“We’re going to make a pact with the defeated nation of Serom, so look the other way.”
“Earlier, the Crown Prince said he wanted to talk to Vin about the pledge ceremony.”
“He’s using the discussion as an excuse.”
“I don’t think so. He was uncharacteristically calm. What’s wrong? Is he ill?”
“I don’t know.”
Her answer wasn’t insincere because she was drawing. She didn’t really seem to know.
I was puzzled.
“Why wouldn’t you know? You’re the one who created the crown prince, you’re his closest confidant.”
“Even as the writer, things have changed, so how can I know everything about him, and I’m not his closest confidant anymore.”
“What? Why?”
“Rapel told the Crown Prince that I’ve become friendly with you.”
Somehow…..
In the book, they used to get together whenever they could, and I wondered why they weren’t doing that anymore, but turns out she’s been fired.
“I told him we were getting close so he could take advantage of your weaknesses.”
“The first time I got back together with you, I used that as an excuse to be around you…….”
“You lied, the damn thing.”
She nodded.
Then she fiddled with her pen.
“I was going to be the crown prince’s closest confidante, get information, protect you……. That damned fake struck first.”
“You’d do that for me, don’t you think you love me too much?”
I hugged my sister’s neck and laughed heartily.
Then her face contorted into a grim line.
Her dark face cursed wordlessly, and I jumped back in horror.
“I apologize. I’ll keep my mouth shut so you don’t get the pleasure of killing me instead of Mona White.”
I didn’t know what else to say, so I shifted my gaze back to the drawing.
As I watched the crown prince’s face take shape, my attention was drawn to a desk calendar sitting on the cluttered desk.
The calendar was jotted down with dates that seemed important business.
The Pledge of Allegiance was in three weeks.
With so many foreign dignitaries visiting, it’s going to require a lot of manpower, so maybe the new knights will get some work.
Hmm? Wait a minute.
3rd December. Why does that date bother me?
There’s nothing scheduled for it. It’s not even marked on her calendar.
“Oh!”
I remembered.
How could I have forgotten?
3rd December. My one and only sister’s birthday!
……No. Three years missing, seven years running away. A total of ten years without her, how dare I forget?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I figured the palace would be noisy in three weeks.”
I shrugged and ran back into my room.
I poked my head out the door to check on my sister, then carefully locked it and pulled a sheet of paper from the drawer.
It’s been a while since I’ve written a letter.
What’s the opening line?
* * *
“My lady, I was summoned and rushed to you!”
I hadn’t even posted the letter to the manor yet, and Wendy was here within a day.
Normally, outsiders would have to go through complicated procedures and permits to enter the imperial palace. Still, she was able to do so because she used an outsider’s invitation ticket, which was given to a new knight three times a year.
“The Marquis and Marchioness were disappointed that you didn’t write them an invitation, but seeing as you called me here, you must have something very important to do! What is it? Whatever it is, just leave it to this Wendy!”
“Well, look. It’s not anything else…….”
“Okay, whatever it is, just tell me!”
“I just wanted to go buy a gift….”
It had been so long since I left Abert that I didn’t really know the layout of the place.
I needed someone else’s help to tell me where the shops were and what was available.
I couldn’t ask my sister, the recipient of the gift, to accompany me, so I asked my maid to accompany me, as many noblewomen do.
“The recipient of the gift must be a great person to write an invitation and send for me. What kind of person is he or she? The Marquis or the Marchioness, by any chance……. His Excellency, the Duke of Ortega!”
“Ah? No.”
“Then what are they like?! You don’t mean to tell me that you’re some other man besides His Excellency…..!”
Wendy’s eyes lit up as I began to wonder what she was imagining.
“Yes, I am seeing another man, but not in the way you think.”
I blurted out the other man’s name.
“Sith.”
I could hear the thud, and it seemed that my words shocked Wendy enough to make her jump.
‘You just left your parents behind and called me for that guy……?’
Her quivering pupils seemed to say.
“I heard you were close to a Sith ex-maid, Anna, or something. Have you heard anything about Sith tastes?”
“We weren’t really close…, we just exchanged pleasantries as we passed each other.”
“Oh, yeah……?”
I have no idea about her taste in things.
“But I do have a general idea of his taste.”
Wendy said, seeming to regain her composure.
Huh? How?
“Since you’re asking about his taste, I assume you haven’t decided on a gift yet, so just leave it to me. I’ll do my best to pick something out for you, and you’ll have to tell him later that I helped you?”
Ah. So Wendy was the power-hungry type.
She must have seen Sith being recognized and done some research.
Maybe she’d done something she feared would come back to haunt her, and now she wanted to get away with it.
“What is it, young lady?”
Wendy asked, looking at me with a plastic smile.
I shook my head, saying it was nothing.
Hmm, okay, I’ll let it slide for now.
My sister doesn’t like gifts.
So you’ll have to kill yourself to pick out a present, Wendy.
” Eh. By the way, why are you still in your practice uniform when you’re off work? I’ll get you changed now because we’re going to go shopping for presents.”
“Why do I need to change if I’m going to buy a present?”
“Because no one will know if you’re a noble lord or a commoner knight if you’re dressed like that, and you won’t be able to see the items properly.”
Ah, yes.
They might mistake me for a commoner and not show me the valuable items.
Okay, I’ll change it for you.
“I knew you’d be like this, so I came prepared.”
A devious grin spread across Wendy’s face.
* * *
“How lovely to see you dressed up like this, you’re no longer a knight, you’re a noble lady!”
“I am a knight and a noble young lady…….”
I felt awkward in my dress, with its see-through arms, ribbon in the center, and ruffles at the neck and sleeves.
I hadn’t felt this out of place during my stay with the Marquis of Heather, as I had only worn light indoor dresses.
“Do I really have to go out in such a frumpy outfit?”
“Yes.”
Wendy replied firmly.
I’d been told the whole time I was being dressed up that the merchants would look down on me if I didn’t.
I didn’t ask any more questions and meekly slipped out of the way.
“So, since you’ve been knighted as punishment for the trial, are you allowed to go out?”
“Yes. As long as I show up for work tomorrow.”
“Wow. So you often get to go on dates with the Duke?”
“Wendy.”
“What?”
“Be quiet.”
After quieting Wendy, who was excited to be at the palace, I unlocked the door of the quarters.
Then I grabbed Wendy by the wrist and ran.
“Ah, miss! Why are you running all of a sudden…!”
Wendy, who had spent her entire life inside the mansion, seemed to have no energy to run.
No matter how much I pulled her along, she couldn’t keep up, so I had to pick her up and run with her.
“Ack! Miss, you can’t do that, you’ll ruin your dress!”
“I told you to be quiet!”
It wasn’t until we were out of the palace that I set Wendy down.
She was still breathing heavily as she smoothed out her dress.
“Haa, Miss……. Now tell me. Why…did you run out like that?
“Because I’m being chased.”
“What?! By who? How dare some crazy…… no. You mean a madman is chasing you?!”
“There is a …….”
The kind of maniac who runs at me for dinner, and then chases me around all day because he thinks he’s protecting me.
Firmly mad about me.
* * *
Elacion Shopping Centre.
This is the largest shopping district in Abert, with all sorts of expensive goods for sale.
The capital’s aristocracy would have frequented it as often as they dined, but I hadn’t set foot in it since I came to buy a sword seven years ago.
The academy classes then, the Templar life now, had taken their toll.
I had no time for shopping.
“Over there, just around the corner, is Lady Junai’s costume shop. All the young ladies of the capital’s most powerful families go there, and she makes most of your dresses. Do you see the clothes on the mannequins? They’re so classy!”
“……You can see that?”
I wondered if Wendy could actually be clairvoyant.
I can’t see where the dressing room is and where the mannequins are.
Where the hell are all these people looking and fussing?
Besides, was the Elacion shopping district always this crowded? I don’t remember it being at all.
Are all those people nobles?
The kind of people who’d stick their tongues out to say that buying goods in a place crowded like a marketplace is uncouth and barbaric.
“Why are there so many people?”
“Because all sorts of rare things that don’t exist in Abert, but only in Serom, just arrived in the shops today, and everyone’s trying to get their hands on them as soon as possible. You have to be on top of the new fashions if you want to survive in social circles.”
“Oh, you must have picked the wrong time, they just came in today.”
“No, I didn’t catch it wrong, I caught it right. We all have to be on top of the new stuff if we want to stay in social circles!”
At that moment, Wendy secretly rolled her eyes.
You’re unhappy that I don’t have a social life and am focusing on being a knight, but how dare you roll your eyes at me?
You can’t even make eye contact with me when I’m being ‘Irillin-like’.
Wendy, you’re going to have to pick out a pretty damn good present.
If you don’t, I’m going to be very ‘Irillin’ to you for being mean to my sister.
