“Phew…”
Rudrick let out a sigh that came from deep within his chest.
“Really… she… likes that?”
His face was indescribably dark now, and the division commanders in front of him were silent, staring at each other in silence.
However, none of them dared to argue against his words, and his face became even more grim.
The reason for this sudden somber mood was simple.
What had suddenly become so dark was simple, the methods that the division commanders had so confidently proclaimed as the answer had exceeded his imagination.
‘How on earth…’
Still, their first words were plausible.
“After all, the best way to attract the opposite gender is to do something they like.”
Rudrick felt a glimmer of hope when he heard that.
He hadn’t expected anything, simply to hear what they had to say, but the division commanders were making more sense than he had expected.
Feeling more confident, the division commanders spoke up.
“Well, we’ve been visiting Duke Averine’s estate for some time now, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we didn’t know this would happen, but we’ve seen and heard things from her side.”
“Especially the ones you’ve gotten to know.”
As she uttered the last word, Ruth Fedex glanced at someone.
“Isn’t that right?”
It was Leona Selvig, looking as proud as ever, “Of course. I don’t think anyone is as close to the princess as I am.”
At that, Rudrick couldn’t help but give her an expectant glance, even as he muttered his displeasure.
Leona was, as she said, the closest person to Dahlia among the four commanders.
She was also the person in the room who had talked to her the most. As such, she was bound to know her well.
Perhaps even something he didn’t know.
And then, as if to fulfill his expectations, Leona said, “I happen to have overheard something that the Princess likes to say.”
Leona’s words raised Rudrick’s hopes even higher.
And as if that weren’t enough, one of the division commanders, who had been sending sparkling glances her way, quickly asked, “What is it?”
No one in the room, not even Rudrick, could take their eyes off her, pretending not to.
After a few moments of waiting. She hesitated before answering, seemingly hesitating uncharacteristically.
“Um… I mean.”
“Yeah.”
“This is kind of hard, but let’s just pretend here that the princess is in front of me.”
“What?”
Leona looked a little nervous as she said that, and Rudrick, who was watching her, felt a pang of anxiety rise in his stomach. He was torn between stopping her now or later.
Leona spoke earnestly, “It’s only pretty when you look closely… It’s only lovely if you look long enough…”
Then, pretending, she held up a finger in front of her.
“You’re just lovely.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
An uncomfortable silence passed.
No one dared to speak. Everyone seemed confused about whether what they had heard was real, and if so, how they should react.
Ethan Miller, the most outspoken of them all, muttered to himself.
“Are you crazy…?”
That was exactly what Rudrick wanted to say.
“What, don’t you kind of like it?”
“Objectively speaking, it’s pretty lame, right? I mean, is this even her favorite thing to say in the first place?”
Yeah, that’s what I wanted to know, how could even the sassy Dahlia like something this insane…
“Yep. She’s even made a special book of those excerpts and kept them.”
Well, I see.
‘Dahlia…’
Rudrick closed his eyes tightly as he felt his mind spinning.
And he wasn’t the only one who felt it, as the division commanders, who had been brimming with confidence just moments before, were busy looking at each other in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
It was Ruth Fedex, the Knights’ voice of reason, who was the first to come to his senses.
“The princess… she likes that sort of thing.”
“I mean… The flirty remarks, that sort of thing?”
“Ah… I mean, is that what your Excellency… should do?”
The division commanders looked back at Rudrick at the same time, and when he made a frown, they looked away again.
“Aye, but that’s a bit of a…”
“Oh, you’re right, and no matter how much you like the Princess, it’s not like we’re supposed to follow her lead…”
Someone interrupted.
“Why don’t we come up with our own?”
Thus, the world’s most frightening state meeting.
It was also the beginning of a mess.
“How about this, Your Excellency, Your Excellency, everything is perfect, but I just want you to fix this one thing.”
“…”
“My heart…”
“That’s gross!”
Leona, who’d had her fill of conversions, snapped, glaring at Ethan.
“Then what’s so great about you!”
“Who’s pulling that old-school period piece crap? It’s got to be a little novel to work these days, like, you know, a concept with amnesia or something…”
“What?”
“Watch this.”
Clearing his throat, Ethan looked back at Rudrick intently.
“You know, Your Excellency, there’s a whole thing about people who are so good-looking that they lose their memories, or something like that, right? Oh, and you know what else? There’s an entire thing about people who are so handsome that they lose their memories, which is frankly ridiculous, right? Oh, and you know what else? There’s a whole thing about people who are so hot that they lose their memories…”
“…”
Ethan trailed off as Rudrick stared at him, unable to finish his sentence.
Leona, who looked at him pitifully, clicked her tongue and gave him an affectionate pinch.
“It’s too long, and His Excellency doesn’t like it. Your working sentences must be short and bold to be memorable…”
“But yours is too old.”
“What’s wrong with mine, Your Excellency, honestly, I was better?”
“Well, sir… I think you should stop…”
Rudrick felt the ropes of reason slowly slipping away, and Michel Dimitri, who was watching his every move, tried to stop them, but to no avail.
When Rudrick, impatient, tried to overturn the desk.
Ruth Fedex, who had been pondering in the corner, finally stepped forward.
“Stop, you’re making His Excellency uncomfortable.”
Rudrick loosened his grip on the tabletop. His stomach churned at the thought of what he’d been doing all this time when he should have been out here drying off.
At least there was one sane person in this mess, he thought, finally calming himself.
Yeah, now if he could just calm down the frantic division commanders and get them out of here, he could put his mind at ease and get some work done…
“Your Excellency, I’ve been thinking about it.”
For a moment, Rudrick’s face went rigid.
Honestly, I had no hope for them anymore, and I wished they would just shut up and leave.
But here he was, standing before Rudrick, and he was so sickeningly sincere that Rudrick gave him the benefit of the doubt and said, “What is it?”
“Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard of this working among the ladies lately.”
Rudrick’s body leaned in at the more normal introduction.
“Your Excellency, I’ve been selling something lately, would you like to buy it?”
“What?”
Ruth Fedex whispered covertly, “A glance at Your Excellency…”
Rudrick calmly pointed to the door.
“Get out!”
In the end, I’d gotten my ass kicked by Jeron every which way.
Jeron, who had finally heard my last trick, smiled benevolently and then proceeded to rip apart my best preparation, 101 Ways to Seduce Lord River.
I stared at him in disbelief, then grabbed the shredded paper and cried out in frustration.
‘The methods I have worked so hard to gather…’
‘You’d be better off sitting still.’
‘No, why?!’
Jeron gave me a confused look, then sighed heavily. Then asked in all seriousness.
‘Think about it. Do you think you’d fall for me if I said something like that to you?’
‘Uh… I don’t know.’
‘Okay, listen. You’re perfect in everything, but you don’t have that one thing.’
‘…?’
‘A man named me.’
‘I guess I shouldn’t.’ I replied seriously, with a look of realization on my face.
‘…’
Jeron looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at my firm answer.
Still, because of Jeron, I was able to give up rather quickly.
Honestly, the time I spent trying to figure out how to do this wasn’t wasted.
But if he was right, and I said a stupid thing and made things irreparably awkward between me and Lord River, that was one thing.
‘So how do I flirt with him?’
Needless to say, I was once again in deep trouble.
But I had too little time to figure out the right way, and the next thing I knew, it was departure day.
Soon I was standing at the entrance to the mansion.
Having already said farewell to my parents. It was the first time I had traveled so far by myself, and they were worried.
Especially my father, who held me back for a while and gave me a series of nagging instructions that started with ‘Don’t get sick, take care of yourself, eat well…’
Later on, I would find myself in a situation where I was appeasing him, and I would think to myself, ‘I’ve grown up like a plant in a greenhouse’.
Rudrick has re-routed his path to the north to accompany me, and he’s even coming to pick me up today.
‘I feel a little sorry for him…’
‘Will it be okay?’ I was worried, but also kind of excited.
In novels, the main characters are always traveling.
By carriage, on horseback, by boat. They stop in small towns along the way, stay in inns, and, in some cases, sleep on the streets.
Most of all, I was looking forward to…
‘How love blooms when traveling!’
If we’re traveling together, we’ll naturally have more contact.
Maybe all the flirting I’ve been doing has been for naught.
There’s no better way to bond than through hardship and adversity.
‘Okay.’
I pressed down on my heaving chest and stared straight ahead.
I’d be meeting Lord River soon. Did I mention that Rudrick has organized a special retinue just for me?
Someone of my caliber would be included in it. No, perhaps he applied for it himself. He wanted to be by my side, protecting me…
“Hmph.”
Hestia and one of my handmaidens stared at me strangely as I flared my nostrils, but I couldn’t stop laughing.
And when I saw a group of them in the distance, my heart began to beat uncontrollably.
Just a little longer, a bit longer, and then…!
“Phew…”
Rudrick let out a sigh that came from deep within his chest.
“Really… she… likes that?”
His face was indescribably dark now, and the division commanders in front of him were silent, staring at each other in silence.
However, none of them dared to argue against his words, and his face became even more grim.
The reason for this sudden somber mood was simple.
What had suddenly become so dark was simple, the methods that the division commanders had so confidently proclaimed as the answer had exceeded his imagination.
‘How on earth…’
Still, their first words were plausible.
“After all, the best way to attract the opposite gender is to do something they like.”
Rudrick felt a glimmer of hope when he heard that.
He hadn’t expected anything, simply to hear what they had to say, but the division commanders were making more sense than he had expected.
Feeling more confident, the division commanders spoke up.
“Well, we’ve been visiting Duke Averine’s estate for some time now, haven’t we?”
“Yes, we didn’t know this would happen, but we’ve seen and heard things from her side.”
“Especially the ones you’ve gotten to know.”
As she uttered the last word, Ruth Fedex glanced at someone.
“Isn’t that right?”
It was Leona Selvig, looking as proud as ever, “Of course. I don’t think anyone is as close to the princess as I am.”
At that, Rudrick couldn’t help but give her an expectant glance, even as he muttered his displeasure.
Leona was, as she said, the closest person to Dahlia among the four commanders.
She was also the person in the room who had talked to her the most. As such, she was bound to know her well.
Perhaps even something he didn’t know.
And then, as if to fulfill his expectations, Leona said, “I happen to have overheard something that the Princess likes to say.”
Leona’s words raised Rudrick’s hopes even higher.
And as if that weren’t enough, one of the division commanders, who had been sending sparkling glances her way, quickly asked, “What is it?”
No one in the room, not even Rudrick, could take their eyes off her, pretending not to.
After a few moments of waiting. She hesitated before answering, seemingly hesitating uncharacteristically.
“Um… I mean.”
“Yeah.”
“This is kind of hard, but let’s just pretend here that the princess is in front of me.”
“What?”
Leona looked a little nervous as she said that, and Rudrick, who was watching her, felt a pang of anxiety rise in his stomach. He was torn between stopping her now or later.
Leona spoke earnestly, “It’s only pretty when you look closely… It’s only lovely if you look long enough…”
Then, pretending, she held up a finger in front of her.
“You’re just lovely.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
An uncomfortable silence passed.
No one dared to speak. Everyone seemed confused about whether what they had heard was real, and if so, how they should react.
Ethan Miller, the most outspoken of them all, muttered to himself.
“Are you crazy…?”
That was exactly what Rudrick wanted to say.
“What, don’t you kind of like it?”
“Objectively speaking, it’s pretty lame, right? I mean, is this even her favorite thing to say in the first place?”
Yeah, that’s what I wanted to know, how could even the sassy Dahlia like something this insane…
“Yep. She’s even made a special book of those excerpts and kept them.”
Well, I see.
‘Dahlia…’
Rudrick closed his eyes tightly as he felt his mind spinning.
And he wasn’t the only one who felt it, as the division commanders, who had been brimming with confidence just moments before, were busy looking at each other in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
It was Ruth Fedex, the Knights’ voice of reason, who was the first to come to his senses.
“The princess… she likes that sort of thing.”
“I mean… The flirty remarks, that sort of thing?”
“Ah… I mean, is that what your Excellency… should do?”
The division commanders looked back at Rudrick at the same time, and when he made a frown, they looked away again.
“Aye, but that’s a bit of a…”
“Oh, you’re right, and no matter how much you like the Princess, it’s not like we’re supposed to follow her lead…”
Someone interrupted.
“Why don’t we come up with our own?”
Thus, the world’s most frightening state meeting.
It was also the beginning of a mess.
“How about this, Your Excellency, Your Excellency, everything is perfect, but I just want you to fix this one thing.”
“…”
“My heart…”
“That’s gross!”
Leona, who’d had her fill of conversions, snapped, glaring at Ethan.
“Then what’s so great about you!”
“Who’s pulling that old-school period piece crap? It’s got to be a little novel to work these days, like, you know, a concept with amnesia or something…”
“What?”
“Watch this.”
Clearing his throat, Ethan looked back at Rudrick intently.
“You know, Your Excellency, there’s a whole thing about people who are so good-looking that they lose their memories, or something like that, right? Oh, and you know what else? There’s an entire thing about people who are so handsome that they lose their memories, which is frankly ridiculous, right? Oh, and you know what else? There’s a whole thing about people who are so hot that they lose their memories…”
“…”
Ethan trailed off as Rudrick stared at him, unable to finish his sentence.
Leona, who looked at him pitifully, clicked her tongue and gave him an affectionate pinch.
“It’s too long, and His Excellency doesn’t like it. Your working sentences must be short and bold to be memorable…”
“But yours is too old.”
“What’s wrong with mine, Your Excellency, honestly, I was better?”
“Well, sir… I think you should stop…”
Rudrick felt the ropes of reason slowly slipping away, and Michel Dimitri, who was watching his every move, tried to stop them, but to no avail.
When Rudrick, impatient, tried to overturn the desk.
Ruth Fedex, who had been pondering in the corner, finally stepped forward.
“Stop, you’re making His Excellency uncomfortable.”
Rudrick loosened his grip on the tabletop. His stomach churned at the thought of what he’d been doing all this time when he should have been out here drying off.
At least there was one sane person in this mess, he thought, finally calming himself.
Yeah, now if he could just calm down the frantic division commanders and get them out of here, he could put his mind at ease and get some work done…
“Your Excellency, I’ve been thinking about it.”
For a moment, Rudrick’s face went rigid.
Honestly, I had no hope for them anymore, and I wished they would just shut up and leave.
But here he was, standing before Rudrick, and he was so sickeningly sincere that Rudrick gave him the benefit of the doubt and said, “What is it?”
“Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard of this working among the ladies lately.”
Rudrick’s body leaned in at the more normal introduction.
“Your Excellency, I’ve been selling something lately, would you like to buy it?”
“What?”
Ruth Fedex whispered covertly, “A glance at Your Excellency…”
Rudrick calmly pointed to the door.
“Get out!”
In the end, I’d gotten my ass kicked by Jeron every which way.
Jeron, who had finally heard my last trick, smiled benevolently and then proceeded to rip apart my best preparation, 101 Ways to Seduce Lord River.
I stared at him in disbelief, then grabbed the shredded paper and cried out in frustration.
‘The methods I have worked so hard to gather…’
‘You’d be better off sitting still.’
‘No, why?!’
Jeron gave me a confused look, then sighed heavily. Then asked in all seriousness.
‘Think about it. Do you think you’d fall for me if I said something like that to you?’
‘Uh… I don’t know.’
‘Okay, listen. You’re perfect in everything, but you don’t have that one thing.’
‘…?’
‘A man named me.’
‘I guess I shouldn’t.’ I replied seriously, with a look of realization on my face.
‘…’
Jeron looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at my firm answer.
Still, because of Jeron, I was able to give up rather quickly.
Honestly, the time I spent trying to figure out how to do this wasn’t wasted.
But if he was right, and I said a stupid thing and made things irreparably awkward between me and Lord River, that was one thing.
‘So how do I flirt with him?’
Needless to say, I was once again in deep trouble.
But I had too little time to figure out the right way, and the next thing I knew, it was departure day.
Soon I was standing at the entrance to the mansion.
Having already said farewell to my parents. It was the first time I had traveled so far by myself, and they were worried.
Especially my father, who held me back for a while and gave me a series of nagging instructions that started with ‘Don’t get sick, take care of yourself, eat well…’
Later on, I would find myself in a situation where I was appeasing him, and I would think to myself, ‘I’ve grown up like a plant in a greenhouse’.
Rudrick has re-routed his path to the north to accompany me, and he’s even coming to pick me up today.
‘I feel a little sorry for him…’
‘Will it be okay?’ I was worried, but also kind of excited.
In novels, the main characters are always traveling.
By carriage, on horseback, by boat. They stop in small towns along the way, stay in inns, and, in some cases, sleep on the streets.
Most of all, I was looking forward to…
‘How love blooms when traveling!’
If we’re traveling together, we’ll naturally have more contact.
Maybe all the flirting I’ve been doing has been for naught.
There’s no better way to bond than through hardship and adversity.
‘Okay.’
I pressed down on my heaving chest and stared straight ahead.
I’d be meeting Lord River soon. Did I mention that Rudrick has organized a special retinue just for me?
Someone of my caliber would be included in it. No, perhaps he applied for it himself. He wanted to be by my side, protecting me…
“Hmph.”
Hestia and one of my handmaidens stared at me strangely as I flared my nostrils, but I couldn’t stop laughing.
And when I saw a group of them in the distance, my heart began to beat uncontrollably.
Just a little longer, a bit longer, and then…!
