While Roselia stood breathless and flustered, Klaus’s expression turned peculiar.
“I heard Antonio was in Closette’s room. Why are you the one coming out of there?”
Roselia froze, struck dumb. It would be accurate to say her mind had gone blank from the suddenness of the situation.
“I didn’t see a carriage enter the Duke’s estate. When did you arrive at the mansion?”
At Klaus’s suspicious remark, sweat began to bead on Roselia’s palms.
“That is, I……”
Even Roselia, who would usually have spat out a blunt retort without a second thought, was too rattled to find an excuse this time.
Just as Roselia swallowed hard, a savior’s voice rang out from behind.
“I called for Roselia. If you kept hounding her about that debt, she would have had to walk here without even a carriage, wouldn’t she?”
At Closette’s blunt words, Klaus asked in a slightly softened tone.
“You did?”
“Yes, the Crown Princess invited her to a tea party again.”
Roselia didn’t know why the Crown Princess would take an interest in her, but since Closette had no reason to fabricate such a story, Klaus conceded reluctantly.
“Where is Antonio?”
As Klaus said this calmly and scanned behind Closette, her eyes met Roselia’s for a split second. Perhaps not having thought of an excuse for Antonio, a flash of distress crossed Closette’s face.
Roselia opened her mouth quickly, a thought occurring to her suddenly.
“My brother went to our house for a moment.”
“Antonio did?”
When Klaus furrowed one brow in confusion at the news that he had left without reporting, Roselia quickly added to her statement.
“That… he said the roof was collapsing, so he went to fix it. Since the rainy season is coming soon, I asked him to repair it beforehand.”
Recalling the nearly ruined house he had seen when he dropped Roselia off, Klaus seemed to find the explanation convincing and nodded without further ado.
“I see. I was actually concerned about that dilapidated house, so that is a relief.”
Well, since he had planned to repair Nadya’s house with a donation sooner or later, it wasn’t an entirely fabricated lie.
As Roselia shared an awkward smile, Klaus, who had been glancing between Closette and Roselia, tossed out a remark nonchalantly.
“If you are planning to go to the Imperial Palace at the Crown Princess’s invitation, let us go together. I have business at the Imperial Palace anyway.”
Roselia’s expression stiffened at Klaus’s suggestion. In her current precarious state, shifting between Antonio and Roselia, being trapped in a small space with Klaus was inevitably uncomfortable.
Perhaps noticing Roselia’s unease, Closette responded bluntly with a disgruntled face.
“Since when did you ever care about us riding in the same carriage? Forget it. I’m going to ride comfortably with Roselia.”
“Since when did you two become so close?”
Klaus asked, puzzled, as he knew Closette and Antonio were close, but Roselia wouldn’t have had the luxury of time to become friendly with her.
Closette answered calmly, as if sliding past a hurdle.
“Well, I got to know her thanks to Antonio, I saw her at my debutante, and we’ve had many things to attend together, like the Crown Princess’s invitation banquet and so on.”
Come to think of it, the mysterious woman in the green dress who had been with Closette at the debutante was also Roselia.
Thinking about it, it made enough sense, so Klaus accepted it and moved on.
Roselia let out a sigh of relief inwardly and looked at Closette.
Closette was looking at Roselia triumphantly, with a bright face that seemed to be begging for praise for a job well done.
* * *
“I apologize for yesterday. I had no idea it would turn into such a situation……”
As the Crown Princess offered a troubled smile, Closette hurriedly waved her hands.
“No, it’s not! How could that be anything for your Royal Highness to apologize for? It’s all Klaus’s fault for only knowing how to talk about work even while eating.”
At Closette’s blunt words, Evelionne smiled as if she found her cute.
“It was I, or the Crown Prince, who brought up work first.”
“Your Royal Highness just threw out a casual question, but it was Klaus who got excited and kept talking about it.”
“Hehe, the Lady is truly the same as ever. Regardless, since today is a tea party for ladies only, I hope you enjoy yourselves comfortably.”
At the Crown Princess’s kind words, Roselia and Closette bowed with full courtesy.
Then, Ikelia, who was sitting next to the Crown Princess, spoke up cautiously.
“So you are Antonio’s younger sister? It’s nice to meet you. Was it Roselia?”
“It is an honor to meet you, Lady Ikelia De Herden.”
She was the younger sister of Evelionne and a noblewoman of the Marquess Herden family, whom she had met once before as Closette’s Il Domestico.
She felt a sense of gladness because she was the one who had acted as a stepping stone to meeting Evelionne.
“Um… is Antonio doing well?”
At Ikelia’s question, asked with a reddening face, Roselia offered a troubled smile and answered reluctantly.
“Yes… my brother is busy and doing well.”
“But Lady Closette, why didn’t you bring Antonio as your Il Domestico today?”
At Ikelia’s disappointed remark, Roselia and Closette stiffened for a moment and shared an awkward smile.
“Today is… a day for us ladies to enjoy tea time together. I didn’t really want to bring Antonio along.”
Roselia felt admiration inwardly at Closette’s unruffled response, which was far beyond her young age.
Not finding Closette’s answer particularly strange, Ikelia quickly changed the subject.
“More importantly, I heard the Laphelios Empire’s delegation will arrive soon, and I heard the Marquess of the Empire coming as the representative is very young and handsome?”
At Ikelia’s somewhat excited tone, the Crown Princess spoke in a stern voice, as if to warn her.
“Ikelia. They are honored guests visiting for the sake of a treaty. Please refrain from personal remarks.”
“Ah, yes… I apologize. Your Royal Highness the Crown Princess.”
Come to think of it, the original novel described the Laphelios delegation arriving for a treaty between the empires around this time.
I believe the man who came as the representative was a second male lead who fell in love with the Crown Princess…
What was his name again?
Just as Roselia was thinking that, the Crown Princess, perhaps feeling bad watching the crestfallen Ikelia, spoke in a much softer voice.
“Well… since we will be holding a welcome banquet when the Laphelios delegation arrives… while we’re on the subject, shall we have some Laphelios-style dresses tailored?”
At the Crown Princess’s nonchalant words, everyone’s gaze turned to her in confusion.
“Right now?”
When Closette asked with wide eyes, the Crown Princess smiled meaningfully and nodded.
* * *
“Lady Roselia, are you finished preparing?”
“Yes, yes! I’ll be out in a moment!”
At Ikelia’s excited voice, Roselia stood awkwardly in front of the mirror, finally free from the maids’ hands.
Roselia, who had been swept into the salon inside the Crown Princess’s palace, was the first one to try on a Laphelios-style dress.
Unlike the Rugvelzet dresses, which were closer to mid-19th-century European clothing styles, the Laphelios dresses were colorful, mixing late 19th-century European styles with various national influences.
The mermaid-line dress that highlighted the elegant curves of a woman, with one side slit up to the thigh, looked like a qipao or reminded one of a Greek goddess.
Since it was an unfamiliar clothing style in the conservative Rugvelzet, Roselia couldn’t easily step out from behind the mirror, feeling out of place.
“Roselia~ The maids said you were all finished, why aren’t you coming out?”
At Closette’s urging voice, Roselia finally took a step and emerged from the dressing room.
Then, the ladies who had been looking up at her in confusion all froze with their mouths agape.
“I, is it really that strange…?”
When Roselia smiled awkwardly, pulling the slit of the dress together in embarrassment, the Crown Princess was the first to answer with a bright smile.
“My heavens, Roselia. You look so beautiful.”
With the Crown Princess’s compliment, Closette’s fussing began, and for some reason, Ikelia’s face was even turning red.
“My goodness! The Laphelios-style dress is so pretty! I want to try on the one Roselia is wearing too!”
“Calm down, Closette, there are plenty of dresses. I never thought Laphelios-style dresses were this beautiful, but seeing Lady Roselia, I’ve changed my mind.”
“I, it’s so beautiful… If a goddess were to descend, would she be wearing a dress like that…?”
Is, is it really that much…?
Roselia, feeling embarrassed, smiled awkwardly and answered.
“Thank you. It’s an unfamiliar clothing style, so it feels a bit awkward. May I go change now?”
“What are you saying? You’re all dressed up so prettily, it would be a shame to change right away. How about we enjoy today’s tea party wearing Laphelios-style dresses?”
Unlike Roselia, who was troubled by Ikelia’s suggestion, Closette was excited.
“Great! I’m all for it! Then I’ll go change next!”
Watching Closette disappear into the dressing room, following the maids with light, excited steps, Roselia shared a forced, slight smile and spoke cautiously to the Crown Princess.
“Your Royal Highness, I will go wash my hands.”
“Ah, go ahead.”
With the Crown Princess’s permission, Roselia turned around immediately and headed to the powder room on the opposite side of the salon.
Since the powder room attached to the dressing room was busy with Closette, she was heading to an extra powder room a bit further away.
But at that moment, someone grabbed her wrist roughly and forced her toward the wall.
She, who had been about to scream in shock, widened her eyes at the familiar figure before her.
“Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Damn it, Antonio. No, Roselia… what did you take my warning for? Your scent is reeking all over the palace right now.”
What on earth, what kind of nonsense was this?
At the Crown Prince’s sudden appearance and his incomprehensible rambling, Roselia grimaced in displeasure.
“Let go of me. What are you talking about, as you did before?”
“Ha… you’re showing all your bare skin like this, so the scent is reeking. I was half-doubting before, so I let it slide, but I can’t do that anymore. It seems you need to realize the seriousness of this……”
At the Crown Prince’s incomprehensible words, Roselia pulled her wrist away strongly, fearing the Crown Princess might see.
“Let go of me!”
“Damn it, listen to me!”
Faced with the Crown Prince’s almost coercive grip, Roselia finally pushed him away, somewhat rudely, and fled the scene as if running away.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince was being greeted by a servant who had suddenly appeared behind him, so he only glanced at the retreating Roselia and could not pursue her hastily.
Roselia ran out of the palace in a panic and headed to the garden.
I don’t recall him being this much of a lunatic in the original story… Is this also an effect of the changed storyline?
Just as she was lost in such grave thoughts, she realized she was wandering in the middle of the garden.
“Oh my……”
Thinking she had to return to where the Crown Princess and Closette were, Roselia turned around in a hurry.
But as she turned, she froze in shock at the sight of a familiar figure staring at her blankly.
In an instant, the wind blew from behind Roselia, who was standing with her back to the sun, and the flower petals in the garden scattered.
Klaus De Baltezar…….
He was standing at a distance, frozen like a statue, watching her.