TREV 50

Chapter : 50

“Um… Princess, if it’s alright with you…”

Arsère trailed off, her lips twitching several times before she could finish her sentence.

After thinking for a long moment, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Would you like to go to the exhibition with me, if it’s alright with you? We could have tea afterward, too.”

Arsère lifted her head proudly and looked up at me cautiously.

“It might be embarrassing to say, but I’ve never been to an exhibition before. I’d really like my first time to be with you, Princess.”

Arsère babbled on, clearly nervous, fidgeting with her hands.

“Would that be alright?”

Of course it would.

I was grateful that Arsère had come all this way.

“Of course, let’s do that.”

“Wow, thank you so much!”

Even for something small, Arsère clapped her hands in delight.

“Princess, do you like cookies? If you do, I’d like to give you some as a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes! I want to bake them myself and give them to you…”

“Well, then I’d be grateful.”

Arsère nodded vigorously.

“I’ll make them really delicious. Do you prefer strawberries or blueberries?”

“I don’t really have a preference when it comes to desserts.”

“Then I’ll make both!”

Arsère continued asking about my preferences for a long while after that.

Her chattering made her seem like a cute little squirrel.

Lawrence and Arsère.

I should hurry if I wanted to connect them. Before their relationship got stuck in an awkward limbo.

“Princess, if it’s alright with you, could I invite one more person that day?”

“…Ah, yes.”

But for some reason, Arsère seemed hesitant and nodded slowly.

“Ah, would that be uncomfortable?”

“No! It’s just that I wanted to spend time alone with you. But that would be selfish of me, wouldn’t it?”

Arsère smiled brightly again.

“By the way, who do you plan to invite?”

“I’m not sure if they’ll accept yet, but I was thinking of inviting Viscount Gerhardt.”

“…Viscount?”

“Yes. If you become friendly with him, it will be much easier to adapt to society.”

Arsère’s lips trembled as if she was about to cry.

“…Princess, thank you so much. I can’t believe you’re looking out for me like this.”

She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.

“Oh, no… you don’t need to cry…”

“I’m sorry. I thought I had adapted well to life in the capital, but coming here seems to have been harder on me emotionally.”

Her pale, beautiful face flushed slightly.

“But now that you’re taking care of me like this, I feel a bit relieved. I’m sorry.”

Arsère sniffled a few times and apologized once more.

“Though… am I just getting in the way of your date?”

“A date? Oh, no, I’m not in that kind of relationship with the Viscount, so don’t worry.”

“Wait, you’re not… a couple?”

Arsère’s eyes widened almost twofold.

She was the kind of woman who never hid her feelings.

It was hard to believe she had just been crying.

“I thought you were a couple since you came together as partners.”

“Oh, there’s a reason for that. I’m just somewhat acquainted with the Viscount, that’s all.”

It felt a bit awkward to mention my friendship with Lawrence Gerhardt in front of the original heroine.

The two of them were meant for each other.

If I gave them just a little chance, they’d surely fall for each other quickly.

It didn’t really matter what others thought of Lawrence and me.

After all, it would only be rumors and speculation that would rise and fall in people’s mouths, and then it would end.

But it wasn’t good if the heroine misunderstood our relationship.

“I see. Ah, then it would be best to schedule the appointment at a time convenient for you, Princess.”

“Yes. I’ll ask the Viscount and contact you within this week.”

Arsère spoke again.

The Princess changed the topic and chattered for a long while.

After the long conversation with Arsère ended, I was sitting quietly in the rocking chair when Emma knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“Milady, a letter has arrived from the Viscount.”

“The Viscount? Give it here.”

“Were you originally close to that Princess?”

“Hm. Not really.”

Emma seemed surprised that I, who wasn’t particularly close with the other Princesses, had been having a long conversation with Arsère.

In truth, all I had done was nod my head.

“But it seems like you two became quite close.”

I said this as I tore open the letter from Lawrence.

Before leaving the ball, Lawrence had said he would send a letter soon regarding Carlos’s training plans.

Perhaps he thought it was a shame to let someone skilled go to waste.

I didn’t know exactly why Lawrence wanted to help Carlos, but whatever the reason, it was good for him.

As expected, his letter contained a detailed training plan for Carlos.

There was a brief explanation of how the Gerhardt knights conducted training, and a suggestion that Carlos join them in a training camp to improve his skills.

Even allowing someone who wasn’t a knight of their family to train with the family knights in the Gerhardt estate was a great kindness on Lawrence’s part.

It seemed like this approach would be the best way to improve Carlos’s skills. Of course, I would have to ask him as well.

I also thought it might be best for Carlos to leave the Herraillel Duke’s estate.

No matter how much I supported him, it was uncomfortable for him to leave work alone.

Moreover, going back and forth to the estate every day was physically taxing for him, especially when combined with sword practice.

There were also people who looked down on Carlos for constantly coming and going from the estate.

It was unfortunate that I had to part with him already.

But I couldn’t block his future out of my selfishness.

After thinking this through, I organized Lawrence’s letter.

“Hm, by the way, what’s Morgan doing?”

“Master Morgan seems to be organizing the Duke’s paperwork.”

“Oh, really?”

So the Duke hadn’t actually called him.

“I see… so he’s with father.”

Unfortunately, he had been caught up in something.

“Also, can you tell Carlos to come by my room for a bit?”

“He might be late again today. Is that okay?”

“Yes. I’ll wait.”

I got up from the rocking chair and pulled out stationery to write a reply to Lawrence.

Scratch, scratch.

Since Lawrence had worked hard for me, I should return the favor.

Emma helped melt sealing wax while I wrote the reply.

“What did the Viscount say?”

“I asked him to check on something for me.”

Once the letter was neatly folded and put into an envelope, Emma handed me the seal.

“All done. Send this to the Viscount today.”

“Yes. Understood.”

The letter connecting Arsère and Lawrence was now in Emma’s hands.

Knock, knock.

“Princess, it’s me, Carlos.”

“Come in.”

Late evening.

Carlos came to my room after finishing sword practice.

“You called me. Sorry for coming late.”

“It’s fine. I knew you’d be late.”

I gestured to the sofa in front of me, and Carlos approached.

“I’ve been rolling on the floor and sweating a lot. I’ll just stand.”

“Oh, so you didn’t even get a chance to wash.”

Emma probably told him to come up immediately.

“I called you today to talk about sword training. You know your teacher used to be a Gerhardt family knight, right?”

“Yes. You brag about that all the time.”

Carlos shook his head, looking a bit fed up.

“Your teacher must have spoken to the head of the Gerhardt knights about you. That reached the Viscount.”

“…The Viscount?”

“Yes. He said he would arrange for you to train with the family knights. What do you think?”

Carlos looked surprised, his eyes widening.

“But I’m not a Gerhardt knight.”

“Yes. How about it?”

Carlos seemed to ponder briefly before nodding.

It made sense.

His eyes sparkled the moment he heard the offer.

“Right. Training with skilled knights will improve your skills much faster.”

“Training camp? Where?”

“At the Gerhardt estate.”

Carlos’s lips twitched in surprise.

“What about here? I’m a servant of the Herraillel Duke.”

“Of course you’d leave that behind. I’ll handle the finances. Don’t worry about it.”

“Then… how long would I need to stay there?”

“I’m not exactly sure…”

Carlos shook his head slightly.

“Princess, I’ll just stay here.”

“Hm?”

“I already have an excellent teacher here. My skills are improving steadily. I can become a knight even here.”

“But going back and forth to the estate every day is hard, and you have to do the Duke’s work in the morning. There, you could spend all day with the sword you love.”

“No. It’s not hard at all.”

Carlos shook his head firmly.

“I like it here. Next to you, Princess.”

Carlos seemed afraid I might send him to the Gerhardt estate, so he hurriedly continued.

“Besides, I’d be a knight of Herraillel, not Gerhardt. So going there wouldn’t be right.”