Chapter 6:
The Prince and the Jet-Black Warrior
INVITATION FOR LADY MARIE CHANDELAN READ the gold letters on the envelope I’d received. For a few moments, I couldn’t so much as blink, entranced by the beauty of it.
About half a month had passed since I’d arrived at the Granado castle. Leaving aside that package I’d gotten from my parents a week ago, this was my first time receiving a letter addressed to me here.
I looked up at Mio, whose expression was as impassive as ever, and asked, “Do you think it’s an intimidation letter? It couldn’t be, right?”
“It’s an invitation, my lady. It says as much on the envelope.”
I looked back down at the correspondence and began reading it out loud. “Lady Marie Chandelan. Congratulations on your engagement to my old friend, Kyros Granado. Please accept my warmest wishes for your future together.”
“Until here, it’s just nice,” Mio said.
“I have taken the liberty of planning a little event to celebrate this joyous occasion. Having poured in my own money, time, and effort, I can promise with the utmost confidence that this will be an unmistakably sublime experience. Word of this affair has already spread throughout the royal capital, and the people are awaiting the day with bated breath and feverish anticipation. Should you be unable to grace us with your presence, however, all my efforts will be rendered futile. I fear the populace will be stricken with sorrow, and in their despair, they will likely curse your good name for generations to come. Therefore, I implore you with the deepest sincerity: Please do not fail to attend. May both your noble houses be ever blessed with enduring happiness and flourishing prosperity.”
“All right, I’ll admit, it does sound like a threat,” Mio said. However, despite conceding as much, she looked unbothered, and she poured me a cup of tea.
How can you expect me to drink tea under these circumstances?! “What should I do?” I sobbed. “What manner of event could even possibly be so earthshattering? Do you think he means to execute me publicly?! Aren’t I doomed whether I go or not?!”
“Why would you jump to that conclusion?” Mio asked. “Please calm down, Lady Marie. The letter isn’t that mean.”
I shook my head. I might have been able to laugh it off if the sender had been anyone else. But the one who’d written it was…
“His Highness, Prince Luifon…”
Even the sound of his name was awe-inspiring. I’d never mingled in high society, but I was still the daughter of a nobleman. I knew the names of the members of the royal family, and Luifon Sandalkia Dilts was undoubtedly a royal—the third-born prince, in fact.
He hadn’t given any details regarding this “little event” of his, and it would be held tomorrow.
It only took a few hours to go from Granado Castle to the royal palace, but sending the invitation the evening prior was cruel. It seemed to have been calculated intentionally so I wouldn’t have time to think of a way out of this.
“You don’t need to worry so much,” Mio said. “His older brothers are in good health, which means it is very unlikely His Highness Luifon will ever ascend to the throne.”
“Regardless, the fact that he has a right to the throne at all makes him a very special person,” I countered.
“Perhaps, but he doesn’t have the right to sentence the fiancée of a count to death without a trial, so rest easy. I’m sure this peculiarly worded invitation was simply meant as a harmless joke. He often sends our lord the same kinds of letters.”
If Mio said so, she was likely right, but…adults didn’t usually make such jokes, did they?
“What is their relationship?” I asked. “He called Lord Kyros an old friend, but considering what you just said…”
“It’s true. They’re childhood friends. A prince and a count would normally be too far apart in status to ever become close, but House Granado has ties to the royal family. They’re extended family, in a way. Also, since our lord is the son of a duke, he attended the same academy as His Highness.”
“Were they classmates?”
“Not only that. They shared a room at the dormitory as well.”
So the two of them had been close friends since their school days… In that case, perhaps it truly was only a joke. I’d never been able to figure out if the boys of the school I attended got along or hated one another. I remembered them laughing while fighting. Truly, it made no sense.
“His Highness Luifon is the one who introduced Hanna and Ilsa to our lord,” Mio said. “His lordship must have explained what’d happened when he returned them to him, and this must be the prince’s way of apologizing.”
“So you think he wants me to have fun?”
“I didn’t say that. For all we know, his grand plan is putting together a haunted house full of zombies. Or maybe he organized a quiz and won’t let you go home until you get the answer to his questions right.”
“What?!”
“Who knows? Maybe he’ll drop onion slices on you from the ceiling or push you into a pool of tapioca. What I am sure of is that, whatever it is, His Highness Luifon will have fun—but I’m skeptical as to whether or not you will.”
What kind of person is he?!
I was beyond worried, but I couldn’t not go. Regardless of the way he’d worded it, this was an official invitation from a prince—I had to abide by it. Besides, the location was the royal palace. He probably couldn’t do anything too crazy there.
I suddenly realized something and lifted my head. “Lord Kyros is at the royal palace for work too, isn’t he? Will he be with me when I meet the prince?”
“He will, so don’t worry,” Mio assured me.
I see… Yes, I’m sure he’ll be there.
This would be His Highness Luifon’s first time meeting me. He too would certainly rather have Lord Kyros there with us.
They’ll meet up and welcome me together!
I smiled. “I feel much more at ease now that I know that. Will you come with me too, Mio?”
“Of course, my lady.”
Mio bowed to me before leaving my room to prepare for our departure.
The next morning, Mio and I went to the gate to board a carriage of House Granado. However, we found another one waiting there already.
“Good morning, Lady Marie Chandelan. I’ve come to pick you up,” the coachman, a man in a military uniform, said before bowing to me. His vehicle was an intimidating armored carriage. Its black steel frame was covered in spiky rivets, and it looked heavy and robust. For some reason, even its horses were clad in armor. On the side of the carriage was the crest of the Dilts Kingdom’s knight order.