Episode 16
“Is that so? Then right away to the office……”
“No, I’m a bit peckish. Now that it’s come to this, how about we all eat together and talk?”
At the unexpected suggestion, I hesitated, and the watching butler quickly and politely informed me.
“Miss, Duke Basilian usually eats as soon as he gets home from work.”
He’s just come home from work and is hungry, so he wants to eat first.
There was no reason to refuse an adult much older than me wanting to have a meal.
‘Right, I came all the way here because I wanted to say it quickly anyway.’
Somehow, I seemed to be drifting further and further away from my initial determination to distance myself from Evgenia’s family, but I reassured myself that it was okay since I wasn’t married yet, and replied.
“Okay, let’s eat together.”
I sincerely hoped that what the Duke was about to say was the news I had been eagerly waiting for.
* * *
Since waking up in Evgenia’s body, I had been eating in my room all the time.
At first, it was because of the order to stay confined, and then because I was treated like a patient…… or so I thought.
“Huh! Why are you here? You always eat alone in your room gloomily?”
It seems that wasn’t the case.
I was relieved that he wasn’t home because I thought he was training or something, but Alexis, who had rushed straight to the dining room as soon as he got off work, asked in bewilderment.
“There are days like this, and days like that. What’s with the commotion at the table? Isn’t that right, Melissa?”
“Ahahaha……”
Alexis stuttered, opening and closing his mouth, as if flustered by the attack that dragged Melissa in.
“Evgenia is right.”
Lionel, who had opened the door and entered, said to Alexis.
Did he learn from the Duke just now? Why is he suddenly taking my side?
I looked at Lionel with strange eyes, but I couldn’t read his mind.
Because the Duke entered right after.
As soon as the Duke sat down, the servants began to bring out the food as if they had been waiting.
Since it was such a wealthy family, I was worried that we would be eating a course meal for hours, but fortunately, the servants quickly left the dining room.
“It’s been a while since the whole family has gathered.”
As the Duke said, only those who had received the Basilian name remained in the dining room.
Thinking that way, I felt a strange stuffiness in my chest and lost my appetite.
But I tried to suppress my uncomfortable feelings and started eating.
I couldn’t taste anything properly and was just pushing the food into my mouth when.
“Evgenia. I heard that His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince visited the Ducal House today.”
The Duke, who seemed to be quietly concentrating on his meal, suddenly opened his mouth.
Only then did I realize why the Duke’s expression had been dark in the lobby.
I thought the butler had made some serious report, but it seems that was the story.
‘Ah, so…… is that why he wanted to eat together?’
He must have been worried that I would change my mind and go back on what I had said when I came out to greet the Crown Prince as soon as he arrived and acted as if I had come to my senses a week ago.
Evgenia has a strong sense of pride, so he probably suggested the meal with the calculation that if he brought up the story in front of the family, she wouldn’t be able to change her mind easily.
In that short time that Lionel and I were talking, he received the butler’s report and acted with the aftermath in mind.
‘It seems that Duke Basilian is a born politician and businessman.’
Indeed, the first head of House Basilian, who was originally a merchant, was the first to recognize the talent of the first Emperor and invested in him.
Thanks to this, the first Emperor was able to defeat the dragon, who was called the Evil Dragon at the time, and House Basilian was recognized for its contribution and became a founding meritorious family…….
“Evgenia?”
Just as I was recalling the background of the novel, I was startled back to my senses by the Duke’s voice calling me.
“What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
“Yes? No, I’m fine……”
“You’re fine, but you’re holding the napkin like you’re about to tear it? Anyone would think you want to grab your father by the collar……”
“Alexis.”
“You’re always picking on me, hyung!”
I looked at Lionel and Alexis, who suddenly started bickering, with bewildered eyes, and then belatedly discovered the napkin that I was holding tightly.
I was flustered and quickly released the tension in my hand and looked at the Duke.
Seeing the Duke’s worried eyes, I recalled his question from earlier.
‘I was going to bring it up near the end of the meal……’
Now that he had opened the door first, there was no reason to refuse.
“Yes, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince suddenly came to visit without notice.”
“I heard that he rejected the marriage proposal. But…… I heard that he met you, not Melissa.”
“I naturally thought he would call Melissa, but he didn’t.”
The Duke’s brow furrowed as I nodded nonchalantly, saying that I fully understood his puzzled mind.
“Perhaps, did he blame you for the failed marriage proposal?”
I shook my head at his eyes, full of concern that I might have been hurt by the Crown Prince’s words and attitude.
“No, he didn’t particularly do that. However……”
“However?”
“He knew about the disgraceful behavior I committed when I heard that Melissa had received the marriage proposal.”
As I shrugged my shoulders as if I was very ashamed, the Duke’s expression changed in an instant.
“How dare, who did……!”
As the Duke trembled, I gently told him in a frail voice, “Alexis did,” and all eyes in the dining room turned to Alexis.
“Uh, I, well, that is……”
Alexis, flustered, tried to make some excuse, but I didn’t give him a chance.
“Anyway, I told His Imperial Highness that I had given up on him.”
“Re, really?”
The Duke, who had been worried that I might have changed my mind after seeing the Crown Prince, now that the marriage proposal had fallen through, widened his eyes at my words.
“Yes, but he didn’t seem to believe me very much. Rather, he told me not to even dream of becoming a mistress, let alone the Crown Princess…… sob.”
In fact, I didn’t remember the Crown Prince’s words exactly because I was focused on the bug. So, as I roughly told the story as I remembered it and blurred the words as if I was choked up, the air in the dining room turned cold in an instant.
“What…… a mistress?”
“Hey! Have you been living with that kind of talk until now?”
“Alexis, be quiet. Evgenia, tell me more details.”
Now, the Duke, who was glaring with his face properly utilizing the frosty expression, as well as Lionel and Alexis, had very fierce expressions.
Even Melissa covered her mouth with her hand as if she was shocked, and I awkwardly stammered.
“What’s there to say in detail? It’s all in the past……”
Then Lionel’s eyebrows twitched.
“In the past? It hasn’t even been half a day. Even if he’s royalty, to talk about a mistress to a noble young lady who isn’t even married, if I had been there, I would have thrown my glove right away. Don’t worry. I’ll make an official protest tomorrow.”
Royalty, and also to the Crown Prince, who is called a Sword Master and a war hero, he would have challenged him to a duel? And an official protest.
His tone was cold, but I suspected that Lionel was perhaps the most excited person here. On the other hand, I wondered if laying the groundwork before getting to the main point was too much, so I hurriedly waved my hand.
“Don’t do that. I didn’t just stand still either.”
“You didn’t just stand still?”
“Yes……. Actually, I slapped His Highness on the cheek……”
I told them what happened with the Crown Prince in a faint voice.
The truth was different, but no matter how I thought about it, I didn’t think they would believe me if I said I slapped the Crown Prince on the cheek to catch a bug.
‘Even the Crown Prince himself wouldn’t believe that.’
In that case, wouldn’t it be more in line with Evgenia’s usual appearance to say that she hit him out of anger?
“Yo, you slapped whose cheek?”
Alexis, who had heard my story, stood up from his seat with a shocked face.
Is he getting angry because he’s affiliated with the Imperial Knights who protect the royal family?
“Really? You really hit His Highness? Not someone else, but you, Evgenia?”
……Weren’t you an Imperial Knight? Shouldn’t you usually be worried about the Crown Prince here?
