Chapter 92: He has a secret (3)

It took about twenty minutes or so to calm the situation.

I had to promise to the Imperial Prince that I would not pass on the duty of providing him with ether to another priest until the Annual Prayer Meeting ended.

I had to tell Christelle multiple times that I was just a homebody who had no political desires whatsoever.

I could understand her acting like a teenager because she was in the body of a teenager and people treated her as such.

However, I was concerned about the Imperial Prince, who acted so immaturely every so often despite being twenty-four years old.

‘Is Sadie the real body perhaps?’

“I do have a desire to assist young lady Blanquer. The young Duke son…… Ahem, I believe that the current young Duke should not be in that kind of position. Furthermore, he deserves to be punished after treating his younger sibling that way. We need to take away the thing that he cherishes the most.”

Christelle spoke while gritting her teeth.

She seemed to be trying her best not to curse out young Duke Blanquer in front of his sister.

‘I’m pretty sure you already did a lot of that during the day of the duel though…’

“But I don’t know how to help her.”

“Umm, I have a letter that I wrote that I was planning on sending to my parents.”

Eva responded with a nervous look on her face. I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out the folded letter.

I had received it from Eva prior to the show but had not opened it until now.

Imperial Prince Cédric, who took the letter from me, read through it before passing it to Christelle.

It was hard to figure out his thoughts as there was no change to his expression.

“What do you think, your Royal Highness, young lady Sarnez? Do you think it is enough to convince her parents?”

“Hmm. One moment please.”

Christelle looked through the letter and answered my question. Her blue-gray eyes were sparkling with sincerity.

“It looks like we will need to decide our course of action. We need to decide whether we will go for a certification of contents or if we want to aim for a letter of plea to get her parents to tear up. The current letter is not very organized.”

“What is a certification of contents?”

Eva tilted her head in confusion and asked Christelle.

I tensed up and looked at the Imperial Prince.

I wondered if this world had a concept like certification of contents as well.

The Imperial Prince seemed to find it a bit odd as well. ‘I guess there isn’t something like that here.’

“That, mm. It is like an official document. Official letters have a different format than personal letters.”

The explanation was acceptable. Eva looked at us and cautiously spoke.

“My parents and us siblings are not very close…… They do listen when I throw tantrums, but I want to properly earn my place like an adult this time.”

She sounded very mature. I gently smiled and poured some lavender tea into the young Duchess’s cup.

The child smiled as the fragrance spread through the air.

Christelle caressed Eva’s curly red hair.

“Then, just leave it to this auntie, no. Leave it to this big sis. This big sis is very good at writing official documents.”

“B, big sis……”

Eva’s cheeks turned red with joy.

This was probably the first time she was treated so warmly as a little sister because that bastard of an older brother never did his job properly as a good older brother.

I handed the quill pen I brought with me to her and Christelle started writing something new on the back of the parchment.

I pushed the opera cake toward her so that she could easily eat it while writing.

As for Eva, I handed her a Poire Belle Hélène with a dessert spoon.

The first sentence was being completed.

‘1. I pray for an endless development of you and your territory.’

‘Wait, it really is an official document.’

I held myself back from laughing and placed a chouquette on the Imperial Prince’s empty plate.

Unlike Christelle who liked a lot of flavors in her food, this punk preferred things that were a bit bland.

“Will it be okay to send it like that, your Royal Highness?”

“No.”

The Imperial Prince responded immediately. He was glaring at the chouquette. ‘I didn’t put any poison on it.’

“I’m certain that the bastard placed his people in the family once he became the young Duke.”

I nodded my head. He was right.

Even if the Lord’s Castle belonged to the ducal couple, it was unlikely that the young Duke did not have his subordinates there.

It was possible that Eva’s letter would not be delivered immediately to her parents or that it might disappear completely.

I looked at the two focused young ladies and plotted away.

“The Imperial Crown Prince confirmation.”

The Imperial Prince made eye contact with me while chewing on the chouquette.

‘It was hard to even feed him a jerky in the past. He’s grown quite a bit.’

“I heard that the invitations for the nobles were being sent this week. What if we used that?”

“……”

“It will be a precious letter delivered with the Imperial family crest. Attendants and the young Duke would not be able to open it. The ducal couple will be the first to open it for sure. What if we add the young lady’s message to it?”

He seemed to be thinking for a bit before he swallowed the chouquette and responded.

“They could think that the Imperial family is controlling her.”

“However, it is also true that the young Duke mocked you, your Royal Highness, and brought dishonor to his family. The ducal couple are equally unaffectionate to both children, so they probably would not try to protect their son if they learned that Eva has the justification for the position.”

“……It is not a bad idea.”

“Thank you very much, your Royal Highness.”

I smiled.

Although his response was short, he was saying that he will help make my plan come to fruition.

I was certain that he calculated helping Eva and pushing the young Duke out was a win for him as well.

Things went well. Now that decision was up to the ducal couple.

I started eating a rice pudding with caramel on top.

The people at the Count’s Estate were skilled as well.

‘……Now that I think about it, this is my first time at a friend’s house since I transmigrated here.

The situation made it so that I couldn’t even bring a housewarming gift.’

“Should we have a pajama party tonight after finishing this? Only the two of us and Vice Captain Élisabeth.”

“What is a pajama party?”

“Oh my. Playing together at night while wearing our pajamas. We can gossip, drink, and even have a pillow fight?”

“Wow. That sounds fun!”

Eva’s eyes started to sparkle after hearing Christelle’s explanation. It was nice to see.

‘It really was a good idea to connect the two of them together.’

“Let’s go shopping tomorrow. I heard that the Legault Central Commerce Center already has new outfits for Fall and Winter. I’ll teach you how to go on a spending spree first.”

“That sounds great!”

‘What are you teaching the kid?!’ I choked on some pudding and coughed.

“Young lady Sarnez, please guide Eva to be a good young Duchess.”

“Please don’t worry. I will also teach her the joy of spending money on others, your highness.”

‘Will it be okay like this?’ I smiled bitterly.

I couldn’t separate the two of them now so I’ll just get some help along the way.

“Umm…… If it is okay with you, could you buy something for me as well?”

“Oh my. This is unexpected from you, your highness.”

Christelle’s face lit up with joy.

I remembered how even Benjamin and Ganael had headaches figuring out what to get me for my birthday because I usually did not want anything.

However, what I needed this time was not something for me.

“This is my first time at the Count’s Estate but I couldn’t even prepare a proper gift. I will give you the money for it.”

“Ah, you are looking for a housewarming gift.”

She instantly had a look that seemed to be saying that she knew it would be something like this.

Eva looked back and forth at Christelle and I before asking.

“You cannot go buy it yourself, your highness?”

“I cannot leave the Imperial Palace.”

I answered. Eva looked even more confused.

“But this is already outside the Imperial Palace. I heard that you will be staying here for a few days, your highness. Doesn’t that mean that it is okay for you to go out with us?”

“I’m not sure about that. That……”

I smiled awkwardly and looked at the Imperial Prince.

Christelle and Eva looked at him as well. I was silently eating the last chouquette.

Where I could and could not go was a decision solely for the Riester Imperial family.

It would be nice to look at the items myself and hear some information about it before buying it, but it was highly likely that I could not go, which was why I asked her to buy it for me.

The Imperial Prince elegantly wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“I’ll be getting up first.”

He then gave that comment before standing up. He looked like someone who was done with things here.

All three of our eyes opened wide at this unexpected comment.

Percy, who had been on his shoulder, flew over and landed on top of Christelle’s head.

“So sudden, your Royal Highness?”

“……”

The man ignored Christelle’s question and walked toward the greenhouse door.

Rhea and Perry woke up from their naps and slowly crawled off the rock.

It looked as if they were going to follow the Imperial Prince for the first time in a long while.

I petted their backs as they walked past me.

It was my way of telling them not to cause too much trouble.

“I guess it is true that he really is an Ice Prince.”

Eva mumbled in a slightly dejected voice.

There was quite the difference between his looks and his personality, but at least he didn’t get angry and shout at me or something to say that I can’t leave.

“I am okay. I enjoy being indoors. It is burdensome to be in crowded areas.”

– Squeeeeee

I spoke in a way to console her and Demy, who had come up to me as well, rubbed his head against my calf.

The little young lady pouted a bit. ‘I’ll just organize my notebook tomorrow.’

*

“Eva considered his Royal Highness as a candidate for marriage? Not to fight him?”

Christelle, who had been drinking quite a bit, raised her voice.

Élisabeth was unable to hold her laughter back and buried her face in a pillow.

Her new friend said such funny things whenever she opened her mouth.

There were apparently people who pointed fingers at her saying that she was not like this before she got sick, but Élisabeth liked the ‘new’ Christelle quite a bit.

The young lady was a hero who got rid of numerous demonic beasts and was quite the easy-going and delightful person.

“They can’t get married anyway since they are cousins.”

“But still, a sixteen year old and a twenty four year old? She’s basically his daughter!”

“Pffft!”

She also frequently said things like this that did not suit her age to make her laugh.

Elizabeth seemed to have completely forgotten about the fact that the age gap Christelle was talking about was applicable to her as well as she laughed.

They were both cheery from drinking right now. Christelle sipped the cognac that had been heated by her body temperature.

The two of them, who were sprawled out on a large bed, and a little girl, who had gone off to dreamland, were enjoying this pajama party.

“The baby fell asleep after a single glass of vin chaud.”

“I’m sure she must have been tired from writing the letter for her parents.”

“I think I was too intense when teaching her how to pillow fight.”

Christelle commented.

Élisabeth brushed the sleeping Eva’s hair behind her ear while Christelle poured some dry gin into the young Countess’s empty cup.

“Sixteen is an age to do everything she wants to do. She can think about marriage later. She can get some power if she wants power, learn things if she wants to learn things, and travel. She should make a lot of friends too.”

Her friend was sounding like an adult again. The young Countess received the glass from Christelle and chuckled.

Christelle suddenly pointed her index finger.

“Of course, your future hubby is an exception. He’s a different breed. How can you beat a kid who has been thinking about marriage since he was six?”

Élisabeth burst into laughter as she got off the bed.

Talking about how sixteen year olds should be made her want to show Christelle something.

She stood bare feet on the ground and started to rummage through a drawer in the bedroom.

Christelle, who was tilting her glass and observing the multiple colors of the cognac, looked toward her friend who was not coming back.

“Vice Captain Élisabeth?”

“Ah, I found it. Please look at this, young lady Sarnez.”

Élisabeth returned to the bed and pushed a small bag toward Christelle.

It was full of old cards and letters.

“What is this?”

“These are letters I exchanged with my friends when I was younger.”

“Wow.”

Christelle opened the colorful letters one by one.

The crooked letters and grammatical errors were cute and funny.

The contents were childish, as expected of letters between children.

However, it was cute that they signed their names as fancy as possible at the end, trying to look elegant as children of noble families.

“This one is from Cédric. Let’s see, it was when he was eleven.”

“His Royal Highness knows how to say hello?”

“Hahahaha.”

Élisabeth laughed out loud. Christelle also chuckled and read the card.

The words were hard to read, potentially because she had been drinking quite a bit.

She clenched her eyes shut before looking at the bottom.

She had done so without giving it much thought but…

“……This, is this his Royal Highness’s middle name?”

“Huh?”

Élisabeth’s grey eyes slowly opened wide at Christelle’s question.

The two of them turned sober also instantly. The young Countess urgently inspected the card.

She could see an elegantly written word in between ‘Cédric’ and ‘Riester.’

“……”

“I’m right.”

“Ah, that’s a secret……”

Élisabeth brushed her face with her hands and laid down on the bed. She then started to groan.

Christelle gasped because she could not believe what she just read.

This was something that only close family, best friends, and lovers should know.

‘Looking to purchase a brain that has not seen this info.’

“His middle name is so ironic.”

“Excuse me?”

“It is so funny that he has such a name with his personality. Is it something like ‘Open Church Closed’ or something?”

“Huh?”

Élisabeth asked with her eyes half closed.

Her jaws had just dropped in shock before she laid down ,but she must have gotten sleepy once her head hit the pillow.

It made sense since she had worked full time today.

Christelle felt her eyelids getting heavier while looking at her as well.

She kept chuckling because of the ironic nature of his name, but her head was still tilting to the side.

She didn’t resist and immediately laid down.

The last thing she saw was Élisabeth’s glass on top of the drawer.

‘She left that over there……

But is that really his middle name? Such a name for a bastard who has his highness imprisoned?’