LTTCH 19

Chapter 19

“Thank you for being understanding.”

The Crown Prince smiled gently as he looked at Uncle and me.

He really was handsome, just as expected of a male lead. Not that it made my heart flutter or anything. Absolutely not.

“Beatrice, shall we go get you changed now?”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be heading home.”

Despite the Crown Prince’s soft tone, an icy chill still radiated from Uncle.

Yeah. Honestly, it’d probably be better to just go home before another disaster happened.

While the Crown Prince wasn’t looking, I quickly retrieved the magic tool I had left on the rock.

“Then we’ll take our leave now.”

I hurriedly spoke first before Uncle could say anything strange again.

Though the Crown Prince looked deeply disappointed, he still signaled that we were free to go, and I immediately grabbed Uncle by the arm and hurried out of the First Princess’s palace.

“Beatrice, come here for a second.”

The moment we got into the carriage, I prepared myself to lecture Uncle.

I was fully intending to rapid-fire scold her for acting so rudely toward the male lead, but—

Uncle pulled out a handkerchief and wrapped it around my neck, making it impossible for me to speak.

There was just one problem.

“Ghk— Uncle.”

She wrapped it way too tightly, and I was suffocating.

“That damn Crown Prince bastard. Wasn’t enough that you’re already pitiful-looking—he had to make you look even worse?”

Excuse me? Pitiful-looking?

Sure, compared to Beatrice, the female lead, Rene was plain.

But still!

You can’t just say it out loud!

“Put medicine on it the moment we get back.”

“Okay. But Uncle—”

“And be careful not to let water touch it for a while.”

“I said I got it. More importantly—”

“And no matter how uncomfortable it feels, don’t take the bandage off. Think of this as advice from your uncle and engrave it into your heart.”

I couldn’t get a single word in.

I spent the entire ride back to the estate listening to Uncle’s nagging—which should honestly be called a full-length speech.

Her endless lecture only stopped once we arrived at the Count’s estate.

A servant waiting outside opened the carriage door.

Taking the servant’s offered hand, I stepped down and awkwardly smiled when I noticed their gaze lingering on the wound on my neck.

After leaving me with yet another lecture about getting treatment immediately, Uncle finally left.

“Shall I call the physician?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not that serious.”

Letting out a tired sigh, I stepped through the open doors the servant held for me.

And right then, I ran into the Count descending into the first-floor lobby.

“Good evening, Count.”

I greeted him politely at least, but the Count merely glanced at me from the corner of his eye before turning away without saying a word.

We weren’t far apart, so he definitely saw the dark dried blood staining my neck.

And yet the Count didn’t even blink.

And they call that a father.

Ignoring the Count in return, I climbed the stairs toward my room on the second floor.

Something ached faintly in my chest.

It wasn’t my own emotions, so it was probably the remnants of Rene Sober still lingering inside me.

Even after being treated like that, do you still have expectations left?

I silently asked the traces of Rene Sober somewhere inside me.

For some reason, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

After returning from the tea party, I completely collapsed.

Taking care of Uncle, keeping an eye on the First Princess, dealing with the Crown Prince… it was exhausting in every possible way.

For the time being, I planned to lie in bed and live like a hibernating bug.

.

.

.

“His Majesty will be holding a send-off ceremony today for the knights departing to subjugate the evil dragon, so prepare yourself.”

So much for resting like a bug. Looks like I had to go out again.

Apparently the Emperor had decided to hold a ceremony to encourage the knights.

As a result, my plans to stay locked in bed for days were utterly ruined.

Dragging my feet, I got ready to go out.

If it were up to me, I’d skip it entirely, but since the Sober Count family’s knights would also be participating, I had no choice but to attend.

Subjugation—especially dragon subjugation—couldn’t possibly be easy.

According to every fantasy romance novel ever, dragons flew through the sky, breathed destructive blasts, and had scales several times tougher than armor.

After finishing my preparations, I took Sir Ulver’s hand and climbed into the carriage.

Whether they understood my troubled feelings or not, the carriage carrying Louis and the Count departed smoothly.

Heavy silence filled the carriage the entire way to the Imperial Palace.

I stared blankly out the window while the Count reviewed documents he had brought along. Louis read a newspaper.

What a loveless family.

Before long, the carriage arrived at the Imperial Palace and came to a stop.

Countless nobles had already gathered there.

After stepping out of the carriage, I lazily headed toward the grand banquet hall where the ceremony would be held.

As soon as we arrived before the hall, a servant loudly announced our entrance.

“The head of the Count Sober family, the young Count, and Lady Sober enter!”

At last, the grand doors opened, and I descended the staircase escorted by the Count.

The moment we reached the bottom, the Count released my hand, and I immediately let go of his without the slightest hesitation before heading straight for the tables filled with food.

At this point, I might as well eat as much delicious food as possible before leaving.

And so, while I was enthusiastically piling up food in preparation for a proper food fight—

I spotted a glowing affection meter in the distance.

[Affection Level 60%]

Instinctively, I recognized him as the Duke of Wishes.

Maybe because Uncle had kicked him last time, his affection had dropped by a whole 10%.

Yeah. Honestly, I’d probably react the same way.

Still, seeing the Duke fully recovered made me feel relieved.

Watching the Duke glance around as though searching for someone, I continued stuffing my face with food.

Don’t tell me he’s still looking for Beatrice after getting beaten up like that?

Even with young ladies dressed as flamboyantly as peacocks fluttering around him, the Duke didn’t spare them even a glance.

From Beatrice’s friend’s perspective, he honestly seemed like the best man among them.

I was in the middle of wondering how I could pair the Duke with Uncle when—

The Duke suddenly turned his head this way.

After studying me carefully for a moment, he started walking toward me.

What? Why is he coming over here?

I quickly set down the fork skewering my steak and wiped the sauce from around my mouth with a napkin.

And then—

A memory of Rene Sober surfaced unexpectedly.

Though it wasn’t described in detail in the original story, the Duke and Rene had actually been fairly close.

Not in the Crown Prince sort of way—“Please help me win your friend’s heart”—but the Duke genuinely treated Rene like a friend.

They’d had surprisingly deep conversations about what kind of person Rene was, what she liked and disliked, what her relationship with Beatrice was like, and so on.

Though, in the end, his ultimate goal had still been winning Beatrice’s affection.

Unlike the Crown Prince, the Duke personally took care of the close friend of the woman he liked.

Thanks to that, Rene—who never adapted well to high society—had been able to attend banquets relatively comfortably.

The Duke gave me a faint smile the moment he saw me.

The noble ladies nearby immediately squealed, “Kyaa!”

“Lady Sober, have you been well?”

But I had to stay sharp.

This was someone who knew a lot about Rene. I couldn’t afford to act suspicious.

I’m already busy trying to pair Uncle with the male leads!

Recalling Rene’s characterization from the original story, I lowered my gaze timidly.

Then, deliberately pretending to be nervous, I slightly trembled my hand as I lifted the hem of my skirt.

“It has been a while, Your Grace.”

After that greeting, I immediately closed my mouth.

The real Rene hadn’t been particularly talkative around the Duke.

Usually, the Duke spoke while Rene listened.

The Duke naturally stepped over to my side.

Then he casually opened the conversation by talking about the weather.

“The weather is quite nice today, isn’t it? If I recall correctly, this was the sort of weather you liked.”

Did Rene like this kind of weather?

I couldn’t remember details that specific, so I vaguely nodded along.

“Yes, it’s weather I quite enjoy.”

I assumed the Duke would naturally continue the conversation after that, but for some reason, only silence followed.

I cautiously turned my head to glance at him.

The moment our eyes met, I quickly lowered my gaze again.

“Did Lady Sober like bright sunny weather like this? The weather I was referring to was the kind Lady Lockwood liked.”