Chapter 18: The Collapsed Handsome Man.

I? Tamed? Tamed who? Those scary people? Argh, don’t say something that’ll cause trouble!

Waving my hand at Theodore, I ate my soup and pretended not to have heard anything.
It was noisy at the dining table.
Finneas, who had been silently smiling until now, pacified everyone.

“Okay, everyone, calm down.
Why is it always so noisy when we gather? Selphi, how’s your body?”

“I’m fine.
The Grand Duchess hugged me so that I wouldn’t bang my head, and put a handkerchief inside my mouth so I wouldn’t bite my tongue, so compared to the other days, my condition is good.”

“Your Highness, you took the appropriate measures.
Your reaction speed is quite outstanding.”

I’d just acted as had come to mind.
Don’t look at me with such a proud expression.

As everyone stared at me, I could feel a sense of pressure.
It was embarrassing that I was getting such a big compliment for such a small action that I’d done.

Smiling awkwardly, I spoke to Theodore in an attempt to change the conversation.

“I-I heard the festival started today.”

“Ah, right.
I almost forgot.”

He’d almost forgotten? Theodore’s reaction was quite calm, despite the festival being for him.

“I should’ve started preparing beforehand, I’m sorry.”

When Theodore was about to speak, another three people started speaking first.

“Sasha, why are you apologizing over such a trivial issue? It’s fine.”

“She’s right.
There’s no need for you to apologize, Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duke isn’t interested in the festival anyway.”

“Theo will probably understand, Your Highness.”

I definitely apologized to Theodore, but strangely enough, I received an answer from elsewhere.

Laughing silently while watching the other three’s reactions, Theodore shrugged his shoulders, as if at a loss for words.

“If I don’t accept your apology, I think I’ll become the bad guy.
There’s no need for an apology.
Just as Selphi said, I have no interest in the festival.”

True, Theodore wasn’t the kind of person who would be interested in festivals.

After talking about the festival, Theodore rested his chin on his hand and stared at the brunch atop the table.

“Since His Great Majesty loves attention so much, it’s gotten annoying for me too.
And there’s even a parade on the last day of the festival.
It’s not like we’re caged monkeys or something.”

After complaining for a bit, Theodore frowned languidly.
Then, after picking out the fruits from the salad, he placed them on my front plate indifferently.

“He said it was in order to raise the morale of the citizens, but it’s so obvious that he’s just doing it for attention.”

Seeing how he was undisguisedly taunting the Emperor, I hurriedly looked around.
Luckily, there was only the butler and us in the dining room.
Not to mention, the family seemed to be accustomed to Theodore’s rebellious comments.

“I thought it was good riddance when someone destroyed that stupid statue, but he already rebuilt it so soon.”

Theodore frowned while speaking in a tone that sounded like he was grinding his teeth.

‘So he didn’t like the statue.’

And that’s why he hadn’t had much of a reaction when I’d told him the statue had gotten destroyed.

“If you destroyed it, you might as well destroy it again.
Why aren’t they destroying it this time?”

Theodore clucked his teeth, seemingly hoping for the statue to get destroyed again.

As he did so, he was absorbed in picking out fruit and placing them onto my plate.

‘That’s enough, it’ll spill.’

I shared the fruit that was piled like a mountain on my plate with Selphius.
Selphius, who’d been looking upset as more fruits had disappeared from his salad, started excitedly eating like a baby bird.

“Anyway, you have to attend the parade too.”

“Pardon?”

Me? Why did I? I wasn’t the hero of the war?

I stared at Theodore with a dazed expression.
With his chin rested in his hand, he lazily tilted his head.

“Did I not tell you?”

“This is my first time hearing of this.”

“I see.”

Stop nodding with such a calm expression.

“Then I’ll just tell you now.
You need to join me on the parade on the last day of the festival, so prepare yourself.”

Should I just hit him?

Sercia, who had been listening to our conversation, pointed her thumb at Theodore as if reading my mind.

“If you want me to break Theo’s leg, just say the word, Sasha.
I’ll help you.”

Theodore covered his face with one hand before sighing loudly.

“Ha, Sercia.
Didn’t you say you had to leave now? I thought you came mid-work.”

“Why are you trying to send me away suddenly… Heok!”

In the midst of her sentence, Sercia gasped loudly in surprise before standing up.
Then, she started shouting loudly to herself before getting ready to leave in a rush.

“Look at me! Those bastards will let the price be negotiated down if not for me! That’s a wine that we can make 30 times the market price for!”

“So you’re not just a bad-tempered drunkard; you’re a scammer,” Selphius mumbled to himself, leaning his chin in his hand.
At that, Sercia clenched her teeth before grabbing him by the hair.

“This is business.
The world of adults that a little kid like you would never understand.”

Then, Sercia turned her head and gazed at me.
I could see her concern for me in her red eyes.

“I’m sorry.
Sasha, I wanted to stay with you if I could, but this is really important for my business, so I have to go personally.”

“Not at all.
I’m grateful just for the fact that you came.
And thank you for the presents you’ve sent until now, we ate them well.”

“Hearing you say that makes me so happy.
I’ll send more, so eat them well.
Don’t give any to Theo or Selphi, okay, and just eat it yourself, Sasha.
Ah, is there a food you like, by any chance? Or something you want to eat…”

At our lengthening conversation, Theodore let out a sigh before jutting his chin out at the door.

“You still haven’t left, Sercia?”

“I’ve always had a hard time stuck between such a heartless younger brother and a fussy nephew, Sasha.”

“Butler.
Prepare the carriage so that Sercia can depart right away.
And get her bags so that she doesn’t even have to visit the annex.”

“Sasha, is it okay if I sew his lips together? I feel like I have to get permission first.”

These siblings truly fought with their all.

Sercia, who had been bickering with him for quite a while, checked her watch and must have realized she was truly late, for she ended her conversation there.

“I really need to leave.
The fact that Uncle’s here must mean that Miss Gloria is in the Capital, right? Tell her I’ll go visit her once I finish up with my business.”

“Sure, don’t worry.
Take care of your body.
You have the medicine and the dried moonflower grass, right? Isn’t it about time for that day to come, Seci?”

“Of course I did.
It’s the equivalent of my life.
I need to have this to feel at least somewhat reassured.”

The time for that day to come? Hearing those words, I subconsciously flinched.
Just imagining Sercia dripping blood made me panic.
It felt like the ground beneath my feet was sinking.

‘No, let’s not think of the worst-case scenario.’

I hurriedly shook my head and put on a straight face.
Then I waved to Sercia, who was leaving, with a brighter smile than I’d ever given her.

“Come over for tea next time, Seci.
Really.”

It was a request that she not be hurt, that she be fine and alive until then.
As if she understood what I was saying, Sercia smiled back.

“I’ll definitely come for that, Sasha.
And when I come, I’ll drag the bastard who spread the extras and the bastard who fed you poison as presents.”

N-No.
I’ll reject that.
Just catch them and give them to the police.

As I stood to send Sercia off, Theodore took his own cake and placed it in front of me.

“I’ll send Sercia off, so you just eat this… Let’s go, Sercia.”

“Wow Theo, to think you’d send me off.
What’s up? You usually don’t even spare me another glance.”

“Go run to the carriage right now.”

The two bickering people slowly disappeared.
After watching the backs of the two people who were unexpectedly similar, I turned my head to stare at the table in front of me.

In front of me were two plates; one that was piled with a mountain of seasonal fruit salad, and one with a chocolate cake.

* * *

“Pardon? You’re attending the last day of the festival’s parade, Grand Duchess?”

“Yes, apparently so.”

Rebecca, who had been enjoying tea time with me, hurriedly put down her teacup at my affirmative response.
Then, she started tapping a finger against the table, as if fretting about something.

“What are you doing, Rebecca?”

Ignoring my question, Rebecca narrowed her eyes while focusing on something.

‘Has she thought of something important?’

The silence filled the air for quite a long time.
Relaxedly staring at the clouds in the sky, I asked Rebecca.

“Rebecca, what is my family doing these days?”

They were so silent that no particular report about them had come in.
They were definitely planning on trying to steal my inheritance, so it was strange.

Rebecca, who had been fretting about something that I didn’t know about, replied quietly to my question.

“There’s nothing special.
They just attend meetings with other noble wives.
They seemed to have hired a lawyer to come up with a reason for your ineligibility for the inheritance, but it’s probably not going to be easy.
After all, which lawyer would want to make Your Highness the Grand Duchess into their enemy?”

That was true.
Then for now, I wouldn’t have to worry.

I sipped my tea, leaving Rebecca alone because she was lost in thought.
Shortly after, Rebecca stood up from her spot with a resolute expression.

“Okay, I’ve decided!”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go out!”

What? So suddenly?

Rebecca wasn’t just enthusiastic, she was blazing furiously.
I couldn’t understand why she was burning with enthusiasm so suddenly.

“Why are we going out so suddenly?”

And going out suddenly was a bother.

“I’ve thought about all of the dresses, hats, and accessories you have, Your Highness, but I think it won’t stand out in the parade.
We need something a bit more intense!”

“So that’s what it was about? It’s okay if it’s not intense, since I’m not the protagonist of the parade anyway.”

I laughed while enjoying my tea.
However, Rebecca took my teacup away from me and put it down on the table, before firmly replying.
“No.
Both nobles and commoners will all get to see Your Highness the Grand Duchess on that day.
You must be more beautiful and radiant than ever before!”

“Then we can just call a tailor and get measured for a dress, or choose from the catalogue.”

“You need to see the path the parade will be on beforehand, Your Highness! If you know beforehand, it’ll be much easier!”

That was true.

Seeing that I had no plans on getting up at all, Rebecca pushed me by the chair and urged me to go out.

“O-Okay, let’s go out, let’s go.”

In the end, I got up from the chair against my will.
Before following after me, Rebecca asked the maids to get the carriage ready, and told them to contact the boutique shop to keep all of the dresses, shoes, hats, and accessories as they were.

* * *

“If someone saw me, they’d think that I was the protagonist of that day, Rebecca.”

“Of course you’re also one of the protagonists, Your Highness.
You’re the Grand Duchess of Lapileon!”

Rebecca smiled widely in my stead, unaware that I was only the Grand Duchess in appearance.

Laughing awkwardly, I exited the store after having done all that needed to be done with Rebecca.

We purchased not just a dress, but several other things for the parade.
Since we’d ordered for them to send all the things we’d bought to the residence, our two hands were empty.

Maybe it was because it was the first day of the festival, but there were a lot of people out to enjoy it.
I could even see a few nobles whose faces I was familiar with.

Thinking about how everyone was enjoying a festival that was for Theodore, I felt strange.

“Now we just have to ride the carriage and take a lap around the path the parade is going to be on, right?” I asked while boarding the carriage, to which Rebecca firmly nodded her head.

“Yes, I heard that the path of the parade has been blocked off to outsiders until the last day! I let them know ahead of time that Your Highness was going to go!”

“Thanks, Rebecca.”

As the carriage started to move slowly, Rebecca, who had her hands tightly clenched to each other, went on.

“The dress Your Highness wore earlier looked so good on you, Grand Duchess.
On that day, everyone will definitely praise you a lot.”

“It wasn’t to that extent.”

“No! You were truly so pretty.
I thought an angel had descended! My heart is pounding just thinking of the day when everyone will get to see you, Your Highness.”

She must have been nervous again.
I laughed lightly as I watched Rebecca speaking at a faster pace than normal.
The carriage continued on and entered the path of the parade that the guards were guarding.
The guards, who saw the emblem of the family engraved on the carriage politely greeted us, before giving way.

“So it’s here!”

I peered through the carriage window in order to look at the parade path, when suddenly…

Thud!

“Kyaa!”

Along with a loud noise, the carriage suddenly stopped in its place.
Rebecca, who was frightened, screamed before holding onto me.

I, too, quickly grabbed onto the carriage handle so I wouldn’t fall over.

‘What happened all of a sudden?’

I uprighted my body before looking out the window.
We were still far away from our destination, and had only just gotten through the beginning portion of the parade path.

Before I could finish analyzing the situation, the coachman knocked on the carriage door.

“Your Highness, there was someone collapsed on the road, so I stopped the carriage in a hurry.
I apologize.”

“…Someone?”

There was someone collapsed on the road? It was an absurd sentence.
Glancing at me with a taken aback expression, Rebecca quickly opened the carriage door.

Then, she peeked out the carriage and confirmed, before turning to look at me.

“Your Highness, there’s truly someone collapsed out here!”

There was someone collapsed on the road? Was it some drunkard?

It was my first time experiencing something like this.
I sighed while getting down from the carriage.

“Didn’t they say this road was blocked off to outsiders because it was the parade path? So how is a person collapsed on this ro…”

In the very center of the road that we were on.

“Why’s he there like that?”

A blonde-haired man was collapsed and blocking the road, as if on purpose.
I was so astounded that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What kind of person collapses in the very middle of the road so purposely?”