Chapter 9

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It was not a fight between people, but against monsters who had been tamed with ferocity.

Although the match itself was a terrifying contest, only the n.o.bles were allowed to attend, and a committee was formed to identify foul acts and prevent accidents, by all priests.

Yes, Cesare was coming to see me using that as an excuse.

Ah, d.a.m.n it.

“Do you not have an appet.i.te?”

Ellenia suddenly asked me, sitting down and listening to the conversation with her cold and indifferent face as always.

Did she notice that I was only sipping from my gla.s.s?

“I just love the taste of alcohol.”

“It’s not good to just drink on an empty stomach.”

So, I put down my half-drinking gla.s.s and pretended to eat the lemon pie in front of me.

Then, when everyone left to join the dance, I made an excuse to use the washroom and slipped away. I didn’t mean to vomit the pie crumbs.

There was a serious problem that a rumour would spread if anyone saw me vomiting in a place like this.

Obviously, I was a little dizzy because I drank on an empty stomach.

“Ah…!”

“Oh, excuse me.”

I left the banquet hall and tried to enter the balcony, which I was closest to, but I b.u.mped my shoulder hard with someone who came out from the opposite side.

My shoulders were quite unfortunate today.

The other person held my hand and helped me hastily, just as I was about to stumble.

“Are you all right?”

He sounded quite young. When I raised my head, slightly frowning to endure the pain in my shoulder, I faced somewhat mesmerising purple eyes.

He was tall, but he seemed young. I felt that he was about 15 years old.

His pale blonde hair covering the back of his neck and pretty face type, looked a lot like someone.

“I’m fine, but…”

“Ah, I’m Lorenzo van Furiana. You were with my sister a little while ago, weren’t you?”

As expected, Freya’s brother. He really resembled her.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to help you to the banquet hall?”

“I’m okay. I was just coming out to get some fresh air. Are you a paladin?”

“Sir Izek would laugh if he heard this. I’m still too young. But, are you bored with the banquet?”

Banquets were always boring. Though, why did he hate me?

The boy smiling in front of my eyes was acting quite friendly and cheerful, but the hostility that he emitted with his whole body was so vivid that it was suffocating. I was always sensitive to this, but the disgust in his eyes was too obvious. Maybe it was because he was still young.

Look at him. When did he ever see me to get such a bad impression?

My husband didn’t have this bad of an impression either. As for Ellenia, she had a G.o.d-given poker face, it was difficult to catch sight of emotions. Freya was a little vague as I had just met her, but it was hard to call her hostile.

But why was Freya’s brother making such a fuss?

I smiled silently and looked at him, and he stared at me for a moment, too.

Then, he scratched his head as if he was embarra.s.sed.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just can’t believe I’m seeing you in person… “

“It sounds like I’m famous here.”

“Where in the world would there be a man who doesn’t know My Lady’s name? You’re the Pope’s daughter.”

“Really? I’m not as famous as my brothers, so I’m a little surprised.”

A short silence pa.s.sed by. Lorenzo, who pretended to think about something while scratching his temples, smiled and confessed,”Actually, there’s a famous song that was not too popular until a while ago.”

“Oh really?”

“Seems like you’ve never heard of it before. Would you like to listen to it?”

“I’m curious, please go ahead.”

“This is what it’s all about,” he hummed, exaggeratedly clearing his throat.

“Sistina’s larks said she couldn’t find a man to suit her taste, but her half-brothers would be fine…”

Whatever reaction Lorenzo had expected from me, it remained an eternal unknown because of the sudden sound.

Wham!

“Argh!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to f*ck around alone, huh?”

“Ah, wait a minute, ahhh!!”

My eyes widened. It was Sir Ivan who jumped out of the hallway like a basilisk, cuffed Lorenzo’s head mercilessly, and then pulled his ear mercilessly. The pretty, foul-mouthed paladin.

“Apologize immediately before I rip your mouth!”

“Ha, but…”

“To think you admire Izek. Do you want me to bring you to him? If it’s that a**hole, he would tear your b.l.o.o.d.y mouth up, when he hears the sh*t you just talked about. Then, you’ll apologize to Lady Omerta with that sh*tty snout of your’s.”

I didn’t think Izek would rip Freya’s brother’s mouth just because I listened to that song. Lorenzo murmured something like an apology, with his head down in Ivan’s grasp, perhaps because Isuke was scared or because he gave in to pain.

“Don’t you mumble! Should I make you bark louder?”

“Well, I’m fine, just let him go.”

I didn’t really want to hear an apology since I wasn’t angry in the first place.

Sir Ivan, who looked at me, soon smiled and let go of him. Lorenzo immediately ran away. Tsk tsk. Sir Ivan now shook his hands and murmured a last low-pitched curse, smiling beautifully at the same time.

He looked back at me.

“I’m sorry for the mess you had to see.”

“It’s okay.”

“Don’t get me wrong. He’s… he’s just lost his mind in a weird delusion. Such an absurd song is known to none of our Knights….”

“Sir Ivan, it’s really alright. It’s not my first time hearing that rumor.”

There was a moment of silence.

I was opening the dam again while Lord Ivan looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.

Sniffle.

“M-My Lady?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just… I just suddenly thought about it. I wonder if my husband believed in such rumors, so…”

“That’s ridiculous. He’s not interested in the din other people make up in the first place. Even if it needed some attention.”

“Huu. Really?”

“Of course, and it’s not his way to stay with people who bother him. To be honest, he was a bit surprised earlier, he probably didn’t mean that you were a bother… “

Should I say it’s an honor?

“H-He doesn’t hate me, right?”

“Not at all! How dare a man hate his wife? It’s just that he’s been living my own way, and this is the first time he’s experiencing something not going his way. He’s just embarra.s.sed and acting up.”

“So, he doesn’t hate me even if I liked him to my heart’s content, right?”

“Of course. No, it would be a great honor for him.”

Sir Ivan, who had been shaking his head and cheering for me instead of insulting, began to cough awkwardly in vain with a sullen look on his face.

It’s okay, I understand.

“I’ll take you to the banquet hall first.”

“It’s okay. I came out because I wanted to get some fresh air anyway.”

“But if you’re alone… alright. But if that kid shows up again, you must tell me.”

Was he worried that the kid might come after me again and make me cry?

His mouth was dirty, but his chivalry was certainly alive. Coming out on the balcony alone, at evening time, my eyes fell on the night scenario, which looked as bright as day. A beautifully decorated courtyard with winding steps outside the balcony.

There was a pond surrounded by artistic sculptures. I went down the stairs because I thought I could take a look.

Next to a pair of swan statues with their heads in the shape of hearts, a reddish-brown bob stood out, moving swiftly.

“Princess Ari…”

Ari, who was hiding behind the swan’s tail, leaned out.

A bunch of yellow summer flowers were held in her hands, gathered in front of her. Maybe she was playing here alone? Where did her nanny go?

“Un, don’t tell Mama.”

Ah. So, she sneaked out. Surprisingly, she was a tomboy. I nodded my head and smiled coolly.

“I won’t tell her. What are you making?”

Instead of answering, the little princess looked at me with her hesitant eyes. What I said seemed unreliable.

I turned my head and approached the pond, meaning I wouldn’t disturb.

A bridge stood out gracefully in the middle of a fairly large pond.

“…you can’t be there alone.”

“What?”

“A couple has to be together to make their love come true.”

She came out from behind the statue.

[Love will come true.]

I couldn’t believe there’s a pond like this in the palace.

Such romantic people. Well, the king, at least, was one.

“Does love come true?”

“I don’t know…… this is what the nanny said. The fairy of love lives in the pond.”

I bent over and made eye contact with Ari, grinning.

Now, the little princess was staring at my hair, nothing else.

Was it because my hair looked similar to hers?

“Is that a bouquet of flowers?”

“…is it pretty?”

“Yes, it’s really pretty. Who did you make it for?”

The princess, who was blinking her big eyes as if hesitating for a moment, nodded and whispered in a tone that was hard to understand, “I’ll give it to you.”

“What?”

“If you let me touch your hair, I’ll give it to My Lady.”

Huh?

I pulled my hair to one side and smiled again.

“Now?”

“Not now, but later.”

So, she wanted to play with my hair like a doll’s.

Even though I’m this old, to the little girl I probably looked more like a giant doll from the South.