Chapter 13
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Whispers Before the Banquet
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"Please don't speak so loudly. You'll get scolded."
"Why?"
Betty lowered her voice to a whisper.
"You know the Setia family is close to the Second Prince, right?"
"Yeah?"
"The Setia family never officially declared a stance, but the family that produced the current Empress—mother to the First and Second Princes—is the longtime allied house of the Setias, the Tantinus Marquessate."
Charlotte already knew the story, but she nodded obediently, figuring it was good to hear it again from Betty's lips.
"Yeah."
"And you know that even before Lady Aienne—mother to the Third Prince—became a consort, Her Majesty the Empress has always despised her intensely?"
"...Well, yeah."
"And ever since Prince Joseph started learning swordsmanship recently, he's been drawing even more hatred than before..."
Was "drawing hatred" really the way to describe Prince Joseph's situation? He'd been tied to a tree and pelted with stones by the duke's house side branch kids.
Charlotte nodded.
'I thought it was just family politics causing the hate, but on top of that, Joseph's got more talent than the Second Prince Ricardo, so he's hated even more.'
It reminded her of her past life once again.
She'd experienced jealousy and envy from others just for having talent and putting in the effort to hone it.
'...Not saying Consort Aienne did right, but that doesn't mean Joseph deserves to be bullied. What did he ever do wrong?'
The more she learned about Joseph, the more her chest tightened with frustration.
As Charlotte fell silent, Betty cautiously added, wondering if she'd understood.
"So, you get why we can't just bring up the Third Prince carelessly, right?"
"I get it, yeah, I get it."
She understood the position.
But...
Charlotte spoke slowly, each word laced with the anger smoldering inside her.
"If that's the case, they shouldn't have had him."
"...Pardon?"
"No, think about it. He's a proper prince, isn't he? So why's his life like that? Did they have him just to torment him? No matter the circumstances, if His Majesty the Emperor loved her enough to have a child, shouldn't she take proper care of him?"
"Ch-Charlotte, miss!"
Betty frantically signaled for her to quiet down.
Charlotte had more she wanted to argue, but she knew ranting at Betty wouldn't change anything.
She calmed her anger and shook her head.
"Fine. I get it, but... anyway, since you're saying it so earnestly, Betty, I'll watch my words."
"Please, I beg you, miss."
"Yeah. But isn't Joseph being educated at the Setia house? Will I get to see him at the banquet tonight?"
Betty nodded.
"Of course you'll see him. He's a prince, after all, so he'll attend."
"Good. I won't bring it up anymore to avoid troubling you."
Betty grew even more restless as Charlotte suddenly cut off the topic after sounding like she wanted to meet Joseph.
'What does she plan to do if she meets him?'
Considering all the mishaps Charlotte had caused so far, Betty's anxiety was hardly unfounded.
As she combed and styled Charlotte's long hair, Betty spent a long time choosing her words before cautiously speaking up.
"It's not that I'm overstepping... no, you never showed any interest in the Third Prince before, so what suddenly sparked it?"
Charlotte stared at Betty through the mirror before tossing out her answer bluntly.
"He reminds me of myself."
"...Miss."
Betty started to say something but clamped her mouth shut.
Whatever nuance Charlotte meant by "reminds me of myself," if it was about being despised and neglected in the household despite having a healthy father alive, then it really was the same.
Betty's chest tightened unexpectedly. Holding back tears, she busied herself even more fervently with the banquet preparations, avoiding further talk.
Charlotte didn't bring up the Third Prince again and obediently washed her face and changed clothes as Betty directed.
"Oh my, oh my. You're too cute."
For a duke's family lady attending a ball, Betty was the only one helping with her preparations.
Pitying her, Betty kept soothing and praising Charlotte as she styled her hair and face.
Charlotte had no interest in such things and just stared blankly into the mirror.
It didn't take long before Betty had braided her hair up and pinned it with a hair ornament adorned with red flowers.
The ornament resembled plum blossoms, which pleased Charlotte, bringing a small smile to her face.
Finally, after applying a cream to soften her skin and flower oil to her lips, the styling was complete.
Betty stepped back, straightened her waist, and looked at Charlotte.
Meeting eyes in the mirror, Charlotte looked childishly cute yet carried a dignified air utterly unlike a child.
'...I felt it last time, but she seems like a completely different person.'
Was it because she stood straight? Or smiled faintly? Or maybe because she no longer scorned or cursed others...?
With serenity settling into her once-perpetually furrowed brow and wandering, anger-filled eyes, Charlotte truly looked beautiful.
Charlotte liked her styled appearance too.
She'd thought dressing up for a ball was just a hassle, but trying it on felt fun, like a costume party.
There was no rule saying she had to wear training clothes every day just because she swung a sword around wildly.
"Betty, you're skilled. I actually look like a proper lady now."
Charlotte spun in place with a pleased grin, and Betty smiled softly.
Lately, Charlotte took compliments well.
Dressing the lady was her job, and normally, she'd have spent one or two hours coaxing Charlotte, who would whine about not calling in professionals.
There had never been a time of such high job satisfaction since becoming Charlotte's nanny.
Jerome sat on the sofa in the main building lobby, glaring at his watch, when the sound of small shoes startled him into turning his head.
A round-toed little shoe came into view, followed by pink hair that matched perfectly with a red dress, and then Charlotte's cute, round face.
He glanced at the watch again, but it was exactly five minutes before the agreed meeting time in the lobby.
"...You're on time."
Jerome rose, inwardly gauging how far this strange phenomenon with Charlotte lately would go.
"Let me see, then for today, your escort will be..."
He was about to offer to ride in the carriage with his daughter, who always struggled to find a partner, as usual.
"I'll do it."
Isaac—the most stoic boy in the family, who showed interest in neither siblings nor people in general—raised his hand with a beaming smile.
"Show me your hand, Charlotte. ...Not a single callus."
"Do you have a main sword you use?"
"You don't even have a practice sword in the family armory, so feel free to train with my personal one. What do you think?"
Charlotte eyed Isaac oddly as he bombarded her with questions nonstop.
'I've heard the book descriptions of my little brother so many times... why is Isaac so different?'
The physical description matched perfectly.
Blond hair, strikingly handsome and flashy face, an intimidating aura that made approaching scary except when he grinned at Charlotte like she amused him.
But she'd never imagined he'd be this chatty.
'They said he barely responds outside of talks with the House Lord...'
Recalling how Isaac had looked at her like less than dust when she first entered the dining hall, Charlotte tilted her head.
'He was exactly as described back then.'
"What're you thinking so hard about? The sparring tournament?"
The questions showed no sign of stopping.
Unable to ignore the sparkling curiosity in Isaac's eyes any longer, Charlotte sighed deeply and shook her head.
"If you'd talked to me this much from the start, Charlotte would've been a lot happier."
"You say it like it's someone else's business."
"...No."
"So? Did Uncle Jerome tell you not to tell me anything?"
"No."
Charlotte shook her head again.
As the palace drew near, Isaac's relentless questions were all about swords. Charlotte loved talking swords or martial arts more than anyone.
But she held back the itch on her tongue and turned her head away sharply.
'Bullying's bad enough, but ignoring me was too much.'
Having no real siblings herself, Charlotte had always envied blood kin bonding from afar. To her, shunning a cousin sibling for being bad at swordplay seemed petty.
She wasn't ready to be instantly friendly now that narrow-minded Isaac had changed his attitude.