It was definitely because Caroline had blathered some nonsense about why Pere and I were together.
I glanced at Caroline, then peeked my head out to the side and said to the Crown Prince, “I was taught not to interrupt a conversation. I apologize for my lack of manners, Your Highness. Have you been in good health?”
“……?”
“Ah, you might not know the meaning of ‘being in good health.’ My apologies; that was my mistake for using such an obscure phrase. Since we haven’t been properly introduced, has all been well within the Imperial Family?”
“……?”
I offered a greeting in words he couldn’t understand just to spite him, and Lloyd furrowed his brows and waved his hand dismissively.
The brat should have just stayed quiet from the start.
I snorted inwardly and turned my attention to Pere.
I was determined to make her look only at me, hear only my words, and think only of me so she wouldn’t have any stray thoughts.
“Sister, Sister. How was that bread from last time? Wasn’t it amazing? I know you enjoy cookies with your espresso, but when it comes to coffee, it has to be a latte! And when it comes to bread, it has to be salt bread! This combination can never go wrong, can it? It’s a pairing I truly, truly love, so I hope you enjoyed it too.”
“Excuse me, Ellie.”
And why must you come and interrupt, Caroline?
I looked at Caroline, who had gone out of her way to stand up and walk over to our table.
To stand up and leave the Crown Prince behind—wasn’t that incredibly rude?
However, the Crown Prince didn’t seem to mind at all, just sitting there sipping his tea. It seems he is already infinitely lenient toward Caroline. He had acted so stiff when she didn’t greet Pere, though.
“Didn’t you receive my letter?”
“Ah, yes, I did. I meant to go, but I couldn’t. Something came up on the way.”
“What happened?”
“I’m on a date with my sister right now, so could we talk about this later?”
“You, since when have you been this close with the Lady….”
“You’re awfully talkative, aren’t you?”
Suddenly, as if she could take it no more, Pere interrupted, glaring at Caroline. It felt like her blood sugar was low, so why on earth wasn’t this damn employee bringing the coffee and bread? It had been ages since we ordered.
I looked toward the stairs, heart racing in case my sister decided to throw a tantrum, but the oblivious Caroline retorted to her.
“Excuse me, but I have some business with my friend right now.”
“She is currently my friend—the one who has an appointment with me. Are your eyes just for decoration?”
At Pere’s words, Caroline’s face stiffened instantly.
I was already looking at Pere with hearts in my eyes because she had called me her friend. Of course, it was true that she was 100% on my side, but since she kept emphasizing that I had bought my noble status with money after coming from commoner origins, it might look to others like she was insulting both Caroline and me. I understood it well enough since my sister’s conversation patterns were always like this, but I started to worry slightly because it might look that way to those who didn’t know her.
Just then, behind Pere, Crown Prince Lloyd said, “Lady, that’s enough.”
In an instant, Pere’s face turned into that of a sharp, snarling cat. No, why is that guy suddenly jumping in? Though, I do love seeing her as a sharp cat. I surreptitiously glared at Lloyd and cursed him in my head.
“Yoooour Hiiiighneeeess!”
At my shout, not only Lloyd but also Caroline and Pere gave a start, looking shocked. It was absolutely not something I should do, but I cheekily cut off Lloyd’s words. I couldn’t just stand by while he kept criticizing Pere. In fact, I was confident that if Lloyd got angry at me, Pere would act as my shield.
“It is presumptuous of me to say, Your Highness, but I believe the conversation between us ladies would be better kept among ourselves.”
I mimicked the dramatic tone that had become a trend in my original world, using a deep voice with diaphragmatic breathing. Pere, who had been looking at me with an absurd expression, burst into a laugh. It was the first time I’d heard her laugh so heartily, so my eyes widened automatically. I stared at the joyful Pere, and soon, her laughter became contagious, and I laughed along with her.
“Lady Brensia, are you daring to mock me?”
At that moment, Lloyd said to me with a stony face. Since he couldn’t openly scold Pere for laughing, he seemed to be picking on me as the easier target.
But who was my sister?
“That’s enough, Your Highness.”
She was the infamous villainess of this era, Pere Mackenzie, who threw Lloyd’s own words right back at him. I cheered inwardly as I watched Pere mimic Lloyd’s tone and glare at him. Wow! That’s it, exactly! Seeing the coolness of Pere from the book in real life was a thrilling, proud experience that was hard to describe in words.
Lloyd glared at Pere as if he wanted to kill her. The current Crown Prince couldn’t treat Pere too harshly; it was only after he became an adult and his position was completely solidified that he began to torment her in earnest. But perhaps because Caroline was present, today’s Lloyd felt a bit more intense than usual.
“To begin with, you were the one who started picking a fight over nothing, Lady.”
“I did?”
“Did you not speak as if inviting a Viscount’s daughter to a Baron’s estate was a discourtesy?”
“Is it not a discourtesy? To call her over without even sending a formal invitation, based on personal connections?”
As Pere glanced at Caroline while speaking, Caroline’s face stiffened.
“One would think the Duke never once invited me, the Crown Prince, to the Duchy.”
“Is my father inviting Your Highness the same thing as this?”
“Are you trying to say they are different?”
“Truly, it seems your eyes are covered by something, preventing you from seeing anything. My father’s business and this matter have fundamentally different contexts, Your Highness.”
“The fundamental core—that you are deliberately harassing Lady Caroline—is no different. Do you think I don’t know that the day you used the Duke to invite me to the Duchy was a ploy to keep me from meeting Lady Caroline?”
At Lloyd’s words, Pere’s face stiffened for a moment.
“A ploy, you say.”
Seeing the look on Pere’s face as if she were about to cry, I couldn’t hold back any longer and stood up abruptly.
“Your Highness! I have something I must tell you!”
Caroline looked at me in surprise, and Pere, with the tears gone from her face, asked, “What do you have to say?” but I continued to stare intently into Lloyd’s blue eyes.
“It is something you will definitely regret later if you do not speak with me.”
At my words, a cold aura settled over Lloyd’s face. Fortunately, Lloyd approved the private audience. After I signaled to Pere, who was bewildered and didn’t know what was going on, that everything was fine, I followed him into a room at the very back of the cafe. This place was equipped with soundproofing magic, so it was a spot often visited for important transactions.
“Well, what is this thing I would regret not hearing?”
The moment he sat down, Lloyd asked, looking as if his mind was still on Pere and Caroline. He was definitely worried about what Caroline would suffer at the hands of Pere. It must be because he’s anxious to see what I’ll show him. Since he only has a certain degree of fondness for Caroline so far, he must have agreed to the private audience I requested.
Hmm, what should I do? Since the only reason I brought Lloyd out was that dragging Pere or Caroline along would have made my position awkward, I hadn’t really thought of what to say.
So, at his question, I just stared at him wordlessly, with a look that suggested I had something very important to say.
“What is it you wish to say, Young Lady?”
Lloyd asked, his beautiful face slightly creased.