n

n

nThe maid wrung their hair again and brought in a vase from outside.

nRieta and Noel briefly breathed, tense, because that vase was the same precious vase that they had glued a note on before.

nWas there still glue residue on it?

nFortunately, they were still awake, for the maid brought a bouquet wrapped in thin paper and decorated the vase beautifully.

n“Whoa….”

nRieta was deeply impressed.

nIt was amazing for such big and pretty flowers to bloom in winter.

n“Are there no flowers in the kingdom?”

n“There are. We give them to people we like.”

nThe maid laughed at Rieta’s story and said, “The people of the empire do too, my princess.”

n

n

nOf course, Rieta knew of it.

nShe remembered the male protagonist giving flowers to the female protagonist several times.

nIn particular, his wintertime bouquets were quite romantic. It was normal to cherish a gift that was hard to come by.

n“These are the flowers that the Duke himself picked from the royal garden. They’re to be used as decorations. I guess he wanted to show it to the princess and young master.”

nThe Duke was so romantic.

nIn fact, she thought it wouldn’t be too off to liken him to the lead of a romance novel.

nHe showed kindness towards children and stayed faithful to one lady.

nIf Noel was such a duke, he would definitely catch his beloved female lead.

n“The Duke is really romantic.”

nRieta said so, looking at Noel with a gaze of hope.

n‘Learn from this. This is exactly what you need.’

nDid her desperate stare work?

nNoel, concentrating on Rieta, nodded slightly.

n‘He understood!’

nRieta, deeply moved, almost hugged the angelic Noel.

nSoon he blushed slightly, fiddled with his cheeks, and answered.

n“Yes, that’s right. My father is romantic.”

n“Right? I think so, too!”

nRieta looked at him with a face that asked for him to say more, like ‘I want to be like my father.’

n“That’s right. He’s really cool.”

n“Right, so what did you feel from the Duke?”

n“……Uh, my father is the best?”

n“……”

nRieta sighed heavily at Noel’s conclusion.

nHow could he not connect the dots? The road to seduction was too long.

n******

nSince then, Rieta and Noel dozed off in front of the stove.

nIt was exhausting to play outside on a snowy day.

nThe Duke, who came to the family room bearing a letter from the Kingdom, hesitated for a moment.

nHe was sorry that he couldn’t wake the two children up because they were sleeping happily on each other.

n“…Duke?”

nSuddenly, Rieta woke up, slowly rubbing her eyes.

n“Apologies. I interrupted your sleep.”

n“Uh, it’s not… I was about to get up.”

n“You should, because you have to sleep at night.”

nThe Duke sat face to face with Rieta and took out a soft handkerchief.

n“You must have drunk hot chocolate.”

n“Yes?”

nRieta thought ‘What do you mean?’, but soon, she understood.

nThe Duke carefully wiped Rieta’s mouth with a handkerchief.

n“Uh..”

nRieta flushed with embarrassment.

nEven Noel, who was sleeping next to her, had chocolate on his mouth.

nJust as Noel woke up, the duke wiped his son’s face clean.

n“I’m here to give you a message, Princess.”

n“…To me?”

nHe nodded, somewhat hesitant, but soon handed her a letter.

nRieta recognized the name in Kingdom text on it at once.

n“…..!”

nThe Duke carefully observed how Rieta’s expression changed.

nHe had been worried that the sender would ruin Rieta’s mood, but it didn’t seem so.

nRieta’s face brightened at once after she checked the letter.

nShe rushed to open it.

n“That must be a nice letter.”

n“Very, very much!”

n

n

n“I’m glad you’re happy.”

nThe rumpled, thin letter began with a friendly greeting.

n‘Princess Rieta, whom I have missed, how are you doing?’

nRieta just read one sentence, but her friendly voice seemed to ring in Rieta’s ears. The sweetness of sugar came to mind.

nAh, what would she do?

nRieta hugged the letter unconsciously, her heart souring.

n*****

nThe letter sent by Rieta’s maid was mixed with bad news and good news.

nFirst of all, the bad news was that King Liz had a new concubine. This was to be expected.

nHe even planned to establish an institution to select beautiful women.

n