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Chapter 60
The official hostess of high society was, of course, Empress Azeny, but the true power lay elsewhere.
The Marchioness of Belfart.
Two of the five great ducal houses had no duchess at all, two more were living in their territories, and one was abroad. Naturally, this left the Marchioness of Belfart to dominate the social scene.
“Hnnngh! Mommy!”
“Leslie, stop crying.”
The Marchioness of Belfart had a dream—
To use the network and influence she had gathered to make her precious, beautiful daughter Leslie the crown princess.
It’s highly possible!
Among the five great ducal houses, there was only one eligible young lady, and she had serious flaws.
The Marchioness of Belfart had no doubt she could secure the position for Leslie.
“What on earth happened to make you cry like this?”
Her heart ached to see her daughter’s pretty face swollen from tears.
When her mother tried to comfort her, Leslie only cried harder, as if wronged beyond measure.
Unforgivable.
That very morning, Leslie had been the happiest child in the world. The problem began at a tea party hosted by another young lady at lunchtime.
There, the twin children of the Spherom family suddenly appeared—still angelically cute and radiant, but for some reason, their eyes were indifferent and cold.
Without preamble, the twins warned her:
“Tone it down, Leslie.”
“Yeah, tone it down.”
“What—what did I do?”
Leslie tried to deny it, but the twins were unimpressed.
“We know everything, Leslie.”
“And you know it too, Leslie.”
Leslie was indignant.
Why was she being treated like the villain?
And from the twins, of all people?
She liked the twins.
They’re so pretty.
With their delicate, angelic looks—like they had just stepped out of a painting—they easily won everyone’s admiration. The only problem was that they caused trouble with those very looks.
“Arellin is our precious friend.”
“Arellin is cute.”
“Anyway, if you keep it up, we’ll bully you too.”
“We warned you.”
Thinking back to their warning brought fresh tears to Leslie’s eyes.
“Huwaaah!”
“Why are you crying again, Leslie?!”
Leslie buried herself in her mother’s arms.
“Mommy, I hate them so much.”
She haltingly recounted what had happened earlier, and the Marchioness of Belfart’s eyes narrowed.
“The Spherom twins, huh…”
Anyone else might be manageable, but the Spherom family—controllers of the empire’s wealth—were tricky.
Not only the family, but the twins themselves were unpredictable and difficult to handle.
Fortunately for the Marchioness, the people Leslie hated weren’t the twins.
“It must have been Arellin badmouthing me in front of them. She always pretends to be so sweet to my face.”
“Arellin?”
“Sniff sniff. Remember before—!”
Leslie babbled about a time when she had been humiliated by Arellin—when she’d tried to mediate something but had ended up being scolded instead.
“I want to humiliate her.”
The Spherom twins might be untouchable, but Arellin of Halbern—with all her flaws—was a different matter.
A smile curved the Marchioness’s lips.
“Mommy has a good idea.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Leave it to me, my dear.”
Leslie’s face lit up, and the Marchioness felt pleased, looking at her daughter’s features so much like her own.
“My dear, don’t worry. Just think of your future. The crown princess position belongs to you.”
If not my daughter, who else could possibly sit there?
“Her Majesty the Empress sent this.”
“A social exchange tea party hosted by children?”
The official letter Mehen handed me described an event I’d never heard of before.
Mehen let out a groan.
“Why?”
Was there a problem?
In romance-fantasy settings, it was practically law for parties to follow parties, and then more parties.
In this world, social gatherings were the equivalent of modern SNS—used for trends, exchanging information, maintaining family prestige, business, or networking…
“A month from now is the Founding Festival.”
Ah, that’s different.
The major events in a romance-fantasy world were things like the Founding Festival, hunting competitions, debutante balls, birthday banquets, harvest festivals, jousts, tournaments, religious ceremonies, diplomatic receptions, and so on.
These large events required enormous funds and long preparation.
“Once that starts, both the Imperial Family and high society will be busy, so His Highness the Crown Prince’s friends’ gathering will be paused. They plan to hold a small tea party hosted by the children before that.”
“Ah, I see.”
“The guests will be the children’s families or guardians.”
It sounded like a cute, harmless event—until…
“…?”
Today, Mehen’s green eyes were full of concern as he watched me.
“What?”
“Will you be all right?”
“What do you mean?”
Mehen hesitated before speaking.
“Family, I mean.”
“Oh.”
I blinked dumbly for a moment.
“It shouldn’t matter, right?”
“If you want, you can skip it.”
It seemed Mehen would prefer that.
“I’ll handle it.”
As always.
I felt a swell of emotion looking at Mehen, who so willingly took the role of my shield.
“It will be an uncomfortable place. You have no guests to invite… The Duke—Valer—will not attend.”
He didn’t even offer empty assurances that my “father” might come.
Better to crush false hope than let me be disappointed—that was his way.
That’s why I used to be intimidated by him.
This stubborn protector who fulfilled his duty to the letter… I used to find him daunting, but now I understood.
“It’s fine.”
It would be easier to hide away. Protection was comfortable. But…
If I did, Mehen would only have to work harder.
And though I knew better than anyone how capable he was, I didn’t want to hide behind him.
There’s no reason to avoid it.
I appreciated and felt sorry for Mehen thinking of me as a fragile young lady, but I didn’t mind if people tried to bite, chew, taste, and lick me.
This wasn’t a problem that could be solved by running. Eventually, I’d have to face it.
“I’ll just go.”
“Arell…”
Mehen’s expression darkened.
“It’s not like I have no one to invite. I have family too.”
“…!”
“You’re my mom, Mehen.”
“But—”
“I’ll invite the childcare group too.”
They were also my guardians.
“Dylan, will you come?”
“It would be an honor, my lady.”
I laughed at Dylan’s easy reply, but Mehen’s face still stayed stiff.
“Mom.”
I ran over and threw myself into Mehen’s arms.
I knew he worried for me, and it made me happy even now.
This affection, this concern, this attention—
Because it was the first time I’d received it, it felt all the sweeter.
Mehen really was caring for me with love.
“There may be situations where I can’t protect you.”
“But you’ll still be by my side, right?”
Mehen’s expression twisted in pain.
“Really, I’m fine.”
When my past-life memories returned, and I first saw Mehen’s face, I never imagined we’d grow this close.
“As long as I have you, I’m fine.”
Mehen’s eyes wavered.
He pulled me into his arms with the care of someone handling glass.
“Arell…”
I reached out toward those unsteady, green eyes and touched his smooth cheek.
To think this handsome young man was my “mom”—maybe this life wasn’t so bad after all.
Even the pits can be fun, and a pseudo-family is still family.
You don’t have to be on the same family register to be family!
“Mom, is raising me hard?”
Mehen gave a low hum.
“No. I worry you’re too little trouble.”
“Liar. You struggled.”
“….”
Unable to tell the lie, he only moved his lips.
“Mom, do you hate me because I don’t listen?”
His face froze, his eyes looking wounded, and I was startled at my own words.
“I was joking.”
“Don’t…”
He exhaled shakily and spoke with frightening intensity.
“Don’t ever say something like that again.”
Strange, that his anger only made me feel warmer inside.
“Okay, I won’t.”
“You’ve promised.”
“Mm.”
He hugged me again and let out a deep sigh.
“I don’t know why Her Majesty the Empress planned something like this.”
Wasn’t that a dangerous thing to say?
I gave him a worried look, afraid he might be dragged away, but he only softened and smoothed my hair.
“If you ever want to back out, please tell me. Understood?”
His words were so reassuring I couldn’t help but smile.
Wow. I had backing too.
