After briefly resting on the couch, Estelle and Arcrayne returned to the ballroom together and made the rounds, greeting people.
Among those invited to this ball were not only diplomats, but also nobles, capitalists, and people of culture with whom the ambassador and his wife were friends.
It annoyed Estelle to have people direct negative emotions at her and stare at her left hand no matter where she went. But she told herself that worrying about it would only upset her.
Arcrayne pretty much only went to speak to people whose influence would benefit Estelle when she became crown princess in the future. She felt that she was being protected even here.
Over half of the guests at the soiree were Rosalians. Estelle was relieved that there wasn’t as much complex Francien being thrown around as she’d prepared herself for.
She would say a few words after Arcrayne, and should a complicated topic appear, she would take a step back. After repeating that over and over, putting on yet another smile for each new encounter, it felt like her face was about to cramp.
Meanwhile, as perhaps should’ve been expected, the prince looked completely natural with his calm smile and his gentle demeanor. It was amazing; he always seemed to know exactly what to say no matter what topic the other party brought up, and he never made a single slipup.
Politics, the economy, things going on in society, who was involved in what business enterprise—Arcrayne’s head was tightly packed with highly diverse information.
Also, Estelle had heard that he spoke five languages fluently, and that his vocabulary was even more extensive in the realm of everyday conversation. She couldn’t fathom how his head was organized.
“Estelle, are you tired?” asked the prince.
“I am all right,” Estelle replied with a smile.
She could do her best at socializing in high society despite not being all that good at it because he showed consideration for her like this every now and then. And most importantly, because she loved him.
Estelle gazed furtively at Arcrayne’s profile as he spoke to some capitalist about things she didn’t quite understand.
She was happy to be allowed by his side. And when he was nice to her, it made her want to do anything he might want. But that wasn’t a pure emotion that sought nothing in return.
Look at me more. And return my feelings in full, Estelle thought. She hated how greedy she became when thinking about Arcrayne. Sighing internally, she casually averted her eyes from the prince.
Which was when she sensed with her power that a strongly negative emotion was approaching from behind.
Estelle and Arcrayne had a prior agreement on what to do in such situations. She nonchalantly touched the ring on the middle finger of her left hand and directed mana into it. This ring was connected to the prince’s cuff link.
Arcrayne twitched, then instantly shoved himself in the direction Estelle had casually indicated with her eyes.
Immediately afterward, the sound of breaking glass resonated through the room.
“Your Highness?”
A commotion began. Red drops spilled from Arcrayne’s frock coat. The scent of wine drifted from nearby. The floor was covered in the broken shards of a wine glass and splattered with a deep crimson liquid.
Estelle had been told that Arcrayne always had a barrier around himself thanks to his power, but apparently it didn’t extend to his clothes.
A maid stood nearby with a tray in hand, trembling and looking terribly pale.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?!” exclaimed May, who’d come running faster than anyone, with a small towel in hand.
May had come here as both a bodyguard and Estelle’s personal attendant. She pressed the towel against Arcrayne’s sleeve to try and mitigate the stain.
“Your Highness!” exclaimed the ambassador, Count Giscard, who’d rushed into the retiring room with his wife moments later. “Please accept my apologies! I cannot believe how careless the servants of this embassy can be...” He spoke in fluent Rosalian.
“It is not her fault. I saw somebody push her back,” said Estelle on an impulse, fearing the maid would get the blame.
“Did you see who it was?” asked Arcrayne.
Estelle nodded. The malice she’d sensed with her power had come not from this maid but from a noblewoman who’d been behind her—one who’d seemed to be a guest here.
“It was a woman in a moss green dress, with brown hair,” said Estelle.
“Would you recognize her if you saw her again?” the prince asked.
“I cannot say with confidence that I would... I only caught a glimpse of her back.”
The ballroom was full of people, and plenty of women had brown hair.
Arcrayne looked dejected, but then the ambassador’s wife spoke to him. She used Francien and spoke rather quickly, so Estelle could only make out roughly half of it, but she seemed to be offering to do something about his clothes for the time being.
“Forgive us, but we shall take our leave now,” Arcrayne replied courteously in Francien.
“But Your Highness, does the sensation of your cuff not bother you? It may be warmer now, but nights are still cold...”
Lady Giscard slowed down her speech—perhaps she’d regained some presence of mind. Now Estelle could just barely make out everything she said.
“No need to worry,” Arcrayne replied. “Some of the wine splashed on Estelle’s dress too, and we would rather not be seen in an unseemly state any further...”
Due to diplomatic immunity, Rosalian law didn’t apply within the embassy. Arcrayne must’ve started talking about leaving because he was being cautious.
“It pains me to leave in this way, but I suspect that someone may have been targeting Estelle. So forgive me, but please understand,” he went on in Francien.
“But how can we let you go in such a state...?” Lady Giscard wasn’t backing down so easily.
“Lord Arc, why not borrow a change of clothes from them?” Estelle said quietly to the prince.
She thought that if they left like this, it might cause a rift in Arcrayne’s relationship with the Francien embassy.
Sighing, the prince turned his head back to Lady Giscard.
“Very well, I shall take you up on your kind offer and borrow a coat.”
When the prince gave in, the wife looked relieved. Estelle glanced at Count Giscard, who stood next to her, and saw him with a similar expression.
✦ ✦ ✦
They went to another room, where Arcrayne started changing into the clothes of an embassy employee with a similar build. In the meantime, May was doing whatever she could about the wine stain on Estelle’s dress.
It wasn’t just the prince’s coat that was stained, but also the sleeve of his shirt. Glancing a little to the side, Estelle could see his muscular body as he changed. She’d seen it so many times, but it still made her heart pound, so she looked away.
“I’m glad it was just wine,” said Arcrayne as he buttoned up his borrowed shirt.
“Indeed. Good thing it was not acid or poison,” replied Estelle. Now that the prince had put on a shirt, she could turn her eyes back to him.
He was just in the middle of putting on the coat he’d borrowed. It was a simple frock coat of noticeably lower quality than the one he’d worn to the ball, but anything looked good on him. That was just how finely chiseled his face was.
Arcrayne looked at Estelle all of a sudden. Somehow she was embarrassed to look him in the eye, so she casually lowered her eyes and spoke up to May, who was busy wrestling with the stain on Estelle’s dress.
“Will it come out?” asked Estelle.
“If we deal with it right after we come back to the palace, I believe it can at least be made rather difficult to notice,” replied May.
“If it remains, we can hide it with a decoration.”
“Yes. Perhaps by sewing tulle lace over it.”
May’s suggestion put a smile on Estelle’s face.
“You really treasure it, I see,” said Arcrayne.
“This dress was a gift from you, after all.”
Estelle’s reply brightened the prince’s mana.
“I hope what happened today does not lead to any strange rumors...” she added.
“Even if someone does say something to you, there’s no need to worry about it. You haven’t done anything wrong,” replied Arcrayne.
At that point, a knock came at the door. Neil, who was next to Estelle and Arcrayne, exchanged glances with the latter. Seeing the prince nod, he went to open the door.
Huh...? Estelle’s eyes widened when she saw the visitor across from Neil.