By Zephyria 
As the office door opened, another attendant entered. In his arms, he carried a pile of parchment tied with a string. Naturally, one would expect him to head towards Alexis’s desk, but surprisingly, he walked over to Cecile.
“What is it?”
As the stack of parchment tumbled onto the desk, a gruff remark escaped Cecile’s lips. The attendant fidgeted and delivered his message.
“Um… it’s about the debutante ball preparations. It seems that you, Cecile, will have to take charge.”
“Debutante? I thought that was under the Empress’s purview?”
“Due to Her Majesty’s illness, she said it would be difficult for her to prepare the ball. She entrusted everything to His Highness Alexis, but as you know, His Highness has a lot on his plate… He suggested that it would be better if you handled it.”
The attendant, relaying the message he had heard, was sweating profusely, looking pitiful as he hunched his shoulders from the pressure of the situation.
“Are you sure this is what he wants?”
“Yes. How could I lie about this?”
Cecile quickly grasped the situation.
His mother was using her illness as an excuse to pass the event onto busy Alexis, and Alexis had in turn passed it onto him. It was likely because he had previously prepared a banquet.
There was no way Alexis would trust him. This was akin to a test.
If he managed to prepare this debutante ball without a hitch, it would reveal his exceptional abilities, causing Alexis to keep a closer watch on him.
Even if he were to fail, Alexis would not suffer any loss. It would merely prove that Cecile’s abilities were still lacking, and he was not yet fit to handle significant tasks.
Losing the Emperor’s trust was one thing, but the real problem was losing Alexis’s trust as well. If he botched the debutante ball, Alexis would never rely on him again.
“…No matter what, there’s no benefit for me in this.”
Cecile crossed his arms and glared at the innocent pile of parchment. He had to keep his mind racing to weigh the outcomes of his choices.
Suddenly, he straightened up and picked up a piece of parchment. He untied the leather string and began to unfurl the rolled-up paper.
The debutante ball had historically been overseen by the Empress, so Cecile had no prior knowledge of it. Since he was merely taking over midway, he could probably just add a few touches to what was already prepared…
As he read through the contents, Cecile’s eyes twitched violently. His expression darkened significantly compared to earlier.
Cecile unwrapped another piece of parchment. It was no different. Everything was just a formal outline, with almost no substantial content.
“Is this really all you brought?”
“…This is all the information we received from the Empress’s palace. I swear.”
The attendant replied, looking thoroughly intimidated. As he sent a pleading glance for Cecile to understand his innocence, Cecile pressed his forehead into his palm and slumped back into his chair.
“You really meant to do this.”
At this point, it was clear that the materials had been intentionally omitted. It was obvious that Alexis had planned to put him in a difficult position. Did he realize that this scheme had backfired and landed squarely on his own son?
Cecile rubbed his furrowed brow gently. From participant counts to budget assessments and sending out invitations, nothing was prepared, and he was already feeling overwhelmed.
A sigh escaped his lips involuntarily.
“How many days until the debutante ball?”
“Ten days from now.”
“Wow, this is insane.”
Hearing the attendant’s words, Cecile’s lethargic body sprang up. There was no time for contemplation or even to sigh.
Cecile pulled out a piece of paper from his drawer and dipped a quill into a black inkpot. He then began to write furiously.
“Go to the library immediately and bring back everything listed here.”
The attendant gasped. The list on the paper seemed endless.
“All of this?”
“Don’t miss anything. And contact the chief treasurer of the royal household to clear his schedule for tomorrow morning. It’s urgent, so if he has prior engagements, tell him to postpone them.”
The attendant nodded quickly. The previously lazy individual suddenly changed his demeanor, and he too felt the urgency.
After the attendant hurriedly left the office, Cecile ordered all his attendants to come in. His commands were so sharp that the Crown Prince’s attendants had no choice but to comply immediately.
Alexis emerged from the reception room about an hour later.
The discussion regarding the knight order had taken longer than expected, causing a significant delay. Despite his somewhat hurried steps, his expression was quite bright.
Curious about how his younger brother was handling the crisis, a smile of uncontainable joy spread across his face.
The doorkeeper saluted as the Crown Prince approached and quickly opened the office door. As Alexis stepped inside, he froze in surprise at the unexpected scene.
Inside the office, unfamiliar attendants were bustling about. Some were frequently carrying letters, while others were making a commotion moving heavy books.
Cecile stood by the window, flipping through a book and reciting names, while an attendant sitting at the desk in his stead hurriedly wrote them down. Next to him, another attendant pressed down on a densely written paper to dry the wet ink.
“Magnus Severin, the second son of Count Severin; James Locke, the third son of Marquis Locke; Yelena Anska, the eldest daughter of Marquis Anska; Cornelia Havel, the eldest daughter of Duke Havel.”
“Whoa! Cecile, could you slow down a bit…?”
“Where did you get to?”
“I’ve written down to the third son of Marquis Locke.”
“Why are you so slow? Are you trying to keep me up all night?”
“I’m really… doing my best to write it down.”
Leo, the head attendant, pleaded with a downcast voice, his eyebrows furrowed. Cecile suppressed his rising irritation and let out a deep sigh. The gust of air ruffled his dark brown bangs.
“Do you want to switch places with me?”
“Ah, no.”
Leo recoiled in shock. While he wasn’t illiterate, he certainly didn’t have the confidence to skim through the noble directory as quickly as Cecile could. If he switched, he would undoubtedly receive an even harsher reprimand.
“We’re out of time. Just write the titles in abbreviations and use numbers for the ranks. Just mark the gender with a check and move on.”
“Yes!”
“Let me repeat. Don’t miss anything. James Locke, the third son of Marquis Locke; Yelena Anska, the eldest daughter of Marquis Anska; Cornelia Havel, the eldest daughter of Duke Havel; Viktor Isaac, the eldest son of Count Isaac.”
Considering Leo’s situation, Cecile slowed down his pace a bit. With Cecile’s advice, Leo was able to write down the names much more easily.
On the surface, it seemed like the easiest task, but in reality, Cecile was the busiest among them.
He was checking birth dates from the thick noble directory, which was as thick as an adult’s palm, and selecting only those who were coming of age. He was combining the titles, ranks, and names, keeping his eyes and mind constantly working.
Given his personality, Cecile would have preferred to write the list himself, but there was no time.
To prepare for the event, the first step was to ascertain the number of participants. He needed to send invitations to everyone and receive their responses along with the names of their companions before he could proceed to the next steps.
He planned to send out the invitations today and expected to receive replies within at least three days. In the meantime, he aimed to assess the budget and negotiate with the treasurer.
After that, well, he would just have to gather all the capable talents from the palace and whip them into shape.
While reading the directory and formulating plans, Cecile was so engrossed that he didn’t even notice when the Crown Prince entered the office. Alexis, quietly observing the busy Cecile, turned his gaze to his own attendants who were huddled together.
They were diligently writing letters, heads bent together. Alexis picked up an invitation that had just been completed.
“Did you all write this letter?”
“No, Your Highness. Cecile drafted the template for us. We merely copied the names from the list.”
“Directly? Without any help?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Even upon closer inspection, the content was impeccable.
The brief letter contained a concise yet elegant and polite greeting, clearly stating the message.
At the end, there was a threat that if a reply was not sent within three days, it would be considered as a refusal to attend the debutante ball, but even that was wrapped in courteous language to avoid offending the reader.
An involuntary chuckle escaped him at the unexpected talent displayed.
As he tossed the letter back onto the table, his eyes met Cecile’s. Realizing that Alexis had arrived, Cecile’s previously furrowed brow suddenly turned to one of surprise.
Cecile hugged a thick book tightly to his chest. The relaxed posture he had been leaning against the window frame straightened up.
“Welcome.”
“Is everything going well with the preparations?”
“Yes, somewhat.”
Cecile’s eyes darted around busily. Now that he noticed the chaos that had transformed his office during Alexis’s brief absence, he felt overwhelmed.
“Your Highness, I apologize for the mess I’ve caused. Should I step aside?”
“No, don’t worry about it. You can continue here. After all, I need the help of my attendants too, don’t I?”
“That is true, but….”
While Cecile was deep in thought, Alexis stepped behind his desk. With a flick of his finger, the head attendant discreetly set up a partition. As the prominent figure disappeared from view, Cecile finally managed to exhale the breath he had been holding.
Realizing how much time had passed, he refocused and opened the book he had been holding. There was no room for distractions at this moment.
“Leo, we don’t have much time left. Let’s finish this and take a short break.”
“Yes!”
The sound of names being rapidly recited and the hurried scratching of the quill filled the office.
On the other side of the partition, Alexis leaned back in his chair, listening intently to the sounds while lost in thought.