CH 124

Filina visited Count Haley for the first time in a long time.

Before she could go inside, Cecilia, who had been in front of the large gate, greeted her with a happy face.

“Princess! Welcome!”

In fact, I was inwardly worried that I had not been able to reply to her letter, but fortunately, Cecilia’s expression seemed bright.

As she entered the mansion with Philina, she said to the maid next to her:

“Daisy, bring me some wine and cookies that father bought from abroad.”

At Cecilia’s words, Daisy blurted out in surprise.

“No wine, lady! You haven’t reached the age of maturity yet!”

At her words, Cecilia’s expression contorted and she opened her mouth.

“I’m not going to drink it; I’m going to give it to Princess Philina. Now that she has visited, I want to treat her the best.”

“Ha, but the only thing you bought for your guests is a cookie.”

Daisy looked at Cecilia with a troubled look on her face. Apparently, the wine had been bought by Earl Haley for his own drinking.

But Cecilia said to Daisy with a stern look.

“I’ll tell my father. I’m sure he will understand if I say I gave it to Princess Philina to entertain her.”

“…… Let me see. Do you really understand the master’s personality? I don’t think he’s not going to get mad again.”

Cecilia sighed heavily and said with a frustrated face.

“I don’t care if he’s upset. I just want to give Princess Philina a special treat. I don’t want to give her ordinary things like I would do to anyone else.”

“No, that’s bad. Miss! All the food we serve to our guests is made with fresh ingredients, from fruit juices and homemade cakes to desserts from famous stores!”

Daisy told Cecilia with a look of chagrin, but she didn’t seem satisfied with that.

Philina, who had been silently watching the two of them, spoke slowly.

“Miss Cecilia, you don’t have to be overwhelmed by me. It’s still a little early to drink wine, so I think a little bit of juice would be fine.”

At her words, Cecilia slumped her shoulders in disappointment and muttered softly.

“But my research shows that people who have reached adulthood like women and men alike drink during the day and at night…”

Philina asked, looking at her with a puzzled face.

“Where on earth did the investigation lead to that result?”

She didn’t understand why she was investigating someone who had reached the age of maturity in the first place, but she didn’t ask because she was afraid Cecilia might be embarrassed.

Then she rolled her eyes and replied with an innocent face.

“Until now, when I went to ballrooms, people who had reached adulthood always had a drink at the end.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Cecilia’s words.

If this was the first time Philina had come of age, she would have been the first to seek out alcohol to pretend to be an adult.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time that Filina had come of age, and incidentally, even before she was possessed by this novel, she had long since reached adulthood.

Alcohol was just a way to escape reality, not a tool to pretend to be an adult.

Filina replied with a nonchalant face.

“Everybody has a different way of coming of age. I don’t want to drink that much, at least not for now.”

If I wanted to drink alone, I drank when I was really alone.

It was not in my spirit to sip alcohol alone in front of someone who had not yet reached the age of majority and could not drink.

“Oh, I see.”

Cecilia nodded seriously, as if she had gained new information, and Filina smiled slightly.

When I arrived at the drawing room late and sat down, I was greeted with delicious desserts and fresh fruit juices on the table.

Cecilia opened her mouth with a regretful face.

“If the princess had told me about the visit a little earlier, I would have treated her more generously than I do now, I feel bad.”

“I also had a sudden vacation this time, so I couldn’t tell you in advance.”

“You did. I’m sure you had a good reason for not replying to my letter.”

Filina looked at Cecilia in bewilderment.

Her voice flowed so naturally that she almost nodded her head, not really understanding what she meant.

Filina belatedly poured out excuses for her.

“Miss Cecilia, I was going to tell you about my failure to reply to your letter. In fact, there were so many incidents at the academy that I was distracted. So I didn’t reply, but I happened to be on leave, so I went straight to Countess Haley. After all, it’s better to communicate in person than in letters.”

At her words, Cecilia smiled and opened her mouth.

“Communication is great, but letters also have their own kind of sincerity that comes through the writing. In fact, I had been waiting for a reply from Princess Philina until this morning.”

Filina looked at her, frowning at the back of her nose.

There was a strange pressure in Cecilia’s bright smile.

“When you get home today, I have no doubt that you will finish answering the letter that you have not been able to do.”

I was told not to reply to the letter because of today’s meeting.

Filina nodded awkwardly.

Only then did Cecilia relax her expression and take the juice from the table to her mouth.

“In fact, I’m relieved that Princess Philina visits me every vacation. I feel like I’ve become a more special person. You didn’t meet anyone else before you came to our mansion, did you?”

“Absolutely. I was with my family and then I came straight to the Countess of Haley.”

“Wow, I’m so glad I did. I feel like I’ve been chosen!”

Cecilia’s eyes drew a beautiful arc. Philina’s expression looking at her was subtle.

For some reason, it felt like Cecilia’s obsession was getting worse with each passing day.

Philina frowned slightly in disbelief and swallowed a sip of the juice on the table.

“In fact, I was so saddened to see Princess Philina and Prince Henry together on the high street before.”

At Cecilia’s words, Filina reflexively remembered the day she had gone out with Henry.

At that time, I was afraid that the other girls would recognize me, so I ran away with Henry, leaving Cecilia behind.

Filina asked awkwardly.

“Did any of the other young people recognize me and Prince Henry?”

At her question, Cecilia pressed her lips together for a moment and stared at Filina inquiringly.

Then, after a while, he replied with a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry. Others asked me if she was you, but I said no. I told them, It’s the first time I’ve seen her.”

“Oh, really? That’s a good thing. Thank you, Miss Cecilia.”

At Philina’s words, she could only smile a little.

A quiet air flowed between the two.

Philina looked at Cecilia with a puzzled face.

She glared at the table and trembled with her hands in her teacups.

“Hey, Miss Cecilia?”

Philina called out to Cecilia with a puzzled face.

Then she lifted her head, which she had been bowing down, and asked, with wide eyes, to Philina:

“Since when did you start calling Prince Henry by name?”

“…… What?”

“You originally called him Duke Argeny. Are you two already close enough to call each other by name? So, you two enjoyed a leisurely date that day?”

Cecilia asked, her torso leaning toward Philina and her eyes widening.

Filina looked at her with a puzzled expression.

I didn’t know why she was so angry.

Was it because she had called Henry’s name?

Even at the military academy, Henry insisted on calling me by name, so now it just flowed out of habit for me.

I couldn’t understand why everyone was so sensitive to one name.

What’s more, Cecilia had told a similar story with Hestia before.

He asked to be allowed his name.

I wonder if that was what I was calling it.

Somehow, I felt suddenly tired.

Philina let out a small sigh and opened her mouth.

“We just came out together for some reason that day, and we’re not as close as Miss Cecilia thinks. Moreover, Prince Henry belongs to the same military academy as me, so I’ve to call him by name……”

“Call him Duke Argeny.”

Cecilia interrupted Philina’s words and blurted out:

Filina looked at her in bewilderment.

Cecilia was staring at Philina with her lips curled inwards and her eyes straight.

What the hell is the name…….

Filina nodded reluctantly and spoke again.

“Yes. He’s Duke Argeny, I don’t want to face him, but I have to talk to him. That doesn’t mean we’re particularly close to each other, so Miss Cecilia doesn’t need to worry . . .”

Philina paused for a moment. It was as if the sentences she spat out were just an excuse to appease an old lover.

She wondered why she was making this excuse for Cecilia in the first place.

Cecilia, on the other hand, asked cautiously, wondering if she could see Philina’s confused expression.

“Do you feel bad that I call him Prince Henry? If you say you don’t like it, I’ll call him Prince Argeny from now on!”

At her words, Philina replied with a smile on her face.

“Nope. I don’t feel bad in the slightest.”

“Oh.”

Cecilia replied helplessly, her face sullen. At first glance, there seemed to be even sadness in his expression.

Filina stared at her as if she didn’t understand.

…… I wonder if it’s okay as it is.

She stared silently at Cecilia, who looked at her with a clear face and smiled.

I didn’t know what would help if the heroine stood by her side, even if Ian sentenced her to death because of this, as in the original story.

If I can use her sweet heart to do my part, what could be better than that.

All it took was Cecilia’s pure heart.

“Princess Philina, try this too! My father had bought cookies for me when I went abroad, and he had actually prepared them to be sent to the imperial palace. But when I gave it to the princess, I deliberately deceived her that it was for guests.”

But Filina didn’t see Cecilia’s sweet smile as innocent.

Obviously, Count Haley was known to be too stern for her to do anything about it, and Cecilia couldn’t figure out how she was going to do such nonsense to deal with him.

A small sigh escaped the corner of Philina’s mouth.