eyes closed.”
“But you don’t know when you’re falling in love.”
Selena was defeated by Kalcion’s whining remarks. But she also had a means of counterattacking.
“It’s not love until and unless you fall without knowing it. Knowing it or not, isn’t it love that can’t be avoided?”
“….I don’t know.”
Both were inexperienced beginners, so they couldn’t confirm the answer.
“No matter what he does to me, don’t worry about what happens to me. You’re good enough not to be defeated by the Crown Prince, Duke.”
“That’s nothing, I can do better.”
Selena replied belligerently to the boastful Kalcion.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
She said that with not much expectation.
***
Invitation to parties continued after Viorela’s party. In the Imperial Capital, it was common to organize parties all year round for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The number of invitations Selena received was huge after the founding banquet, combined with the invitation from the people she met at Viorela’s party. If she decided to participate, she could fill her days with parties every day.
“What a surprise, it must be a tight schedule just to prepare clothes for these parties,” Juna gathered them excitedly.
“I’m going to take a break for a while. I’m tired, and I’m afraid my skin will deteriorate.”
“Ah…. yes.”
Lirel didn’t know yet that Juna’s tail had been stepped on. Perhaps another order has been issued. This time, Selena had a rough idea of what the next order would be for Juna. Selena deliberately stood up, turning her head towards the invitation.
“Then I’m going to train with the Duke, so could you please organize the invitations in the meantime?”
“Yes, of course!”
Juna hurriedly began to collect invitations. It would take some time to fold the unfolded letter papers again and find and put them inside the envelopes with the same patterns. Even more, if you couldn’t read.
If you knew the text, you could compare the sender’s name at the bottom of the letter with the name on the envelope, but if you didn’t know, you had to match it by looking at the patterns one by one. There were some similar patterns and colors, so it would take a while.
Then it won’t be hard to spot a letter stuck between the invitations. Selena pretended to leave the room and left the door slightly open.
As soon as Selena left the room, Juna began to search around the room without organizing the letters she was ordered to organize. She forgot to close the drawers she opened properly and didn’t even put the sheets she scurried through.
‘Thank you for being stupid.’
Selena watched with a wry smile at the uninteresting act. Juna, who had been searching the room for a long time, finally gave up and returned to organizing the letter.
Suddenly, she stopped at what she was doing. “Oh!” It seemed that she managed to find the one she was looking for. As soon as the letter went into Juna’s pocket, Selena slammed into the door.
“Eek!”
Surprised, Juna couldn’t even pretend nothing was wrong. The time she had spent hiding my identity for a long time pretending not to know anything was overshadowed. Selena demanded.
“The thing in your pocket. Give it to me.”
“W-What, what?”
Selena reached out with a distorted smile.
“Then shall I search your pockets for myself?”
Juna bit her lips with a scared look on her face. Still, she didn’t put her hand inside her pocket until the very end. Selena reached out, not repeating herself. One warning was enough. In the end, Juna surrendered in a hideous atmosphere.
“I’m sorry, I was fascinated by the parchment.”
“Don’t make excuses.”
Selena, who caught the letter, shook the letter in front of Juna’s eyes.
“I don’t think you’ve seen it once or twice.”
“N-no, it’s not true.”
“No, how can you not recognize the patterns of the family you used to work for?”
This was a gamble. There was no basis. It was not likely to hire anyone from the street to work in the Duchy of Renbird. Since she had to keep a thorough secret, she could have been a maid who worked under Lirel.
“N-No, it’s not! I really don’t know!” Her jumping reaction told the answer. Gambling succeeded.
In a situation where she was strangled no matter what she did, Juna peeped around with anxious eyes. But there was no way out of this room.
“Do you know what this is?”
“No, I don’t.”
“This is a personal letter from Lirel to the Duke. It’s not like an invitation that you can throw away.”
And it was also a chain that carried Lirel’s own leash. Lirel must have felt on the spot that writing a letter to show off her friendship with Selena was a mistake. But Juna couldn’t take away the letter that was already in Selena’s hand. It was best to pretend to have lost it if possible.
If Juna was a spy, the first order to be issued must be to get the letter back. Selena was on edge every moment to capture the scene.
“You’ve tried to steal a letter written to the Duke. And, I haven’t shown this to the Duke yet.”
Juna went pale and collapsed on the floor.