episode_0161

“By the way, are you going to be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to ruin another man’s field.”

“Um.”

I asked while leisurely leading the horse, my brother thought for a moment and then answered.

“First of all, you know that I am a knight, right?”

“Right?”

How could you not know?

Not everyone in Delki City can be a knight. People living in Delki City don’t really care whether they are nobles or commoners, but there was still a system that had to be followed from the outside, so I was able to at least be treated as a noble. .

Most of the men of the Delki clan are knighted. This is because they have the ability to do so. Moreover, it is even more so because they are one of the few groups that experience real combat during this peaceful period. Even the ‘real combat’, most of them are at the level of catching poorly armed bandits. .It is safe to say that, except for the people of Delki City, there will be no cases of fighting at the level of an all-out war.

If you don’t give knighthoods to those people, who else will you give them?

“Well, I know very well that the oath you take when you become a knight is not something to ‘keep it unconditionally.’ In a battle where your life is at stake, it would be unreasonable to give all the oaths of a good knight.”

“… … .”

“And we know that the maxim that we say, ‘Nature doesn’t lie’ is always difficult to keep.”

My brother grinned at me.

“Still, as a man and a knight, isn’t it natural to keep what you say as much as possible? You said the place you’re going is a place where raw materials for making medicine and poison are grown, right?”

My brother stroked his chin with one hand. Although his beard was neatly trimmed, his habits seemed to be the same as when he had grown it for a short time.

“I took a knight’s oath to protect the lady, but I couldn’t just pass by when I heard that there was a place that made such a thing. Right?”

“… … That’s true too.”

Certainly, it was something worthy of the article.

Of course, I was doing it secretly.

“If there is someone who tries to touch my only sister, it is right to get rid of him.”

… … .

I don’t know what I heard from Amelia, but my brother added that as well.

Amelia, did you say the same thing you said to me to your brother?

“I don’t know what you heard from Amelia, but please don’t say that to your father. If he were you, he would break your neck without even asking.”

“You know it too.”

hmm.

Still, it was fortunate that there was that level of empathy, perhaps because we were the same children.

“Then, let’s run. We have to deal with it before we meet my father.”

“Yes, brother.”

We spurred our horses.

*

How many people have I been talking to already?

Although I became a grand duchess, honestly, I was still not used to this.

I could pretend to be familiar. I had a smile on my face, we exchanged light jokes, and we exchanged greetings. It was a kind of acting.

However, as someone whose hobby was reading web novels, meeting and talking to so many people was not something I enjoyed.

… … In fact, since I came to the capital and stayed alone with Elsie, I ended up becoming a little worse than when I was young. Still, when I was young, I developed sociability by moving around here and there in order to conform, but now that I am in this place, somewhat away from my father’s eyes, I can do as I please. It seems like I have to take action.

I moved my gaze.

Diane was still attached to Adele.

Most of the people who spoke to the two people were there to say hello to Diane. Every time they greeted Diane, they were curious about who Adele next to them was, and Diane introduced Adele to those people.

Adele seemed confused at first, but soon seemed to get used to Diane’s behavior little by little.

That may have been Diane’s consideration in trying to lift Adele up in her own way.

Of course, the biggest reason was to protect Adele from the rich and poor that would come in the future.

… … It would be nice if I could just hang out with the two of you.

However, as the host of the banquet, I had an obligation to greet the invited people.

Baron Gavin and his son have not come here yet. It is certain that they are in attendance. I saw them enter earlier. But before greeting me, they must first be greeting other nobles with whom they are in close contact.

Even if there is a reason to talk to me, there is a basic order. Rather than talking to me, author Baron Gavin first thanked Diane, who had received the invitation directly, and Diane was the one who introduced Baron Bean and his son to me. There is a high possibility that it will take shape.

Still, it wasn’t a bad idea to figure out where and what you were doing.

While I was looking around to see the two people—

“Grand Duchess of Grattenmount.”

I heard a familiar voice from somewhere nearby for the first time in a long time.

Normally, I would have hated the person targeting Elsie to death, but in this situation, I was incredibly happy.

“Prince.”

“I don’t know if it’s enough to call me that yet, but I’ll still thank you for calling me that. Grand Duchess of Grattenmount.”

The crown prince, who became a bit more cheerful than the original, showed his white teeth and spoke.

“I came here because I was invited, but the person I wanted to see wasn’t there. It’s a shame.”

Of course.

If Elsie had been there, she wouldn’t have bothered to invite the crown prince. She would have just invited the crown prince, made him stand in a corner, and sent him away.

Since he was a man in an ambiguous position who had not yet officially become an imperial citizen, there was no need to call the royal family separately.

Why isn’t there a common princess in this world? If that were the case, I would have just called her a princess.

“You seem to be very busy lately. I barely see your face.”

“I don’t want to be that busy either. There are so many things the Empire wants from me. I can handle most of them based on my ability, but they are also asking for a lot of common sense.”

It seemed like he was talking about something like the history of the empire.

I was happy on the inside, but I didn’t show it outwardly.

“The Lady of Delkishi went to see her father, right? It’s too bad. She won’t be here until he comes.”

Of course.

Of course, that time was calculated and sent. There was no spy in the royal family, but among the information from the intelligence guild, there was a time when the crown prince was studying. Looking at that time, Elsie knew for sure that she would not arrive at the time the crown prince was. It was because I knew.

The reason I called the crown prince here was not for any other reason, but because I was confident that the crown prince would prevent the horrible things happening right before his eyes.

If you have the personality of a crown prince, you won’t be able to do that.

“ Aside from Lady Delki City, I can’t see any of my friends who are always around. ”

I smiled at the crown prince who said that with his hand on his chin.

“I haven’t been able to spend time yet waiting for the invitees to say hello.”

“Then it would be difficult. Is there a law that says a person who holds a banquet cannot enjoy it?”

The crown prince said as if he was dumbfounded and turned around.

I quickly caught up next to him.

Of course, I didn’t fold my arms. Neither I nor the crown prince wanted that.

Fortunately, the crown prince didn’t seem to know that I had feelings for Elsie. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to treat me so kindly. In the end, he admitted that the heroine was with another man, but until then, he had been doing various things out of jealousy. Because he was the crown prince.

… … So, it would be better for this feeling not to be discovered until Elsie and I are truly connected.

“If it’s a greeting, you can accept it even while talking. It’s been quite a while since the banquet started, so you probably haven’t met anyone important.”

If you stay near Diane and Adele, you can certainly prevent sudden accidents to some extent.

“Oh my, the crown prince.”

As the two approached, Diane smiled and said, as if she was happy to see them.

“I haven’t seen you for a long time. Have you been at peace?”

“What… … Nothing special happened.”

The Crown Prince tilted his head at Diane’s relaxed attitude.

“… … ?”

And Diane also tilted her head at the prince’s questionable attitude.

“Could it be that I did something wrong?”

The Crown Prince shook his head at Diane who said that as if she was a little embarrassed.

“No, well, it’s not like that… … .”

Then he tilted his head again and leaned slightly towards me.

“Lady Hoover, hasn’t your impression changed a little?”

It was something that the people who were next to her might not have been aware of, but the change seemed to have been noticeable to the Crown Prince, who had not seen Diane for quite some time.

Certainly, my attitude has softened.

Because I fell in love.

Of course, I had no intention of telling that fact directly to the crown prince.

“Well, I don’t know.”

“… … Really?”

When I answered with a smile, the crown prince scratched his head.