Mary ate together with the knights who were guarding the four nobles, while Violet was suddenly placed in the predicament of dining together with the crown prince, ducal lord #1 and ducal lord #2.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the future of the empire was sitting in one table here.
“May I recommend this dish?”
“Yees.”
“Sister, can I drink alcohol?”
“……”
He should ask himself, really.
Just one look from Violet made Cairn pout.
The table was as still as the calm before a storm. Thanks to everyone learning exemplary etiquette, the sound of their tableware could not be heard at all. One could say that it’s the perfect place to have a bout of indigestion.
Even Aldin, who’s an illegitimate child, and Cairn, who had not a single ounce of aristocratic grace, had impeccable table manners.
At this moment, Violet recalled that cousin of hers who had left for a faraway country. Still, it was meaningless to think about someone who had already left.
“Fufu, everyone seems to like the food.”
“Yes.”
When the crown prince subsequently asked, Why are you so quiet? Violet merely answered with a smile. At this, the crown prince’s smile grew wider in response.
Nevertheless, while Rajaden continued to ask questions to the people sitting around the table, the stoic Aldin had no choice but to answer.
“Have you been staying at the palace?”
“Yes.”
“Haha, if there’s anyone bothering you, tell me right away. Everyone’s pride in that place is unnecessarily high.”
“Not at all. I’m doing alright since everyone has been kind.”
What a desolate mood.
Once the conversation filled with nothing but formalities drew to a close, the crown prince changed the subject.
“As you know, Ducal Lady, a banquet will be held for my birthday soon.”
“Yees.”
“Even if the esteemed daughter of the Everett Duchy has a predilection for confining herself to her home, she can’t possibly be left out from the party. Do you already have a partner?”
“……”
Without making a sound, Violet set down her fork on the table. For a short moment, Aldin flinched as though he was taken aback, but nobody noticed this.
It must be because everyone’s eyes were solely on Violet.
“I apologize, but someone else has already asked me to be their partner first.”
“Hm? Already?”
“Yees. I’ll be attending the banquet with him.”
Rajaden narrowed his eyes at Violet, however, she looked like she had no plans of elaborating further.
As far as the crown prince knew, Violet had only interacted with Aldin and the members of the Leshan Marquisate, so where exactly did she find a partner?
Rajaden asked insinuatingly.
“Perhaps, is it your older brother?”
“No, it’s not Lord Roen.”
“Hmmm. I see. How unfortunate. I wished to have the honor of spending that time with you, who seems to have been blessed by the moon goddess.”
“……”
Rajaden was the kind of man who knew how to make good use of his face. A bright smile soon lit up the table. Violet merely responded to that smile with a blank expression.
‘Good grief. You seem to be so confident about that face of yours, but it’s not going to work.’
As the smile on the crown prince’s face became thicker, Violet just dabbed her lips with a napkin. She had blocked his attempt successfully.
“Then, I’m afraid I’ll have to look for another opportunity down the line. In any case, I heard about the third young master of Everett.”
“Huh? Pardon?”
“I heard that your feats have been outstanding. Despite the Duke’s staunch opposition, you subjugated all those monsters all for the sake of going to the capital alone.”
“Ack! What? Pardon?”
When a pointed gaze was soon directed at him, Cairn yelped. Violet’s eyes narrowed.
Cold sweat started trickling down Cairn’s back as he received both Violet’s cold gaze and Rajaden’s brilliant smile.
“Bravery is a good thing. Truly, it is. However, I’d prefer it if you joined the official subjugation team next time. You’re too great a talent to lose in futility.”
As Rajaden continued, Cairn’s pupils shook mercilessly.
It’s not that he chose to hide what he did, it’s just that he never revealed it. When he arrived at the capital, he brought with him only one sword. Apparently, it’s what he used to subjugate monsters beforehand.
‘Showing off your intel, I see.’
Regardless of whether it was a duke’s son who did it, it was an extraordinary deed. Still, even if rumors of an unidentified boy doing this had spread throughout the place, there would be no way to ascertain that it was truly House Everett’s third son.
In the end, however, Cairn found himself to be at the palm of the crown prince’s hand today. And as Violet knew nothing of what Cairn had been up to until now, her thoughts were flowing in a different direction compared to the other three sitting around the table.
What followed was a steady stream of anecdotes on Cairn’s consistent incidents.
Apparently, he caused one such incident within the academy that’s been covered up. There’s another that somehow involved Aldin, and there had been a real possibility back then that neither of them would be allowed to graduate. And, as it turned out, there was yet another incident that involved both Mikhail and Roen.
Violet was not quite interested in her younger brother’s business, so all she did throughout this retelling was eat her dessert quietly.
“Still, I believe it would be a good thing to draft you into the military. This country is always suffering from a shortage of talent. Might I say, even commoners should be provided a foothold with which they can rise to high-ranking positions through merit.”
“There are many people who aren’t able to get that chance even if they have the talent for it. Starting from the basic education system—”
“That’s why I’m worried about it. There are many who oppose the idea of even increasing the number of schools, goodness.”
Before she knew it, the conversation went down the direction of politics. Perhaps because it was a topic he was interested in, Aldin also participated in the discussion here and there.
Since one had ears to listen, it might be alright to talk since one had a mouth as well.
Violet watched Rajaden. From his expression alone, she could see the silent undertone of, ‘Since you have ears meant for listening, then listen, why don’t you? Just how foolish are you all, hm?’
The crown prince wasn’t the only one to have this kind of demeanor.
Rumor has it that the members of the imperial family had divine blood running through their veins.
It was ironic how they were in direct conflict with the temple whilst claiming to be of godly lineage. Nevertheless, they had thus proclaimed it in the history books as fact.
The policy that Rajaden was pushing for now might be grounds for an opposition’s revolt far, far earlier. That is, if it wasn’t for his supposed godly blood.