episode_0161

The snow that falls on Saint Congratulation Day.

To be a bit more precise, the snow that falls on the eve of Saint Congratulation Day holds a special meaning among lovers.

It’s an important meaning, like if you spend time with your lover on the day before Saint Congratulation Day when it snows, your relationship will improve and you’ll be blessed.

Strictly speaking, there is no special meaning, and it’s just that meaning was given to it for the single reason that it is romantic, but still, many people believe in this superstition and rumor, and hope it snows on the eve of Saint Congratulation Day.

“It’s a blizzard…”

Of course, that’s only the story when it snows moderately, it didn’t apply to cases where it was snowing like a hole was punched in the sky like now.

Snow that pours down so much that it disappears from the floor in 5 minutes is a disaster, not romance.

Even if I try to ignore it and soak in the emotion, romance can’t arise as I see the soldiers and knights moving shovels back and forth to clear the snow that is piling up every moment.

“Your Highness the Princess.”

As I blankly watched the carriage turning white every moment and fiddled with the apron of my maid uniform, Sera, who had been talking to the coachman, lifted the hem of her dress to her calves and approached with hurried steps.

“What does the coachman say?”

“He says we can move for now, but it seems like we won’t be able to budge in an hour or two.”

“Of course, the snow won’t stop anytime soon, will it?”

“Yes, they say it will snow at least all morning, and it could be longer.”

“Haa… This is troubling…”

All morning.

Then it’s obvious that it will pile up lightly to the knees.

Then the carriage can’t move, and it will be impossible to walk in a dress or one-piece outfit.

“Now, what are you going to do?”

“Sera, what do you think is the best thing to do?”

“I think it’s right to send a servant or knight to postpone the appointment. Howard is someone we will continue to interact with, so there’s no problem if this meeting is delayed a bit.”

Sera’s words were correct.

Since it’s not an important schedule, there’s no reason to meet while braving such bad weather.

“That’s right, but… if we miss this opportunity, I don’t know when the next one will come, so it’s a shame to postpone it.”

However, the Hume County family at the beginning of the year is busier than anyone else.

This is because family events are strangely concentrated at the beginning of the year, so they are busy taking care of them.

Considering the various events in between, there will be some free time when the flowers are in full bloom.

The problem is that there is no guarantee that we can make an appointment at that time.

It was not impossible to spend a year without even having a date like this while dragging on like that.

Especially since my mother is watching, it is a foregone conclusion that William will become increasingly busy and be called to various places in society.

There are not many leisurely days left.

“But this isn’t ordinary snow, there could be an accident while moving, and even if the move is completed safely, it could interfere with the return.”

“We’re not even going outside the Imperial Capital, isn’t that too much of a fuss?”

“If it’s a crisis where something could happen to the Imperial Princess, we must react sensitively. If even a small scratch appears on Your Highness the Princess’s body, we will have a big crack in our necks.”

But the fact that the Princess’s outing cannot be done alone caught me.

Although I hide my outwardly visible identity with a maid uniform, it is still unchanged that the escorts or maids who will protect me must be waiting nearby.

No matter how much the number of people is reduced, at least three or four people suffer because of me.

“Umm…”

As personal desire and rational judgment collide, my heart starts beating slightly faster.

I’ll regret either choice.

Regretting missing the opportunity.

Or feeling guilty for making a selfish choice.

“I should go to the meeting place, since I’ll regret it either way, I’d rather go and regret it.”

After much deliberation, the scale in my heart leaned towards prioritizing personal desire.

I’m sorry to those who assist me, but I didn’t want to just cancel today’s appointment.

That’s because this is the first time I’m meeting William for a private reason, not because of an event or atelier.

Although I’ve built some friendship with William in the meantime, the reality of our relationship now is that there is an invisible wall and distance because of the limitation of only meeting in public places.

I didn’t want to waste this chance to take the first step in breaking down the wall in such an unfair way.

If we meet, there is at least a slight possibility that a variable will occur, but if we don’t meet, it will just end as it is.

Even if I meet William now, there is a higher possibility that we will end up doing nothing and breaking up, but there is a difference between 0% and 1% that is bigger than the sky and the earth.

“Your Highness, aren’t you choosing too emotionally? I understand your feelings, but shouldn’t you think carefully?”

“If you’re afraid of taking responsibility because of an unexpected event, you don’t have to worry, if I forced you to leave, my mother won’t punish you either.”

“Even if we try to prevent accidents by being careful, if something goes wrong, we might not be able to return on time. Tomorrow is Saint Congratulation Day, if there is a problem with the schedule…”

“If the Imperial Capital is paralyzed and carriages can’t move for several days, we won’t be able to proceed with the Saint Congratulation Day mass anyway. No matter how old-fashioned the church is, they are not so inflexible as to abandon people suffering from the blizzard and proceed with the mass.”

“Haa…”

Sera, who sighed and put her hand on her head, squinted around as if she was tired.

“If the situation gets worse on the way, I will turn the carriage around regardless of Your Highness’s opinion.”

“That’s enough, thank you for indulging my stubbornness.”

“Don’t forget that I will definitely be compensated later.”

“Of course.”

Sera, who pouted her lips with a sulky face and grumbled, went back to the snowfield with hurried steps and approached the knight and coachman.

And very shortly after.

“…Yes?!”

The coachman and knights’ voices, full of embarrassment, spread noisily in all directions.

“……”

I felt a sneaking apology to those who were suffering in the bad weather, but as a selfish person, I pretended not to hear it.

_

I was worried throughout the carriage’s departure and movement because of Sera’s threat that she would turn the carriage around immediately if the weather worsened.

Fortunately, the weather did not get worse on the way.

Rather, the wind subsided slightly and the speed at which the snow fell slowed down a bit.

Thanks to this, I was able to arrive at the meeting place before the snow piled up higher than my ankles.

“Huu…”

I carefully fastened my coat, brought my head close to the carriage window, and quickly rolled my eyes to see if there was anyone else besides us.

“There’s no one…”

But I couldn’t see any traces of carriages or people on the window on the side where I was sitting.

I felt my heart cooling down.

No way.

Did that bad William go home because he was happy it was snowing?

No.

No matter what, that man isn’t that bad.

If he had gone back, he would have at least left a servant to ask for understanding.

If no one is there despite that, then the road must be blocked due to snow, or the carriage must have broken down… something like that must have happened.

“Sera, can you see anything over there?”

“Um… There’s a carriage parked on the side of the road.”

“Whose is it?”

“The pattern is obscured by the snow, so I don’t know which family’s carriage it is.”

“Let’s get off and check.”

“I’ll go and come back, so Your Highness the Princess should stay here…”

“No, I’ll go too.”

I didn’t have the mental space to sit leisurely in the carriage and wait for Sera to go back and forth.

“Your Highness, you have to go together… Ah…!”

I got out of the carriage before Sera even got out, ignored Sera’s voice from behind, and rushed towards the carriage in front of me.

I was really lucky to be wearing low-heeled shoes in a maid uniform, so I was able to reach the carriage in an instant with tremendous speed that I would never have dreamed of normally, despite the snowy road.

When I arrived at the carriage, the first thing I did was lightly dust off the part where the pattern would be with my hand.

“Haeeueu…”

I felt like I was being pricked with needles from the cold snow on my hand, but I moved my hand busily while letting out a small groan.

Each time my hand brushed past, about a hand span of snow disappeared, and what the pure white crystals were hiding was gradually revealed, and a familiar pattern came into view.

“William…”

The Hume County family’s pattern.

Since William is the only person from the Hume County family remaining in the Imperial Capital, there was a high possibility that William was in here.

As soon as that thought occurred to me, I immediately approached the door of the carriage, grabbed the handle without a note or hint, and opened it roughly.

“Kyaak…!”

“Wh, who…?!”

“……”

Suddenly, as the door of the carriage opened, the gaze of the people inside the carriage turned to me in embarrassment.

“Elizabeth…?”

William, who recognized that the person who opened the door of the carriage was me, whispered my name in a trembling voice.

Eyes widened round as if he couldn’t believe it.

Lips moving busily because he didn’t know what to say.

A reaction as if he thought I wouldn’t come for granted.

I felt a little sad that he didn’t believe me, but at the same time, I was overwhelmed with emotions that were hard to express in words by the fact that he was waiting at the meeting place despite that.

Was he waiting until the appointment time out of courtesy?

Or did he know I wouldn’t come, but he dragged out the time because he had lingering feelings?

Well…

It didn’t matter which one it was.

The important thing is that he waited for me.

I put on a soft smile and opened my mouth as if I was sorry, slightly lowering my gaze.

“I’m sorry, I’m a little late, did you wait long?”

“… No, I just arrived too.”

“Really? Then that’s a relief.”

A short greeting that wasn’t long.

As soon as that ended, we pursed our lips as if we had promised.

“……”

“……”

What should I say?

To get along with me even though the weather is like this?

Or should we postpone the appointment to the next time because the weather is like this?

Or should we find another way because the weather is like this?

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything because of the factors that made me hesitate to choose either one.

William must be thinking similarly to me, the conversation doesn’t connect for long.

But unfortunately, we didn’t have much time.

Snow started to pile up on my shoulders and head in less than 5 minutes of standing outside.

If we drag out time like this, we won’t be able to go back and will be trapped in the carriage, or we’ll have to move to a shabby inn.

I didn’t want to face such a pitiful situation.

If possible, I always want to show a perfect and beautiful appearance.

“Hey, Elizabeth.”

In the end, it was William who drew his sword first.

Unlike me, who was still hesitating and couldn’t easily take it out.

William, with determination in his eyes, opened his mouth while looking straight at my eyes with a slightly stiff and solemn expression.

“Yeah…”

“It’s hard to do something outside because of the weather anyway.”

“That’s right…”

As expected, is he going to say we should postpone the appointment?

I waited with a bitter smile and an anxious heart for the words that William would spit out.

“Then… will you come to my townhouse? It’s indoors there, so it doesn’t matter if it snows a lot.”

“Heh…?”

Wh, wh, wh, wh… what did you say…?