Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Man and a Woman on a Summer Night (Part II)
By the time I reached the Royal seats, I had regained surface-level composure.
Even though I was pushed here, I couldnāt turn back and walk away now, nor could I just show my distraught state in front of Royalty.
I think this resulted from the education given to me from an early age.
āHis Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen, and His Highness the Crown Prince, we give our greetings.ā
After bowing and finishing the formalities, it was customary to have a little bit of a chat with them.
Since they were technically my relatives, connected to me by blood, adding to the fact that Iād known them since childhood, His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen were talking with me in a friendly manner.
āThatās right. I see that Her Highness the Crown Princess wasnāt here today either. Since the seasons were about to change, I couldnāt help but fondly remember the relationship we had as children. I understand that she needs to take a long rest after childbirth, but perhaps could I know how she is doing?ā
I tried to ask as if it were nothing big, but I still felt a little nervous.
Perhaps other people had also asked about Annelier, but they mustāve been noblemen who were political opponents to the Busterman family.
The mightāve been those who wanted to drag down the Busterman family with the Crown Princessā health as ammunition, wishing to bring their daughters into the Royal family instead.
Thatās rightā¦ I had a sister who was single tooā¦!
It was only after I had finished talking that I realized my mistake.
Itās been a long time since Iāve made such a mistake, so I had no choice but to wait for their reply, feeling indescribably altogether.
I had absolutely no intention of pairing my sister up with His Highness Reinhardt.
At least not for me, but the Royal family might think otherwise.
āThatāsā¦ Rightā¦ā
His Majesty the King glanced sideways at Prince Reinhardtās slurred words.
This may have been a mistake.
āā¦Annelierās taking care of herself, and Iām just letting her fully rest.ā
His Highness seemed to want me to accept that answer.
Please, I hope this situation will be laid to restā¦ If by any chance my sister was forced to get married because of this, she would probably hate me, and I wouldnāt be able to face Annelier either.
Iāve no idea about the specifics, but I heard that it had been difficult choosing the perfect queen to be His Highness Reinhardtās partner.
I was told that he had some bizarre hobbiesā¦
Annelier, well, she seemed like someone whoād always do her best if she thought it was her duty to do so, but she was also someone whoād definitely hate Victoria.
āYou seem to be worrying a lot, but rest assured that itās not that serious, so donāt worry too much. Iām obviously taking care of her to the best of my capabilities. I canāt let her get sick again since thereās no one who could ever replace her. And by the way, when did you get so close to Annelier to be asking this?ā
ā¦My spirit was being whisked away.
It also felt like I was being questioned in a completely different direction than what Iād worried about.
āShe was my childhood friendā¦ And even if we hadnāt gotten along much in the long run, now that Iāve gotten older, it seems like I couldnāt help but remember the old days.ā
āYou talk like an old man. Arenāt you the same age as me?ā
āā¦Perhaps itās because Iāve had a lot on my mind lately.ā
After finishing the conversation then and there, I hurriedly left the Royal seats.
āHow was it?ā
When I felt myself getting too exhausted, I leaned on the wall, with Oscar smiling expectantly at me.
I looked at him with a bit of resentment, but this guy didnāt care about that sort of thingā¦
āAnnelier didnāt seem to be in a worry-worthy situation. He said he was taking care of her.ā
āI see, then sheās being well taken care of! Thatās great news.ā
āā¦ Thatās right.ā
With that in mind, Iāll make sure to stay away from this topic from now on.
I donāt want anyone to be suspicious of me, and I also donāt want my sister to hate meā¦
Annelierās POV
Today, they seemed to be having an evening party at the palace.
Evening parties seemed to be held at least once every season usually.
Some of the maids had also been dispatched to help around.
The crown princess, of course, is absent today as wellā¦
No, well, I canāt go to an evening party stark naked.
But since Iāve already appeared once, I havenāt really felt an urge to go to another evening party.
I also couldnāt dance yet.
After Wernhardt was born, I used to practice with Reinhardt-sama occasionally, but itās been a long time since the last we did.
Since Reinhardt-sama was participating today, he might not be able to come by tonight.
Actually, even if there was an evening party, the chances of him coming or not was fifty-fifty.
It seemed like the evening parties were always held until past midnight. And apparently, Reinhardt-sama also didnāt like evening parties that much; plus, on days he was tired, he always slept alone.
In that case, theyāll just inform me that the evening party has ended.
Then Iād be able to relax and sleep comfortably, so having evening parties didnāt seem so badā¦ I think.
Itās a fifty-fifty chance!
The remaining probability was that Reinhardt-sama, who had accumulated a lot of stress, would then come and relieve it through meā¦
Itād turn into an all-nighter if he were to come here to relieve stress, wonāt itā¦?
It would be a night of unrest.
The past two times, we still couldnāt have proper sex, but after being immersed in large amounts of aphrodisiacs and being left alone longer than usualā¦ I was slowly tortured while being teased until my consciousness flew away.