Chapter 37

#037 The Rogue of the New Kingdom (3)

“...”

“...”

Attendant David Capucine had a fleeting thought of disloyalty.

He felt an urge to leave this place immediately, despite his duty to his master.

As the longest-serving attendant to the prince and the head of attendants at the Romero Palace, he possessed the ability to remain calm and composed in any situation.

However, this was the first time he had encountered something like today.

Prince Cedric was clearly uncomfortable with Princess Christel de Sarnaise, but he couldn't understand why.

The problem was that the princess also seemed to find the prince very unpleasant.

A stifling silence swept through the reception room.

"Here is the coffee for His Highness the Prince and the coffee for the Princess."

"Thank you."

Princess Sarnaise politely thanked the attendant.

The prince also nodded in acknowledgment. After that, silence reigned again.

David wondered if he should leave the room.

If there was a reason for the two to have a bad relationship, it could only be the annulment of their engagement.

However, they hadn't exchanged feelings, and he had heard that the talks with the Sarnaise family had gone quite well.

They had even danced together at the spring ball when they first met.

Of course, the prince was skilled at acting as a royal, but this was the first time he felt so irrationally annoyed.

"Hmm."

Christel took a small breath. She tried not to be aware of the prince.

After parting ways with Prince Yeseo, she didn't return directly to the Sarnaise residence in the capital, but it wasn't to engage in unnecessary conflict with this man.

Even without focusing, she could clearly sense the prince's ether in the next room.

Her ability to use ether was only for 'lessons' since she hadn't officially been appointed as a holy knight, and she had never experienced a lack of ether.

So, this was more like a kind of aromatherapy, or in sound terms, ASMR.

Exposure to the prince's ether made her feel calm and the waves inside her body settled.

The other priests she had met had ether control like a knife, and their ether wasn't as pure as his.

Rather, it was like the prince's...

Wait. The prince?

“...”

"Do you have something to say?"

As she stared at him with her large eyes, Prince Cedric revealed an unpleasant expression.

Though he didn't openly frown, there was no trace of goodwill on his handsome face.

The vague outline of the source of her annoyance began to take shape.

Christel, feeling a strange sense of victory, spoke.

"Your Highness is not a priest, right?"

“...”

"But it feels like you possess ether."

Cedric Riester fell silent at her sharp observation.

Until now, there had been no holy knights in the empire.

Therefore, no one had particularly reacted to his fire-attribute ether.

Even healing priests had to open a special circle and release ether to check his condition.

But Christel de Sarnaise was different.

As expected, the woman reacted sensitively to his flames.

It was annoying.

*

"The armed conflict at the border was the Princess of Elise's unilateral action, you say?"

"I have a hundred birds that bring me news."

In response to my question, Sir Belliard smiled and changed the subject.

"About twenty of them were quite chatty. They said the commotion was the princess's own decision, not discussed with the Secretary of State."

"That might be true, but it doesn't change anything."

I replied. It was the truth.

Even if she hadn't acted on the Secretary of State's orders, the princess had violated the treaty, and I was brought here as a hostage.

In that case, the two women had the same goal.

Just because they didn't get along, so what?

"At least in the dramas I watched, that's how it was."

"His Majesty the Secretary of State cherishes the Princess more than his own life."

I repeated a well-known fact.

"But does the princess feel the same way about the Secretary of State?"

Sir Sara Belliard asked meaningfully.

Her green eyes seemed to pierce through me.

But there was nothing for her to uncover from me.

"I don't know."

Because I didn't know. I calmly said this and tried to take a sip of the tea, but I couldn't.

-Clank...

The surface of the tea in the cup moved strangely. I was startled but bit my lip to suppress a sound.

“...”

"You don't know that part either?"

"Sir Belliard, it's best to stop asking about the New Kingdom's political situation. It could affect the relationship between our two countries."

Bengjamen interjected solemnly.

Sir Belliard shrugged and let out a light exclamation.

I couldn't take my eyes off the cup.

Sir Belliard had refused the drink, saying she didn't drink anything during interviews, so I was the only one who witnessed the strange phenomenon.

It wasn't because my body or the floor was shaking.

The tea water had clearly risen and then sunk, revealing the bottom of the cup for a moment.

Now it was calm as if nothing had happened, but a moment ago, it was like something out of a movie.

-Crash!

The sound of breaking glass came from the other side of the wall. I raised my head slightly.

Sir Belliard, who was flipping through a notebook, and Bengjamen and Kanael standing behind her, also seemed startled by the unexpected noise.

"The preparation of the next room isn't finished yet. It seems the attendants made a mistake."

Bengjamen said calmly. I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Then Kanael explained kindly.

"Earlier in the morning, you were much farther away. The Emperor's office wasn't as close as it is now. That's because you came through the eastern staircase. If you come through the central staircase like just now, it's definitely closer and looks different in scale."

"I thought it was a completely different floor."

"Hmm, Prince... "

Kanael looked at me with a truly sympathetic expression. Bengjamen sighed softly.

"No, I do have trouble remembering directions... "

"This is an interesting story."

Sir Belliard's eyes lit up at my words. I belatedly closed my mouth in a straight line.

"To think the one called the 'Moon of the New Kingdom' is directionally challenged. Or is it that you're bad with directions?"

She put her glasses back on the bridge of her nose and moved her quill pen. Damn, this isn't right.

"About the same level as others."

I wanted to explain that I could navigate well with a map app and that I wasn't afraid of anything, but I couldn't say anything due to the possession.

I felt wronged as I was about to reveal my weakness while trying to extract new information.

-Whoosh!

At that moment, the flames in the fireplace behind Sir Belliard suddenly blazed up.

"Ah... "

This time, Kanael also seemed to have witnessed the scene.

The flames quickly calmed down to their original size, but I couldn't shake off the strange feeling.

As our expressions stiffened, Sir Belliard twisted her body to check behind her.

"Have you heard the story about the divine beast?"

I suddenly threw out a topic.

The editor of the 'Biweekly Riester' turned back to me with a delighted look.

"By divine beast, do you mean the creature that Prince didn't send to the Duehm Marquis family but kept for himself?"

"Yes."

Though it was absurd, I had a strong premonition that I shouldn't let her see the suspicious fireplace or the possessed teacup.

The Riester Palace was lined with antimagic stones on the floors and walls, making it impossible to use magic anywhere except the training ground.

The cathedral was excluded as it was the Pope's territory.

In other words, what just happened wasn't the result of someone's magic.

"This is called 'Demi.' When we come to the palace, I let it play in the garden... "

I successfully kept her attention on me by telling a story she didn't ask for.

While trying to extract fresh information, I also had to avoid exposing my personal life and protect the secret of Christel de Sarnaise.

I felt like biting my tongue.

I should ask her to treat me to a meal to feel better, but I couldn't because I was afraid of getting too close.

The world is really...

*

After the fireplace incident on Friday, Monday came quickly.

It was drizzling outside.

"Come in, Prince."

"I greet the noble Cardinal."

At 11:00 AM, I entered the office, warmly welcomed by Cardinal Boutier.

Two guests were already seated on the sofa.

One remained silent upon seeing me, while the other stood up and bowed respectfully.

"I greet Prince Yeseo."

"Hello, Princess Sarnaise. Prince."

“...”

Unlike the mature Christel, Prince Cedric looked quite gloomy.

It was good that he wasn't picking a fight as usual.

"The rain is affecting my mood."

Rain? Is this guy affected by spring?

I forced my face to remain composed and sat far away from the two main characters.

It's good news that the main male lead of the story is starting to be affected by spring. Now, hurry up and fall in love.

"Plus, he's under house arrest, so he must be even more depressed."

"Your Highness."

The prince's gruff voice made the cardinal laugh softly.

I blinked at the first word I heard since coming here. The prince under house arrest? Why?

"I received it too."

Christel leaned forward and whispered, her smiling face both beautiful and ominous.

"How... did the two of you get into trouble?"

At my words, the prince's brows furrowed. The sound of the main character's clear laughter echoed in the room.