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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Preparations and a Prince
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“You’re beautiful.”
That single, straightforward compliment sent the heat I had just managed to cool rushing back to my face.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gray eyes, curved with amusement, so I shot up from my seat. Enoch’s head followed my movement.
“Of-of course I’m beautiful! I’ve always been beautiful, you know? I know that even if you don’t tell me!”
It was true that Riana’s beauty was captivating enough to turn heads.
I said it proudly, without a shred of guilt, which only made Enoch’s smile widen.
“Is that so? It seems I’m the only one just now learning what everyone else already knows. I’ll have to try harder.”
I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or being serious, so I narrowed my eyes.
“Mommya! Dadda!”
“Are your preparations complete?”
Ariel and the elders entered the room.
“Ariel! I told you not to call us that!”
“Hmph. Don’ wanna…”
Ariel’s speech had improved considerably, but her names for Enoch and me remained stubbornly unchanged.
I tried to reason with her, worried someone might hear and get the wrong idea, but Enoch simply waved at Ariel and stopped me instead.
“Let her be. What does it matter?”
“But what if someone hears and misunderstands?”
As I started to argue, even the elders joined in, taking Ariel’s side.
“That’s right. It sounds lovely, what’s the issue?”
“It makes you all look like a happy family! How wonderful is that!”
Seriously, am I the only one worried?
What were they going to do if this started yet another baseless rumor?
My eyebrows furrowed in displeasure at the three of them, who seemed completely unconcerned.
Feeling it was unfair that I was the only one fretting, I turned to the servants and maids, but they were already used to this and were leaving the room with smiles on their faces.
“I have no one on my side…”
As I sulked with my head down, I heard a tearful little voice.
“Did ‘Liel do something bad? You gonna scold me?”
Startled by the sight of the crying child, I let go of Enoch’s hand and went to Ariel.
“No, no. I’m not going to scold you. Oh, my sweet Ariel, where did you get all dressed up so prettily?”
I took the child from the White Elder’s arms and, to lift her sullen spirits, gently poked the headband perched on her chestnut-brown hair.
Ariel’s drooping, pale cheeks slowly returned to their usual place.
“Pwetty?”
“Yes. You’re pretty. The prettiest in the whole world, you know?”
“Hehe.”
Her mood instantly brightened, and she squirmed in my arms, wrinkling the little outfit tailored to her small body.
I let out a small laugh at the sight and looked at the elders with an apologetic expression.
“Will you be all right? It must be tiring to watch Ariel all day…”
“This isn’t the first time. Don’t you worry a bit!”
Since Ariel wasn’t formally recognized by the duchy, I couldn’t take her to official events.
So, the elders, who weren’t participating in the charity event, had offered to look after her, but still…
“Even so. Maybe I should have just asked the staff at the mansion.”
“Not at all. We enjoy our time with the little one. Please don’t worry about it and have a good time, haha.”
No matter how much the elders insisted they would look after her, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. I had already refused their offer several times, but each time, they would shake their heads and wave their hands just as they were now.
Seeing they had no intention of changing their minds, I gave them an apologetic look and turned my gaze to the child’s sparkling eyes.
“Ariel, don’t give the elders too much trouble. Okay?”
“Mhm. Okayy.”
As if sensing my concern, Ariel wriggled back into the White Elder’s arms and patted down her rumpled clothes.
It was as if she was trying to show me how mature she was.
“Don’t wowwy! ‘Liel is a good girl!”
“Of course she is. Our little one is so well-behaved, isn’t she?”
“Mhm!”
I let out a soft laugh at the child’s antics and straightened her clothes.
“Ariel, you’ll be okay without me, right?”
“Mhm, mhm!”
“Riana, we must go now.”
As I was poking her soft cheek, Enoch’s voice, whose presence I had momentarily forgotten, came from behind me.
His voice sounded a little disgruntled, didn’t it…?
Though puzzled by his sullen tone, I kept my eyes on Ariel and answered while my hands stayed busy.
“Just a moment. Let me just fasten this button that came undone.”
“…”
At my reply, Enoch fell silent for a moment, rustling about, before calling my name again.
“Riana.”
“Yes, yes. I’m done, I’m really done now.”
His voice sounded insistent, so I quickly fastened the button and turned around, tilting my head.
“Uh…?”
“What is it?”
“Well, it’s just… Your Majesty’s state… no, your clothes, why… are they like that?”
What on earth had happened in the brief moment my back was turned?
Enoch’s neatly combed hair and the cravat tied up to his neck were now a complete mess.
Baffled, I tilted my head again and again, then turned to call for a servant who had stepped out of the room.
“Where are you going?”
My attempt was thwarted by Enoch grabbing my hand.
“Your clothes are a mess. I was going to ask someone to fix them.”
“Ask who?”
“What? A servant, of course…”
At my expression, which asked why he was asking something so obvious, Enoch pulled my hand toward his own disheveled hair.
“We don’t have time for that. You can just do it, Riana.”
“M-Me?”
“Yes. You fixed Ariel’s clothes just fine, didn’t you?”
“That’s because they’re a child’s clothes. And I’ve always been the one to dress her.”
At my weak protest, Enoch closed his eyes as if to say there was no room for argument.
“Please hurry. The event will be starting soon.”
“Goodness, what did you do to get so messy?”
As I, still flustered, finally started to smooth out his disheveled appearance, Enoch’s lips curved in satisfaction.
“Who knows. Perhaps a gust of wind blew through.”
“What? But the windows are all shut so tightly.”
“Here. Look at this part, too.”
“How very strange…”
***
*Clatter.*
As the sun began to set, at the boundary between day and night outside the imperial palace, a carriage that had crossed the empire’s border was heading toward the capital.
“Prince Karhel.”
“Hm?”
The man gazing at the swaying scenery outside turned his head at the sound of his name, his warm, chestnut-colored eyes twinkling.
“You seem to be in a good mood, Your Highness.”
“Ah. Was it that obvious?”
At the question, the man called Karhel smiled shyly and covered his mouth.
“I suppose I’m a little excited, being in the empire after so long.”
“Have you visited the empire before?”
“I have. A long time ago, when I was very young.”
Gazing out the window as if reminiscing, Karhel gave the servant sitting across from him a gentle smile.
“But I was so frail I stayed in my room the whole time, so no one knew I was even here.”
Expectation filled his crescent-shaped eyes.
“I never thought it would take so long to come back. The wait has only made me more excited.”
Seeing his master like this, a concerned voice escaped the servant’s lips.
“Your Highness, you must be careful of His Majesty the Emperor when you arrive.”
“The Emperor?”
At that, Karhel, who had been stroking his jaw nonchalantly, nodded.
“Ah, that’s right. The Crown Prince ascended the throne, I heard.”
“Yes. But about that… Your Highness, you’ve surely heard the rumors, haven’t you?”
“Hm, what rumors are you referring to?”
“You know, the rumors that the current emperor has a very nasty temper.”
“A nasty temper… the Crown Prince? Ah, my mistake. He’s the Emperor now, isn’t he? I keep getting it mixed up.”
His lips, which had been listening quietly to the servant, curved into a cryptic smile.
Despite there being only the two of them, the servant glanced around before cupping a hand to his mouth and lowering his voice.
“It’s true! The rumors are rampant even in our kingdom. They say the former Emperor is convalescing at a villa, but that’s just a nice way of saying he’s practically confined.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“That’s not all. The rumors say that if anyone so much as touches him, they disappear without a trace. Some people whisper that he’s nothing short of a tyrant.”
The servant glanced at the imperial palace through the window and shivered as if horrified.
“It’s gotten so bad that there are rumors the imperial ministers still follow the former Emperor instead of the current one. Ugh, but I can understand why. If I had a master who behaved so atrociously…”
“Atrociously, you say? Does it seem like atrocious behavior to you?”
The servant tilted his head, looking at his master who was smiling gleefully, finding the whole thing incredibly amusing.
“If that isn’t atrocious behavior, then what is it?”
“Who knows.”
*Tap.*
His long fingers tapped a light rhythm on his knee, as if playing an instrument.
Watching his master, who seemed only innocently delighted by such talk, the servant heaved a deep sigh and gave another warning.
“In any case, Your Highness, whatever you do, you must not touch His Majesty the Emperor. Absolutely not!”
“Hmm.”
“Oh, honestly…”
Seeing that Karhel had no intention of answering, the servant scratched his head and nervously fiddled with the border entry permit in his hand.
“By the way, Your Highness. Will this be all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“If the first prince finds out—”
“Shh.”
Was it just a trick of the light, or did the smiling face seem to harden for a moment?
Before he could register the fleeting strangeness, Karhel’s expression softened back into a gentle smile as he brought a finger to his lips.
“It will be fine. As long as you keep your mouth shut.”
“What? Ah, yes, yes. Of course.”
“Good boy.”
Patting the young servant’s head, Karhel’s smile deepened as he spotted the distant blue spire of the imperial palace.
“It’s such a pretty shade of blue. Still is.”
