Chapter 67: Live To Sienna Pt.67
“If you’ve seen footprints, I’m sure that those are my footprints.”
“Valore!”
Arya called his name low shrill. Valore held a poker face in a teasing manner as if nothing had happened. Arya asked him in an urgent voice.
“Why are there footprints of the Prince left inside of the palace of Princess Sienna?”
“I had gone there to give a wedding gift to older brother Carl and Lady Sienna. I apologize for causing this misunderstanding.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“A congratulations gift you say…”
Carl muttered cynically.
“I really wanted to give my brother a wedding gift. It’s my only brother’s wedding, and I wanted to give it to you.”
“I’ll thank you, then. I just want you to refrain from visiting Sienna’s palace while I’m away. What if I had misunderstood because of something like this? I don’t want my wife to be hurt by insulting rumors.”
Valore replied in a bitter tone to Carl’s words, “When will Prince Carl return to the front? I heard that Castro’s recent provocations have been frequent. Without Prince Carl, there would be problems with the command lines.”
“If the front lines are going to collapse that easily because there’s no one in command, then they are not worthy of being called the front-line units. Fortunately, the commanders under our command are excellent, so it’s okay.”
“I’ve heard that power varies considerably depending on the existence of the Prince. The fact that Prince Carl is on the battlefield makes his soldiers highly motivated and tactical enough to deal with a large number of enemy troops with even a small number of allies. I think it would be better for Prince Carl to be there to soothe the uneasy public at a time when an all-out war with Castro will break out. I’m sure your emperor thinks so, too.”
It was such a heart-wrenching story. Everyone sitting at this table knew it was a sound of trying to keep Carl away from the capital somehow.
“I’m thinking of going back soon, though. I’m sorry to Sienna, but I can’t leave the battlefield empty for long.”
“Is that so?”
The face of Queen Arya was flushed. Sienna, who was anxious to see if he was going to stay in the capital until the end, was also relieved. Without compromising Arya’s power first, she was not confident of him leaving her before doing so and heading straight for the ongoing full-scale war. Of course, as Carl said, he could do well on his own, but she didn’t want him to get hurt.
The meal time, which seemed quiet and well-behaved, was filled with conversations with hidden blades, was long over. Sienna left the palace with Carl and asked him, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know what you’re asking.”
“In there, you treated me like you really love me. I was so embarrassed.”
“Why is that something you’re going to be embarrassed about? I think I only did what was perfectly natural for my wife.”
“Well, because you weren’t acting as your usual Carl-like self…”
“Act as my usual self you say… I’m not sure what you think of me. But I’m sure I’ve said this to you before that I’m going to lead a proper marriage life with you. I’ll fulfil my duty even if there’s an end to it in five years. I’m also hoping the same from you, too.”
Sienna seemed as though she was going to lose her mind from the rapidly beating sound of her heart due to Carl’s words.
‘What a madman!’
“Ha-ah.”
Sienna sighed deeply. It was the third day since Carl left the palace under the pretext of war. In fact, he didn’t go to the east side of the border with Castro, but instead to the south side of the Hegea River.
It was short, but the time she stayed in the palace with Carl seemed as though they were really like a couple. A good couple in fact. She was bewildered by the distinctions from the past.
Carl and Sienna spent their times leisurely eating breakfast together and taking walks in front of the palace gardens. Of course, those times were not awkward. But she felt like she was building a sand castle to tear down.
It was uneasy. It was incomprehensible to know whether he really loved Duchess Fair or not. What does it mean to be nice to her?
‘Is he aware of how cruel this is? How scary it is to make one have useless hope like this…’
When the time came when Carl had to put a halt to the warm affections he was giving away and had to leave her side, she was afraid of making the same foolish choices as before.
‘I will treat you as cold and cruel as before.’
“Ha-ah.”
“What is it? It hasn’t been that long since you’ve gotten married, but you’re already letting a sigh out, I see?”
“Brother?”
“You’re the one who told me to come to the palace, but you’re breathing out a sigh all your own. What’s the matter?”
She burst out laughing at Jamie’s half-baked remarks.
“What with that, that strange tone?”
Jamie sat in the chair opposite of her with a disgruntled face. Then Hain looked at him with sharp eyes. Jamie said, poking his mouth, “How dare I speak to Her Majesty, when I am just a lowly article of the periphery? I have to be polite. You may have been born and raised in the Waters family home, but you are now part of the noble royal family of the Great Laifsden.”
She burst out laughing at Jamie, who was talking with a disgruntled face. It was because he looked very awkward like a man in a dress that didn’t fit him.
“Just relax. Because it’s awkward to listen to.”
“How can a knight who has not been given a title yet have the ability to so easily speak to Her Majesty the Crown Princess?”
He said while keeping in mind of Hain’s presence. It seemed clear how much Hain would have warned him to be polite. Her brother was apparently rather annoyed by excessive etiquette education. Sienna said in a voice full of laughter, “Just speak comfortably. It’s true that I’ve married into royalty now, but I am still from the Waters family anyway. I’ll become sad if we end up creating a distance from each other if you continue being like this.”
At the end of the conversation between the two, Hain came forth and said, “It is true that you were once the Duchess of the Waters Family and her brother, but you are now a member of the imperial family. You can’t tell a nobleman to speak informally to you. It could be seen as an insult to the imperial family.”
Hain’s words were not wrong, but she could not talk in such a manner with her brother for such a reason.
“Then you can use honorific language in someone else’s presence and talk comfortably when we’re alone.”
Jamie, who was sitting next to Sienna, nodded to her words with a satisfied face.
“That’s brilliant.”
“Puhaha, that tone is really awkward. Don’t talk like that in public. That sounds more funny to say it like that.”
Jamie didn’t answer Sienna’s words but just shrugged. Hain, who saw those two, said with a look of helplessness, “If that’s what you want to do… okay. However, be careful when you have eyes from outside. Then I’ll prepare some simple refreshments.”
“This king right here likes things with a lot of butter, so I’ll leave this request to you, please. My brother likes them greasy.”
“Yes, I will.”
Hain sometimes looked out of place, but she was doing her part as a maid of honor. If it weren’t for her advice, Jamie and Sienna would certainly have used a comfortable way of speaking without paying attention to other people’s eyes.
It wasn’t until Hain left the drawing room that Jamie “heated” and puffed up.
“That maid, the girl named Hain, is really fastidious. I’m just here to see you, but she’s been explaining for an hour about the etiquettes I should show in front of you. I know aristocratic etiquette, and when I said I’d look at you, I’d have done that, so I opened my eyes up and stared at you. But I’m a nobleman, and I’m not afraid to…”
“Brother, she’s a noble. In terms of morals, she’s in a higher position than you, brother, who has no title yet.”