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Chapter 21.
Merina’s gaze was fixed on the necklace around my neck.
“I heard that necklace is being sold by your marquisate. I want one too. Could I be the first to buy it?”
“If it’s a matter of jewelry, please send someone from your family to discuss it with ours.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler if you just gave me an answer here and now?”
Several young ladies who had also asked to buy the jewelry earlier glared at her, but Merina, who always had to get what she wanted, didn’t back down.
The air around us turned cold.
“Lady Ikel, that’s not something we should be discussing he—”
“—Lady Ikel is right.”
Before I realized he’d approached, the Crown Prince scoffed as he looked at me.
“In any case, it’s an item your family is putting on the market, isn’t it? Then Lady Ikel should be able to make a reservation. Why all this nonsense about sending someone to the Marquisate?”
“……”
“Are you trying to gain the upper hand in negotiations? Planning to overcharge everyone?”
When you make a deal, even if it benefits both sides, isn’t it natural to want the upper hand?
I wanted to snap back like that, but the Crown Prince, intent on finding fault, would twist anything I said.
Stay calm, Rosia.
Lose your composure here, and everything you’ve built so far will collapse.
“See? The Marquis’s daughter can’t even say a word. You think everyone here is stupid?”
“Your Highness, that’s going too far.”
The Duke of Lisiansius, who had been silent by my side, glared at the Crown Prince.
From him emanated a faint, chilling killing intent.
“What’s too far?”
“Even if you are the Crown Prince, don’t you think speaking to Lady Levian as if she were a servant is quite discourteous?”
The Levian Marquisate was one even the Emperor dared not offend, and my father was the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Since the Duke was right, the Crown Prince fell silent.
“And one more thing. If the Principality were to demand priority access to Moonstones—the main ingredient of nightglow stones—from Your Highness, what would you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Empire exports Moonstones. Since that means the Crown Prince holds decision-making authority, what would you say if they made that request?”
It was essentially the same logic he had just thrown at me.
“In a trade negotiation, would you meekly say you won’t assert the Empire’s position? Would you sell them at a lower price too?”
“That’s…”
The Crown Prince couldn’t answer. Moonstone exports brought enormous profit to the Empire, so he couldn’t possibly agree to that.
“Why don’t you ask the young lord of the Principality himself, since he’s right there?”
“Duke!”
“What’s wrong, Your Highness? I’m only repeating what you said.”
Only imperial nobles were seated at this table.
The Duke clearly knew that and was deliberately cornering the Crown Prince, who now had one last chance to save face.
“I… I spoke too harshly.”
The Duke seemed to want to press further, but I stepped in with a gentle smile.
“Lady Ikel, there are already others who’ve requested to buy the jewelry before you. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s true.”
“I’ve already sent someone to the Marquisate myself.”
With several people speaking up at once, Merina’s eyes widened, and she bit her lip.
Even if her sister was the Empress, these ladies were not ones to be trifled with.
The humiliated Crown Prince couldn’t easily take Merina’s side and had to watch silently.
“I… I just…”
When Merina’s eyes began to glisten with tears, Violet snorted loudly.
“Are you crying to make us look like the villains?”
She muttered it under her breath, but I heard every word.
“Lady Ikel, do you have anything more to say?”
“Lady Levian, haven’t you humiliated Lady Ikel enough? What more do you want?”
The Crown Prince, who seemed to have a reflexive need to argue whenever he saw me, couldn’t hold his tongue.
“You just admitted you spoke too harshly to Lady Levian earlier, and yet you’re doing it again.”
Word by word, the Duke spoke slowly, his tone heavy with restrained power as he looked down at the Crown Prince, their height difference emphasizing his authority.
“What if someone from the Principality had heard you? Such conduct brings shame upon the Empire. I would have no choice but to report it to His Majesty.”
All eyes were on them now, and after being shamed twice in public, the Crown Prince’s face flushed red.
“Duke, I am the Crown Prince!”
“And I am a servant of His Majesty the Emperor, not of the Crown Prince.”
Only a handful of people knew that the Duke was a Sword Master.
Among them was the Emperor himself, who—whatever he might think privately—would side with the Duke. No one wanted to anger the Empire’s sole Sword Master.
“And I am also a knight of the Empire,” the Duke added.
When he made it clear he wouldn’t overlook the Crown Prince’s behavior, the latter pressed his lips tightly together, his cheeks twitching with suppressed fury.
“You as well, Lady Ikel.”
“What did I do!”
“Do you realize you’re smearing ink on the Empress’s face?”
“Then what is your relationship with Lady Levian, Duke? Why are you defending her like this?”
Merina clearly sensed it instinctively—
the Duke was supposed to be on her side, yet he wasn’t.
Even when my younger brother, Calvin, had defended me before, Merina had reacted sharply, as if furious that even he should favor the so-called villainess over the “heroine” she imagined herself to be.
“I also heard you calling Lady Levian by her name!”
“Lady Levian and I…”
Everyone turned their attention toward us.
I clenched my fists, worried the Duke might say something ridiculous.
“…are friends. Isn’t that right?”
“Of course.”
Thankfully, his excuse was entirely ordinary.
“My younger brother Calvin serves in the Imperial Knights. I often speak with the Duke because of that.”
Violet nodded enthusiastically.
“Since I often sought his advice about my brother’s career, we naturally grew closer.”
“I was impressed by how devoted Lady Levian was to her brother,” the Duke continued. “Since I have no siblings, I found that touching. So I asked her…”
Our eyes met—his clear blue eyes flickered for an instant with what looked like pain, or perhaps longing.
Was I imagining it?
“…if I might treat her like a younger sister.”
“So that’s why you called her by name. You must be glad to have such a lovely little sister.”
“I’m the one who’s envious,” Violet chimed in. “To have such a handsome brother figure as the Duke! My own brother, honestly—ugh.”
“Oh, Lady Violet. Sir Patrick is perfectly fine as an older brother!”
Now that these young ladies had softened toward me—thanks to their desire to buy my jewelry—our excuses were accepted without suspicion.
The Duke’s unusually gentle manner toward me helped too.
The situation turned decisively against the Crown Prince and Merina, leaving them silent.
The party ended that way.
By the end of it, Lexian found himself, quite unexpectedly, in the role of Rosia’s “brother.”
This gave him a rightful excuse to escort her.
When the two of them were alone, Rosia spoke politely.
“Thank you for helping me out of that difficult situation, Your Grace.”
“No need for gratitude. I’ll be asking for payment.”
Seeing her tense up, Lexian smiled faintly.
He had no intention of wasting this rare opportunity.
“I’d like to renew my previous request—to have you as my partner at the ball.”
“Why do you want to be my partner, Your Grace? I’m sure many ladies would line up for the honor.”
Lexian had no clear answer. He didn’t know why he kept chasing after this woman.
Perhaps he wanted to help her because she reminded him of himself—but when it came to Rosia Levian, he always got too involved.
It was probably because of that cursed lock of hair in his family’s treasured box—the irrational hope that she might be its owner still bound him.
Yes. Once he confirmed the truth, this obsession would end.
“…May I touch your hair?”
“You do realize that’s an extremely improper request, don’t you? But since you’re like an older brother to me, I’ll allow it.”
She was clearly responding to the excuse he’d made earlier—that he saw her as a little sister.
Relieved that she didn’t push him away, yet oddly disappointed by the word “brother,” Lexian swallowed his mixed feelings.
“Then… pardon me.”
He gently brushed his fingers over the ends of her glossy black hair.
Rosia watched him quietly.
Her slightly parted lips looked as if she wanted to say something, but Lexian, lost in the silky feel beneath his fingertips, didn’t notice.
“It’s… incredibly soft,” he murmured.
On his own bed once lay a few strands of hair—perhaps just like this.
Since that day, Lexian hadn’t been able to sleep there.
He hadn’t even changed the sheets.
The thought of lying on the same bed where Rosia had rested felt like defiling something sacred—
as if by doing so, he would be desecrating her…
