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n“Sir Carsein?”

n“Ugh?”

nThe owner of that voice was Lady Whir. Behind her stood some of the young ladies following Lady Genoa. Carsein asked in an unusually hard tone, “Excuse me, who are you?”

n“I met you at the garden party at the Duke Verita’s mansion the other day. It seems you don’t remember me. My name is Kirina Se Whir.”

n“Did I see you there?”

n“Yes. I also went to the party celebrating Sir Carsein’s becoming a knight. ”

nSmiling at Carsein who was looking at her blankly, she turned to Sir Lars and bowed politely.

nShe looked at me and flinched for a moment, then casually bowed to me with a smile.

nEven though she didn’t know who she was, she also greeted Princess Frincia anyway and walked away, saying goodbye.

n“I think she is interested in you, Sir Carsein.”

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nAs she cracked a joke, Carsein replied with a shrug, “I’m not sure.”

n“Well, I think she is.”

n“Even if you think so, I am not interested in her anyway.”

n“Really? Then, what type of woman do you like? ”

nCarsein could have been surprised at her unexpected question, but he responded casually without hesitation, as if he had a ready-made answer.

n“I want a woman like a sword.”

n“Oh, you must be a born knight! A woman like a sword? I hope you can meet a good woman. ”

nAfter stopping for a moment, the princess looked at me with a meaningful smile. What the heck? ‘Why is she looking at me like that?’

n“Lady Monique?”

n“…Oh you’re late. It’s time to go back to the palace, Princess, ” I cut her off because I was feeling nervous somehow, she stood up with a smile. I and Carsein then stood up.

nHowever, Sir Lars wouldn’t move, still seated. He was thinking about something so deeply that Carsein called him several times before he hurriedly stood up with apologies.

n“I really had a good time today, Lady Monique. Please come to the palace where I am staying next time. ”

n“Okay. Please take care.”

n“I enjoyed it, Sir Carsein. Thank you very much. ”

n“See you next time, Princess.”

nUpon arriving at the assigned palace, Princess Frincia left with a wistful look and said goodbye to Carsein. As Sir Lars said he was on night duty, we left the two behind and headed back to the outer palace.

n“It was a long day.”

n“You bet.”

n“But Carsein, don’t you think Sir Lars looked a bit weird today?”

n“Did you also notice that? I don’t think his behavior today fitted him at all.”

n“As far as I know, he was always calm…”

n“If you found him weird, I think that’s it. How stupid, my brother!” Carsein said, clicking his tongue. When I tilted my head at his remarks, he smiled and stroked my hair.

n“Hey, don’t think about it, little girl.”

n“Little girl?”

n“Of course, you are a little girl in my eyes! You have to go a long way to become an adult.”

nNarrowing my eyes, I looked at him. I felt a bit upset when he smiled at me.

n‘Hey, I’m not a little girl. If I combine my age before I came back from the past, I’ve lived longer than you.’

nAlthough I mumbled, his remarks pricked at my conscience. Is it because my heart became young because I became young again? I felt I was still young when I found myself often doing things that the old me would never have done. Still, I think I behaved better in front of others, but when I was with Carsein, I felt like I was childish, which I couldn’t understand at all.

n“Aren’t you going back? You’re going to be late.”

n“Ah, okay.”

nI felt a bit uncomfortable, but I just thought if I was happy, I didn’t have to dwell on it.

nI kept pace with him and walked away.

n< Dear Lady Monique, Thank you very much for your kindness last time. I had a really good time. As an appreciation, I am sending you the specialty tea made in our kingdom. It is a small gift, but I hope you can accept it. See you again next time. Princia Frincia de Lua>

nA few days later, Princess Frincia sent me a small box with a letter. I was a bit puzzled why she was so kind to me, but I sent her a reply, along with tea leaves from my estate.

nWhen I sorted out all the letters, including the princess’s letter, LIia, who exclaimed with joy while looking at the prototype hairpin I received from Entea, asked as if she recalled something,

n“My lady, how about not ordering a new dress this time? I hear the banquet will last for five days in a row. ”

n“Well…”

n“Didn’t you receive a letter from the Imperial Palace around this time?”

n“… You bet.”

nI smiled awkwardly because I had nothing to say. Come to think of it, around this time of the years, the imperial palace asked me what color and style of clothes I would wear, but strangely enough, I was not notified this time. Does this mean that I no longer need to create a friendly atmosphere? In fact, there are rumors circulating about the crown prince breaking his engagement to me, and the princess candidates are also attending the party.

nAt the moment, I was delighted to think that I was finally getting free of him, but at the same time, I felt some mysterious regret in one corner of my heart, but I shook my head to shake off such idle thought.

n“Just pick an appropriate one.”

n“Don’t you want to order a new one? How about ordering a colorful dress this time?”

n“No, I’m fine. I already have a lot…”

nLina, trying to say something, quietly shut her eyes after checking my expression.

nWhile I was at it, I stopped by clothing stores and chose some to put on at the upcoming festival banquet. Strangely enough, there were not many that I liked, so it was hard to pick. But as there were a lot, I chose some dresses that I liked. Lina insisted the dresses I chose were not good enough, but I didn’t care much because I might get out of the imperial family soon.

nSeven days before the festival date to celebrate the national founding I received a letter stamped with the imperial seal. It was sent by the crown prince asking me to have tea time with him.

nThe place that the chief attendant escorted me was his personal study, where I visited last time. His study, which might be better called a library, boasted of an enormous collection of books.

nI saw a young man with blue hair sitting in front of a table and reading a book seriously in the middle of his spacious study. I went across the fluffy carpet embroidered with the royal family’s crest and bowed to him.

n“I’m honored to see you, the Little Sun of the Empire.”

n“Oh, come on in.”

nAs if he seemed very tired, he put down the document he was reading and pressed around his eyes with his thumbs. In fact, his workload has increased since five princesses arrived, and three of them kept going in and out of his palace. Besides, there were rumors that the emperor started to hand over his work to him these days.

n“So, how have you been?”

n“I’m doing well. All thanks to you. How are you doing, Your Majesty?”

n“How do I look?”

nI didn’t respond because he must have been exhausted from accumulated fatigue, given that he usually didn’t tell anybody about his health condition. When I just smiled awkwardly, he looked at me silently and said, “The tea you served me the other day was very effective.”

n“I’m honored to hear that, Your Majesty.”

n“Can you brew tea for me today?”

n“Of course, Your Majesty.”

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nI pulled the string and told the maid to bring tea leaves and boiled water. For a moment silence fell, but he soon broke the silence and asked me, “Okay, which dress color do you want this time?”

n“Pardon, Your Majesty?”

n“Why are you surprised? Don’t you order custom clothes when you attend the official banquet? ”

n“Ah…”

nAs I was not notified this time, I didn’t order this time. Was it because he was so busy that he didn’t have time to send me a message? With mixed feelings of disappointment and relief, I traced back in memory. What dress color did I pick? I think I just chose it without any much thought.

n“Light green… ”

n“Um…”

n“And maybe it was navy blue, blue purple, dark red, or black.”

n“… You seem to like dark colors quite a bit. ”

nDid I? Lina said the same thing a few days ago. Come to think of it, I preferred a calm and dark color at some point.

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