†††
“I’M sorry my sister insisted on this little gathering.”
Then why don’t you take your idiot sister and go home?
In the end, it was me, Evan, Aisha, and, for some reason, her twin brother Ismail who gathered for tea. Shaghad was resting in his room and not participating. He probably didn’t want to. If he did, the twins would just pretend he wasn’t there or tear his pride to shreds in front of a royal from another country.
“It was Prince Evan, not me, that Miss Aisha suggested this to,” I said. “Please direct your apologies to him.”
Aisha was entirely facing Evan, prattling at him in an unending stream. He was listening with his usual public smile.
And Ismail was talking to me like he didn’t want his sister to outdo him.
“Lady Selena, are you close with His Highness?” he asked.
“We’ve known each other for some time now.”
“Have there been talks of marriage?”
Don’t come at me with an incredibly probing question like that. Who I marry has nothing to do with you, I thought. “That decision is entirely up to my parents.”
“Is it? You have no personal wishes? I know a lady would want a man with a certain level of status. Though, you are an only child. Does that mean your husband would marry into your family instead?”
In noble society, women lived off the purse strings of men. That was why noble ladies tried to marry a man with the best qualities they could find. They couldn’t survive on their own. But that was only for normal noble ladies. It had nothing to do with me.
I had the skills necessary for surviving on my own, as well as significant savings since I’d make quite a bit of money on the jobs I did for Rick. I wouldn’t be struggling to feed myself even if I was chased out of my home.
“Hm, well, I haven’t really heard anything on the subject from my parents,” I said.
Ismail beamed excessively at me.
What in the world is this about?
Tiegel, standing at the ready behind me, didn’t seem to like Ismail very much when he did that. I could feel his hostile aura. Though, no one else noticed since his expression was as blank as ever.
Evan was also in a bit of a bad mood.
In my experience, tea parties generally were not peaceful events. They were filled with savagery, though they still were the playgrounds of noble girls. The hostility of a noble girl who’d never known blood was as intimidating as a puppy barking.
Today’s tea party, however, had both Evan and Tiegel, who had experienced battle, and their mood was ever so steadily but surely worsening. I sipped my tea as I thought about how one person at least was going to lose blood at this event.
“Are you interested? In marriage?” asked Ismail.
“Master Ismail, don’t you think that’s a bit private of a question to ask a lady you’ve only just met?” said Evan, interrupting.
Ismail was surprised at that, but his smile only deepened. “My apologies. I’ve been approached quite a lot as well.”
“It makes sense, considering your age. But there is quite some distance between our two countries.” Evan was harshly telling Ismail to look for a marriage partner in his own country.
Rick had contacted me right after I took on this task and gave me this information:
“The Alaban twins are on dangerous ground, and, on top of that, their mother isn’t that high in rank. I mean, she’s a viscount’s daughter. She’s not defending them from anything. That’s why no one wants a relationship with them that would lead to marriage, despite their good looks. Especially considering they might anger the current king if they make a wrong move. Both they and their mother are treated like bad luck totems in the palace and noble society. No one wants to touch them. That’s why it’s so hard for them to find powerful support through marriage in their own country. They’ll be looking for that during their studies in Astra, most likely.”
Rick was the king’s nephew and head of the assassins’ guild, so I trusted his information to be accurate. Information Rick gathered on other countries also made its way to the king’s ears. As an obvious result, it was safe to assume Evan, the crown prince, had also been given that information since he was ordered to look after these students from Rienbul.
“I do agree our two kingdoms are somewhat distant,” said Ismail, “but they’re not so far that it’d be impossible to travel between them. And it’s not like the countries don’t already have a relationship.”
Ismail’s response to Evan was calm, despite the fact that Evan was telling him to find a marriage partner in his own country while knowing it would be impossible.
“You’re right. There have been connections between our countries. Amongst the royalty,” said Evan with a smile.
Ismail smiled back the same way, but his eyes flashed with unconcealable hostility.
I assumed this would devolve into even more of a back-and-forth, but a new incursion came from an unexpected source. Well, she had looked annoyed for a while now, but I would have thought she could tell this wasn’t the sort of thing she should interrupt.
“Prince Evan, you don’t need to entertain my brother the whole time. Talk to me. Lady Selena is here to speak with my brother. Right, Lady Selena?” said Aisha.
“If that’s what His Highness commands,” I replied.
“…You’re not going to listen to my request?” she asked.
“My allegiance is to Astra.”
I wasn’t required to take orders from the granddaughter of a viscount from Rienbul. It didn’t matter if she lived in the royal palace or had royal blood; she was still only a viscount’s granddaughter. The current king didn’t recognize her as an official child of her father, and she also wasn’t accepted as an illegitimate child.
“I don’t know how you behaved in your country, but this is Astra,” I said. “Do not forget that I am of a duke’s family. I would also recommend you carefully consider things before you act, such as the fact that the arm you are clinging to without permission belongs to the crown prince of this kingdom.”
“Jealousy is a horrible thing, Lady Selena.”
Why is this happening? “I have no reason to be jealous.”
There was nothing between Evan and me. Even if something did develop, there wouldn’t be any reason for me to be jealous.
If someone annoyed me, I could just kill them. I’m in a position where I could kill any of those girls at any time.