Chapter 7: Kaiser Ron Beizelm

Kaiser POV

I am Kaiser Ron Beizelm. I was born to the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Beizelm, and my status as the first prince was already set from that point.

By the time I was old enough to remember, I was surrounded by adults who slipped in and out of my position as the First and Crown Prince.

Growing up in such an environment, I learned how to hide my true intentions with a smile and how to get along with those adults.

I also learned to take advantage of those adults when I could.

By the time I made my social debut at the age of six, I was honestly disgusted by the fact that these adults and their children were always trying to manipulate my face and status.

At that point, I no longer trusted anyone who approached me with superficial words and ulterior motives.

The next year, another ball was held at the royal palace for the youngest daughters, who were to make her debut in society.

As soon as I entered the hall with my parents and finished greeting the participants, the same thing as last year happened.

The young ladies lined up in front of me in a long line to greet me, their eyes filled with ulterior motives.

I was puzzled and amazed in my mind, with a smile on my face.

Again, this year…maybe they’ve been told by family members to be sure to get along with me.

While thinking so, I was remembering the family structure of each nobleman in my mind as I listened to the names of these sons and daughters who greeted me one after another.

Hmm, this young lady’s father was a minister, I believe, and if I get along with him, it will be useful for something later on.

I smiled and complimented the young lady on her appearance.

Then the young lady looked at me with happy face and moist eyes.

But seeing her like that didn’t make me feel anything, so I just smiled and listened to her talk about her house and how she was trying to show off.

And as I listened to the children’s stories, I secretly hoped that the ball would end soon.

When the line of greetings finally broke up, I let out a breath of relief that no one would notice, and the Duke’s daughter, who hadn’t greeted me yet, came up to me.

“Prince Kaiser.”

“Hmm? Oh, Roberto, I didn’t know you were here.”

The one who came before me was the son of Duke Reinhardt, the country’s prime minister and leading nobleman.

…It’s rare for Roberto to come to a ball like this. When he came to the castle with his father, I would occasionally talk to him, but he is someone who rarely shows up to evening parties or balls unless he is forced to attend.

As soon as I wondered about that, I knew the answer to that question.

Apparently, Roberto had come with his sister, who was making her social debut this year, to accompany her.

Come to think of it…I’ve heard a lot of bragging about the Duke’s daughter from Lord Reinhardt and Roberto.

When I remembered that, I finally turned my attention to the young lady next to Roberto.

The young lady was indeed, as I had heard them say, much more dainty and beautiful in appearance than the other young ladies.

But this young lady who called herself Cecilia was just as good looking as any other young lady.

As the Prime Minister’s daughter, she seems to be of high value. In that case, it would be more convenient to keep her in a good mood.

So I complimented her on her appearance, smiling at her as I had done with the other young lady.

However, Miss Cecilia, for some reason, reacted differently from what I had expected.

It was true that she returned my thanks, but her expression wasn’t a happy one with stained cheeks like the other young lady’s, but rather she smiled the same way I did.

I was momentarily perturbed by this unexpected reaction, but I quickly regained my composure and got into a position to listen to Miss Cecilia’s appeal, which was to begin next.

But once again, Miss Cecilia showed a different behavior than I expected.

For some reason, I thought she would greet me once again, but…

“Well, now that we’ve said our goodbyes, I’d better be off.”

With that, she turned on her heel and left me without further ado.

Roberto and I were so surprised at the sudden action of this Miss Cecilia that we tried to stop her by calling her name.

But Miss Cecilia didn’t look back at me and walked quickly away.

As I stared at her, Roberto said apologetically that he was sorry and ran after her.

While I was looking at them with a puzzled expression, the daughters who had just finished greeting me gathered around me.

Apparently they thought they had a chance themselves just by the fact that Miss Cecilia, the Duke’s daughter, hadn’t shown any interest in me.

This is why those who come to my position…but that Miss Cecilia is not quite like these daughters.

With that in mind, I turned to Miss Cecilia, who had gone away, surrounded by the noble sons, and she smiled as if a flower had bloomed, as she was talking to Roberto, who had caught up with her.

!!!!!

For some reason, the moment I saw that smile, my heart jumped loudly.

I held my chest and stared at Miss Cecilia, bewildered by the heartbeat that I didn’t understand even to myself.

…I don’t know why, I want to see that smile even closer. That is, a smile directed at me.

Driven by a desire I didn’t understand, I followed Miss Cecilia to the center where the dance was taking place, and then I turned towards her.

But as I moved, the ladies who were surrounding me moved with me, so I was in frustration in my heart.

When I arrived at the center, I danced with one of the ladies who begged me to dance with them, and then I danced close to Miss Cecilia who was dancing.

…When this song is over and you’re done dancing with Roberto, I’ll ask you to dance with me next.

I bowed to the young lady who was dancing with me and quickly reached out my hand to Cecilia and asked her to dance with me, but contrary to my intentions, Roberto took Cecilia’s hand in front of me and promised to dance with her for the rest of the evening.

Then Roberto glanced at me and smiled.

I couldn’t help but bite my lip in frustration at seeing Roberto like that.

In the end, Miss Cecilia really only danced with Roberto, and then she and Roberto slipped out of the dance circle.

I watched him go off, dealing with a succession of young ladies who were closing in on him.

The first thing that would get in the way of Miss Cecilia is these ladies.

So I smiled at the ladies just as the song was over.

Seeing me smile, the ladies looked at me enraptured with tears in their eyes.

After all, this seems to be the normal reaction of the ladies who see my smile. But Miss Cecilia…

So while remembering Miss Cecilia’s reaction earlier, I said the words with a smile to the ladies.

“I’m sorry ladies…but…since I would like to go and talk to Miss Cecilia, the Duke’s daughter, for a moment, would you be willing to leave me alone?”

At my words, the ladies became surprised and upset, but since is was the Duke’s daughter, they couldn’t say anything, and in the end, the ladies reluctantly nodded their heads.

As soon as I smiled again at the ladies and thanked them, I immediately went to where Cecilia was headed.

Just then, a noble son approached Roberto, who was with Miss Cecilia, and when he said something to Roberto, he left Miss Cecilia and went away.

Apparently, this is my chance to get close to Miss Cecilia.

With that thought in mind, as I was quickly approaching Miss Cecilia, apparently the other sons who were thinking the same thing as I was were also trying to approach Miss Cecilia.

…Who would let you guys get close to Miss Cecilia!?

I walked even faster, feeling the blackness rising up from the back of my mind for some reason, and showed them my approach to Miss Cecilia.

I’m a prince, and they felt that I was too good for them, so they moved away as if they had given up.

I looked away from them contentedly and then turned my attention to Miss Cecilia again, who was smiling with a happy look on her face while she was chewing something.

Huh!? Hey, what’s with that smile!?

The smile was so destructive that my heart began to beat noisily and suddenly.

I approached Miss Cecilia, puzzled by these incomprehensible palpitations, and Miss Cecilia, who had been looking around, made a thoughtful gesture.

When I finally arrived behind Miss Cecilia, she whispered to herself, thinking about something.

“If only I had a tupperwa—…”

“Tupper?”

I couldn’t help but react to the unfamiliar words Miss Cecilia muttered and asked back.

Then Miss Cecilia, who hadn’t noticed that I was behind her, let out a cry of surprise, and when she turned around hurriedly, she froze with an astonished expression as she looked at me even more.

…Cute.

As I thought that, my face naturally relaxed and I smiled while looking at Miss Cecilia.

Then Miss Cecilia looked at me and tilted her head in wonderment.

When I finished listening to Miss Cecilia’s explanation of the word “tupper,” she asked me why I was here, to which I replied frankly that it was because I wanted to talk to her.

After all, unlike other young ladies, Miss Cecilia’s expression changes so quickly that I never get tired of watching her.

As I thought this, I began to enjoy myself and naturally smiled again.

Then I noticed that Miss Cecilia was eating and made up an excuse to have dinner with her, and I managed to persuade her to sit down when she refused to eat because she had an appointment with Roberto.

I had her and the food that I had ordered in advance brought to the table, and finally, having given up the idea, Miss Cecilia began to eat her food.

Then Miss Cecilia’s cheeks loosened and she bit down on her food with a happy face.

…I could finally see this face up close.

As I was gazing at Miss Cecilia’s face with such a happy mood of satisfaction, she looked at me with a strange look.

It seems that she questioned my refusal to eat my food, so I honestly told her that I was satisfied just to see Miss Cecilia’s face as she ate so deliciously, but she complained that she couldn’t eat all the food I had prepared for her.

I thought it was unusual for a nobleman to be concerned about such a thing, but I told her that she could leave the food on the table if she couldn’t eat it.

Suddenly, Miss Cecilia’s expression changed to a sullen one, and she complained about the food that had been prepared for this ball being wasted.

I was astonished at Miss Cecilia’s words, and thinking quickly, I called a waiter who passed by.

And when he told me what would happen if any of these dishes were left over, I was truly ashamed that I had not noticed what Miss Cecilia, a noblewoman and a lady, had noticed.

But Miss Cecilia encouraged me and told me that I should be careful from now on.

I felt lightened by Miss Cecilia’s words and started to do what I could now, which was to eat the food in front of me.

Then I glanced over at the table where the food was being served and saw many young ladies, probably influenced by Miss Cecilia’s delicious eating, eating happily.

Your influence is amazing, Miss Cecilia.

So we ate our food for a while, and when the food was gone, Miss Cecilia left the table and was about to leave.

But before that, the additional food that I had ordered in advance was brought to her, and she was looking at it with a stunned expression on her face.

“I asked for additional food. Come on Miss Cecilia, you don’t want it to be left behind, do you? Let’s work hard and eat together.”

So I smiled at Miss Cecilia with my usual smile, and she reluctantly sat back down in her seat and began to eat her food again, while glaring at me in frustration.

Fufu, I won’t let her go.

So I chuckled in my mind and enjoyed the delightful meal with Miss Cecilia.

When we had finished our next meal, Cecilia asked me to thank the cooks for their hard work.

Of course I agreed with her and I wanted to express my gratitude to the cooks together with her.

It was then that I noticed that Miss Cecilia had sauce on her mouth.

I thought it was cute, so I got up from my chair and leaned down to take the sauce off of her mouth, and reached out my hand towards her.

But just as my hand was about to reach Miss Cecilia’s mouth, it was interrupted by another person.

I looked at the person and saw that Roberto, Miss Cecilia’s brother, was holding my hand.

And I shook my own hand from Roberto’s, miffed at the word ‘strange man,’ which sounded as if he had said it to me as he said it to Miss Cecilia.

At that time, Roberto’s expression changed from the expression he had been giving to the prince until now, and he looked at me coldly with a blank expression.

…It seems that Roberto perceives me as an enemy who is approaching his precious sister.

I was convinced of this and stared back at Roberto, but he took his eyes off me and tried to leave with Miss Cecilia.

I stopped him and told him that I was still planning to enjoy the dance with Miss Cecilia, but he said no to me sharply.

I hadn’t expected such a crisp refusal and I was upset, but in the meantime, Miss Cecilia left the hall at Roberto’s urging.

I was also informed that she left the castle as it was on foot, and I immediately sprang into action.

As soon as the ball was over, I went to the private chambers of my fathers, and appealed to them that I wanted to marry Miss Cecilia and make her my fiancée.

So the next day when the Duke came up to the castle, accompanied by Roberto, he was immediately summoned by father, and I was there with him, and he asked to make Miss Cecilia my betrothed.

Duke Reinhardt was surprised and puzzled at first, but soon he was happy and delighted, and accepted it gladly.

I was to return to the Heinz house with them, but Roberto, who was waiting in the corridor, heard about it from Duke Reinhardt and was very opposed to it.

However, Duke Reinhardt admonished Roberto that he couldn’t refuse the offer because it came personally from my father, the king.

But Roberto was not at all convinced, and even in the carriage on the way back to the Heinz house, he pleaded desperately, but Duke Reinhardt did not listen to his pleas.

When I arrived at the Heinz house, I was able to see Miss Cecilia for the first time since yesterday.

And when Duke Reinhardt told me that she was engaged to marry me, Miss Cecilia stood dumbfounded.

Hmm, after all, Miss Cecilia…Cecilia is lovely. And my darling, my fiancée.

With a renewed sense of love for Cecilia, I ignored Roberto, who was making a lot of noise, bent my knees in front of Cecilia, and dropped a kiss on her lovely right hand.

And then I looked up at Cecilia, who had opened her eyes and was frozen in place──and smiled at her.

“Thank you from now on. Cecilia.”

I told her so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: Kaiser Ron Beizelm = Geordo Stuart. Anyone else agree?

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