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n. . . He couldn’t find a good reason as to why Rieta shouldn’t be making friends.

n“You don’t need any other friends besides me!”

nAt his cry, Rieta opened her eyes wide and tilted her head slightly.

n‘To hear Noel speak so childishly . . .Well, he was still young.

nSo Rieta decided to answer according to his level.

n“But Noel has a lot of friends besides me, right? That is unfair.”

n“If you want to use a difficult word, pronounce it right. Why do you say ‘unfair’ with that flat pronunciation?”

n“Because it is unfair. Noel is always writing letters to Count McLean. You do have friends besides me, don’t you?”

n“You, you . . . !”

nWhen the word ‘McLean’ came out of Rieta’s mouth, Noel was so startled that he jumped to his feet.

n“How do you know, Count, Count McLean!”

nMoreover, the pronunciation was surprisingly accurate.

nAs though she had called that name many times.

n“I saw it.”

n“Did you peek at my letter?!”

n“I’m a Princess. I don’t do that.”

nShe had merely read what was written on the envelope in Noel’s hand.

n‘Hugh McLean’

nIn fact, when Rieta first read the name, she was unsurprised.

nShe knew that Hugh McLean, the male lead, and Noel Mayer, the supporting male lead, had been friends since childhood.

nBut actually witnessing the two of them exchanging letters . . . It was a little weird.

n“Anyway.”

nNoel looked at Rieta, wearing a wary face for some reason.

n“You can’t make friends just because someone’s a little friendly at the party.”

n“Then how do I make friends?”

n“Of course, it has to go through the Duchy’s strict scrutiny. You are now under the care of Duke Mayer.”

nThey will have to go through document screening, then three rounds of interviews.

nOf course, Noel intended to drop them all in the document screening.

n“Pfft~”

nRieta started to laugh a little at his words.

nHe was sincere, what’s so funny about it?

n“Oh, don’t laugh! It’s ‘simple’*!”

n“Simple?”

nHe cried out, covered his mouth and began weeping exaggeratedly. “Your flat, ugly pronunciation has been transferred to my graceful speech!”

n“Is it my fault?”

n“Then whose fault is it? I mean, who else around me has that flat pronunciation other than you?”

n“Then shall we play quietly? A puzzle or something.”

nNoel’s face turned blue at the word ‘puzzle’.

nHe still hadn’t found the piece of the wooden puzzle that Rieta had lent him.

n“Uh . . . Nope.”

nHe quickly waved his arms.

n“Let’s play while talking. You have to speak to improve your Imperial language.”

n“But the flat, ugly pronunciation is contagious.”

n“Who dares to make fun of your pronunciation? Who?!”

nAnd he suddenly began to defend Rieta’s pronunciation.

n“That’s a good pronunciation with the Kingdom vibe! It is something to be proud of as a Princess of a country!”

nFortunately, Noel knew how to defend the Kingdom’s pronunciation.

nAt his sudden change of attitude, Rieta narrowed her eyes and looked at him.

n“You know, Noel, I’ve felt it before.”

nHe would suddenly be kind when Rieta just said the word ‘puzzle’.

nHe would also be very noisy.

nUntil now, she used to use the word ‘puzzle’ partly because it was interesting.

nBut by this time, she started to wonder what was going on beyond that word.

nWhere else in the word ‘puzzle’ surprises him so much?

n“What did you say before? I’m a genius? I, I know!”

n“. . .”

nHe was trying so hard.

nIt seemed that he was somehow trying to avoid her interrogation, so Rieta decided to stop asking him questions.

nBesides, she could subdue Noel with a single word, so he could stay like this for the time being.

n“I know, Noel is a genius. You’ve already solved the puzzle I lent you, right?”

nWhen she asked that question, his face turned blue again.

nRieta thought Noel was cute, and she laughed again.

n* * *

nRieta hastened her preparations to meet the Princess.

nThe Duke passed on the story to the Imperial family so that Rieta could attend the birthday party.

nShe decided on her dress with the help of the maids.

nShe didn’t forget to take intensive lessons on ‘party etiquette’ with the teacher, of course.

nIt was really hard. It was much more difficult than Rieta had thought.

nIt carried meaning with every single little gesture, any eye contact.

nHow the hell do you memorize all this?

n“You don’t have to memorize everything. You just have to avoid behavior that is disrespectful.”

nThings like turning your head away when eyes meet and ignoring the other person.

nWith such simple manners, Rieta would be able to behave herself.

nThe preparations progressed so slowly, but there was still one thing.

nThe most important thing was not resolved.

nShe had yet not chosen the Princess’s birthday present.

n*) Rieta used to mispronounce ‘sincerity’, so I changed it to ‘simplicity’ since it’s slightly the same.

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