Chapter 90

Kain had set off for the neighboring country, and about three days had passed. One day, Diana sneaked into Ilvaleno's servant's room without Sasha knowing.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to come in here?"

"I came here because I have something to talk about in secret, Il-kun. Hey, Il-kun, let's recruit Sasha as our ally."

"Huh?"

Although Kain was gone, Ilvaleno still slept in the hidden room next to Kain's private room, waiting for Kain's return. Diana had also started to have her own room last year, which was directly below Kain's room. Next to Diana's room was another hidden servant's room where Sasha slept.

"What do you mean by 'recruit'?"

"I'm going to reveal that I'm not just a lady in disguise. As long as Sasha is the one taking care of me, I can't keep lying."

"That might be true, but—"

"Also, I plan to ask Professor Ianius to increase my Syryum language studies."

"You don't mean you're going to study abroad to follow him, do you?"

"Exactly! I won't hold back! I'll put in the effort I don't have to hold back on!"

These were words Kain often used. However, if she did this, Diana would be the only one left in Syryum for the three years after Kain's graduation. They would only be together for three years, and the six years of separation would be split into three-year intervals.

"We have three years until school starts, so it might be good to prepare. But we can think about actually studying abroad later."

"Okay!"

Diana always agreed readily. Ilvaleno knew that saying "okay" didn't mean she had given up on studying abroad.

"Even if we tell Sasha, we have to be careful not to let Father and Mother find out, or it will all be for nothing."

"That's true. Hmm. How about we tell Sasha stories about the ancient kingdom or the king disguised as a commoner?"

"It's hard to just start with 'Once upon a time...' though."

Ilvaleno and Diana racked their brains together, but they couldn't come up with a good idea. Both of them thought, "If Kain were here, he would say, 'I've got a great idea!'" but neither of them voiced it, as it would bring up feelings of loneliness.

"Let's investigate Sasha. Her hobbies, friends, likes, and dislikes. We need to find a way to get her on our side."

"Can you do that, Il-kun?"

"Leave it to me. It will take some time, but I'll look into it."

"You're a real ninja, aren't you?"

"I'm not a ninja."

Ilvaleno's room was small, with only the bare minimum of furniture, so there was only one chair. Diana sat in the chair, while Ilvaleno sat on the edge of the bed. They had concluded that they couldn't do anything about Sasha immediately, so Ilvaleno thought Diana would leave, but she remained seated.

"Is there something else?"

"I want to clear up Father and Mother's misunderstanding about my brother. What do you think I should do?"

"What misunderstanding?"

Ilvaleno thought that the fact that Diana was overly doted on by her parents was undoubtedly true and not a misunderstanding. Was there something else they misunderstood?

"There's a girl named Ke-chan. We met and played together for the first time at the Empress's embroidery club. She also came to the tea party as a potential match for my brother, but she spent the whole time talking to me about riddles. My brother just smiled and watched us without joining the conversation. Ke-chan told her father that she had been talking to me the whole time."

"Did it seem like Kain-sama didn't talk to her?"

"I don't think she felt ignored. Ke-chan is a good girl. Also, at the tea party with the girls I often see at the Empress's embroidery club, we talked normally. We discussed the next embroidery club, the embroidery we were working on, flowers, and sweets."

When Kain tried to attack Alundilano and was put under house arrest, he later sent an apology letter and embroidered handkerchiefs to the children he had offended. Some of the handkerchiefs were embroidered by Ilvaleno, but they were officially all from Kain. This led some children to start attending the embroidery club to learn embroidery rather than just play with toys. The Empress was pleased to see young children gather to practice and show off their embroidery skills. Kain and Diana had been regular attendees of the Empress's embroidery club, which was held every other month. Kain would skip his knight training to attend, and for some reason, Alundilano also attended the embroidery club.

The young ladies who were already friends with Kain knew that he doted on Diana, so they weren't surprised when he appeared at the tea party with her. Most of the young ladies enjoyed the conversation as an extension of the embroidery club, but a few tried to follow their parents' advice and asked Kain questions or tried to engage him in conversation. When the topics didn't involve Diana, Kain's cold attitude shocked them, but they were relieved to see him act normally at the next embroidery club.

"My brother was just cold because it was a matchmaking event. After that, he treated them normally as friends at the embroidery club. I think the young ladies who didn't know him from the embroidery club just saw him as a cold man."

"Ah... So he was just cold because it was a matchmaking event."

"Exactly."

"Kain-sama could have done better, you know."

"Really, he could have."

The young ladies who didn't know Kain's usual behavior were ignored during the matchmaking event, and their parents complained. If the matchmaking had been done after school started and friendships had formed, such issues wouldn't have arisen. With a prince who was only three years older, it would have been better to wait until his engagement was settled before starting the matchmaking.

"We'll recruit Sasha and clear up Father and Mother's misunderstanding. I'll do both. Il-kun, please help me."

"As you wish, Miss."

Diana clenched her fist tightly, determined to work behind the scenes to ensure Kain's return would be a happy one.