Mary was troubled.
She wondered if this sender was someone she should pay a bit more attention to.
[From: Prince Leon.]
“No. I must follow the young lady’s orders.”
Without even opening the prince’s invitation, she discarded it.
However, the letter that clearly stated, ‘This is not an invitation’, she did deliver to Seila.
That was a letter from Jeremiel.
[From: Jeremiel.]
There wasn’t much written inside.
Just a short greeting, along with the words: “See you soon, Seila.”
It seemed to mean he would see her on the entrance day of Somarpi Academy.
Seila set the letter down.
“Whoa—”
The words “See you soon, Seila” suddenly writhed, floated up, and transformed into a butterfly.
A white butterfly.
It fluttered toward the window, but then hit the glass with a soft pop! and disappeared.
“It vanished?”
Since there was no trace of magical energy, it seemed to be an art of Bigung.
Then—
Meow— came the sound of a kitten.
“Huh?”
On the windowsill sat a tiny cat.
It was small, adorable, with glossy black fur and light purple eyes.
Meow—
The kitten tapped on the window.
Seila went over, opened it, and the kitten, as if it owned the place, padded in softly and rubbed its little body against her ankle.
“Are you lost?”
Meow—
“Hungry? Should I give you something to eat?”
As if enchanted, Seila picked up the kitten.
It was as light as a feather.
Just then, someone came to her room.
Startled, the kitten leapt down and hid inside Seila’s blanket.
Two soft purple eyes peeked out, then quickly disappeared again.
From inside the blanket, a fluffy lump wriggled about.
‘Oh no, my heart…’
The visitor turned out to be none other than Depelto.
He held a few crumpled newsletters in his hand.
“How disgracefully you’ve been conducting yourself, for such rumors to spread!”
He looked furious.
Again? Predictable.
He must be upset about the scandal with Prince Leon.
“What is the matter?”
“All the newsletters are mentioning your scandal.”
“Ah.”
“‘Ah’? You can be so carefree? Of all people, a scandal with the prince!”
It was true that parents in That Lady’s World were especially sensitive about their daughters’ scandals.
Such records could become serious blemishes when arranging marriages later.
“I’ve done nothing with the prince that could cause a scandal. And the prince himself has never mentioned me in any interview.”
“Oh really?”
Leon’s interview: “I’ve never thought seriously about marriage. But if I were to, I’d like someone like Lady Seila.”
“This was simply Prince Leon describing his ideal type. It cannot be interpreted as saying he is courting me.”
“The world doesn’t see it that way! Do you know how much people who know nothing chatter about you?”
Depelto’s face flushed red.
He seemed angrier than usual today.
He always did care too much about reputation.
‘Ugh. How did I end up possessing Seila’s body of all people?’
My dad—or even Lord Temanon, who shares no blood with me—would’ve at least tried to understand the situation first.
In That Lady’s World, scandals are fatal in many ways.
They push you away from being seen as the “perfect spouse.”
Especially for ladies who’ve already had their coming-of-age.
‘If it were Lord Temanon, he’d ask, “Were you shocked?” and worry about me first.’
But my so-called father? He just blew up at me, accusing me of improper behavior.
“If you’re already like this, how can I trust you to attend Somarpi Academy?”
“I believe scandals are not part of Somarpi’s entrance requirements.”
Though scandals were damaging for noble ladies, they didn’t affect admission to the academy. What nonsense was this?
Depelto suddenly roared.
“And once there, how many more entanglements will you create?”
Goodness, he scared me.
I always knew he had a bad temper, but today it was worse than usual.
“Entanglements? I have never done anything shameful.”
“If you’ve done nothing shameful, then how do scandals arise?”
“……”
At his unreasonable logic, I almost scowled.
‘Strange. He’s always been difficult, but not this irrational.’
I wanted to know why he was acting this way.
It didn’t seem to be just about the scandal.
Something else must be hidden.
‘Ah.’
I think I get it now.
‘It’s because of Hamun.’
Hamun invested five billion dia into Leon’s expedition.
Many newsletters reported it.
‘So he’s probably thinking: “You’re close enough with Prince Leon to spark a scandal, yet you didn’t invest? Do you lack judgment?” Something like that.’
But since he couldn’t outright accuse me of “Why didn’t you invest!”, he was venting his anger this way.
“There’s no need for you to be so upset.”
“What?”
“Because the truth is, I was the one who invested in Prince Leon’s expedition.”
“……”
“I just used Hamun’s name because I didn’t want mine too openly revealed.”
I looked at Depelto proudly.
“So you don’t need to be so angry. By common sense, part of the dividends will go to the family fortune anyway.”
When Jeremiel had first entered through the window, he thought himself fortunate.
‘For a moment I worried she’d recognize me immediately.’
But she showed not the slightest suspicion. Even better.
He had planned to wait for the right moment to reveal himself, talk to her, and share a few words.
‘But the timing was awful.’
Who would’ve thought Depelto would arrive just then?
After overhearing their conversation, he knew showing himself now would only cause trouble.
So he quietly left.
And a few days later, at 2 a.m., while the prince slept, he whispered into his ear.
“You have quite a nasty hobby, don’t you?”
Any normal person would’ve been startled, but the prince didn’t even open his eyes.
Instead, he calmly spoke.
“There aren’t many who would dare this kind of madness.”
“One of those madmen is me—Jeremiel.”
Leon slowly sat up.
He opened his eyes and looked at Jeremiel.
“As I thought. You’re mad even among the mad.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Infiltrating the imperial palace, and not just anywhere but the crown prince’s own bedroom. Bold move. Quite fitting for a lunatic.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“You? No wrong?”
“The one breached is at fault, not the one who breached. If you must blame, blame your palace guards.”
Jeremiel looked at him with a confident expression, while Leon frowned slightly.
“If you don’t want the palace’s security flaws spread all over town, best keep tonight’s incident quiet.”
“That’s for me to decide. Why have you come?”
Leon smirked.
“Surely not to secretly court me.”
“Do you date men too?”
“With your face, I might consider it.”
“If I killed my lover, would I be excused?”
“That, no.”
“Then I’ll pass.”
“Enough joking. Why seek me out in the middle of the night?”
Jeremiel shrugged.
“Would you mind refraining from mentioning Lady Seila?”
“And why not?”
“Because it causes her trouble. You can’t claim ignorance, surely?”
“What trouble could there be?”
“You don’t know how damaging scandals are for ladies after their coming-of-age?”
“That just means society is wrong.”
“Even so, you can’t change society overnight.”
Leon walked over to a chair and sat down, replying casually:
“If I marry her, there’s no problem at all, is there?”
“How amusing.”
“What’s amusing about it?”
“That you boldly escalate matters without a care for Lady Seila’s situation or feelings—and now suddenly bring up marriage? Have you made a secret betrothal without telling anyone?”
Jeremiel tested him slyly.
“Rather bold words for someone speaking to a prince.”
Leon deftly avoided giving an answer.
“Shall I be bolder still?”
“If you dare.”
Jeremiel’s eyes curved in a sly smile.
“I look forward to our academy days.”
“You’re enrolling in Somarpi as well?”
“Yes. It seems so, dear senior-to-be.”
Leon laughed back at him.
“Can’t say I’m pleased. Having a rat who sneaks into my bedroom as a junior? Hardly appealing.”
“Then why not cancel my admission now?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t feel like it.”
Their back-and-forth banter went on, neither conceding a word, until Jeremiel lowered his voice.
“I hope you don’t intend to use Lady Seila.”
“What?”
“Your expedition’s success is news enough on its own. You don’t need to ride the wave of Seila’s popularity. There’s no need to bring my friend into it.”
It wasn’t only politics speaking here.
Leon smirked.
“Friend?”
“……”
“You act a bit excessive for just a friend.”
At that moment, a dagger clattered to the floor.
A real blade, gleaming sharp.
“Oh, whoops. An accident.”
It was a threat, thinly veiled as a mistake.
Jeremiel grinned, then vanished like smoke.
Leon chuckled to himself.
“This only makes me want her more.”
He walked to the window and looked up at the moon.
In the moon’s glow, it almost seemed like Seila’s face appeared.
“The moon is truly beautiful tonight.”
