Chapter 13

A gentle breeze blew during lunchtime.

Prince Alexandre the Second was being scolded by Marianne on the school rooftop.

"An afternoon tea party with the First Prince!"

"I'm sorry. It's informal, so it's not a big deal."

The prince's response was somewhat defensive.

"This time, you'll be called the villainous lady by the First Prince's entourage."

"I'm sorry. I'll participate too."

"Why don't you invite a more popular lady from a marquis family?!"

"You're right."

"Finally, the rumors about you being the villainous lady were starting to die down. Why did it come to this?!"

"Well, when I was studying hard, my brother said he wanted to meet the one who sparked his motivation."

"Ah, like he wants to see a rare animal. Prince Gried's interest lasts only a moment, but the rumors about me last for years."

"I have no words to say."

Marianne was pouting.

She no longer cared about maintaining appearances in front of the Second Prince.

The prince was earnestly begging for forgiveness from the girl who was a head shorter than him.

"Can my sister come too?"

"Is that okay? They might say I'm trying to steal the spotlight again?"

"My sister can handle any situation and keep the conversation flowing smoothly."

"That does make me feel sorry for Katarina, but will she mind?"

"I'll thank my sister. We've been getting along better lately. I'm good at finding romance novels she likes but is too shy to buy."

"Basically, if you had tried harder from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't be in this situation just because you studied a little."

"You're right. I'll reflect on it."

Thus, the Katarina and Marianne sisters attended the tea party at the palace.

Katarina, as expected, was a seasoned lady.

She handled the dull tea party with grace, working hard to prevent her sister from saying anything inappropriate.

While drinking the first cup of tea, Alexandre suddenly said,

"Marianne, you said you wanted to see the palace rose garden. Let's go now."

He stood up, speaking condescendingly.

"Oh! I'm so delighted. The palace rose garden is a place I've always dreamed of seeing."

She responded unusually humbly.

"No, no, wait!"

Prince Gried tried to stop them, but Alexandre firmly took Marianne's hand and led her out of the room.

The assigned guard knights quickly followed.

The remaining sister smiled calmly, having reached a state of enlightenment.

"Prince Gried, the delicious tea will get cold. Please think of my sister as a carefree rabbit that has hopped away."

"Hmm. You're right. I thought it would be a good break to play with a lively rabbit, but she ran away faster than I expected."

The two of them, the eldest son and daughter, drank their tea gracefully, understanding each other without words.

Finally, Marianne smiled contentedly when they reached the rose garden. The Second Prince beamed brightly, feeling triumphant.

"How was it? Did I do well?"

"Not bad. The palace rose garden is impressive, as expected."

"Did you like it?"

"Yes! Very much!"

Marianne, who usually looked at him with a frown, smiled up at him like a blooming flower.

Prince Alexandre's heart was squeezed tightly. He knew why it was squeezed.

"Feel free to cut as many roses as you like."

"Thank you!"

The gardener was called, and the prince gave instructions while asking Marianne about her preferences. One by one, the roses were cut and formed into a large bouquet.

Marianne particularly liked the cobalt blue roses that were only cultivated in the palace.

"I'll remove the thorns before giving them to you."

"Thank you for your consideration. And, Prince Alexandre, thank you for taking me out earlier."

"What's wrong? You're unusually humble today. Don't worry about my brother. Leave it to me.

Today, I couldn't refuse because of my brother's position, but I'll take care of it in the future. You can rest assured."

His nose was a bit upturned, and his ears were red.

Marianne was delighted.

Since she was old enough to understand, the quick-witted girl often found herself unable to argue because she could read others' thoughts.

Even when her sister was cold to her and their mother.

She knew how her sister, who couldn't be openly affectionate to their parents, viewed her.

Knowing this, she remained silent even when treated coldly.

It wasn't that she didn't get hurt, but considering her sister's feelings, she resigned herself to it.

Resignation meant no one would protect her.

So, it was very gratifying to be protected by someone her own age.

"Prince Alexandre, would you like to visit my farm next time?

The children from the city take care of the chickens and goats. The leader is a boy about your age, and he's very responsible."

"Who is this leader?"

"He's a commoner. I heard he moves from one dilapidated house to another, so we built a dormitory on the farm for him to live in."

"What? An orphan? Won't the marquis scold you for taking in such a person?"

"My father is not a man with a small heart. He provided various funds, calling it an initial investment.

My mother is even more involved with them than I am."

"That's... I'll visit the farm next time. I'm looking forward to it."

"That's right! As a thank you for the roses, I'll boil some fresh eggs for you!"

"R-really? That sounds great. It's been a while since I visited your house."

The prince thought, "Boiled eggs?" but remained silent to avoid upsetting Marianne, who was proud of her idea.

The conversation was quickly reported to the queen by the guard knights as usual.

The queen, who was reading the report while elegantly holding a cup of tea, burst out laughing at the part about the boiled eggs, spilling tea on her dress. This indiscretion was known only to the head lady-in-waiting.

Incidentally, the First Prince was warned by the queen that day, "Don't touch Marianne in the future."

"If you keep being persistent, she might run away to another country, which would be a loss for the nation."

Thank you for the bookmarks and ratings. When the number of accesses suddenly increased yesterday, I was more startled and thought, "What's going on?" than happy, due to my fragile mentality.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you very much.