By Zephyria 
It wasn’t entirely my mistake.
Shayden Rose had met Marianne Philodendore first before coming to me.
She must have been quite good at keeping her mouth shut—so much so that even when Shayden Rose felt suspicious, she didn’t give him a proper answer. However, there was no way to explain why the party suddenly headed for the Oasis and then into the Indus Canyon without mentioning Mikael’s past life. No sane person enters the Indus Canyon while on a pilgrimage.
Furthermore, Mikael had been prone to slips of the tongue since childhood. There was even a cute rumor once that he had defeated a demon in a previous life, so that said it all. Even without definitive evidence, it was plausible for Shayden Rose, who had spent his childhood with him, to deduce it to some extent.
I realized too late why Shayden Rose had bothered to seek me out.
Knowing that I was keeping Philodendore’s mouth shut, he intended to provoke me to get hints, and then use my permission as a pretext to make the Young Lady open her mouth.
The reason I fell for such a trivial trick was that he called Mika by his nickname.
‘It is not only because of Young Master Ernhardt’s situation, but something I had already been considering. As the Grimsvein front is pushed further down, the anxiety of the Northeast Middle Noble Agreement, led by the Rose family, is increasing.’
‘⋯.’
‘Please do not consider it presumptuous and feel free to use it.’
And that, too, was part of Shayden Rose’s design.
I could no longer smile. Even if I wanted to refuse his request, I had no justifiable reason. If the Rose family took charge of the Grimsvein front, my own scope of activity would certainly widen.
The reason I let out some bullshit was out of sheer stubbornness, to shake off my feelings of frustration.
‘Very well. Thanks to this, I can finally try steering a ship myself.’
‘⋯Pardon?’
‘I mean I’ll play the captain instead of Mika. He’s conceded you to me.’
‘⋯Pardon?’
‘He said he doesn’t need a first navigator.’
‘⋯Ah⋯.’
⋯Honestly, I admit it. It was embarrassing.
That was the first time Shayden looked up at me. The puzzled smile that permeated his freckled face—fuck, it haunted me not just for that day, but for quite a long time. I hurried him away, but the pain brought on by excessive shame clouded my reason.
Unfortunately, that afternoon, I had a schedule I had to get through with Hestia Yeldidus.
Noticing that my state was different from usual, she suggested alcohol as a way to relieve the stifling feeling. At the time, I was quite angry and got drunk to the point where it was difficult to distinguish between what should and should not be said. Yeldidus cackled, enjoying my mistakes and misfortune.
Since she had caught my weakness, I figured I should catch hers as well, so I set up another appointment. She and I had similar alcohol tolerances and tastes in drinks, and our ways of thinking were alike. As much as I talked about Mikael, Yeldidus talked about Poplar Kiadris. It wasn’t bad.
Except when she dragged up things I wanted to forget as topics of conversation.
While appropriately ignoring her provocations, I saw the Yeldidus townhouse, marked with the silver carp crest, through the carriage window. Once I watched the Yeldidus family’s servants and maidservants escort her away and returned to the Imperial Palace, today’s schedule would be over.
However, even after the carriage stopped, Hestia Yeldidus did not get out. Instead, she beamed.
“Today?”
“⋯.”
The last time I drank with Yeldidus was three months ago. She claimed Poplar Kiadris had done something sly. That day, Yeldidus was very excited, overly agitated, and broke a bottle of Sylvanus Year 11 Oblie vintage wine produced 500 years ago.
Because I had mocked her a few times over that incident, it wasn’t even funny how she was immediately looking for an opportunity.
Knowing I would be teased, I couldn’t refuse immediately.
Mikael wasn’t coming anyway. Did he say he had an alumni gathering? Even if I wanted to go, I had no justification to barge in while he was hanging out with juniors from the next class, and I didn’t have the confidence to retreat quietly if I were rejected there as well.
As expected, it would be better to just get wasted and lie face down all day.
As I sighed and nodded, Yeldidus immediately opened the window toward the driver’s seat. The sound of Yeldidus’s maidservant climbing into the seat next to the driver and chatting greetings sounded distant.
Reception Room 11 of the Jade Palace was the place primarily used when having drinks with Yeldidus. It wasn’t a deep inner chamber, and it had a large window that didn’t open toward the hallway, so there was no risk of suspicious misunderstandings, and soundproofing magic was engraved in triple layers, so the sounds inside didn’t leak out.
The number of empty bottles on the silver tray had already reached double digits.
Since neither she nor I were the patient type to wait for someone else to pour the drinks, we sat with a bottle and a glass each in front of us.
As the flushed Yeldidus, drunk enough for her forehead to turn red, slammed the table, a few drops of alcohol splashed from her unfinished glass.
“No, I’m telling you, that’s definitely jealousy!”
“Do you know Mikael better than I do?”
“If I say yes, are you going to crack my skull?”
“Nonsense.”
“Until now, Lord Ernhardt might not have been jealous or whatever. But honestly, before going to the Yuil Mountains, I don’t think you liked the Prince very much.”
“No. Even then, Mika was already—”
“That’s why you followed him there, isn’t it? Because you couldn’t trust him. After that, only a small group traveled, so there was no one to be jealous of. Of course, you’re the kind of person who gives hell even to Lord Ernhardt’s childhood friend—pfft, childhood friend.”
“⋯Fuck.”
“Lord Ernhardt is generally good with people, so there’s no reason for him to be jealous of your friends? Those who aren’t even like friends. They’re all Lucilla’s type, so it’s obvious you find them tiring. But rumors of a lover having another partner are on a different level than those jokes.”
“That’s why I asked.”
“Honestly, was that asking? You were poking him.”
“⋯.”
“What’s the benefit for you to be rumored with me? You’re the person who even kidnapped reporters to stop those dog-like rumors. It would have been better to play the victim, saying all the scandals around you were rumors spread by the First Prince and my father and aren’t true, and that you’ll stop if he doesn’t like it. We did make full use of those rumors, but it’s not like they were complete lies, right?”
“⋯.”
“Because you lack certainty, because you’re anxious, you just poked him openly to see if he’d get jealous. And since it didn’t work, you just got pissed off and went crazy on your own.”
“Are you drunk?”
“A little? If I weren’t drunk, would I be a human or an Ogre? You’re drunk too, Your Highness. You’ve been saying ‘fuck’ every three minutes for a while now.”
“⋯.”
She was right. Cackling, Yeldidus finished her glass, scanned the table, and lifted the bell placed beside her to head height, ringing it.
The bell in Reception Room 11 makes no sound. However, the servants watching from outside the window quickly pushed in a tray with bottles of whiskey.
I watched silently as the slightly damp dried snacks were replaced with fresh ones.
While the servants were coming and going, neither Yeldidus nor I said a word. Instead of the lingering scent of aged whiskey, I wrinkled my nose at the refreshing air that drifted in through the briefly opened door. After a moment of silence, once the servants had all left, Yeldidus asked again.
“Now what are you going to do?”
“That’s why I went to Clemang today.”
“I obviously know what you’re trying to do. Take the land, tie down Lord Ernhardt, and then pull some tricks. But you know we have to catch our First Prince first, right? To catch Wesley, who will be stuck to his side, Lord Ernhardt has to be deployed.”
“⋯I know you’re worried the plan might go wrong, but Mika will do that much for me. In the first place, the reason his feelings for me cooled—”
“Cooled?”
I recalled the gaze that occasionally glared at me as if I were something unpleasant, the defensive posture with arms crossed, not showing me a single fingertip, and the tips of his toes stretched far away as if he would flee from this spot at any moment.
Mikael no longer smiled shyly at me, no longer licked his lips and swallowed hard, and no longer fidgeted with a desire to hold me, stroking the edge of the table instead. The Mikael who always watched my every glance and gesture with a yearning expression and worried about me was gone.
It felt as if the inside of my chest were being crushed, making it hard to breathe.
I didn’t want to speak anymore. Instead of answering, I refilled my glass.
Yeldidus let out a loud sigh, “Sigh,” and began to flutter her fan distractedly. When I made an annoyed clicking sound with my tongue, she started picking a fight again, telling me not to treat her like a dog.
After that, she babbled on about the crazy bastards who had been grating on her nerves lately, the families that needed to be crushed immediately, matters that had been appropriately resolved, and the current status of the various Duke, Marquis, Count, and Baron families.
The tray with alcohol bottles came and went a few more times.
As I sat drenched in a light buzz, it was bright outside the window.
Confirming that the sun had risen, Yeldidus let out a few alcohol-laden breaths and stood up. The sound of her saying, “I’m leaving now,” sounded faintly distant.
Should I have just one more glass before I lie down too? My hand, reaching for the bottle, grasped nothing. Thump, an empty bottle caught on the back of my hand and rolled under the table.
⋯Ah, I shouldn’t drink more. The moment I gave up and buried myself deep in the sofa.
The door burst open.
“⋯What is it?”
“Your Highness! Your Highness! It’s a disaster, a disaster!”
Did I ring the bell? No, I didn’t. The one who rudely flung open the reception room door and rushed in was Hestia Yeldidus’s maidservant, Evra Tishel.
Yeldidus must have tumbled down the stairs. With how much she drank, it was possible she passed out. As long as her neck wasn’t broken, it was none of my business. It would be better to call a doctor than come here, so why did she come?
As I sat up, rubbing my tired cheeks, her sharp voice pierced my ears.
“Young Master Ernhardt has arrived!”
“⋯What? What⋯.”
“He came with a huge bouquet of flowers! In the hallway! Lady Hestia and I! We almost—no, we nearly died! Please save our Young Duke!”
Startled, I bolted upright. My body swayed violently, but far from supporting me, Evra Tishel quickly stepped back three paces. It was the right choice. The mahogany chair I grabbed to steady myself had its backrest snap right off.
Brushing off the powdered wood fragments, I asked urgently.
“Where are they? Both of them.”
“Reception Room 2!”
I was about to run out immediately, but I lifted my sleeve and smelled it.
Just the shirt, let me just change the shirt. And wash my face a bit.
* * *
He really was there. Mikael, in my palace.
I had wondered, and it was true. A large bouquet of flowers sat beside Mikael. Just as he had once given me in the Withrow Duchy, it was an honest and unstylish bouquet, as if he had swept up every single flower in the flower shop.
Mikael had not forgotten me. The love he held for me had not cooled. So, his avoidance, his cold attitude, the way he glared at me⋯. It must have just been, truly, jealousy.
I had acted like an idiot, not realizing he had given me time to make an excuse. While I was being stupid, Mikael had overcome his upset heart and come all the way here.
Realizing that his feelings for me had not cooled, a sense of relief surged, and I felt like I might cry.
Hestia looked at me with a beaming smile.
As if saying, What did I tell you? I was right, wasn’t I?
I clenched and unclenched my tingling hand. In my dizzy vision, I saw Mikael looking back at me. Those blue eyes pierced straight into my face.
Ah, I think my face is a bit swollen right now. Slightly hiding my cheeks and mouth with my hand, I signaled Yeldidus. Get out, quickly.
At that, Yeldidus quickly grabbed both ends of her fan and rested it on her skirt. She was going to pretend she didn’t hear me? No, what on earth was she planning to say by staying here⋯. Trying to make my voice as gentle as possible, I tried to coax her.
“Um⋯. Why is the Young Lady still here and not leaving?”
“Why do you think? Because a certain knight I know was so heartbroken that he went through four rounds of drinks after the tea party ended.”
“Hestia!”
“Oh my. Is it alright for you to raise your voice so loudly in front of Lord Ernhardt?”
My temper flared at her detestable attitude. While I chewed and swallowed the curses that had risen to the tip of my throat, Mikael made room beside him. ⋯Really? ⋯This time, is the seat for me?
After staring for a moment, I obediently sat next to Mikael. Since he gave me the glass he had been drinking from, we even had an indirect kiss⋯.
While I was melting away, Yeldidus, in a cheerful voice clearly thick with alcohol, said something outrageous.
“What we talked about earlier is a secret, Lord Ernhardt.”
“Pardon? ⋯Ah, yes.”
“⋯.”
Even with a head clouded by alcohol, seeing her pull such a trivial trick was so ridiculous that the corners of my mouth twisted.
The world spun before my eyes. I was still dizzy.