Chapter 24

“Oi, Arder Saul!”

“What is it?”

“I’ve got a letter for you.”

“Thank you…give it to me. I wonder what this is.”

The one smirking in front of me is Hans, who is a peer in the Royal Guards. Well, he’s a rotten partner and has this bad laugh, but his parents are marquises and he is the third son. In short, it’s the result of looking for a job because he can’t take over the family, just like me.

And when he received the letter, he didn’t let go of it.

“You’re still very popular. You know, this is Anna, who comes to the Royal Guard’s quarters to put groceries, and this is the daughter of the maid in waiting, right? And this is–”

“Please don’t ignore the privacy of the sender.”

“Wha- just read it!”

“Not long ago, you were hitting on a girl who had just been made a maid in waiting in the outer court.”

“Uh, she’s got a guy waiting for her in her hometown.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

If you look at the letters that Hans quickly took away when his hand was loosened, some of them are indeed from women, and then there are the bills from Dean Dayne and the Rizil Chamber of Commerce, and then Julia-dono.

I’m going to sort through them and put the letters that Hans envied for later and read his brother’s letters first.

The influence of this guy’s beloved princess seems to be heading in the right direction lately, and he seems to be putting a lot of effort into his studies as well, and he just received a letter of joy from his mother-in-law.

The letter is bland, well, that’s because I met him at a party the other day.

He thanked me for being his bodyguard at the party, he said he was happy that the princess quietly sent him a gift to thank him for his gift, he said she’s going to hold another tea party for him in the near future and wants him to come then, and he also said he’d read the latest issue of The Strange Tales of Adventure and can’t wait to read the next one, and so was wondering if I had any suggestions.

Well, well, he’s grown up. Smiling, I picked up the next letter and noticed that Hans was looking at me with an indescribable look on his face.

“What’s the matter?”

“N~no? The women are fretting over the fact that the hard man, Arder Saul von Baum, has started to show some kindness lately. Is it really true that you have the hots for that iron-skinned, perfectionist lady-in-waiting, as they say?”

“What? … oh, by any chance, does that mean Julia-dono?”

“Wa? We’ve got proof, you know? I heard you gave the Rizil Trading Company a gift the other night for a date.”

“A, you’re listening too? Well, it’s not a date, it’s my brother’s chaperone. She helped me with it, and I had to give her a gift in return.”

“…Hee”

He just smirked and didn’t seem to say anything more, so I didn’t respond anymore and looked down at the letter.

Oh, this time it’s Suzuran’s letterhead. It looks as simple as ever, but you could see something stylishly drawn on it.

The reason why the little orchid is drawn at the end is that it is so feminine.

It was a polite thank-you note, starting with a seasonal greeting, which is typical of her.

But she nailed me to not be too playful.

I was not planning to go that far, either.

I’m sorry that I went too far with that. I don’t regret it.

I didn’t expect her to turn out to be such a young lady.

No, I don’t think she’s as ugly as she thinks she is when it comes to matters of beauty and ugliness, and since she’s also tall, I thought she would certainly have narrow shoulders in a trendy dress.

However, I don’t know how but she appeared that day in a stylish dress that seemed to take advantage of her height.

After seeing that dress, the ladies who forced themselves to wear the frilly and fluffy dresses that didn’t fit their figures looked tacky.

Of course, if you ask me that I chose something that looks good on me, you’re exactly right. They look good because they look good. That’s all.

But the dress she wore this time was so shocking that it made me wonder why the designers until now didn’t go for it.

The fact that the one who wore the dress made her look a bit messy, made it all the more controversial.

So if this was all the result of the Queen Dowager’s consideration, I was sure that she would be a fearsome person.

“…But hey, that would be impossible.”

I’m not going to be able to get to the bottom of it.

Of course, I’m not obligated to respond to her, so I put the letter away in a locked drawer, pretend to be ignorant, and get to work.

Hans, who seemed to realize that I didn’t intend to answer, looked bored, though.

(But it seems a shame to say it, you know?)

The truth is, I didn’t have to dance like that day.

It was just that it was so rare to say she was being pushed around by me that it made me happy.

I didn’t have to hug her like that and teach her things that day.

All I had to do was quietly contact her in a different way later.

I didn’t just get bonded to that dress.

As soon as she put on that dress, the mask of a lady-in-waiting came off and you could see the true feelings of the woman named Julia, who had to look forward while being lonely. And one would want to see more of her expression.

She did everything flawlessly, is good-natured, sometimes strict, and teaches and guides.

She was one of those women who was thrown into a social setting that she was not used to rather than the position of such a perfect first lady-in-waiting.

(When I held her, she smelled so good. It was soft.)

I’m not a kid who doesn’t know women, of course, and I think I’ve had my fair share of romantic experiences.

Of course, there were women who were looking for the status of the Royal Guard and the status of my parent’s family, and there were women who wanted a divisive relationship, and based on those things, I was free now.

Oh no, I shouldn’t be able to fool myself any longer.

A partner to help my brother’s love life come to fruition.

”

”

I was a little curious, and I was hoping for a good friendship, if possible.

I’m sure my interest from that day is connected to the present, and that look of dependability is exactly what made me want to be there for her and take her hand – that’s the woman Julia von Vandeid.

(If that’s all she looked so shy, she said she had never danced with anyone but me, and I had the whole day to myself next to her, and I’m sure the rate of other men’s attention must have been low.)

Even so, she is the first lady-in-waiting of Princess Primera, and has the backing of the Queen Dowager – in other words, her position as a royal favorite.

In addition, if there are rumors that even the royal brother is close to her…well, I hope it works out, because by now the Viscount Vandeid’s family may have received a number of matchmaking proposals.

Of course, His Highness the Prime Minister should have told them that the Viscount Vandeid’s family must not take any action because he made her debut in social circles in a hurry because of the problems of this time.

I’ve been instructed not to speak out against him, as well as not to act freely, even if it’s under the castle until I’m settled, and to go to Julia-dono’s place and make it appear as if the knights of the Royal Guards are protecting her on the surface, well, I’ve been instructed.

When it comes to instructions from His Highness the Prime Minister, you are not obligated to follow them, but when it comes to instructions from the Queen Dowager, it’s a different story.

I’m sure His Majesty knows a lot of things at the moment, but he doesn’t seem to be taking any chances.

…Well, I guess it’s not a bad thing for me.

Apparently, I didn’t grasp my feelings to the extent that I couldn’t laugh at Julia-dono as being dull, either.

I’ll have to recover from this right here!

“Oi, come on, Arder Saul-dono, you look bad.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

*****