Chapter 10

After finishing what could be called a lifetime employment contract with Clifford, I decided to head to today’s dinner party, as time was running out.

The location was the castle’s dining room.

Despite the elaborate interior, it was a fairly cozy room, with a single rectangular table covered in lace cloth in the center. Chairs for the entire family were arranged, and the seating was fixed.

Father at the head of the table. To his right, me, Alek. To his left, my foster mother and my brother.

Soon, Sir Sil will join us here. My seating with Alek will remain the same, with Father and my foster mother at the head, and my brother and Sir Sil on the left.

The menu is the same for everyone. Roughly three courses. Appetizers or soup, main course, and dessert, served in sequence. The utensils are knife, fork, and spoon.

The dishes use seasonal vegetables, and the meat and fish dishes, as well as the desserts, are all elaborately prepared in both taste and appearance. Bread is always served. The bread, however, is a round, hard, simple type that I wasn’t very familiar with in my previous life. It’s harder than French bread. It’s fragrant, and I love it. I even ask for seconds sometimes!

As expected, the castle’s chefs are skilled, and I enjoy delicious meals every day.

However, sometimes I think, wouldn’t it be nice to have a few large platters and serve ourselves as we please? Maybe something a bit more casual, like a cafeteria-style menu?

I know it’s a luxury.

But after sixteen years of living as a princess, I’ve learned something.

Humans can get used to luxury...! Conversely, I start to yearn for street food that costs about 350 yen (about 10 sel in Esfera’s currency). I love high-end steaks, but I also love takoyaki.

Surrounded by A-grade cuisine, I start to crave B-grade cuisine.

Human desires are bottomless!

When I entered the dining room, everyone was already there. The entire family was seated, and servants and guards lined the walls. Clifford took his position as a guard.

The royal family of Esfera eats while being watched by many people. So, I eat beautifully and elegantly. ...Sometimes, I wish I could eat with a silly face...

I handed my fan to a servant and sat in the chair that was pulled out for me.

I met Alek’s gaze and smiled at each other.

When I turned to face forward, I met my brother’s gaze, but we both acted as if nothing had happened during the day. I avoid my brother to delay the time when I have to introduce my (fake) lover to him—though, in reality, I end up seeing my brother every day.

However, given the nature of the topic and the nature of our family’s dinner parties, I don’t think my brother will pursue this matter during dinner. If I can avoid being caught by my brother on the way to and from the dinner, I have a chance!

"Everyone is here. Then—"

—We give thanks to the Sky God, and Father signals the start of the meal. And the start of family time.

In Esfera, meals are meant to be enjoyed with conversation. However, in our family, Father and my brother are naturally quiet, and Alek and I, while close in private, don’t usually initiate conversation during dinner. There’s a reason for this.

I—out of a habit from my previous life—simply want to focus on the food! Conversation? I don’t need it! I pour all my senses into the dishes prepared for us!

Alek—cares about Father. I’ve told him many times that he doesn’t need to worry, but I think Father himself needs to reassure him...

So, no one initiates conversation. If a topic is thrown out, we join in.

The person who usually initiates conversation is one person.

Most of the time, the first voice is—my foster mother, Father’s partner.

His name is Edgar. I call him Sir Edgar. He was originally a merchant.

A man with a charisma that can draw in customers—甚至国王—的威胁性才能。他看起来比实际年龄年轻。焦糖色的卷发和同色的眼睛。他的标志性特征是眼镜。

“对了，塞里乌斯。你今天和希尔吵架了，是吗？”

今天的晚餐会对话也是从埃德加先生开始的。

我正在喝侍者倒的汽水。在埃斯菲亚，用餐时通常喝汽水而不是水。用果汁调味的汽水也很受欢迎。经典口味是柠檬！

“您知道这件事吗？”

哥哥苦笑着。是啊，如果在街上表演爱情戏，肯定会引起注意。……虽然我自己不想这样做，但老实说，有点羡慕。喜欢到可以忘记周围的目光，互相喜欢的程度……这样的恋爱真想体验一次！

“我们和好了，但被奥克塔维亚训斥了。”

哥哥说完，除了我之外，所有人的目光都转向了我。

“既然没人说，那我就说了。”

这里要果断表态！

“是啊。我太轻率了。还有……”

嗯？哥哥说话吞吞吐吐的。真少见。

“奥克塔维亚，对不起。”

我正感到奇怪，突然被哥哥道歉了。

“哥哥……发生了什么事？”

“被你训斥之后的事。”

哥哥的表情异常严肃。

“还有……”

他低语道。

难道是我在生气的时候的事吗？

啊？这个发展……不好的预感。哥哥？

“我不知道你有喜欢的人。你生气我的无心之言是理所当然的。希尔也这么说过。……你一直隐瞒着吗？”

——差点没把汽水喷出来。为了公主的面子，我勉强忍住了。

“姐姐有喜欢的人……？”

阿莱克猛地转向我。

我只是惊愕地盯着哥哥。

这是什么展开……！

“所以，至少我也想帮你。你没告诉父亲吧？那么，我代替你，尽快——在这里决定。”

因为希尔的影响，哥哥反省得太过分了！

在全家聚餐时提出这种事……！

这无疑是闪耀的善意！但问题是，我根本没有相思相恋的恋人！

“因为我和希尔，你有所顾虑吗？”

“…………”

人一惊真的会失语……。

“——这是怎么回事？塞里乌斯。奥克塔维亚。”

父亲发话了。

父亲——拥有与阿莱克相似色彩的埃斯菲亚国王伊诺克。作为国王的能力受到高度评价。如果说有什么缺点，大概就是与阿莱克相关的事。

代替正在考虑借口的我，哥哥毫不犹豫地回答了。

“奥克塔维亚有恋人。今天因为某些原因得知了。但是——可能是因为我——不，我的原因，无法公开。或者，还有其他身份或障碍。……陛下，作为王室，是否认可奥克塔维亚的恋人？我想认可。”

啊啊啊啊。哥哥从“我”变成了“我”！称呼父亲为“陛下”！从儿子向父亲请求，变成了第一王子向陛下直诉！

“啊，哥哥！”

我急着阻止，但哥哥毕竟是个果断的人。决定后绝不犹豫。绝不犹豫！

“如果奥克塔维亚有心爱的人，她有与之结合的权利。”

父亲当然没有赞同。

“——在不知道对方是谁的情况下。”

但哥哥继续坚持。

“那么，先安排一个公开的场合如何？只有我们几个人。”

等……等一下。

在我还没跟上对话时，事情已经迅速进展。

胃……胃好痛。

我吹牛了！事情已经失控了！

如果（假的）恋人确定了，只要悄悄让哥哥见见那个人，证明“我也有相思相恋的人！我也有心爱的人！”就好了……！

公开的场合，我无处可逃！

不能保持沉默！

“——不需要。”

“为什么？奥克塔维亚。”

哥哥摇摇头，表示不理解。

“不想给对方添麻烦。”

对方——现在连影子都没有！勉强说有的话……只有鲁斯特了？

“正因为如此，说出对方的名字吧。奥克塔维亚。”

父亲也在意……。

如果能说，我早就说了，父亲！

“在这里不能说。”

不能说，所以才变成这样！

“说出名字，就意味着作为公主向陛下介绍。再说一遍，可能会给我的心爱的人添麻烦。——哥哥，我只是作为女儿，作为妹妹，希望你知道。”

我觉得自己说得好。

所以，这个话题就到此为止吧！好吗？

“……既然你这么说。对方确实很难对付吗？”

不，哥哥！只是不存在而已！

你想象的是什么样的人？我的（假的）恋人是谁？

“你也需要时间和对方交谈。即使要公开，也需要时间，是吗？是啊……本来想明天就……那么十天……不，两周左右可以吗？”

哥哥点头提议。

虽然最初想的是明天，但真可怕。

虽然比他说的十天长，但两周，十四天？哥哥本来是个能干的人，所以即使这样也觉得时间足够了……。但对我来说太短了！

我本来想至少花一个月时间只向哥哥介绍，十四天？

我知道他没有恶意。恰恰相反。但为什么缩短时间呢……！

“塞里乌斯”

父亲像在劝阻一样叫了哥哥。

“这不是你决定的事。”

“但是，如果不这样做……”

父亲深吸一口气，对我说。

“奥克塔维亚。饭后到我的办公室来。我想单独和你谈谈。”

“是……父亲。”

唉。心情沉重。