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Chapter 13
Majin looked at the Emperor, Clipt. Clipt had the same blond hair and blue eyes as Majin. His blue eyes turned toward Majin.
“You visited the Pellis family, didn’t you?”
“Of course, Father. They are one of the most noticeable families right now, so as Crown Prince, I should naturally look into them.”
Clipt drank his tea for a moment and then looked at Majin again.
“Tell me about the son of Viscount Pellis.”
“He was not a rude person.”
Clipt sighed slightly.
“Is there anyone who would dare be rude to you?”
He felt it was absurd. No matter how rude someone might be, no one would act freely in front of the Crown Prince. That would be common sense.
“If someone is the type to act rudely because of my status, Celia would not have invited them.”
Majin’s words were correct.
“That’s true.”
Clipt thought for a moment and then took out a list from his drawer.
“What is this?”
“It is the participant list for the hunting competition.”
The hunting competition was an imperial event held in spring. Most noble families of the Sushian Empire attended it. Sometimes rising new families were also invited.
There must be a reason why his father was showing this.
Majin lightly touched his chin with his fingers.
“Don’t tell me…”
“You are right. Look at the list.”
Majin nodded and checked it. At the very end, he saw the name Aton.
“Did you intend to invite Viscount Pellis?”
But no matter how much he looked, Raiden’s name was not there. Only Viscount Pellis, Aton, was listed.
“Of course. But since you said you met Viscount Pellis and his son, I changed my mind. I’m thinking of inviting his son as well. And maybe adding Celia too.”
At Clipt’s words, Majin tried to understand his father’s intention.
Then he reached a conclusion.
“Do you mean I should become closer with Raiden?”
“Yes.”
Originally, he only planned to invite Aton, the Viscount. But things changed after learning that his son was engaged to Celia Roel from the Duke family and had met Majin as well.
“Viscount Pellis will be pleased.”
Only high-ranking nobles could invite their entire family like this. So this was a special honor for a viscount.
“Of course, how they behave among nobles will depend on that young man.”
“He might act too proud and earn bad rumors instead.”
But he didn’t seem like that type. Majin remembered Raiden’s shining eyes when talking about business.
“What did you talk about that made such an impression on him?”
“He already had plans related to road construction as a business idea.”
Clipt frowned slightly.
“Business?”
“Yes. It was his own idea, not something his father told him to do. It doesn’t look like the family wealth will disappear in the next generation.”
Clipt smiled softly.
“Without money, it is hard to push policies. It is fortunate that Viscount Pellis exists.”
He had once considered giving him a Count title, but promoting a Baron suddenly to Count would cause strong opposition. So he gave him Viscount instead.
He planned to raise his rank step by step as he achieved more accomplishments.
“A noble with that much money is rare. No, even nobles with money rarely donate so much.”
The Pellis family paid a huge amount of tax every year. They were one of the highest taxpayers in the empire.
As a merchant family, they were also regularly inspected for tax honesty—and had never once been caught for wrongdoing. Because of that, they were well respected by the people.
“Then we should send the invitation.”
Clipt looked at his son.
“I told you to get closer to Celia… but she was taken by someone else. She was the daughter of a Duke, and she suited you well.”
He sounded disappointed.
Majin gave an awkward smile.
Even he felt a little regret now. Celia was smart, understood him well, and listened carefully. It was not easy to meet someone like that.
“It seems she was not my fate.”
He left Clipt’s room quietly.
“Hunting competition…”
He had thought he might see her again when spring flowers bloomed, but he would meet her sooner than expected.
The hunting competition would be held next week.
Knock knock.
I turned my head at the sound of knocking. I was drinking tea with Raiden when Aton came in. He was holding three invitation cards.
“You were having tea.”
“I kept asking Celia to drink tea with me.”
“Celia looks good getting close with Raiden.”
I smiled at Aton’s words.
“By the way, what is it?”
I tilted my head and asked.
“I received an invitation.”
I looked at the calendar on the wall for a moment. An invitation in spring…
From the timing, I quickly understood what it was.
“Hunting competition.”
The hunting competition was the most important national event at this time. I had attended it a few times in the past, so I knew it well.
“How does the hunting competition usually work? I’m very curious.”
Raiden looked at the invitation and then at me.
“You can hunt, or if you don’t participate, you can stay in the tents and spend time there.”
“Will Celia participate?”
But hunting did not suit my body. I shook my head.
“I’ll just stay. Luckily, other noble families like me, so I’ll just spend time there.”
“Don’t go anywhere else. Stay right next to me. I won’t hunt either.”
Raiden’s eyes carried a strong attachment toward me.
Why was he saying something like this when we hadn’t even known each other for long?
Was it because I was his fiancée?
“Alright, I’ll stay with you, Raiden.”
“…I was joking.”
He sighed and looked at me with complicated emotions.
“Celia makes me expect things.”
“What?”
“That’s a secret.”
What? Again he’s not telling me?
I glared at him slightly. Raiden’s face turned red, and he quickly drank tea as if trying to cool himself down.
What is he thinking that makes him so red?
At that moment, Aton handed something to me.
“What is this?”
“It is a designer list.”
I nodded and looked at it. On the back were drawings of clothes designed by each person. All of them were beautiful and fancy. I found Fel’s name and looked at his designs first.
“Choose two or three from here.”
“Two or three?”
“More dresses are always better.”
This was on a whole different scale. It looked like I could even order summer clothes too.
“Also, do you know what happens after the hunting competition?”
“There is a ball in the evening after it ends. If you are hunting, it is better to bring extra clothes.”
I looked at Raiden.
“The outfit should be similar to what you wore at the cake party.”
“What should I wear?”
I thought for a moment and remembered Aton’s previous outfit.
“You wore a brown suit before.”
“Ah, that suit.”
“That should be fine.”
Aton would understand.
“I should buy a suit then.”
He had been called to the palace often after becoming Viscount, but he rarely attended balls.
“I’ll buy my clothes along with Celia’s.”
Then he looked at Raiden.
“And Raiden should also get one. It’s an important formal event.”
In the end, we decided to get outfits suitable for the hunting competition from Fel.
The next day, Aton, Raiden, and I went shopping.
Fel gave me a magical parasol that created a cool breeze on its own as a gift.
The day of the hunting competition arrived. Majin applied moisturizer on his dry lips and looked at the mirror.
He was originally planning to participate in the hunt, but changed his mind. He wanted to observe how well Raiden adapted among nobles and also support the Pellis family in the presence of other nobles.
He would go to the tents instead of hunting.
“Are you ready?”
Siran entered the room. She was wearing pants suitable for movement. With her sleeves rolled up, she looked ready for battle. She had been loudly saying she would win the competition, and it seemed she truly meant it.
She looked at Majin’s outfit and raised her eyebrows.
“You’re not hunting today?”
“I’m still young.”
Siran laughed as if it was nonsense. She quickly saw through his thoughts and lightly hit his head.
“It’s because of Raiden, right? You want to talk to him.”
“I just wanted to relax.”
Majin denied it, but Siran didn’t believe him.
“Stop lying. It’s written all over your face.”
“Normal people don’t notice it.”
“No, anyone who knows you will notice.”
Siran remembered when Majin got close to Celia. Rumors spread everywhere and people made assumptions about her.
“Celia’s fiancé is smart, but if you favor him too much, people may become jealous.”
“I guess so.”
Majin couldn’t argue.
“Your family is still newly a viscount house. Of course people will talk. So don’t overdo it.”
