亚洲欧美中文日韩Aⅴ

1. 1. The Lion and Wolf’s Tea Party

“Could you not sleep?”

It was Fleon who woke me.

‘I was pretty sure Rebecca banned him from coming, right?’

It was one of the first things Rebecca did after arriving at my palace. But now, Fleon was staring at me as he paused his conversation with Rebecca on the cultural history of Kaltanias.

“Rebecca, didn’t you kick my brothers out of the palace?”

“As your lady-in-waiting, how can I dare kick the princes out?”

She replied calmly.

“Though I did try to give you meaningful advice, my words seemed to have drifted elsewhere.”

I mean, I understood Dane but Fleon made no sense.

Well, if my big brother had that kind of wit, he would have launched himself into the stratosphere. He shook his head and closed the book they were discussing.

For the past few days, Fleon had been circling me like some hyena. It did not matter even if I was doing nothing. He would just sit there before returning to his palace in the evening.

“Are you not busy, brother? Dane looks really busy.”

“I left it undone to come here.”

“Just be honest. You got fired, right?”

“I didn’t, alright?”

Like I believed that.

Honestly, he was lucky enough that he managed to work in the palace with that temper of his.

“I know. Your temper got in the way, didn’t it? Listen well, Brother Fleon. An adult should learn how to retreat, admit their mistake and apologise while tolerating the shame in society. Urgh!”

“Look here. Do you not have any shame? Huh?”

Excuse me. Did he not notice Rebecca glaring this way menacingly? What a tactless brother.

Rebecca looked at us blankly before exclaiming with a shocked expression.

“What on earth is going on? 6th Prince! The brother who is now an adult is pinching his younger sister’s cheek!”

After Fleon grabbed my cheek, he was chided and struck by my lady-in-waiting. In her hands I noticed a book titled <Even Beginners Can Easily Keep Up. The Guide to Etiquette by Madame Sandra>.

“Ashely, your lady-in-waiting is so cheeky.”

Fleon grumbled disapprovingly.

“I don’t think that’s something you should be saying.”

“Did you just call me cheeky?”

Of course he did.

“You think Rebecca was right which is why you’re accepting her chides calmly and reading that book, right brother?”

He frowned as he looked down with contempt. That was one of the skills I learned from Rebecca.

Was he pouting? Rather, he looked more shocked than anything.

“Look at this. You’ve already learned something weird from her! Damn. My little chick…”

“You’re being noisy. Who’s the chick here? And what are you even doing here? Did you really get fired? Were you too bad at your work?”

“I already said that’s not it!”

Anxious, Fleon exclaimed as he raised the book he had placed on his lap. That was what he would usually do to avoid answering questions. He should be answering at this point. How dare he try to deflect my questions like that?

“The 6th and 7th Princes have very different personalities.”

Rebecca murmured calmly. It was evident she was mocking Fleon but if Fleon could understand that level of mockery, he would not be here. When I gave him a glance, he crossed his legs before handing me his book.

Indeed, one was truly an elegant and flawless brother while the other was just a shell.

“Things are going smoothly. There have been no problems so far for the upcoming tea party.”

“Yes. It’s in a week, right?”

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, Rebecca had yet to be harsh towards me today. Now that I thought about it, maybe it was not the fact that she was scolding me less often but that I was getting the right answers more frequently?

I pinched my chin before speaking.

“What’s Rebecca’s ideal type?”

“If you’re talking about ideal types, are you talking about the kind of husband I want in the future?”

“Well, I guess? I mean, you must have dreamed about it. A handsome prince or a dashing warrior like in the novels.”

I had forgotten to ask her this.

“Is that important?”

Of course. I was sure that whatever Rebecca’s ideal type was, it would never be anything close to what Castor was like.

‘So I need to carry out a preliminary investigation!’

I could never predict what would happen between people, but to save her from a despotic tyrant, I must use my wits, manipulation and creativity.

“Yeah, so tell me? Hm?”

Seeing Rebecca’s face morph into an expression of wonder, she looked almost naive.

“I do not know what you’re asking of me but… I have never thought about such things before.”

She fluttered her long fan-like eyelashes. From the look of her face, she seemed to be enduring the urge to lament about the pathetic level of conversation we were having.

“Mistress, please discard your sweet imaginations that only commoner wenches should have. You sound like a little girl who is oblivious to her situation.”

“Imaginations?”

She slowly laid her eyes on me before sighing.

“Yes. For women like me, and you, the princess, our futures are already fixed. All we have to do is support our husbands as they reach out for the skies, put on a flowery smile and take care of our families. Honestly speaking, you’ll need the right amount of naivety to fool a man but I think achieving that will be too much for you, mistress. I’m saying this sincerely for your sake.”

For a moment, I thought I saw a huge wall of ice form between Rebecca and I. It was so cold that my arm that was still wrapped in bandages still managed to form goosebumps.

I did not think such an imagination would be considered that pathetic. But she was staring at me as if I was a really immature three year old child.

‘Well, this is not the first or second time Rebecca thinks I’m pathetic.’

I would rather act as if I was blissfully ignorant of the fact. All I had to do was reach my end goal.

“Then, have you seriously not thought about it once, Rebecca? What kind of person would you like to marry in the future? That kind of imagination?”

“I am the only daughter of a duke. That should answer all your questions. The choices the duchy has to choose from are limited. And the range of these choices can be easily predicted too. Isn’t it common sense to just obey your father’s decision as to who you’re marrying anyway?”

“Yeah, but you can still imagine, right? You’re free to imagine whatever you wish…”

“I don’t think that will be very meaningful either. After all, I will marry the person my family has chosen to bring prosperity to my family name. It’s best to just live a good life following my father’s will.”

Hm, what could I call this? Iron walls were iron walls but this felt different. I thought since she was so beautiful, precious and loved, she would have expected her love story to be like that of those in love novels. I thought she would have thought at least once, ‘Oh, I want to marry a prince like this!’ but it sounded as if she had already experienced enough storms in her life. A sudden thought popped in my head. What if she was educated more stringently because she grew up preciously?

‘That meant she could not think about such things.’

Upper class aristocratic women had a very narrow vision for themselves. More so than similarly aged commoners. Born and raised beautifully with sweet desserts, they would get married to the boy they would have lessons with.

With every lesson, they would realise that they had no say in this matter but that was the common worldview in romance novels set in the middle ages.

“Has Rebecca never chosen before?”

“Chosen? What do you mean?

She tilted her head.

“If you’re talking about dresses or hair accessories, I would choose a dozen times a day.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about things that actually affect Rebecca’s life. Like choosing a mistress like me.”

That had not been her choice either. As if noticing what I was hinting at, Rebecca frowned. She was definitely an intelligent lady. I smiled coolly before changing the direction I was taking.

“For me, my ideal type is nothing special. I’ll be satisfied with what I’m happy with. What about Rebecca? What hair colour would you like the man you’re going to meet one day to have? Black? Blue? Gray? What about his personality? Would you like him to be smart?”

“… No. I don’t like people who are too smart.”

“Why?”

“They won’t be able to live long.”

Her face was cold but she answered me without deflecting my questions.

At the same time, her black eyes seemed to look confused as to what I was planning.

It would be a shame if he were to live only for a short while.But she was saying that because she knew how this place worked to some extent. She was a bright child who knew things most girls her age did not.

“And? Do you have more?”

“I hope they have a sweet smile while being friendly and gentle.”

“And?”

“It doesn’t really matter how they look. I prefer bright colours to darker ones. It would be nice if they had blonde hair like my father too.”

“Yeah.”

“And I hope I could have a man who could jump headfirst into anything for me but… at the same time I don’t want him to act before he thinks and be useless, wait. Why am I talking about this?”

She looked utterly sceptical. Her forehead wrinkled as it distorted her whole face. I thought I would be unable to hold in my laughter but if I laughed I would face a cold that felt as if it was blown by the north wind itself so I held it in and spoke cheerfully.

“Rebecca.”

“Yes.”

“I have blonde hair.”

“Yes.”

“And my eyes are of a bright colour too. I smile sweetly. Well, and I did save you before.”

“Yes, so?”

“Aren’t I your ideal type?”

“… Yes?”

Rebecca was rendered speechless for a moment.

“You’re my what?”

She took a step back. Fleon looked this way with an incredulous expression.

“Mind your own business, brother.”

Ignoring my brother, I looked at Rebecca.

All time spent together would be precious.

I swung my feet and smiled brightly at my audience as if I was an actual flower. Rebecca’s expression as she looked at me was unbelievable as well. It was an expression that held the most emotions I had ever seen out of her ever.

“As far as I know, you’ve been asking me questions about my future husband.”

“Yes. But he does sound like me.”

“Let me take a look. Ha. No.”

“I jumped headfirst for you, Rebecca!”

“Right, I never told you I liked people who act before they think and calculate.”

That sounded bad.

I sighed regretfully.

“Hm, that’s too bad. I’m not very good at calculating.”

“… I don’t mean numbers.”

I knew. I nodded my head, enjoying the pleasantries after a long time. This small and light feeling I had not felt in a while. I had forgotten it as I was busy avoiding death and surviving.

She tried to keep her mouth shut and talked about how I did not understand anything. Grinning, I squeezed her hand.

“Rebecca. I read in a book that I would have to take responsibility.”

I wrinkled my eyes beautifully and happily. Strangely, as I pretended to be cheerful, a small ray of sunlight shone in my heart.

It was warm. I felt like a warrior in a fairytale who had just defeated the dragon and saved the princess.

Rebecca, who was my princess, also felt like a dragon. Well, so what?

I thought this would not take long since I had already dedicated myself to my goal. As they stared at the bandaged arm, her black eyes quivered.

“I’m going to be responsible for you from now on.”

“That. What book were you reading?”

“Hm, a romance?”

I sounded like I was joking but I was not. This world was a romance and I was fully intent on using her and her background to survive. At the same time, I did not want her to die.

Come over to my side. Villainess.

T/N:

Justice for Fleon!