There are many different types of work for the householder. And it seems that choosing the right person to visit or make a visit is one of them.
I’m sorry to say it’s surprising, but Phil is a person who takes his job seriously.
“It’s a tea party from the Queen, but I’m afraid I will have to refuse this.”
I put the same beautiful embossed envelope invitations from the last one on top of the pile of absent envelopes.
I had never known so many invitations to come in before.
The contents varied.
An offer of an audience with a nobleman, an invitation to a tea party or an evening party. I think it’s amazing that they still send me invitations even though I’ve never been to any of them before.
“How?”
Lilia tilts her head.
Apparently, she has no objection to refusing.
“We can just pretend you have a cold. Without Nigel’s permission, it would be difficult for Her Highness to enter this palace. If they asks you to come to visit, just tell them you are asleep and ask to refrain from doing so. The doctors are from our side, so we’ll make them work it out.”
“I understand.”
A perfect false illness that even the doctors talk about. As expected.
“So, the promise to play with Princess Nadia is also rejected.”
A pale pink envelope is stacked on top.
Too bad. I was promised to be shown Nadi’s prized collection.
“Yes.”
Since this decision of Phil’s is based on His Highness’ intentions, I nodded dully.
“It is best that Her Highness does not leave the palace while His Highness is away from it. For the time being, since Her Highness is ‘ill,’ she will not leave the palace.”
“Yes.’
Hmmm, so I’m a recluse…That’s going to be boring, but it can’t be helped.
Even the Queen will be is pushed away with the temporary illness, so I guess that means I have to be thorough.
“…You’re very understanding, Your Highness.”
“?”
“Normally, children your age are more selfish.”
“But it’s not safe.”
Sometimes I almost forget that I have 33 years of life experience. I’m not going to be such a, you know, spoiled child.
I’ve got the inclusiveness of a grown woman hidden away…which I haven’t been able to demonstrate very much so far.
“A good fit for Nigel, that’s for sure.”
Phil laughed, saying that His Highness hates kids who don’t understand a word.
“I can be selfish at times, too, but I know exactly when to be selfish. I’m a very calculating person.”
A trump card is something you use when it matters.
“…That’s what I’m talking about. Even though you’re small, you’re a woman, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
I smile.
Selfishness is a very special thing to say here.
…And I don’t want to be treated like a child too much either.
Phil-Lynn laughed a little and turned to Lilia with a serious expression.
“Lana Hartley, on behalf of Her Highness, I would like you to make and deliver a refusal card to Her Royal Majesty the Queen and Princess Nadia.”
“I understand….I will deliver it directly to Her Royal Majesty.”
“Thank you.”
I’m going to ask how things are going, too, Lilia says to me with just her lips.
Since the last tea party…no, since long before that, Lilia has had suspicions about the Queen. Lilia doesn’t say it out loud, but it was in the way she spoke to me after the last tea party.
…Though not irrelevant…
Something didn’t feel right about this.
It’s true that Queen Yulia is suspicious. I’m not saying she’s suspicious, but I’m absolutely sure she’s involved, and I have proof.
Ostensibly, Count Stassen is supposed to be returning to his estate. But in fact, he is doing some investigations at my request, and the report that has already been received contains several facts to support it.
…Even so, I don’t think Her Royal Majesty is the culprit.
Well, I’m sure it goes pretty deep, but I don’t think she’s trying to kill me.
Because she’s the queen…
Yes. She is first and foremost, the First Queen.
She is a “Queen” before she is a wife and mother, and that is what is most important to her.
And as the queen, she knows how valuable “I” am to Dardinia.
Like it or not, even if she hates me, that’s it. She can hurt me, but she probably can’t kill me.
Because ‘I’, the presumed heir of Elzevert, am an absolutely necessary part of the survival of the country of Dardinia.
Right now, with the loss of my existence, the chances of Dardinia plunging into civil war will be terribly high. I won’t go so far as to say that we will be plunged into civil war immediately because the current Duke is still alive and well, but still.
Her Highness, whose first priority is to be the queen of this country, would not be prepared or willing to kill me to plunge Dardinia into civil war.
And people from other countries have no idea of the true value of my existence.
Because they don’t really understand the uniqueness of the country of Dardinia.
“Please, Lilia.”
‘Be careful,’ I tell her without saying it aloud.
Lilia smiled.
I definitely don’t want her to force herself. But the truth was, I didn’t even think it was that dangerous at Her Majesty the Queen’s place.
Lilia was His Highness Shion’s foster sister. I know that if anything happens to Lilia, His Eminence Shion will step in.
Although Her Royal Majesty puts her position as queen above all else, she has not forgotten that she is still a mother…and in her position as queen, she would not be able to displease the royal cardinal.
The State Church is bitter that the position of First Queen has been given to a princess from another country, so if the Queen has a scandal, I’m sure they will try to abolish her in time, if not immediately.
I’m not that familiar with the situation, but I can tell that much, so the reality must be even more severe.
This is not about the qualifications of Her Royal Majesty personally.
And the state church is not very favorable to His Majesty the King, who has such a princess as his first queen.
Because of this, His Majesty is known to be a church hater.
He was so thorough that he was absent from even the most essential ceremonies due to his poor health, and it is said that he has never visited a church since his coronation.
On the contrary, they are rather friendly to His Royal Highness Nigel.
This is because His Highness is married to me, Lilia said.
The blood of the Dardinian royal family is thicker in me than in His Highness. I suppose the State Church considers that to be the legitimate bloodline.
“Understood.”
Lilia picks up the hem of her skirt, bows, and walks out. Growing up in the palace since childhood, Lilia’s behavior was so graceful that I sometimes imitate it, to tell the truth.
It’s hard to understand this kind of thing when you hear it in words, but when you see it in front of you, it’s surprisingly easy to understand. But it’s not easy to imitate such elegance.
When the door closes with a bang, relieved, Phil-Lynn sighs loudly,
“Are you that nervous?”
“…well…”
Phil gave a light shrug.
“Yeah, it’s just that I’m not used to it…After all, I’ve been in a male entourage for as long as I can remember.”
“Aren’t there any women in His Highness’ entourage?”
“Yeah…It may be misleading to put it this way, but the guy is a bit of a misogynist.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes… He may be a misogynistic, misanthropic, man and woman hater.”
“But you’ll never say it…”
“Yeah.”
Me and Phil look at each other and smile.
I’m sure Phil and I will be good friends.
Because we both love His Highness Nigel.
“I just want to make sure.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know who, but someone who is targeting me…well, it could be a pawn…but is it coming? While His Highness is away.”
“Yes.”
Phil nods, as if it were a fixed fact.
“Is it the one who’s trying to kill me? Or the one who isn’t?”
“…You’re really amazing.”
I sigh involuntarily.
“?????”
“You are the best princess for Nigel.”
“Thank you.”
I don’t really know what he meant by that statement, but it’s very nice to be praised like that.
Even more so when it comes to the words of His Royal Highness’s milk brother, Phil.
It’s a good thing that I’m not the only one who is going to have to deal with the problem. Well, there have been times when they’ve tried to succeed, like the last time…and the next time was a pretty lousy attack…
You see, there’s still a lot going on that I don’t know about.
“…But Nigel is going to settle it this time, so take it easy and wait for it.”
“Yes.”
…Perhaps His Highness has a good idea of who the culprit is.
I don’t have any evidence or proof at all, but I have a name that comes to mind, even though I have far less information than His Highness. I might be wrong, though.
However, I have a feeling that it is not wrong in the same way.
In short, maybe I just don’t want to admit it.
But there’s only a limited number of culprits, considering that His Highness, who is said to be the de facto supreme authority in the country to begin with and would have the most power, hasn’t been able to get rid of it so far.
I did not doubt that His Highness knew the culprit, strangely enough.
So, if His Highness Nigel said he would settle the matter, I would just wait for it.
Because I promised him.
I’ll wait here.
Well, a promise to not leave this place, to be exact.
“Oh, could I make some sweets?”
If I’m banned until then, I’m going to go crazy!
“If it’s not a big deal, all you have to do is tell them the maids are making it.”
“Good.”
“Well, to tell you the truth, I want to eat some too…Your Highness could make a great pastry chef.”
“Thank you. If I weren’t the Crown Princess, I’d definitely be in the pastry shop. The Crown Princess may not be able to run a sweets shop, but the Duke of Elzevert could!”
“Well, there’s nothing you can’t do. There are a lot of houses that do business.”
“It’s strange. It would be ridiculous for a nobleman to be engaged in commerce.”
At least, that’s true outside of Dardinia.
But Dardinia is a little bit different.
For example, most of the Northern Lords are engaged in forestry, and the Southern Lords are also big farmers. They have their own sales channels and are very active in their economic activities.
“We don’t do much direct business with them. But it is the belief of the Dardinian nobility that only the ‘haves’ are able to fulfill their duties as nobles…It is not effective for ‘have nots’ to give good government to his people. It is an idiom that was even coined in Dardinia.”
The idiom that Phil mentioned, ‘It doesn’t do any good if a needy lord gives his people good governance’ is widely used throughout the continent to mean ‘meaningless.’
Certainly, it is true that this idiom originated in Dardinia.
Aristocrats are rich and elegant, partying away in style. But that’s not all there is to it.
“It would be great if my recipes were sold all over Dardinia.”
“Recipes?”
“How to make things…the composition is delicate.”
Dardinia is a different country in a different world from my previous one, and even though they are very similar, they are different.
That little bit of difference can affect the sweets, and it’s fun to arrange the sweets in Dardinia’s style.
“Huh~”
“It’s always been my dream to make chocolate one day.”
“What’s a ‘chocote’?”
“That’s…”
I had eagerly blasted Phil about what a delicious treat “chocolate” was.
You see, His Highness’s aide, Phil, might be exposed to a larger variety of things than I, a recluse, could!
I thought it was going to be an uneventful day.
I thought I would go to bed and face the next morning, thinking that the day was over without incident again.
Until, in the middle of the night, Lilia’s cufflinks were thrown into my room.
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