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Chapter : 15
“Wha… all ready?!”
Her voice was so loud that the echo rolled through the trees.
“This Cardmael Rikesis has completed all preparations! Completed! Completed!”
…and the echo bounced back from the trees.
“Insane.”
I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to stifle my reaction.
“Uh!”
The Duke quickly spotted the Crown Prince and even made a suggestion to him.
“So, Your Highness the Crown Prince is here as well. Wonderful! Then we can all go take a bath together!”
“Eek—!”
I clutched my temple.
“Wait, he just means the bathwater is ready, right?”
Only then did I grasp the meaning of the Duke’s words.
“Since the Duke will be responsible for the firewood at the Crown Princess’s residence for the time being…!”
Of course, you need firewood to heat water, so it wasn’t strange for him to say preparations were complete. But…
“If we all soak ourselves in the hot bath, all the fatigue of the day will melt away.”
Why on earth did he have to put it like that?!
“Well, let’s go!”
As he said that, the Duke smiled as brightly as the sun, and time seemed to slow to a crawl.
I must have been silently screaming for a while.
“Duck!”
“Quack, quack!”
“Duck!”
“Quack, quack!”
…Huh?
“What on earth is that sound?”
The strange calls came from far beyond the Duke’s shoulder.
Eventually, naked ducks appeared between the ornamental trees in the garden.
“Duck!”
“Quack, quack!”
It turned out that the “ducks” were none other than Rikesis’s knights.
“That duck position is terrible for the body.”
It seemed they were being punished as a group for their insubordination during the meeting.
“….”
The scene was so absurd it felt unreal.
“Huh?”
At that moment, the knights noticed the Crown Prince and got up in a hurry.
They bent at the waist and saluted.
“We greet Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Highness the Crown Princess!”
“We greet Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
“We greet the Moon of the Empire!”
Seeing their unruly attire and uncoordinated greetings, a sigh escaped from deep within me.
“Haah…”
“Couldn’t you at least wear proper clothes…!”
How could the Crown Prince visit the Crown Princess’s residence and still walk around naked?
I touched my forehead and sneaked a glance at the Crown Prince.
As expected, he had turned his gaze from the Duke to the knights.
Following his eyes, I looked at the knights again—and saw them pale.
“Eek!”
The knights let out short screams and started covering their bare bodies with their arms.
“Huh?”
The Duke, holding a towel, looked confused at his subordinates’ actions, then glanced down at his own bare torso.
And…
“Ah!”
He screamed as well, covering his chest.
“…Is it even meaningful to cover up now?”
“Ahahaha. Duke Rikesis is as amusing as ever.”
I could only laugh.
At this point, I didn’t understand what was happening anymore.
But the situation refused to let me give up thinking easily.
“Everyone, freeze in place!”
Bang—!
With a gunshot, armed royal guards appeared from behind the ornamental trees.
They quickly surrounded the Duke and his party.
“Hands up!”
“Remember that any further approach to the Crown Prince or Crown Princess with threatening intent may be met with immediate execution under royal law!”
Wait, threatening? Threatened by whom?
“W-Well, they may look like half-naked intruders surrounding us…!”
Especially from the perspective of the guards tasked with protecting the royal family, it wasn’t unreasonable that the Duke’s party, outnumbering just the Crown Prince and me, was treated as suspicious.
“Th-Threatening?!”
“We were only following the Duke during training!”
The northern knights protested indignantly.
“Uh… uh…?”
The Duke, embarrassed, froze in place, holding the towel over his chest.
“I said hands up!”
A guard raised his gun at the Duke…
“Damn it!”
It really felt like a bloodbath could happen at any moment, so I stepped forward.
“Everyone, calm down. I think I can explain the situation.”
…Explain?! I had no clue what was going on.
But right now, the only person who could mediate this ridiculous conflict was me.
“Sir Idelle, please cease hostile actions against Duke Rikesis. This is an order from the Crown Princess.”
The Crown Princess’s words made the leading knight lower his gun, though grudgingly.
“Phew.”
I exhaled and, ignoring the tingling at the back of my head, looked around the knights with a sharp gaze. Then…
“If anyone here can explain the current situation, I’ll give them the chance to speak.”
…Though I said that, I immediately passed the explanation to Rikesis’s knights.
“I need a moment to think.”
But the knights’ protests, fueled by indignation, only made me look worse.
“Her Highness Crown Princess Letier told us to make ourselves comfortable!”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve appeared before Her Highness like this!”
“And Her Highness smiled at us in this state!”
“…Right! That’s right! That’s exactly what happened!”
I gritted my teeth, smiling.
I hadn’t deliberately criticized the knights’ reckless attire.
[Muscular northern men living in the Crown Princess’s residence?! Rift between Crown Prince and Princess—where is their relationship heading…?]
Even the gossip magazines I got through certain channels would include stories about me and the Rikesis knights.
“Perhaps it even influenced the lure to the Crown Prince in the roundtable meeting.”
The eye candy was just a bonus.
Anyway, I had no intention of criticizing Rikesis’s party for their clothing. But…
“Why on earth would they appear completely naked right after I persuaded the Crown Prince to stay at the Crown Princess’s residence with Duke Rikesis…!”
I had finally earned the Crown Prince’s trust!
Now it was all for nothing.
As I wavered, distressed by the situation, the knights banged their heads on the ground, shouting:
“Spare us! We will never appear naked before the Crown Princess again!”
“We will wear our clothes properly from now on!”
“I’d rather die of heatstroke!”
“No… this will make us lose the knights’ respect!”
“Everyone.”
I had to step forward.
“It’s all my fault.”
“…Pardon?”
The knights turned to me, and I met each of their eyes as I quietly said:
“I wanted to provide Duke Rikesis, who honored my residence with his visit, a comfortable environment, but it seems we’ve reached the limit.”
“R-Reached the limit…?”
“Which means!”
The Duke and his knights paled in fear, and I declared grimly:
“It seems you must leave the Crown Princess’s residence.”
“I suppose… there’s no choice…”
Truly, I felt like crying tears of blood.
It was clear we couldn’t continue any further.
“Anyway… the royal court is too restrictive. Even if it weren’t the Crown Prince, eventually the Emperor or Empress would issue orders to behave prudently.”
So I clenched my fists.
“Yes, it doesn’t have to be the royal court!”
After talking with the Crown Prince today, my resolve was complete.
“I will make the Duke mine.”
[Step 1: Get as close to the Duke as possible!]
I confirmed my goal once more and addressed the assembly:
“I only wanted to properly entertain a distinguished guest—it seems it was selfish of me.”
By taking responsibility for the current conflict, Duke Rikesis was startled and exclaimed:
“No, no! This is entirely my fault. I… I don’t have the means to stay in this residence, sob…”
I quickly proposed to the Duke:
“Duke, how about staying at the Heim Ducal Mansion in the Imperial Territories from now on?”
“…!”
Everyone’s eyes widened, and I smiled.
‘No wonder they’re shocked.’
The most luxurious mansion in the Imperial Territories, with the finest facilities—the invitation alone would be astonishing.
But I didn’t notice…
“…Heim Ducal Mansion.”
The moment I said that, the Crown Prince flinched.
