Chapter 51: [Chapter 051] When one is interested in becoming a Duchess
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Noura completely ignored me after that day, treating me like I was invisible. As we prepared for the event according to our respective plans, on the eve of the ceremony at the Crown Princess's palace...
"Your Highness, is something troubling you?"
Doris's deep sigh reached our distant table.
"Is there anything else we can do to help?"
"Thank you, but I don't think anyone here can help with this."
I looked at Doris with a worried expression at Irene's perceptive voice. Her eyes were dark under her eyes, probably from fatigue.
"What's wrong?"
Noura's ambitious eyes turned to Doris. Doris smiled wryly and showed us the memo she was looking at.
"You're studying Elaconian?"
"I don't know why I have to learn this useless Elaconian. The Empress, of course, wants to say something to the Elaconian envoys who took good care of her son, but I don't see why I have to."
Even as she spoke coldly, Doris didn't take her eyes off the memo, so I approached her and quickly copied it onto a new piece of paper. The messy handwriting was irritating.
"Wow, it's like you copied it, Countess!"
Irene's eyes widened. I wrote down the Elaconian language in its original elegant script, something I had been practicing for a long time. Doris's eyes widened as well.
"I didn't know you had a talent like that, Countess. Where did you learn?"
"... I have a maid at home who can speak Elaconian, so I learned it when I was bored."
I couldn't say the maid was Roardnes, so I just smiled, and Doris pulled my arm affectionately as if she had found a savior.
"Good. Countess. Whether the event goes well or not, stay by my side during the reception for the envoys."
"Yes?"
"There's already an interpreter, and since they learn our language as a second language in Elacon, there won't be a big problem with communication."
"But why..."
"The interpreter is a man and rather old, so the nuances of a young and beautiful Crown Princess won't be conveyed well."
Doris seemed satisfied with Irene's quick-witted answer and pushed the memo away from her with a relieved expression.
"You will be my mouthpiece that day, Countess."
In other words, it meant that I, who had just started learning basic Elaconian, was to become the mouth of the Crown Princess.
The welcome ceremony for the envoys was more relaxed than expected. The Emperor and Empress went directly to the main assembly hall with the head of the envoy, and the rest were just attendants. With Noura's ambition waning, I felt more at ease. I followed Doris, whispering the greetings and exclamations she needed to make. When the Crown Princess of the Empire greeted them in Elaconian, the envoys' expressions brightened, and they even turned their attention to me, who was standing beside her.
"Thank you for inviting us..."
"For the friendship between Elacon... and our countries..."
What was truly strange was that I could understand Elaconian much better than I expected. Since I had hardly practiced speaking, I had planned to stay close to the interpreter to ask for the meaning, but there was no need. Although I didn't know the meaning of each word, the words that had sounded like an alien language to me when I was Adriene strangely sounded like a dialect of Ronta, and I could infer the overall meaning.
'Perhaps Blier was originally from Elacon.'
I began to suspect that Blier was not simply good at Elaconian, but was originally from Elacon.
"Blier, you can rest now."
"Yes?"
Doris, seeing that some of the envoys were interested in me, gradually spoke less and tried to send me away.
"...Yes, Your Highness."
"Why don't you go dance?"
"Dance...? Oh."
Doris held my arm affectionately and gestured subtly to where Noebian was. He was surrounded by noblewomen, but his gaze kept turning to me. It seemed that the burning gaze was not only from Noura.
"Thank you for your help today. Your debutante season isn't over yet, is it? With a chaperone vouching for you, now would be the perfect time to approach people without any rumors."
The gentle push on my back was incredibly kind.
"Go and soothe the Duke's anger."
"What do you mean?"
"The scandal with the Second Prince is a lie."
"!"
I turned around in surprise, looking at Doris who was whispering behind me. She was smiling sweetly. Did Doris read gossip magazines too? Since there's no way gossip magazines would get into the royal palace, it might have been through Noura. As I hesitated about whether to follow Doris's instructions, the hall suddenly became noisy.
"Countess, you were quite active on your own without your partner."
It was an unexpected appearance by Roardnes.
"How did you get here?"
"I was waiting because I had a meeting with His Majesty."
We whispered in a corner. Roardnes' eyes went straight to Noebian, who was watching us from a distance.
"I want to crush that arrogant face."
"Roardnes!"
I shouted softly, startled by the harsh words coming out of his beautiful mouth. Then he looked down at me. His eyes were dark and gloomy.
"I'm going to do one thing His Majesty wants, and then I'll ask for you."
"...What?"
"Just know that. If that bastard tries anything on you, it will be your shield."
"What are you talking about? I'm not divorced yet, and besides, my status..."
"You have to go back. We'll talk about it later."
"Wait, are you going like this?"
"Adrienne."
Roardnes, who had a stiff expression all along, forced a smile at me as I tried to ask him more questions.
"...I never want to lose you again."
"No?"
"I can do anything for that."
Roardnes, looking at Noebian again with dark eyes, pressed his lips to the back of my hand as if to show him. It wasn't just Noebian he was looking at. Roardnes was always the center of attention wherever he went, and he knew it better than anyone. Roardnes, who looked a little impatient and uneasy, disappeared again, and I pressed the back of my hand where his breath had touched. Roardnes' lips hadn't fully touched my hand. And I knew it meant, 'I didn't want you to be sad if my lips touched Blier Acacia's hand.' Enduring the gazes of those around me, I pressed my hand against my heart and looked up to meet Noebian's cold eyes.
I smiled at him, not trying to hide my slightly flushed face.
***
The first day of the event ended well despite a small disturbance. After Roardnes left, Doris's gaze became strangely cold, but I was too busy paying attention to Noebian to properly examine her.
"Madam! I've been waiting for a long time!"
"You came earlier than I expected. I sent a message saying the party would end late, so I told you to come slowly."
As I exited the hall, Yona, who was waiting outside, escorted me towards the carriage. As we were whispering about what clothes people were wearing and who was making eyes at whom, the atmosphere around the carriage was cold. All the other carriages had disappeared, and only the carriage from the Count's manor was left.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself."
Noebian was leaning against the simple carriage of the Count's manor. I remembered how Noebian's gaze had been on me throughout the event. I had clearly seen his eyes spark like fire whenever I was with Roardnes. Yona looked at me and Noebian, then disappeared towards a nearby shabby building.
"I have no idea what you're thinking."
I straightened my trembling body and composed myself. If I showed fear in front of him, I would definitely be entangled. With a haughty chin raised and his eyes lowered, he looked down at me, similar to how Roardnes had looked at me with contempt before.
"I don't usually read gossip magazines, but they've been quite entertaining lately."
"...I'm glad you're finding it amusing."
"I didn't come all this way just to exchange witty remarks."
His voice was cold as he spoke softly.
"Talking about wanting to become a Duchess, saying you love me... You always made such outlandish claims, and now your actions..."
He looked me up and down with contempt. I met his gaze, surprisingly calmly. Noebian Trovika's true colors. It no longer shocked me.
"You're behaving like a common streetwalker."
And the reason I could remain so calm was Noebian's attitude of always waiting for me, despite his anger and contempt, knowing full well that he couldn't just discard me if he was so displeased. That's why I could say this:
"Think whatever you want."
I could see the corner of his mouth harden as if I was being too casual.
'You can't discard me, can you?'
"You remember well. The part about wanting to become a Duchess. And the part about loving me. I thought you had forgotten."
'Since you can't discard this Blier, you have to listen to nonsense like this, don't you?'
That was Noebian Trovika, the mighty one.
"You said you didn't know what I was thinking. I've always told you. I love you, and I want to be by your side."
His stiff lips loosened involuntarily, and a strange, sharp laugh grazed my ears.
"Are there things you want me to stop doing?"
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"Then..."
I looked straight into Noebian's eyes and smiled.
"...Do well when I'm interested in the position of Duchess."
His deep blue eyes hardened as if he had misheard something, then shook violently. I smiled even more broadly and passed him by. As soon as I got into the carriage, Noebian grabbed my wrist, but I shook him off immediately and slammed the door shut.
"Since you made me wait so long, I'm starting to get interested in the position of Princess."
"...What?"
At the word 'Princess', Noebian's hardened face crumpled as if it had collapsed.
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