Lydia was visibly awkward, but I supposed that was only natural. She’d been raised with the strict class division mindset of the Selesnoas. Her greeting the commoner-born adopted daughter of a baron showed she’d gone through a big change. That was a good thing, though. In the past, she would have ignored Flora entirely. As Armstrong once said, “A small step for mankind, a giant leap for Lydia!”—or something along those lines.
When I thought of it this way, Lydia’s stiffness appeared adorable in my eyes, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning.
Ever since the events at the detached palace, we’d run into Lydia several times. These chance encounters had started after our respective houses entered some sort of peace agreement. Alexei wouldn’t tell me the specifics, so I had no idea what had truly transpired, but I’d heard that the Selesnoas had sent a gift back after Alexei sent one of his own. We were now on friendly terms.
“What did you send them, brother?” I asked.
“Just some wine, Ekaterina,” Alexei replied.
Wine was one of the specialties of the duchy, but the gleam in Alexei’s eyes as he smiled was sort of dark. That said, my main thought was: Brother, you look so handsome with that devilish smile on!
Apparently, the gift the Selesnoas had sent as a thank you was a horn—the musical instrument, to be specific. It was adorned with pearls and clearly intended more as a decorative piece than an instrument meant to be played.
Thanks to the large lake in their territory, the Selesnoas produced freshwater pearls. In this world, where aquaculture wasn’t yet a thing, pearls were far more precious and expensive than in my previous one. Moreover, since the founding father of the House of Selesnoa had been a horn player for Pyotr the Great, their choice of a horn as a gift was highly symbolic.
I imagined Alexei had sent them very fine wine, but regardless of its value, the horn was obviously a lot more precious. That imbalance only underscored the difference in status and influence between our houses. So, even though we were “working together,” the reality was that the House of Selesnoa was now beneath the House of Yulnova.
The fact that I’d rescued the former empress’s piano and saved them from their own hubris certainly played a role in that shift, but it was also clear to everyone that the Selesnoas had never posed a serious threat to the Yulnovas. They’d made the right call in choosing submission over resistance. As Sun Tzu had once written in The Art of War: To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
Convincing the enemy they had no chance of winning so they gave up without a fight was the greatest victory possible. After all, no matter how overwhelming your power compared to your adversary’s, any battle brought loss and exhaustion. Avoiding that was always best.
Heh heh heh. I wanna brag to Sun Tzu about my brother! I thought, like the simpleton I was.
That aside, my point was that Lydia had started popping up more after the relationship between our families was settled.
And what did we talk about when she showed up?
“Thank you for the score you gave me the other day, Lady Ekaterina. It was a wonderful surprise.”
“Well, since that song happened to come up in our conversation, I thought you’d sing it beautifully,” I replied.
That was a lie. Or rather, a polite way of putting it.
The song Olga had sung at the detached palace, “Jupiter,” had come up while we chatted, but Lydia had stared at me with such intensity that I could practically hear her scream, I want to sing iiiiiit!!! When I’d returned to my dorm room that evening, I’d asked Mina to deliver the sheet music to her.
Speaking of Lydia’s, um, expressive gaze, that was also why we now called each other by name. She’d looked so envious when Flora and I used first names that I’d offered, on the condition that she do the same with Flora and treat her like a friend. Lydia had jumped at the opportunity, exclaiming, “If that’s what you want, I’m willing to do it!”
“Have you tried singing the song yet?” I asked.
“Of course. Since you were kind enough to send me the sheet music, I took it as your way of telling me to keep up my practice,” she said with a smile. At a glance, it was a confident, cool expression, but I could feel the pressure of her gaze.
How does she do that?!
“I’d like to hear you sing it one day,” I said in spite of myself.
“I wouldn’t be against it if you wanted to listen, Lady Ekaterina. I’ll sing for you as soon as I polish my performance enough!”
Every time, Lydia pounced on these openings. She was truly full of vigor. Maybe that pressure I felt in her gaze was just zealous enthusiasm.
I was pondering that when Lydia hesitantly mumbled, “I, um... I always sang hoping that the God of Music would listen. So it feels a little strange for me to sing for someone... The thought makes my heart race.” Her cheeks reddened as her smile widened.
When Lydia first spoke to me like this, I’d assumed that she was just putting on a show. I’d figured she had mixed feelings about me after the events at the detached palace. Everyone in her class knew she’d been training her hardest, hoping to be noticed by the God of Music. She’d even negotiated with the school for daily piano access after class. Yet the ones who’d been summoned by the God of Music were Olga and Renato—two vassals of her house. That must have been a blow to Lydia’s image. Even though she was the daughter of a marquess, I imagined her standing in her class must have wavered at least a little.
I still got a little freaked out when I thought about my status, but I was the lady of a grand ducal house. Being on friendly terms with me was good for her image and her position in the pecking order. Lydia knew how noble ladies fought their battles. She was definitely capable of putting her feelings aside and pretending to be my friend to save face.
At first, I’d accepted her overtures for what they were and figured if I could be useful to her in that way, it was fine. However, the longer it went on, the more I realized Lydia really wanted to be my friend. I even got the feeling her personality had shifted a bit.
We were both nobles and had to prioritize our respective houses, which meant our relationship might change again in the future depending on politics. Still, I thought it would be nice to be friends, at least while we were still just students at the same academy.
I also had high hopes for Lydia as a singer. I sensed she was in the process of reinventing herself.
“What is your class doing for the festival, Lady Lydia? If it involves singing, I’ll look forward to listening to you perform onstage.”
“W-Well, the class hasn’t decided yet. But the sound in the auditorium is quite good, so that’d be a nice stage to perform on,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
Your voice is the real deal, Lydia. I hope you’ll show everyone what you can really do. And I can’t wait to hear you at your best!
I was getting excited about it.
“What about you, Lady Ekaterina? What are your class’s plans?”
“We haven’t decided either. We’re planning to discuss it soon.”
We parted from Lydia just before reaching Mikhail’s class. Before she left, she handed me the small basket she’d been carrying. It was filled with traditional sweets from the Selesnoa Marquessate—the kind the former empress loved. They were a delicious treat made by baking a mixture of whipped egg whites and sugar: meringues. I’d already received several batches from Lydia.
Speaking of meringues, they’d stirred my culinary ambitions. Even in this era, maybe we could make macarons if we went all out...
As always, the prince was leaning out the window like he was waiting for something, and we hurried to him.
“Sorry for the wait, Prince Mikhail.”
He grinned. “You’ve made me no promises. I’m the one deciding to wait eagerly for your passage every day. Besides, I knew you’d arrive later than usual when I heard Lydia pacing back and forth in the area.”
I’d thought Lydia just had innate good timing because she was a perfect noble lady, but she’d actually been hard at work matching her timing with ours... She was like a swan, never disturbing the surface of the lake but paddling tirelessly underneath.
“Anyway, you don’t have to be so polite when you feed me every day. You could put on airs if you wanted to,” Mikhail concluded.
“My, I couldn’t,” I replied with a smile.
He wasn’t exactly wrong; we’d been feeding him every single day of class for quite a while. Still, I felt guilty making a puppy wait for its food. That was a natural feeling as a human being, right?
Actually, I probably couldn’t be more impolite if I tried. I literally think of you as a puppy. Sorry about that, Prince.
“Yes, I could never put on airs around you. I owe you far too much.”
Heh heh! I’m confident in today’s dish! I thought with inner smugness while I calmly opened my basket. “Please have one.”
“Thank you.”
Inside my basket were sandwiches. Mikhail didn’t hesitate to reach in and pick one up. When he saw the thick slice of meat inside, he beamed. I’d expected the meaty sandwich to be a hit with a growing boy like him. Clearly, I’d been right.
“Is that deep-fried?” he asked.
“Yes, we covered them in breadcrumbs before frying.”
“Looks delicious,” he said before diving in and taking a big bite. A nice crunchy sound echoed, and his summer-sky-blue eyes widened as he munched away.
“It is delicious!” he exclaimed after swallowing his first bite.
Yes!!!
It hadn’t been easy, but I was glad we’d nailed the tonkatsu sandwiches! I smiled gracefully on the outside and struck a triumphant pose on the inside.
“You like meat, don’t you, Prince Mikhail? I came up with this way of cooking it so that it’d be easier to have for lunch. I said I’d make something you liked, but since you never told me your favorite dish, I took it upon myself to think of something that might suit your tastes.”
“Every single dish I’ve gotten from you has been delicious, so I couldn’t choose. Did you really make this for me?”
“Of course!” I replied immediately.
In truth, it had been a big challenge.
Ever since I’d picked up cooking, I’d been hoping to make Japanese food, because I wanted to feed my brother something especially delicious.