episode_0130

Matthias is having a busy day.

In particular, I was busier than usual yesterday and today because the capricious princess had me running errands.

I was lost in thought as I took the magic elevator to the suite, holding in my hands the dresses the princess had asked me to bring.

For Matthias, who called himself the brain of the royal family and the most loyal of the loyal, things like hastily reserving a suite or personally delivering a dress were unfamiliar to him.

Why did he have to have a servant girl who was full of evil spirits and a silver-haired maid who gave off an ominous aura?

The Imperial Regular Army — from the imperial perspective — is also on track to be formed, and is even absorbing external forces such as Silver Terdeni.

Now, truly, the reconstruction of the imperial family is right around the corner.

Despite such circumstances, the princess’s recent behavior has been strange. Strangely, I have a feeling that she has some other ulterior motive than rebuilding the royal family.

But even that must be accepted as a part of the family.

Matthias is a being whose future is determined by the princess’s will, no matter what. That’s why he’s been packing the princess’s dress and going to see her since morning.

WHEEING – The elevator door opened.

Matthias walked down the elegant hallway to the suite where the princess was staying. He knocked on the door, which was made of gold, as befitting the hotel’s prestige.

“Come in.”

The smooth voice was calm, yet had a delicate authority.

Only then did Matthias open the door and enter the room.

Beatrice, who was standing facing the terrace, turned around with an elegant movement.

She stood there, wearing a pure white bathrobe with a gold pattern, her skin glowing as the soft sunlight touched it.

A subtle fragrance filled the room through the open bathroom door, and her jet-black hair was wet and flowed down her shoulders.

Contrary to the intense image that Matthias had seen, the princess who greeted the leisurely and languid morning had another kind of beauty.

But he will never express such sentiments out loud.

As a member of the royal family, the princess is no different from a god of another dimension.

So Matthias carefully put down the bundle of dresses he was holding in both hands and bowed.

“You came earlier than I expected.”

The princess tilted her head slightly and looked at Matthias, speaking in a calm yet authoritative voice. It was soft, but the underlying power overwhelmed Matthias.

“Because it is His Majesty’s command.”

“I’m sorry, for ordering the royal strategist to do something that only maids would do.”

He didn’t seem that sorry.

Matthias swallowed a heavy sigh and carefully straightened the dress he had brought so that it would not get wrinkled.

“I’m a little surprised that you’re ordering me, not the silver-haired maid. Can I take it as a sign that you trust me, even though we only spent a short time together?”

“Oh, right. You’re comfortable. It’s better to be treated like this.”

The princess smiled faintly.

He approached slowly, sat down on the single sofa in the living room, and crossed his legs.

“That is truly touching, Your Majesty. I am honored that you use me in this way.”

“Besides, you sometimes make me laugh with your blunt remarks, right? Even if it’s a hollow laugh because it’s so absurd.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Matthias quickly adapted to his role as maid, and held up the dress in his hands so that the princess, who was sitting on the sofa, could see it clearly.

The princess looked at the dress carefully and signaled ‘next’ with her eyes.

At her signal, Matthias unfolded the next dress.

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

At the princess’s decision, Matthias carefully handed her the dress.

“By the way, Your Majesty, why are you suddenly wearing a dress… ”

“Because I need it.”

“Where did you put the clothes you came wearing? I’ll bring them over and have them washed while I’m here.”

Matthias, with his characteristic excessive loyalty, says things he doesn’t need to say. Like now.

He looked around, found the bedroom firmly shut, and took a brisk stride towards it.

“Okay, wait a minute!”

“?”

At that moment, the princess’s voice sounded unusually urgent. When Matthias turned around, the princess stared at him and continued speaking.

“Don’t go in there. It’s a mess.”

“… … ”

“You can go back now, I’ll take care of it.”

The princess pretended to be calm, but she seemed extremely wary. Matthias quietly stepped back.

“By the way, I heard about the Christmas Eve service yesterday.”

“Huh?”

“Rumors are spreading that you have succeeded in seducing the master of the Holy Sword.”

“Ah… ”

When ‘Karl Mayner’ came up as a topic of conversation, the princess’s reaction also changed.

Before long, the princess’s leisurely smile disappeared as if melting away.

She answered with a redder face than usual.

“That’s… That’s how it is, well… Rumors spread quickly, huh?”

And then, as if feeling uneasy, he slowly uncrossed his legs and changed his posture by placing the other leg on top again.

“Because they are celebrities. Your Majesty and Mayor.”

“… … ”

Matthias, who was not chosen by the princess, gathered the remaining dresses one by one.

“Your Majesty, is that guy in the bedroom…?”

At that moment, a look of confusion crossed the princess’s face. Normally, she would have responded calmly to Matthias’s absurd and bold remarks, but now a disheveled expression passed over her face.

The princess bit her lip slightly.

“… What are you talking about? There’s no one. There’s just—” in the bedroom.

She slurred her words.

I sat up again, crossing my opposite leg.

“You don’t have to hide it, Your Majesty. I, Nexios, am confident that Your Majesty’s secret will remain hidden until the next succession. Co-sleeping with the enemy is an effective tactic with a long history.”

“Oh, no! I said there’s no one in the bedroom… I feel bad about that too, but anyway, there’s no one.”

“?”

The princess secretly revealed her true feelings.

She also realized the fact right away and was startled, so she spoke softly with a flushed face and a trembling voice.

“Get out.”

“Yes?”

But he spoke so quietly that Matthias couldn’t hear him properly.

Finally, Beatrice shouted, pretending to untie the waistband of her bathrobe.

“Go out because I need to change my clothes. And wait because there’s an important announcement in the evening.”

She tried to look relaxed, but Matthias, who had already received several stern warnings from her, could clearly see that something had changed in the princess’s mind.

“Ahem, then… I will step aside.”

Matthias turned toward the door.

Right now, she looks flustered and unbecoming of a princess, but if she gets upset any more, it’s obvious that she’ll turn into the murderous princess he remembers.

So, it’s better to get out of the way before it’s too late.

The seasoned imperial retinue soon learned how to deal with the temperamental princess’s wrath.

*

The Duke of Mainer sometimes leaves his office to relax in a café.

The quaint cafe with old paintings hanging on the walls was a perfect place for him to read a book in comfort.

Now that the continental festival of Christmas Eve has ended, they plan to take a break for at least a day.

Instead of looking through piles of papers awaiting the Duke’s approval or letters with all sorts of conflicts of interest, I was leafing through books purely for pleasure.

Then the door opened and a woman came in.

As the owner of a cafe full of regulars, she was a strange woman he had never seen before.

She was also a stunning beauty who instantly captured the attention of cafe customers.

The silence that flowed momentarily caused the peacock to look up from his book and look at the woman.

Even the Duke slowly lifted his teacup, seemingly unaware of this woman’s appearance.

Beatrice quietly approached the Duke and greeted him.

“Can I sit down?”

“I didn’t expect to see you here. But the Christmas Eve is over… Isn’t it time to be at the Academy?”

The Duke looked Beatrice up and down in her dress, then lowered his eyes gently and gave her permission to sit down.

Then came the sound of a chair being dragged.

“I didn’t know I’d come here either. Well, I knew this was the Duke’s resting place all along.”

“It’s like you know me well.”

“Yes, I know more than you expect, Your Majesty.”

Beatrice leaned back in her chair, her eyes shining.

“If you came here to talk about the sword, I have nothing to say to you but that I won’t interfere and that you can do whatever you want.”

“… … ”

The Duke spoke to the intruder in the most gentle way possible, but at the same time he felt wary because of the mysteriousness in Beatrice’s air and tone.

“If you came to tell me when I’ll return the dress I lent you, I’ll tell you that it’s okay to return it slowly. Of course, since it’s a dress that means a lot to me, I have to return it.”

“Oh, I forgot.”

Dalgrak- He continued speaking, putting down the teacup he was drinking from.

“Oh, and that’s too bad. The tea that was given to me at the mansion is no longer available here.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

And then there was a brief silence, as if someone had drunk cold water.

After all, the three topics the Duke had presented seemed unrelated to the business Beatrice had come to visit.

The Duke closed his book and met Beatrice’s gaze. The atmosphere was very different from when he had seen it in the mansion.

The noble lady Beatrice de Dahlia must have known this from her extensive research and actual observations, but what the Duke now knew was quite different.

Beatrice, smiling, exuded a majestic dignity.

“What brings you here?”

So the duke’s speech also changed.

Although he maintained an aloof attitude and did not move an inch, the lenient attitude he had toward his son’s friend disappeared.

“I want to negotiate.”

“Negotiation, is there anything you can negotiate with me?”

“Of course.”

“I’m getting quite curious.”

One could dismiss it as the childish behavior of a foreign noblewoman, but the Duke sensed something else beyond Beatrice’s cool smile.

Instead of answering, Beatrice turned her head and looked around the café.

Then, the gentlemen who had been glancing at her one by one began to make excuses.

“There are many ears listening.”

Again, Beatrice spoke, looking back at the Duke. The Duke nodded to the owner of the café, who began to hurriedly dismiss the customers.

Beatrice whistled and admired the Duke’s influence.

In this way, the power of the Duke was absolute, and could be exerted at any time, although it was not often revealed.

“From now on, you will have to choose every word you say carefully.”

“Are you going to take off your polite mask?”

The duke was beginning to feel a subtle sense of discomfort at the woman who was disturbing his rest.

“I don’t wear a mask. Nobles of Primira, all you know about me is me. Sometimes I’m generous, but sometimes I’m rude, like I am now.”

“That’s a great answer, Your Highness. I would have had a different opinion in the past, but… now I agree with you exactly.”

The Duke looked into Beatrice’s deep blue eyes staring back at him.

Beatrice, sitting across from him with her chin resting on her hand, continued speaking in a soft and elegant voice.

“I think this is the first time we’ve met like this, Your Highness.”

“… … ”

It may have sounded strange, but the Duke instinctively knew that Beatrice had not come to talk nonsense.

“You’ve seen me with a mask on, right?”

She reached out with her slender hand so naturally that she picked up the teacup the Count was drinking from.

“At the palace. How long did I search for the Duke back then… ”

If it’s the palace, it’s Chloe and Karl’s engagement ceremony.

By the way, Beatrice was also present.

Didn’t the Duke himself invite you?

“I remember. Sorry, I couldn’t even say hello back then, I just watched from afar.”

“That’s right. I really wanted to see you… ”

Beatrice smiled and took the Count’s teacup and sipped it.

Even though it was truly rude, he acted proudly as if it had been his from the beginning.

“Did you have business with me then?”

“Yes, it was.”

As the Duke spoke, looking at the teacup Beatrice had brought, Beatrice shook the teacup.

“Oh, this? Don’t worry about it. I just got it back.”

“Get it back?”

“You know what? I have a lot to get back from the Duke. This car is cute compared to them.”

The rudeness that crossed the line continued.

The foreign noble lady speaks confidently, as if looking down on the powerful of the empire.

The Duke, still with a calm expression, listened to Beatrice’s words quietly, and then finally began to become agitated.

It was a confusion he had not seen in over a decade.

Beatrice smiled with satisfaction as she watched the Duke’s calm face crack.

“Do you know how long I searched for you back then?”

“… … ”

“Do you know how much I wanted to find you and kill you?”

The voice of the woman with jet-black hair grew more and more intense, and her eyes continued to shine.

Jiiing-

And that light,

It became the same color as the light that was on the other side of the duke’s memory.

Turquoise eyes.

She was a princess without a mask.