TDFL 13

~Chapter 13~

[There’s already enough evidence.]

As expected, the second prince didn’t seem to want things to escalate and tried to quietly let it go.

[First, I will apologize for the rudeness my aide caused. I’ll also compensate fairly, so tell me what you want.]

[Wow, Your Highness!]

Ren’s surprised shout came as the prince freely admitted his aide’s fault, but the prince ignored him.

[There’s nothing to gain by raising our tempers, is there?]

[Wise of you.]

I also nodded in agreement at the prince’s words and gestured to his knights to release Ren Leisten.

Ren looked relieved, though he secretly glared at me. Regardless, I proceeded to the main point.

[That man tried to forcibly take a child I had already paid for, so it’s basically no different from theft.]

It was extreme, but saying it this way made the situation easier to handle.

[I heard that in your kingdom, thieves have their hands cut off. If you do that, I won’t raise the issue again.]

[…What?]

Both Ren and the second prince stared at me in shock.

[Are you serious?]

[Or, if not, plucking an eye or cutting a tongue would be fine too.]

At my even bolder words, Ren’s face turned pale.

[That’s not acceptable.]

The second prince decisively rejected my suggestion while defending his aide.

[I’ll grant your wishes as long as it doesn’t involve touching Ren.]

I pretended to think for a moment. With this, whatever I demanded, they’d have little choice but to comply.

[Very well. If you put it that way, I have no choice.]

I stroked my chin as if in thought, continuing.

[However, I don’t want further disturbances, so it would be best to send that man away first.]

I requested a private moment with the second prince under a suitable pretext.

Alice was confused.

‘How is this even happening?’

Following Leonia’s advice, she contacted Louis and returned, only to find the second prince at the dress shop. Even trying to enter was impossible because his knights guarded the entrance.

As questions piled up, the second prince exited the shop first.

[…Alice? You were surely upstairs… Huh, how much did he anticipate?]

The prince muttered something unintelligible while pretending to know something, before cutting straight to the point.

[I want to ask something—your sister is also a genius, isn’t she?]

[…Huh?]

It was so out of the blue.

[I just met Leonia, and she seemed… extraordinary.]

[She’s normally calm.]

[That’s not all I’m saying. You never mentioned anything like this to me before—didn’t you say your sister was ordinary?]

[…I thought she was ordinary enough.]

Though she had recently made a sudden, surprising declaration to marry Louis, Alice had still considered Leonia fairly normal.

[Ah, that’s why geniuses are like that.]

The second prince looked astonished at Alice’s words.

[Anyway, if Leonia plans to go into exile, tell her to come to Valentin.]

[That won’t happen, but I’ll inform her.]

[This isn’t a joke—make sure she knows.]

After repeating his instructions, the second prince departed with his knights and aide, making a show of leaving.

Alice hurried to the dress shop and found both Leonia and Anna there.

“Leonia!”

“Sis?”

Alice rushed to her sister, anxiously checking her over.

“No one touched you or anything, right?”

“Unless you mean that man earlier, the second prince wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Leonia replied calmly and explained briefly what had happened while Alice was absent.

It was plausible but still odd. After listening, Alice noticed something.

“Are you sure this is okay? That aide is troublesome, you know.”

Ren was the second prince’s aide but not truly part of his personal retinue. His father was the king of Valentin, and he also had connections with Diego.

Leonia likely didn’t know the full extent of Ren’s ties to the Valentin king but was aware of his link to Diego.

“I see. Well then…”

Leonia frowned slightly, stroking her chin as if considering something.

“This is tricky.”

Yet her expression didn’t look troubled at all. Before Alice could question it, a trembling voice spoke.

“I-I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! If only I hadn’t stepped in…”

It was Anna.

She thought the second prince had come because of her and bowed like a guilty criminal.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. I was the one who threw the catalog.”

“B-But I feel some responsibility too…”

“If you want to take responsibility, let’s do it another way.”

Leonia smiled and added,

“You said you need a portrait, right?”

She immediately handed Anna the employment contract. Alice was genuinely impressed.

The second prince had been right: my sister excelled at securing what she wanted.

[Let’s make the contract for three months and then discuss extension.]

“Yes, understood.”

Anna nodded as she signed.

I told her to start working two days later and left the dress shop.

Even as Alice joined me in the carriage, I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Are you really that happy to hire the artist you wanted?”

I nodded at Alice, who looked incredulous.

Of course I was happy. Luck had finally favored me.

I had worried about how to bring Anna, a shop employee, under my patronage—but thanks to the troublesome aide, I had an excuse.

“I didn’t expect them to welcome it so warmly in the dress shop. I thought at least they’d pretend to be uncomfortable.”

“The second prince’s aide caused trouble, so I suffered.”

We had rented the shop at great expense, yet got caught up in chaos—there was no way to demand a refund from the duke’s household. Reality is harsh in a society where class acts as a kind of gang.

“They probably thought: if they can send one employee out for three months, avoiding the duke’s complaints, it’s worth it.”

“Perhaps. Still, Anna’s jewelry should be in demand.”

“She said painting is fine, but making jewelry is tough right now.”

“She’s still a shop employee, after all.”

“Yes.”

Three months remained. Anna would come to the dress shop to paint her portrait, but afterward, she’d be free to do as she wished.

[You signed the contract without checking her work, so they’ll just think it’s the whim of a naive noblewoman.]

That was exactly what I intended—to appear as if I had merely stumbled upon Anna’s talent by chance.

“If you ever regret it, tell me. I can search for another competent artist.”

Alice nodded, said her goodbyes, and left the carriage.

Left alone, I began considering the next plan.

‘I wonder if the second prince is meeting him by now?’

Suddenly, someone entered. The second prince, Aaron Valentin, turned his head.

Meeting his gaze, Louis immediately got to the point.

[So, what’s the result?]

[Failed. Ren will continue to serve as my aide.]

Hearing Aaron’s response, Louis tilted his head.

[Really?]

He added in a calm voice, almost as if disappointed,

[That’s a shame.]

Aaron sipped his tea like a sigh. Their conversation was in the kingdom’s language to minimize leaks.

[I told the king that Ren had been rude to the prospective duchess, but he mentioned the Marquis of Regan instead.]

The friendship with Diego was prioritized over the incident with Leonia.

[Plus, Ren tried to make it seem like it was a task for your sister, so I was busy cleaning that up.]

[The king hasn’t changed.]

[Yes. But if that’s the case, why did he appoint my sister as crown princess? I just don’t understand.]

Aaron shared the king’s true intentions casually.

[He couldn’t appoint her immediately because the crown princess is capable, so he left her in place to gauge the situation before making his move.]

[…Whatever the king intends, I don’t like it. I have neither the ability nor desire for that.]

If the king tried to assert himself, the crown princess wouldn’t stay passive.

[My goal is to live quietly and long.]

[The king thinks differently, it seems.]

[By the way, the next emperor of the Empire is the Marquis of Regan, right?]

Louis remained silent. The imperial succession was more uncertain than Valentin’s.

Aaron, imagining the grim situation, tactfully changed the topic.

[By the way, how did your fiancée meet Ren? You even assigned knights. Was that intentional?]

Even so, he wouldn’t have been surprised—Louis Arban was that capable.

[It wasn’t intentional.]

Surprisingly, Louis denied it.

[The knights were assigned because I heard rumors that Ren Leisten was obtaining drugs nearby.]

The rest were variables even Louis could not have predicted.

[Hmm, she’s changed a bit, huh? Assigned bodyguards to her fiancée. And elite knights from her household…]

Aaron hesitated as if choosing his words carefully before asking further.