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Chapter – 04
A cold, violet gaze turned toward Marin.
“When did I? I was just too bothered to play nurse.”
Marin replied with a smile still on her face.
“Excuse me, but not all patients are like Your Highness.”
“Different from me?”
“Yes. Your Highness has inherited only two genetic illnesses, but you have contracted every seasonal disease without exception, yet there is no sport you cannot perform and no subject you cannot learn.”
That he had spent his life feigning illness to avoid his uncle, the Grand Duke’s, scrutiny was a secret known only to a very few even within the Crown Prince’s palace.
Calission’s gaze toward his subordinate grew sharp, then, as if annoyed, he said,
“You talk too much, Marin Chetwind. If you have something to say, say it straight.”
Marin did not erase her smile even under her lord’s sharp glare.
“My apologies, Your Highness. I merely wished to inform you that I have thoroughly investigated Princess Bristle through reliable sources.”
“……Reliable sources.”
Calission mulled over the words, and Marin nodded.
“Nobles can answer on behalf of the royal family, and even a few palace maids can be bribed. But the princess—she was as pure as the first snow.”
“Bristle, the kingdom with marble veins……”
Calission looked away from Marin, his face thoughtful, and sank into the sofa.
Even when a large man suddenly added his weight, there was no sound from the leather sofa.
The bright star of Yustini, who seemed so carefree and silly in front of everyone, was in fact a man so cautious and meticulous.
And thus he had survived all this time, and would continue to do so.
Yet Marin, true to her nature, read the situation optimistically.
“If things go well, won’t she make an excellent financial ally?”
Calission tapped the armrest of the sofa with the tip of his right hand.
An unconscious gesture he showed only when focused. He was known to be left-handed, but this was a result of training.
“Indeed.”
He seemed to agree, but Marin silently waited for her lord to continue.
“The princess of such a wealthy country coincidentally recovers just in time for my marriageable age. Should I call it admirable—or suspicious?”
Although his words were public, Calission himself had coincidentally recovered just in time for his marriageable age.
Marin hesitated, wondering whether to point this out, when Calission tilted his head to one side.
“A rich princess useful to me appears as if sprung from the earth, and in a single day becomes the center of society. Do you think I’ve lived well enough to deserve such a gift?”
“……No, I don’t think so.”
She had merely answered his question, yet her lord’s piercing gaze returned. Marin inwardly felt unjust.
“Marin, as inspectors, we trust our intuition, right?”
Marin raised one eyebrow as if to contest the statement but quickly regained her composure and agreed.
“……Indeed, Your Highness.”
Calission nodded and said,
“Then, write a letter to the princess.”
It certainly did not mean he intended to write it himself.
Marin silently sighed. She had always been the primary victim of Calission’s sudden antics. But, well, if her lord ordered it, she had no choice but to comply.
The next morning, Clementine looked triumphant.
“Hoho. Human, it seems you’ve at least imitated the princess the way I taught you, huh?”
Meeting the prime minister’s protégé—it was surprisingly pleasant.
For her effort, two letters had already arrived that morning.
Marin snatched the second letter, which contained a tiny charm, and unfolded it to reveal the most beautiful handwriting.
As the Crown Prince, would you honor me by allowing me to show you around the imperial palace?
Please let me know a convenient time, and I will prepare a carriage.
Calission.
A carriage ride to see the palace? The suggestion didn’t fit the logic of a commoner, so she briefly doubted it.
“Could this mean he wants to do… certain things in a closed carriage?”
Even though she had learned about romance through novels, usually that’s what happened.
Clementine clicked her tongue, exasperated.
“Human, even if he’s a rake, he’s the Crown Prince. And a Crown Prince cannot do such things to a visiting foreign princess—it would be a grave offense to the state.”
Well, even if that was the case, she could not possibly refuse the chance to tour the palace.
“Indeed, this palace is huge…”
“Of course. You wouldn’t even see it all walking for a whole day.”
Besides, the bright star of Yustini, our Crown Prince, was making it clear that his position did not allow refusal.
So Marin decided to promptly place another invitation she received earlier and picked up her pen.
Thank you, Your Highness.
Anytime is fine.
But before she could finish two sentences, the tiny charm struck again, and she dropped her pen with a clumsy comma.
“Hey!”
Though interrupted, Clementine scolded her even more.
“Foolish human! What princess is free enough to schedule something anytime?”
“……Here?”
Marin answered boldly, but the charm snatched the letter she was writing, tore it apart, and grabbed the pen herself.
Thank you, Your Highness.
I apologize to Lord Fivner, who invited me to the domino game, but of course your kindness comes first. I will see you at noon.
April.
Originally, she had no intention of going to Lord Fivner’s domino game, yet, like a century-old fairy, she executed the ruse masterfully.
Marin admired the inhumanly precise handwriting of the mischievous fairy before frowning.
“Hey, but I’m supposed to be bad at the Imperial language, yet you’re writing so well now? And the sentences are so smooth, it’s practically oozing with oil—did you mix in olive oil or something?”
Clementine ignored Marin’s complaints and folded the letter into an envelope.
Characters are the same here as in Bristle. How could a princess fail at this level? And usually, people who can’t speak at all still score 990 on the practical Imperial language test.
“…There’s such a test?”
Clementine ignored the question and slid the envelope through the door.
Since magic could not be used in the palace, it was fashionable to send letters via servants—the “classic” style.
Anyway, the tiny charm happily opened the wardrobe to choose her outfit.
“The palace carriage is black, so maybe I should wear something bright today.”
So she wasn’t going to write an apology to Samuel Fivner after all?
Marin naturally stopped her thoughts and refocused. Her goal was solely the Crown Prince; other social relations were useless.
Her friend Millijent was still in the hands of villains, and to rescue her, Marin had to become close to the Crown Prince and be invited to the palace as soon as possible.
After a month, she would never see Lord Fivner again—it was none of her concern!
“Did you sleep well last night, April?”
Under the noon sunlight, Yustini’s bright star shone even more than the previous night.
His smooth cheeks looked healthy for someone who had been sick for so long, and his violet eyes, shining under galaxy-like hair, seemed like the universe itself.
God, why subject me to such trials?
Every time she looked at the star, she tightly closed her eyes to avoid being overwhelmed by his beauty, then opened them again.
“Thanks to you. Even though you’re busy, thank you for personally guiding me.”
She omitted formalities to appear poor at the Imperial language, but he only smiled kindly.
“It is an honor to have the opportunity.”
To appear as a suitor before such a benevolent man—she felt her conscience shrink.
The empty pockets she had been told to hide in the bedroom were probably dangerous.
Her guild normally didn’t take jobs that harmed others, so thinking about what was ahead only made her melancholy.
The good-natured Imperial citizen April Basewater, daring to harm the Crown Prince? And someone so beautiful it seemed to improve eyesight just by looking at him?
The bright star extended his hand to her, unaware of her inner turmoil.
“Shall we go, then?”
