The Princess vs. the Grand Ducal House's Three Women (2)
I had taken Allen's advice, proposed to the Imperial Princess Charlotte—or rather, just Charlotte—and somehow managed to pull myself together.
In that desperate situation, I'd found a measure of hope. Perhaps it was because I'd found a reason to keep living. I was able to get back on my feet.
From then on, I returned to my ordinary daily life.
Just because I'd proposed didn't mean we'd get married the next day. There were things to settle between the Imperial Family and the Grand Ducal House, wedding preparations, various procedures—it would take some time.
By the proper process, it would take at least several months no matter how fast...
"I'd be fine holding the ceremony tomorrow!"
"We don't even need guests! Edward♡, shall we just hold the ceremony just the two of us?"
"No!!!"
"Princess Lirith? This isn't your wedding—it's Edward's and mine."
"Well, shouldn't we hear Edward's opinion too? You can't just decide on your own."
"Ah, Sister, even if not tomorrow, the sooner the better for me as well."
"No!!!"
"Hey, Edward says it's fine, so why do you keep—"
"Ahem. Your Highness. Even so, we cannot simply rush a celebration between the Imperial Family and our house so casually."
"But Mother! Edward wants it too!"
"W-well, Mother... ahem... Edward will be Her Highness's husband, but he is first and foremost my son, so I would appreciate a little time."
"Ah..."
"And Her Highness's mother, the Empress... Lady Elizabeth would feel the same way."
"Oh right! I haven't even told Mother yet!"
...
Through this chain of events—even if not tomorrow, with Charlotte rushing things, it would probably happen in about a month?
For now, there was nothing immediate for me to do. So I returned to my original routine and went about the things I usually did.
The first thing I did was cook—right here in this kitchen.
A man should prepare his own meals, after all.
Once we married, my residence would probably be the Imperial Palace... but my thinking hadn't changed. This wretched world could screw me over at any moment, so I always had to stay on guard.
That lunatic Lee Hye-yeong had come to this world too—and she was the one who'd forced me into a situation where I had no choice but to cook for myself...
Nah, no way...
Goddess? Lady Rabinus? Surely even you wouldn't go that far, right? Right?
Thinking such thoughts, I stirred the ladle in the pot. Beside me, Emma watched my every move, fretting restlessly.
"Young Master, your body still isn't fully recovered. Perhaps you should eat what the head chef has prepared..."
"No. I can do this. Don't stop me."
Yeah, no. Unless I was literally about to starve to death, I would never eat food prepared by someone else.
"And also, that title of 'Young Master' is a bit..."
Honestly, being called Young Master was still cringey. "Young Lord" was a bit awkward too, but that one at least matched my actual status so I could live with it. "Young Master" just made me sound like a kid.
So I was about to ask Emma to go back to calling me Young Lord, but—
"Is that not allowed?"
"...Do as you like."
She looked so hurt and pitiful that I gave up. Because I remembered the faces of everyone around me—not just Emma—looking as tormented as I had been on the day of my breakdown... Whenever any of them so much as started to look sad, my heart went soft without me meaning to.
"Thank you, hehe... Young Master! Then today as well..."
"Hm? Ah, right. Please taste-test for me."
Once I allowed her to call me Young Master, Emma beamed as if nothing had happened and asked about her usual role, so I told her to go ahead.
Given how strong she'd been when she went toe-to-toe with Lee Hye-yeong, even if there was poison in the food, she'd probably be fine, right?
Wait... come to think of it, was she really that weak and ditzy?
Before I could properly process the sudden question, a new figure entered the kitchen.
"Edward~"
It was my fiancée? Well, calling her a fiancée felt a bit off. Since we were planning to skip the engagement ceremony and go straight to marriage... then my lover?
Cringe...
Anyway, Charlotte—the woman I would eventually marry—walked in.
"Charlotte, what brings you here?"
"Cha... Charlotte..."
"Hm? Emma, what's wrong?"
"Nothing~ Young Master. Hehe..."
I asked Emma, who was muttering something under her breath beside me, but she just answered with a bright smile.
What's with her now.
And then—
"Edward, leaving me out and the two of you alone... what are you doing in a kitchen like this?"
"Pardon? The two of us...?"
What's with her now too. Obviously what this airhead and I were doing alone was...
"I'm currently cooking together with Young Master!"
No, I'm cooking alone?
"C-cooking!! Does the Frigid household not even have servants prepare meals for their master?"
Without giving me a chance to speak, the two of them carried on the conversation on their own.
"No, that's not—"
I tried to jump in and correct things properly, but—
"It's Young Master's noble hobby!"
Emma answered for me again without asking.
Hey. It's not a hobby—it's a necessary choice for my survival!
"Ah, what a wonderful hobby, Edward!"
It's not a hobby, I said.
"Haha... thank you."
But explaining why I cooked was too much of a hassle, so I just went with the hobby story and thanked Charlotte.
"Then I'll join in too!"
"That won't be necessary. I cook alone."
Look, no matter how much we were going to marry, no matter how trustworthy she was—you never know what might happen in this world. I cook alone. And I couldn't very well make the Imperial Princess of the Empire get her hands wet, could I?
"But you clearly said you were doing it with the maid..."
"Ahem! I'm the taste-tester."
"T-taste-tester?..."
"Yes, that's right."
Well, sampling the food was accurate enough, so it wasn't a lie. But that didn't mean we were cooking together, did it?
Emma puffed out her chest proudly as she explained her role to Charlotte.
"Then is there anything I can help with..."
"There isn't, Your Highness! If anything, having more people around will only distract Young Master from focusing on his cooking!"
Charlotte tried to say something so she could join in somehow, but Emma told her to leave.
I mean, there was no need for that? Showing a man cooking wasn't exactly something to be proud of, but Charlotte just wanted to be with me, so she was looking for an excuse. So I tried to stop Emma, but—
"Hm? Having one more person wouldn't really get in the—"
"So please, Your Highness, since you'd only get in Young Master's way while he cooks, I'd ask that you step outside the kitchen!"
Hey, stop cutting me off!
"Ugh... I suppose I have no choice. Edward, see you later!"
"Charlotte, I'm fine with—"
"Goodbye!"
I tried to tell her it was fine, but once again Emma's loud voice drowned me out. And Charlotte, not wanting to interfere with my cooking, actually left the kitchen.
I was a bit dumbfounded, looking back and forth between the kitchen door Charlotte had opened and left through, and Emma.
Then Emma suddenly—
"Pfft."
"Emma?"
Huh? Laughing?
"It's nothing. Something just caught in my throat... pfft..."
Good grief, what an airhead...
I poured a suitable amount of water into a nearby cup and handed it to her.
"You okay? Drink this."
"Ah... thank you, Young Master! Hehe♡"
Tremble, tremble...
?
I thought I heard something trembling... Must be my imagination?
Charlotte had no choice but to sigh once she was outside the kitchen.
She had clearly heard it on her way out. The maid had snickered at her as she left.
"Haa..."
She'd wanted to get angry right then and there, but... if he saw her angry, what if his feelings changed? No—even if they didn't change, what if he looked at her even a little less favorably? She barely managed to hold it in.
That cunning maid had probably aimed for exactly that, deliberately letting her hear the sound of suppressed laughter.
This couldn't go on.
Ever since that day, the three women of the Grand Ducal House had been openly keeping her in check. Princess Lirith interfering was well within expected range. But she hadn't expected the other two—the maid and the knight—to try interfering as well.
The maid's interference, in particular, was extremely troublesome. Just like a moment ago, the maid still pretended to be innocent while constantly sticking to Edward's side and getting in her way.
Edward... does he not want to spend time alone with me?
Every time she visited his room, the maid was always there under the pretext of attending him. So Charlotte had subtly given Edward hints, but he showed no particular reaction.
"Edward~ Let's talk about our future together."
"Yes, of course, Charlotte."
"Right, so this is about our future, just the two of us..."
"?"
Had he really not caught on? And because the maid kept butting in, it was hard to even have a conversation.
"Wow! Are you going to talk about our future? Young Master, I'm part of 'us' too, right? Hehe..."
"Huh? Uh... yeah, of course."
"That's right! If 'we' join forces, we can overcome any threat!"
"Yeah, that's right, Emma."
No, Edward, the "us" and the future I was talking about weren't that!
Charlotte had wanted to talk about his and her future, but the maid had smoothly redirected the topic to "the future threats that would come," so... instead of driving out this annoying maid, she had no choice but to continue the conversation as a trio.
And the one who actually got to be alone with him wasn't her—it was the maid watching him cook in the kitchen.
"Pfft."
"...Are you laughing at me too?"
"No, ma'am. Something just went down the wrong pipe..."
"You people really..."
"Pardon?"
"Huu..."
She was barely holding back her anger when this time, the knight standing guard near the kitchen provoked her. Since Edward wasn't present, Charlotte considered getting angry, then decided to hold back.
These girls are trying to goad me into losing my temper and looking pathetic...
Princess Lirith had been sniping at her for over ten years, so she could tolerate that to some degree. And as the next head of the Grand Ducal House, she could let that slide...
But these ones...
They weren't even nobles—had they forgotten she was the Imperial Princess of the Empire?
No, this is all that Lirith bitch's scheme...
Princess Lirith probably knew as well. That Charlotte had built up some resistance to her provocations and wouldn't fall for them easily. So she was using those two to provoke her instead. The goal was to make her look pathetic so Edward would lose affection for her and break off the engagement.
But I have my own ideas.
"Your Highness? Do you still have business with Young Master? He's cooking, so it would be a disturbance if..."
When Charlotte narrowed her eyes at the knight, the knight tried to shoo her away. Since she'd already said goodbye to Edward and agreed to meet later, Charlotte had no intention of lingering here. Of course, leaving him alone with the maid was deeply uncomfortable, but it seemed they'd always been like that, and surely nothing would happen.
But she did have business. That business was...
"No~ The person I have business with is you, Knight."
"Me, ma'am?"
"Yes! Could we speak for a moment?"
"Pardon?..."
Edward's escort knight, Grace.
If the knight and the maid kept joining forces to keep her in check and provoke her, she might eventually show a pathetic side without meaning to. To break this deadlock, Charlotte decided to approach the knight.
"Would you come to my room for a moment?"
"I am currently on duty escorting Young Master. I cannot."
"Of course nothing is more important than escorting Edward! But there's no immediate major threat, and the maid is right there with him, isn't she?"
"That is true, but I am still on duty..."
They were inside the Frigid Grand Ducal mansion, and the Hero who might have been a threat had long since left. And since the maid who'd been pretending to be an airhead was fairly strong, there was no real need for the knight to keep standing guard here.
When Charlotte pointed this out, Grace didn't deny it. But she still tried to refuse the invitation under the pretext of duty. So Charlotte decided to cast her bait.
"It's about Edward. Including you."
"Pardon? Including me..."
Just as expected, Grace showed immediate interest.
The reason Charlotte cast the bait was—
These girls clearly don't seem to get along that well... so it should be possible.
First, to drive a wedge between the three women of the Grand Ducal House.
"Yes! A very important conversation that includes you too, Knight~ It won't take long!"
"Th-then I shall step away for just a moment."
"Yes! Let's go together, Knight~"
The reason the Imperial Princess was trying to recruit Edward's escort knight was—
This one is simple, just as I expected.
When she held a sword she projected more dignity than anyone, but outside of that she showed a rather naive side—something Charlotte had picked up on over the past ten years of visiting the Frigid household.
I'd love to win over the maid too, but that bitch is a no-go.
She might get turned around instead.
Winning over just this one will be enough.
The Imperial Princess had absolutely no intention of being pushed around so easily by the three women of the Grand Ducal House.