The Princess's Arrival
Damn it.
But I couldn't say it out loud.
There was Kyle right next to me.
No matter how close I was to Kyle, crossing that line by cursing like that was too much.
"Haa..."
Anyway, Kyle let out a sigh too, so he didn't seem that different from me.
The situation right now was incredibly absurd.
It had no choice but to be like this.
The carriage approaching in front of us was already telling us what kind of decoration it had from the start, and where it came from.
"Why from the imperial family again..."
Yeah, it was the imperial family.
Only the imperial family would use purple like that madly.
They symbolized purple with their eyes, so calling the color purple was absurd.
Well, purple was hard to get from nature, so it was a special color, that made sense.
But did they have to decorate the carriage that extravagantly?
They had gold-plated it thoroughly and then stuck purple flowers, jewels, fabrics, gemstones, whatever on it.
The carriage from the old Dextrin Empire wasn't that decorated.
-Creak...
Anyway, the carriage stopped in front of us.
Kyle and I naturally bowed our waists deeply.
Since it was outside, we didn't bend our knees.
Honestly, it was good that I wasn't particularly loyal to the imperial family.
-Click, click, click...
While we were standing still with our waists bowed, we heard the sound of heels.
It sounded like anyone would say "It's a noble~" when they heard it.
The person getting out was obvious.
The emperor and his wife wouldn't come.
The crown prince wouldn't come either.
So it had to be set.
"Hmm...?"
A woman's voice.
"Eristyrol Prince, or should I call you Duke now?"
"It doesn't matter which way you call me."
"Then, I'll call you Kyle Prince. I saw you at the debutante ball last time, so you know. You can raise your head, no problem."
"Thank you."
Kyle and I raised our heads and waists that we had bowed at her words.
And the identity of the woman in front of us was exactly as I thought.
The princess of the Dextrin Empire, one of the two born between the emperor and his wife.
It was the princess.
She was pretty.
"It's been a while. Nice to meet you, Kyle Eristyrol."
"It's an honor to meet you again, Your Highness the Princess."
Julia Dextrin.
She was a very famous person in many ways.
Among them, the biggest reason was simply that she was beautiful.
"By the way, how much more has Kyle Prince grown? You seem taller than when I last saw you."
"I don't know about that point either."
"Hmm... By the way, I haven't heard that Kyle Prince has a lover. Is it perhaps the daughter of some noble family?"
"?"
"It's not a lover. Not yet."
What's going on.
Does Kyle have a lover?
I hadn't heard that either.
And where are the nobles around here?
I turned my head and looked around, but besides Kyle, I didn't see anyone who could be called a noble.
"You. The black-haired noble daughter."
"Huh? Did you mean me?"
"Who's here at this place besides me, Kyle Prince, and you?"
"Ah, I'm Sophia, a direct attendant to Kyle Prince."
I said that while bowing my waist.
I never thought I'd have to greet a royal during my lifetime.
It was completely unexpected.
Because I worked in a high-ranking family, such things happened.
"Hm...? Commoner?"
"Yes."
"Ah."
The princess let out a short sound as if she had realized something.
From her expression, I could guess what the situation was, but to me, who was bowing my waist and head, it was unknown.
Kyle would handle it well on his own.
"-----"
"Let's talk about that later."
"Hehe... This is interesting. According to Kyle Prince's words, shall we talk about it again later? Hey, attendant? You can raise your head."
"Thank you."
For now, I raised my waist again, but I didn't hear what they were talking about.
Precisely, I didn't hear what the princess said.
Did she whisper something to Kyle?
Even if she was a princess, I thought it wasn't good to do that to a man who had already gone through the coming-of-age ceremony.
And the princess was clearly older than Kyle, wasn't she?
"..."
"Well, please guide me inside."
"Yes."
Kyle led the princess inside the castle.
Since Kyle gave the signal not to follow immediately, I stood still in front of the castle gate for a moment.
Just in case, I was thinking of helping to take out luggage from the carriage, but since it was the imperial family's item, I was told not to touch it, so I just stood still.
"...Damn it."
The imperial family's servants also entered the castle.
I was alone in front of the castle gate, staring at the snowy sky as usual and cursing.
Honestly, my mood wasn't great.
Everyone would feel that way in this situation.
It was a promise made almost three weeks ago.
Going out to play with Kyle was an old promise.
So I had put on this feminine dress with some effort.
"But damn it, it's ruined like this?"
It was absurd.
Thanks to that, I felt my body hot even in this cold weather.
Wasn't the princess just a hot pack?
Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy to make me hot like this.
"Haa..."
I brushed my hair back and chewed on my anger while spending time.
*****
By the way, I never thought Kyle Prince's taste would be like this.
"..."
Kyle guided Julia into the reception room.
Since the reception room was the only place suitable to entertain Julia right away, there was no other choice.
That was because Julia had arrived without any prior notice.
"So, Your Highness, how did you come to Eristirol?"
"Hmm... First, my father sent me to congratulate you on your coming-of-age ceremony and succession as the prince. And the second is...?"
"..."
The first one was natural.
There was no reason for the emperor, who sends small gifts even to a minor baron, not to do anything for the Eristyrol family, one of the imperial dukes.
"Your father asked me to look into Kyle Eristyrol's female relationships."
"Huh?"
Kyle was momentarily surprised at Julia's words.
Kyle was a person who didn't have surprises except for Sophia's occasional impulsive actions, but this time he couldn't help but be surprised.
The emperor had told him to investigate Kyle's female relationships.
"You mean my female relationships?"
"Yes."
"...Why?"
It was a somewhat inappropriate word, but Julia passed it without any issue.
In her opinion, her father's thinking was honestly absurd.
'As expected, old people can't understand young kids.'
"Don't worry. It's just that I was worried that Kyle Prince might end up as a widower because there was no woman around him."
Julia had no choice but to tell Kyle this fact at their second meeting.
If she didn't say it, the relationship between Eristyrol and the imperial family would obviously worsen.
Although she had finished the coming-of-age, Kyle was still young.
"My father has no intention of harming you at all. Rather, he's showing a friendly attitude. He just came for that, right?"
"...I see."
Kyle understood such imperial families.
The princess and the emperor understood too.
To them, the peace of the empire and relations with the nobles were important.
But Kyle still felt unpleasant inside.
'It would have been better if he came tomorrow.'
It was no different from standing outside the castle cooling his heels.
For Kyle too, today was an important day.
Going on a date with Sophia alone was rare for him too.
He had always spent time with his fluffy father preparing for the coming-of-age, always rolling in the snow, getting hit in the eyes, and spending time.
In addition, he hadn't been able to meet Sophia during the coming-of-age, and even after returning, he hadn't been able to fully relieve his stress.
During that time, a time finally came to walk around with Sophia for the first time in a long time and relieve stress.
'Sophia... was pretty today.'
Kyle was a man too.
A man who came out to go on a date with a woman, and if the woman was wearing completely different clothes from usual, his heart would race.
Kyle today was like that.
'The skirt... suited her well.'
He hadn't planned to do this with the princess in front of him, but he had no choice.
For Kyle, Sophia was already number one.
"Anyway, don't worry. I'll probably come back in a week. I'll roughly tell my father about it?"
Julia smiled at Kyle with a seductive expression.
It wasn't particularly to seduce Kyle.
She just laughed because the situation was fun, and because her social skills were on her face, she had that expression.
"A woman likes one servant."
"Huh?"
Kyle answered with a stupid voice.
Julia started laughing loudly at such Kyle.
If the room didn't have good soundproofing, a servant passing by in the hallway might have thought something was strange.
"The attendant next to you, you like her, right? So you were staring at her with worried eyes. And her breasts were big too. What."
"......"
"Don't worry. I really have no intention of harming you?"
"Yes..."
Kyle answered the princess.
Since ruining his date with Sophia was already a past event, he understood.
And since he didn't want to make it more troublesome, he had no particular interest in the princess.
And more than anything, the appearance of Sophia from earlier filled Kyle's mind completely, so he had no thought to drag the story on longer.