There is a law of parties that does not change even after 500 years. People flock around people who are beautiful, powerful, or luxurious.
What does it mean?
âPrincess, would you like to join our reading meeting?â
âCan the duke invest in the project that my family startsâŠâ
âThere has never been a precedent for having a party before the ceremony. Did you hear anything about the reason?â
âThe last gladitorial competition was exciting. My lord, if youâre interested in knightsâŠâ
In other words, people are naturally flocking around me and Leonard, who are beautiful and powerful.
Oh, man.
Iâm bored to death.
âI am very happy to have met such nice people.â
But politics is politics. I canât just ignore them.
I dealt with those people with a smile bright enough to cause facial cramps.
âLeonard is doing pretty well. Is he born with it?â
I glanced at Leonard, who was standing a few steps away.
He was surrounded by young children his age. Although he was smiling awkwardly, he was quite good at conversing with women.
âAnyway, Iâve done enough as long as I can, so I can slowly get out of it.â
It seems like Iâve met almost everyone who wants to impress and greet us.
I smiled at those who were still around me and asked for understanding.
âExcuse me, but may I leave you for a moment?â
âWhatâs wrong, my lady?â
âUnfortunately, this is the first time Iâve been to a place like this, so Iâm nervous. I want to rest for a while.â
So go away now. Shoo, shoo.
But at my words, the eyes of the young masters began to twinkle.
âOh no, thatâs a problem. I shall take you to the lounge.â
âMay I bring you something to drink?â
âWhat? Oh no, wait a minute.â
Rather than disperse, the youths flocked to me as if they had waited.
âWhat do I do? Iâm at a loss.â
There is no justification to refuse. At this rate, I donât think Iâll be able to rest properly.
The moment I thought so.
âThank you, but I will escort her.â
âBrotherâŠ!â
Leonard approached me and lightly defeated the spirit of the young masters that were running towards me.
Leonardâs voice was as soft as usual, but the surrounding spirits shrank back like animals that met their natural enemies.
âShall we get going?â
âMm, to a place without people.â
We defeated the regretful young masters and misses and moved to another room.
It is a place for rest a little away from the hall, and the room was equipped with a couch and simple refreshments.
âUwaah, Iâm alive.â
I slumped down on the couch where there was no one else.
âThank you, Brother. I just wanted to run away.â
âYeah, you sure looked like it.â
Leonard said with a smile. Sigh, such a face that relieves fatigue. As expected, my brother is the best.
âDid any jerk flirt with you?â
âNot reallyâŠâ
I was rather surprised at the word âjerkâ coming out from Leonard.
Who did you learn from? Whoever uses such a word in the duchyâŠ
âŠOops. Was it me?
âTell me if thereâs anyone flirting with you. Iâll take care of everything.â
Leonard said, smiling like an angel.
Take care of? I must be mistaken for feeling that he mustâve gracefully rephrased the words âIâm going to kill themâ.
âIâll go get something to drink.â
Saying that, Leonard stood up.
I knew that if I went out to the hall, I would be caught again and never come back, I smiled and waved my hand.
***
How many minutes did it take?
âExcuse me. May I sit next to you, young lady?â
A few girls approached me. Among them, the one who spoke to me was a blonde young girl.
Iâm anxious. Kids who flock around like this are generally of poor quality.
I tilted my head and said.
âIf you are looking for my brother, heâs out in the hall.â
âNo, I wanted to talk with Young Lady.â
So persistent. Please give me some rest.
âAre you Princess Peresca? My name is Yulika Brande.â
Brande is an extended family of Duke Valer, the family of the 1st Consort.
Itâs a family that wonât get along well with Caesar, but she managed to get here.
âWhat is your business?â
âI heard you are close with His Highness the Prince.â
âThatâs right.â
At my answer, the young girls looked at each other and smiled once. I was a little perplexed because the atmosphere seemed like they thought I was ridiculous.
âOh, my, pardon me. I wondered if someone had come up with such a rumor, and didnât expect Iâd hear it from the person concerned.â
Yulika smiled, shaking the glass of the drink lightly.
âSometimes, there are nobles who show off their friendship after just seeing His Highnessâ a few times and mixing words a few times.â
⊠Oh, my.
You guys are here to screw me, arenât you?
âThere must be people like that.â
âYes. But of course Princess wonât be like that.â
âThank you for having so much faith in me.â
âOf course. People in the countryside are all simple. Right, everyone?â
âOf course, my lady. Princess seems to be a very naive person.â
âI know, right? She doesnât know anything. Sheâs as white as snow.â
Once again, the roaring laughter broke out.
Duke Peresca is currently stepping back from the center of power. Itâs not unreasonable for these guys to think of me as a country girl.
I, for now, laugh.
It doesnât matter. Compared to poisoning the beverage, this can be considered cute.
Yulika, who had become more arrogant, came a little closer to me.
âBy the way, Princess, these are the words of concern for you.â
âWhat is it? I will be happy to listen.â
Yulika whispered in my ear.
âKnow your place. Youâre spreading the rumor, but youâre wearing such a tacky dress. Who would believe it?â
Then she smiles.
She smiles as if she is confident that her words have sharply hit the nail.
It didnât even end up there.
âOh my god, how rude of me!â
Yulika got up and spilled a drink on my dress. It was on purpose no matter who looked at it.
However, Yulika exaggeratedly made a big fuss as if it was a mistake.
âWhat should I do?! My hand slipped! Oh my god, you need to change clothes!â
The red water was clearly visible over the hem of my blue skirt.
âJust in time, I brought an extra dress. Iâll lend you my dress, so come with me, Princess.â
âYes. Take the Brandeâs favor, Princess.â
âWhat favor.â
Do you think Iâm new to this?
Surely that extra dress would be lousy. But if I get mad at her now, I will become a narrow-minded person.
âI can hear her head working.â
I smiled and looked at Yulika.
âItâs okay, my lady. Rather, young ladyâs are wet. Hurry up and wipe it.â
With that said, I took the cup from Yulikaâs hand that still had a drink.
Then, I openly poured the drink on Yulikaâs face.
âKyaa!â
Yulika shouted in surprise. The red drink dripped from her face.
âYoung Lady Brande!â
âWhat are you doing, Princess?!â
The other youngsters screamed.
I looked back at the youngsters, holding the glass upside down and shaking it. The young girls flinched at my gaze and trembled.
âOh my, such an example. My hand slipped. Of course, you will understand it with broad generosity, right? You guys are tolerant of mistakes.â
âThatâs⊠ThatâsâŠ!â
âYouâd better wear that extra dress, Young Lady Brande. Itâs a relief that you have extra.â
I smiled at Yulika. Yulika stood up with her face redder than the drink and trembled.
âOh, I almost forgot. Thank you for your advice on my dress. I will definitely convey the opinion of young ladies here to His Highness. He chose this dress for me.â
To be precise, Rowena, Caesarâs subordinate, had chosen it.
â⊠What?â
âThank you for your advice and Iâd like to say something too, Young Lady Brande.â
I whispered into Yulikaâs ear, whose pupils were trembling like an earthquake.
âKnow your place. You have to be smart to do bad things.â
âUgh, h-how rudeâŠ!â
âThen, Young Lady Bebinca, Hector, and Rumbia.â
I looked at the young girls who had followed Yulika one by one and said.
They hadnât even introduced themselves, so when I called their surnames without hesitation, the girlsâ eyes fluttered mercilessly.
âI will remember the consideration you have given to Peresca Duchy here today to repay your family someday.â
The young girlsâ faces turned white at my words.
For the time being, they will be trembling in fear that their family may be harmed by their immature actions. Itâs cute just thinking about it. Umm⊠Am I too perverted?
âThen I will excuse myself. I hope to see you again, Young Lady Yulika Brande.â
I greeted her with a smile like spring.
The smiles were wiped out from the faces of the young girls.
***
âUgh, how annoying. It wonât go away.â
After moving to another empty room, I tried to wipe the stains off the dress with a handkerchief soaked in water. However, the stain showed no sign of being erased at all.
âEh, whatever. Itâs fine. I donât have to go out into the hall with this excuse.â
I gave up and threw the handkerchief on the table.
âBy the way, Young Lady Brande⊠What was she up to?â
Brande has considerable authority as they are closely connected to Duke Valer. Moreover, they are immersed in politics quite deeply even though theyâre located on the frontier.
Unlike Peresca, who rarely gets involved in politics, they are in power.
But that wouldnât be a reason to quarrel with the duke for nothing.
âHmm, maybe because she likes Caesar, she is jealous of me?â
If thatâs the case, itâs kinda cute. Although the way to express jealousy was not cute.
At that moment, the voice of the doorkeeper was heard from the banquet hall.
âHis Highness, Prince Caesar Winter Gray, is entering!â
Ah⊠Is it finally the main characterâs entry?
âI came all the way to the capital and couldnât meet him⊠Well, it would have been difficult to meet him even if I wasnât dressed like this.â
I muttered out of frustration.
Since Iâve come all the way here, I wanted to see his face once.
Too bad.
âIs this dress⊠tacky?â
I patted the skirt with both hands and murmured.
âOne needs to have an eye to know this.â
Even in my previous life, I had no interest in clothes or accessories.
Before becoming emperor, I rolled around in the streets or battlefields, and after becoming emperor, I wore armor more often.
ââŠI want to go home and sleep.â
After sitting blankly for a while, I got up from my seat and walked towards the window. I opened the window and a cold winter night breeze blew in.
Through the window, the silhouette of the imperial capital looked black.
âI miss it somehow.â
After muttering like that, I smirked at myself.
I didnât know that I would miss the imperial capital, because I donât have any good memories.
âAhaha. What am I saying? How could I miss it? Iâm being weird.â
Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I closed the window muttering to myself.
No, I tried to close it.
However, a hand that stretched out from behind closed the window before me.
ââŠ?â
Who is it?
I looked back in surprise.
Behind me, I heard the sound of a window closing.
âI found you.â
Standing behind my back was a man with infinitely warm red eyes.
âCaesar? How can you be hereâŠ?â
Shouldnât he be in the hall right now?
No, I wish you were a little more out of the way. Being trapped in Caesarâs arms with my back to the window is narrow and uncomfortable.
âI couldnât see Master, so I asked, and someone said you were here.â
âOh, my clothes got dirty.â
âIs that so? I thought you were avoiding me because it would be annoying.â
âThereâs that, too.â
âAhaha, thatâs so Helena.â
Caesar laughed. The bodyâs all grown up, but the way he smiles is still like a boy.
âWhy is the main character of the party here right now?â
âItâs okay. I came to say hello.â
âBut everyone will find you.â
âYes, I should go out soon.â
Caesar said with a bitter smile.
âHe looks tired.â
I looked up at Caesar, who had grown taller than me. He must have been busy preparing for the coronation ceremony, parties, and other things.
ââŠYouâre so cheeky that youâre taller than me.â
I grumbled for no reason, and Caesar laughed out loud.
âI was originally taller than you.â
âIt wasnât enough to look up like this.â
âOh, yeah. It must be unpleasant to look up at the disciple.â
Then Caesar bowed down. In an instant, our eye level became the same.
âIs this okay?â
âT-this is too close.â
âWhat do you want me to do then? Get down on my knees?â
âOh, that will be good.â
âWhat?â
âKneel down. I prefer to look down.â
âYouâre so hard to please, seriously.â
While saying that, Caesar meekly knelt before me on one knee.
He didnât mind getting his fancy clothes dirty.
âAre you satisfied, Master?â
Caesar tilted his head and smiled. If anyone sees this scene, they will be terrified.
âItâs perfect.â
Satisfied, I smiled and covered Caesarâs eyes with one hand.
I felt like I wouldnât be able to speak at all because of my embarrassment while making eye contact with him.
âHappy eighteenth birthday, Caesar.â
I said in a small voice in embarrassment.
âThank you for being born.â
Caesar didnât answer.
As if he was broken, there was no movement.
âWell, say something. Iâm going to die of embarrassment.â
My face was burning. At my prompt, Caesar rose from his seat again.
Caesar laughed.
Thank God. I donât know why, but I was relieved by his smile.
âThank you. Actually, I was looking for you because I wanted to hear those words.â
âIf you go out to the hall, you would be able to hear more from more people.â
âIt is enough to hear from you.â
Caesar buried his head on my shoulder.
âBecause I was born for Helena.â
Somehow I felt the moisture in that trembling voice, and I gently hugged him.
My disciple who was born for me, who is stubborn and very lonely.
Thank you for being born into this world I am in, Caesar.