“The food is quite delicious, isn’t it?”
The Duke’s towering height and very masculine appearance initially gave him a somewhat intimidating presence, but the voice he used to address us was gentle and polished, very much like the gentleman of the early 20th century you might imagine.
As he noticed his gaze drifting toward the biscuit in his hand, Mia Crowfield’s face flushed bright red. The Duke, seeing her embarrassment, wore a warm smile. Even his mustache, which curled upward at the ends, seemed to lift in response to his upper lip’s movement.
“There’s no need to worry too much. All the food here is made by top-tier chefs who’ve crossed over from the mainland. We can’t possibly serve dishes made by colonial cooks to our guests.”
“Is that so...?”
Mia Crowfield answered absentmindedly. The Duke smiled softly at her, then looked between the two of us before continuing.
“It’s certainly a very different environment from the mainland, but I do hope your health is doing well?”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh, I’m glad... Thank you for your concern.”
Mia still seemed unsure of why the Duke had approached us in the first place. If I were in her shoes, I’d be confused too. If someone invited me to a party, only to reveal that the purpose was to see if their son might find a suitable match, I’d be just as bewildered. It might not be an odd thing in this world, though.
Even now, I could see a few girls on the edge of my vision, approaching Jake. They were all daughters of prominent families. Roti, who was always by Jake’s side, seemed to be ignored.
“I’ve heard that you two are in the same class as Jake.”
“That’s correct.”
I answered politely, while carefully observing the Duke’s expression. To the casual observer, it might seem like he was simply curious about the people his son associated with, but I couldn’t shake the feeling there was something more to it.
The Duke’s gaze shifted from Mia Crowfield to me, locking onto me for a moment.
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“I’m curious... how close are you with my son? Is Jake behaving properly?”
“At least, he hasn’t been unpleasant.”
“Is that so?”
The Duke smiled, clearly pleased by my response.
Then, he turned his attention to Jake, who was subtly distancing himself from the girls who had approached him. It wasn’t that he was blatantly escaping; he was just skillfully steering the conversation away, gradually extricating himself from the situation.
The Duke seemed to have low expectations for Jake, judging by the look on his face as he turned back toward us.
“I’ve met Count Crowfield’s wife a few times already. It was when Miss Crowfield was very young, so I’m not sure if you remember.”
Mia shook her head. The Duke didn’t seem too disappointed by that.
“Well, since we’ve met here today, we can start anew and get to know each other. If you ever find yourselves in any trouble within my territory, please come to me. I’ll make sure to handle whatever issues arise with all my strength.”
Was he seeing Mia Crowfield’s shyness as a sign of modesty? It seemed like he was quite taken with her.
From an aristocratic standpoint, Mia probably seemed like a much better choice compared to Roti. Especially considering that Mia Crowfield had no other siblings or father. It was possible that Jake might inherit the Count’s domain one day.
“Of course, Your Highness. Given the vast sea in between, the Empire’s reach can be limited. But my Duke’s family will do everything in its power to remain loyal servants to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
...It seemed the Duke had taken a liking to me as well. After all, I was of royal blood. Even though rumors said that the bloodline was no longer directly connected, people still recognized me as part of the imperial family.
I couldn’t help but wonder how the Duke would react when he learned that Claire also carried the Emperor’s blood. Would he be happy to see her here without an invitation?
Perhaps, though, he might not need to know that to be pleased. After all, it would be impressive enough that Jake had brought “a woman who wasn’t even invited.” Though she was from a baron family, they still had a noble estate and access to useful information, making her a much more suitable option than Roti, in the Duke’s eyes.
“My apologies. I hope I haven’t interrupted your conversation.”
The Duke bowed his head slightly to us, and Mia and I each curtsied in response.
“What did he want to say...?”
Mia asked, watching the Duke retreat. It was a relief to finally have a conversation to ease the awkwardness that had been hanging in the air.
The Duke, moving leisurely, made his way toward Alice, Charlotte, and Sophia, who were gathered nearby.
“Jake is of an age where he should be thinking about a fiancée soon.”
“Excuse me?”
Mia blinked in surprise at my words, nearly dropping the biscuit she was holding.
“But... Jake already has... Roti, doesn’t he?”
Hmm.
“Roti, huh...”
That was a very typical way for Mia Crowfield to refer to her. I realized I’d never seen the two of them talk directly. Neither of them was the type to initiate a conversation.
“That’s—”
Before I could explain, a loud shout interrupted me.
It seemed a maid had made a mistake. A maid with dark skin, likely from the local area, was bowing repeatedly, apologizing profusely.
The man who had shouted was wearing a garment with purple stains on it. Did he spill wine?
Judging by the broken glass on the floor, it looked like they had bumped into each other.
...In the original story, it was the man who had bumped into her.
“Do you know how much this outfit costs?”
“I’m really sorry...”
The man spoke with the same old phrases, while the maid continued to apologize. She was quite beautiful, though she was clearly older than us, but not to the point where she seemed old.
“I’ll—”
“You think you can compensate for this? Huh? Do you have that kind of ability?”
She probably didn’t, of course. Even if she were sold into servitude, the outfit would cost more than her life.
The man with black hair was a minor official from the Governor’s Office. I didn’t think his name had been mentioned.
As for the maid—
“I’m really sorry.”
Just as the man was about to shout again, someone stepped in.
“Ah, Your Highness.”
“This maid works for our family. If she made a mistake, it is my responsibility. If you wish to be compensated for the clothing, I’ll take care of it.”
At Jake’s words, the man’s expression immediately became respectful.
“Oh, no, there’s no need for that. It was the maid’s fault, Your Highness. You don’t need to say such things.”
“But, as I said, this maid works for our family.”
“Young Master...”
The maid seemed flustered and tried to stop Jake, but he simply waved her off, gesturing for her to step back.
Then, someone else stepped forward.
The girl, who had approached silently, knelt down and started picking up the scattered glass shards without a word.
“....”
The maid, who had been standing nervously, quickly knelt down beside her to help clean up the mess.
The commotion grew louder.
The girl picking up the glass was also in uniform.
“Roti?”
I heard someone mutter quietly beside me.
“Roti.”
Jake said, but Roti didn’t lift her head. She remained quietly focused on her task.
While most of the students simply whispered among themselves, those who had known Jake for a semester—Alice, Charlotte, Claire, Leo, and Mia—were all wearing confused expressions.
Mia Crowfield looked back and forth between the maid and Roti, then said,
“...Huh?”
It seemed like she had realized something.
It wasn’t just Mia. The others looked equally confused.
The maid’s face was very similar to Roti’s.
And considering their age difference...
It wasn’t unreasonable to think they could be mother and daughter. Roti looked young for her age, and the maid, while more mature, wasn’t old.
But at the same time, it wasn’t hard to believe they might be “sisters with a significant age gap.”
In fact, their age difference wasn’t even twenty years.
It was exactly seventeen.
The true nature of their relationship was the former, not the latter.
“Could it be...?”
Mia muttered to herself. I didn’t feel the need to answer her.
Even without saying anything, she could probably figure out exactly why Jake and Roti couldn’t marry.
Blue blood and common blood.
In the public eye, that was the kind of relationship they had.