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Chapter 24
“Please open it. It’s my gift.”
“You prepared a gift?”
“Yes. I really wanted to give it to you.”
I watched the two of them with a nervous, excited expression, urging them to open it quickly.
I knew Bay was giving a gift as well, but she wouldn’t know what it looked like.
The two opened the boxes at the same time, and the moment they saw the necklace and earrings inside, their movements stopped.
Both pairs of eyes couldn’t tear themselves away from the jewelry in front of them. They stared as if completely entranced.
The same way I had looked when I first saw the finished pieces.
“T-This is…”
Venus spoke first, stammering, and I explained as if I had been waiting for it.
“First, Venus’s gift is an alexandrite choker. I asked Lilac to design it so it would match your precious necklace. And since I told her that Bay has a long and beautiful line connecting her neck to her face, she made the earrings accordingly. Do you like them?”
“…Very much. Such a beautiful necklace.”
“It’s so pretty, Lady Coco! I’m afraid I won’t even be able to wear it because it’s too precious.”
As expected, they liked it.
Venus couldn’t take her eyes off the necklace.
At the same time, she touched the necklace already around her neck with one hand. The corners of her eyes grew moist, and then she suddenly turned her head away.
“How embarrassing. Even I am like this.”
Silently, I handed her a handkerchief.
Pressing it lightly at the corners of her eyes, Venus exhaled with trembling breath, then stood up and came to sit beside me, hugging me tightly.
“Thank you. I will accept it well.”
If she had refused, I was even prepared to throw a tantrum and force her to take it somehow.
So I was even happier that she accepted so readily. After hesitating for a moment, I hugged Venus back.
“I should be the one thanking you.”
Venus gently patted my head and continued hugging me for a long time. Bay watched the two of us silently. She looked somewhat sad, but also somewhat happy.
Coco’s steps were unusually light. Things had been going well lately.
In particular, every time she thought about the day she gave the gifts to Venus and Bay, her chest felt ticklish and she would unknowingly break into a small, silly smile.
The brooch and Oried’s necklace were entrusted to Bay. When Coco told them her plan to bury the brooch underground, Bay and Venus were shocked.
They then insisted that she leave the brooch with Bay, saying it would be safely kept in the vault and could be given anytime if needed.
The Oried necklace would also be given after enchantment magic for preservation and illusion was applied. The protection and preservation magic she had planned to use if she buried it in the ground was no longer necessary.
Bay handled everything on her own, saving Coco not only the commission fee but also a great deal of effort.
…I gave them a gift, but it feels like I’m the one receiving something instead.
Although it was goodwill, Coco was not used to it, so she always felt conscious about it.
That feeling was only momentary. The happiness she felt was stronger, and lightness filled her steps. The priests smiled warmly as they watched how adorable Coco looked.
That adorable appearance also left a deep impression on Princess Adelina.
Adelina found it very strange that Coco was so thin and was wearing something she couldn’t tell was a dress or rags.
Even a beggar passing by would probably feel like giving alms if they saw that child.
And yet, the unhidden beauty and the bright, unclouded expression were exactly what sparked Adelina’s curiosity.
Moreover, Adelina was obsessed with beautiful things. That included people.
Having originally intended to go and see the rumored stunning beauty of Headwin in the temple, she unexpectedly gained a different prize. Adelina snapped her fingers by bringing her index finger and thumb together. Ella, the maid beside her, approached.
“Give your order, Your Highness.”
“Who is that white-haired head?”
“Your Highness!”
Ella rebuked her as if scolding her.
“Please be careful with your words!”
Ella had been friends with Adelina for a long time, and had been serving as her personal maid for three years. She was the only person who could restrain Adelina’s reckless behavior.
Even the emperor’s couple could not easily control Adelina, but she at least made an effort to listen when Ella spoke.
“Alright. Who is that kid?”
Ella stared at Coco. She was a child who visited the temple steadily for several years. Since she was quite pretty, most people in the temple knew Coco.
Ella explained that she was the child taken in by Viscount Avid and that she came to the temple every day to pray for the viscount and his wife.
“Early in the morning?”
“Yes. Isn’t she admirable? Unlike someone who only sleeps late.”
“I’m in a position where I can sleep late, but that child isn’t.”
“…Your Highness sometimes really hits where it hurts.”
“Hmph.”
Adelina’s interest had already shifted to Coco. A sense of foreboding filled Ella.
“Don’t think strange thoughts, Your Highness! We must return immediately. Is it reasonable to leave the tea party you prepared and come somewhere else?”
“Alright, Ella. You’re so sharp-tempered.”
“I used to be kind and never raised my voice. I wonder who made me like this?”
“Isn’t it just your personality?”
“Your Highness!”
Urged by Ella, Adelina scratched her ear and reluctantly got into the carriage.
Rose Russell was at the imperial palace after receiving an invitation to the princess’s tea party. Hearing that the princess would be a little late, she intended to take a short walk nearby and return, but somehow she got lost.
There were no servants passing by, so she couldn’t even ask for directions.
Since she had left her maid behind, she couldn’t think of any way to return before the tea party began.
Her tendency to dislike traveling with attendants or knights and to prefer being alone worked against her now.
“…What should I do?”
She had to go back.
At that moment, a tall person came into view. The familiar figure was the man she had seen before.
Rose Russell’s face brightened as she walked toward him.
She already knew he was the crown prince. She had seen him a few times at parties, and the face resembling the princess’s was impossible to mistake.
As Rose Russell approached from behind, Diego sensed her presence and turned around. Rose Russell greeted him happily upon seeing his face.
“You’re the ruffian, right? We meet again like this!”
“……”
When Diego did not answer, Rose Russell mistakenly thought he had forgotten the incident that day and explained the situation more clearly.
“When I almost got attacked by that ruffian… Do you not remember? We even exchanged greetings.”
But if it was that memory, Diego had Coco much more strongly etched in his mind. Thus, he answered indifferently as if he had no interest.
“I remember. Aren’t you the noble lady who blocked my path without bringing a knight?”
Diego reproached Rose Russell for wandering alone despite being a noble lady.
Rose Russell scratched her cheek slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Ah… I just really like going around alone. My father and mother told me not to, but I prefer simple things…”
She said she liked simple things on her own?
He glanced over her expensive jewelry and dress.
Diego snorted in disbelief, but the smile was handsome enough to make women’s hearts race. Rose Russell even mistakenly thought he had feelings for her.
“Um, by the way…!”
“If it is the princess’s palace, go in that direction.”
As if telling her not to speak further, Diego gave her directions and left, because he had received a report that the tea party was being held in the princess’s palace today.
Rose Russell probably tried to talk because of the rumor.
Rose Russell hesitated, then shouted after him.
“Your Highness, the rumor is a misunderstanding! I will explain properly, so please don’t worry!”
Zakat frowned upon seeing that.
“How is that any different from loudly proclaiming that the rumor is true?”
“You are quite ruthless toward that woman, though Coco you liked.”
“I am usually very discriminatory. Of course, I strictly separate work and private life, so you need not worry about the knight order.”
That was already well known. There was no more honest person than Zakat.
“But since Lady Rose Russell helped, shouldn’t you offer some repayment?”
“Wouldn’t doing it now only add fuel to the rumor?”
“Ah…”
After all, it was Zakat who had protected her, so the knights should be the ones receiving thanks.
Otherwise, Diego’s lack of control over his strength might have seriously injured or killed a civilian, and Rose Russell would have had to endure Diego’s anger for making a simple matter worse.
“Are you interested?”
“Does your head only turn in that direction?”
“Well. I can’t imagine Your Highness showing interest in anyone.”
Diego ignored Zakat.
“Quack quack goes the duck, and the sand grains sparkle.”
Is the lyric even correct?
As I hummed the strange nursery rhyme, Oried tilted her head.
[What song is that?]
“A nursery rhyme. It’s so old I’m not sure if I remember it correctly.”
[Old? You remembered something?!]
“No.”
It was a nursery rhyme I had heard in my past life. I was unsure if even the lyrics were correct.
[But my nickname is in it! My nickname is in a nursery rhyme. I must be amazing!]
How did she reach that conclusion?
I ignored the excited Oried and pricked up my ears. Today was the day I would listen to the stories circulating in the temple.
I pretended to take a walk while listening to people talk.
Then I suddenly stopped and reflexively hid behind a tree. Three young noble ladies were talking about alexandrite.
“…So aren’t you looking forward to it? The two lights.”
Please look forward to it!
I grinned and listened more intently.
“You mean that mysterious gemstone that has not revealed its name but has only been spread through rumors?”
“I heard that the Ezeid Trading Company even made contact.”
Yes, yes.
I felt satisfied that the rumor was spreading in the direction we wanted. I was just about to move to another place.
“But it wasn’t that they went there because they wanted to buy the gemstone.”
Huh? What is this…
At the sudden voice of a woman, I stopped trying to move and started eavesdropping again.
The woman who spoke looked around, then lowered her voice. The two women beside her leaned closer to listen.
After enjoying their attention, the woman with orange hair whispered,
“They supposedly combined two gemstones with magic and made it give off two lights, but it’s a fake rumor! In other words, it’s fake!”
…What?
That can’t be. It was a real gemstone that had finished appraisal. It was clearly the first gemstone I had discovered.
At the unexpected rumor, I froze.
“Fake?”
“Didn’t they say the Ezeid Trading Company went looking for it?”
The woman with orange hair shook her head firmly and continued speaking.
“They didn’t go to purchase it. The Ezeid Trading Company went to stop the truth from being revealed! They said not to dirty the gemstone business!”
…Impossible.
The rumor had been distorted.
