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LADY Estellise and I headed to the hot spring later that night. As high-ranking nobility, I feared Lady Estellise wouldn’t be able to bathe without the assistance of her maids, but she managed to follow my example.
“Lady Estellise! Please pour some of the water over your body before you enter the hot spring! It’s dangerous to submerge yourself in the hot water before you’re acclimated.”
“My goodness, Cynthia. You sound like my wet nurse. I’m familiar with hot spring etiquette. As a young lady, I must be educated on all such subjects.”
Lady Estellise had finished scrubbing her body and was on the way to the hot spring. When I tried to warn her, she responded to me with what sounded like amusement. She was a charming person indeed. I could picture her wet nurse lecturing Lady Estellise with a big smile, too.
“It’s hotter than I expected!” she exclaimed upon touching the water. “…But it feels absolutely wonderful.”
“Hehe! I’m sure it does.”
After Lady Estellise was fully submerged, I slowly lowered my body into the water, too. Bubbles from the carbonic acid gas gathered around me.
“What a fascinating hot spring. I’ve been to hot springs in other territories, but the Rhuddlan brand of gaseous hot springs is very peculiar. It’s so much fun.” She played with the bubbles clinging to her arms and legs as she spoke.
I decided to share some additional knowledge with her—that way, she could enjoy herself even more. “Carbonic acid gas makes the spring feel even hotter, so we actually mix in a bit of cold water to lower the temperature. Still, this spring maintains a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius, so it’s very hot regardless.”
“I see. How mysterious to think that a bit of gas can make the water feel warmer. You have many mysteries in your life, don’t you, Cynthia? That includes how you managed to turn Prince Rutherford into Adelberd’s ally.”
“Really? I only recognized that Prince Rutherford cares deeply for Prince Adelberd. To my eyes, their relationship didn’t appear particularly poor…”
“I’ve heard that they used to play together often as children. But once Adelberd and I became engaged, I never saw any evidence that they had a good relationship, even though I was around them both regularly. …Ah, that reminds me.”
“Yes?”
“I nearly forgot, since he told me so long ago, but Adelberd once said he wished to become crown prince for Prince Rutherford’s sake.”
I hadn’t expected that either.
“I assumed he was dedicating himself to becoming crown prince for your sake, Lady Estellise.”
“I’m sure that’s the case now. Father would scold me for my failures if I were anything other than the fiancée of the crown prince, and I believe Adelberd wants to protect me from that outcome at all costs. However, during our first meeting before getting engaged, he shared that he feared the prospect of his cowardly little brother becoming the king, and that was why he made up his mind to take the throne himself. Then he asked me if, ‘a girl like you is good enough to marry the great Adel.’”
“…Prince Adelberd had quite the way with words when he was younger,” I laughed.
“Indeed. He used to be well-known in the castle as the ‘mischievous prince.’ Once we were engaged, he focused on learning etiquette and grew into a lovely gentleman. However, he’s less honest than he once was, even if that can be a necessity of being the crown prince…”
I’m not so surprised to hear him called “mischievous…”
I remembered the look of glee in his eyes when he’d told me he didn’t mind getting stung by a bee during our rescue operation at Siraiya’s home. In that moment, he’d definitely reminded me of a rambunctious young boy.
Lady Estellise was also repeating what I’d heard from Prince Rutherford.
Prince Rutherford was the one with no motivation to become the king. To take on that responsibility for his reluctant younger brother, Prince Adelberd dedicated all his time to his education, thereby losing the opportunity to play with his brother as he used to. Prince Rutherford became so lonely that he had to pretend he was challenging Prince Adelberd for the throne, thereby creating a hostile political faction of his own.
This sad rift between the once-close brothers lasted for years. I just hoped things would improve between them during their time at the resort…
Lady Estellise and I enjoyed our bath in the hot spring, then applied a balm to each other to prevent our skin from drying. She was even eager to don a yukata, though she wore clothing beneath it so it would be less revealing. The two of us returned to our room for dinner.
We had decided to eat our meals separately as men and women in our respective rooms since there wasn’t enough room around the low table for five people.
“You came all this way, but you haven’t gotten to spend any time with Prince Adelberd yet. If you’re feeling lonely, I could arrange for the two of you to have some time alone together.”
We’d finished dinner and were resting for the evening when I suggested that. Lady Estellise blushed slightly and smiled.
“In that case, would tomorrow be possible?”
“Of course. I’m sure it’s hard to be lovey-dovey with us three around.”
I didn’t give that statement a second thought, but Lady Estellise blinked, startled. “Lovey-dovey…?” she repeated.
“Yes. You two flirt, don’t you? Embracing each other, or at least holding hands…”
“H-Heavens no! You think Prince Adelberd and I would do such things?!”
“What?! You don’t…?”
She turned bright red, just like Siraiya and those pure-hearted reactions of his. I guess they don’t do anything flirty at all. That’s a surprise… It seems they’re an even purer couple than Siraiya and me.
“But I’ve seen you hold hands and link arms at formal events,” I said.
“Of course. That’s to show we have a healthy relationship. If the crown prince and his fiancée weren’t getting along, it would be nothing short of a scandal. Allowing the public to see us in close contact is an important part of the job…”
“Part of the job…?”
“Yes… We never…touch when we’re not in public.” Lady Estellise slumped and hung her head. I could sense the loneliness in her body language.
I doubted she had any objections to touching His Royal Highness in private, as she loved him so much. Prince Adelberd had once shown great concern over issues in his relationship with Lady Estellise, too, so I couldn’t imagine him opposing something that would bring them even closer.
They probably both wanted to be lovey-dovey with each other, but they could never find the right timing to start.
“All right, Lady Estellise. Your mission tomorrow is to act lovey-dovey with your fiancé!”
“But…won’t he object…?”
“I highly doubt it. Prince Adelberd always makes snide remarks and smiles sarcastically, except when he speaks of his love for you. A man like that would never reject physical contact with his future wife,” I insisted.
“I…suppose you’re right. Prince Adelberd’s childhood honesty has been replaced entirely with sarcasm, but he’s still always kind and honest with me. I do believe he would agree if I asked him for more physical contact.”
“Exactly! Give it your best shot, Lady Estellise!”
“I will…! I’m going to make this mission a success!”
We took each other’s hands and prayed for the success of tomorrow’s flirting mission.