Chapter 102 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 102

Then, the Duchess of Müzen was startled.

“Ah! I misspoke! What I meant was, Your Highness’s eye color is so beautiful that I was staring as if entranced!”

Ah.

Right. The Duchess of Müzen’s love for purple was famous.

And my eye color is purple too. I almost made a dangerous misunderstanding.

Relieved, I could smile.

“But your eye color is also very beautiful, Duchess.”

The Duchess’s hair color was also purple… Ah, right. I heard that was dyed.

Then, the Duchess sighed as if she had been waiting for this.

“Blue isn’t bad, but it still can’t compare to purple, of course.”

She looked at her son’s eyes with a gaze overflowing with regret.

“Actually, when I had a child, I hoped he would take after his father’s eyes. My husband has very beautiful violet eyes.”

Surely she didn’t choose her husband based on eye color?

The Duchess spoke with a strangely wistful look in her eyes.

I remembered that look.

‘Before the regression, whenever the Duchess saw me, with whom she had little connection, she always had a peculiar look in her eyes… Could it have been because of this?’

Back then, I thought I had somehow incurred her dislike.

“So I dearly wish my daughter-in-law or grandchildren would have purple eyes.”

“Mother!”

Aron flushed at his mother’s excessive favoritism regarding color.

‘Hmm, it seems he’s a bit embarrassed by his mother’s fawning.’

Though he was someone called the continent’s greatest knight, a Sword Master, he was still eighteen.

An age on the border between youth and boyhood.

Perhaps because of that, he looked quite adorable.

Watching the mother and son bickering amiably, I smiled pleasantly.

“You two seem close. It’s nice to see.”

Then, perhaps even more embarrassed, Aron’s face turned so red it was almost indistinguishable from his hair color.

Anyway, the Duchess was still looking at me, or more precisely, at my eyes, with a dreamy gaze.

“You truly have a beautiful eye color. I envy you. In my youth, I even looked into whether there was any magic or procedure to change eye color.”

“…….”

Hmm, it seems the Duchess was a much more radical purple maniac than I knew.

In any case, besides saving her life, another factor for the Duchess of Müzen to favor me had increased, which wasn’t bad.

But what I desired did not end here.

I broached the main topic.

“The organization of the Crown Prince’s Palace is not yet fully complete, so I have asked Her Grace the Grand Duchess to serve as Head Lady-in-Waiting for now, but I worry it might be too heavy a burden for someone of her years.”

The Grand Duchess, who was standing by my side as Head Lady-in-Waiting, was not surprised.

This was because the matter had already been discussed beforehand.

From the start, the Grand Duchess’s status was too high and her age too advanced to serve as Head Lady-in-Waiting.

‘That’s also why I explicitly called it a temporary position.’

In fact, when I mentioned placing Grand Duchess Axion in the position of Head Lady-in-Waiting, Arpad had been a little worried.

It wasn’t that he was worried his elderly maternal grandmother would be overworked.

“Isn’t that leaning too much towards the West?”

The role of the West was significant in establishing my authority and power. But by that same token, I would become indebted to them.

If overdone, it could backfire, with the influence the West exerted on me eventually suppressing my own power.

Arpad was worried about that.

I had anticipated this.

“That’s why it’s temporary.”

“Do you have a real candidate for Head Lady-in-Waiting separately?”

“Want to guess?”

“…To avoid leaning excessively to one side, it would be the North or the South. The North is excessively closed-off, and considering the Duke of Teslan’s house currently lacks a proper mistress and a suitable princess, it would be the South.”

“Correct.”

Arpad looked at me with a smile full of curiosity.

“I wonder what magic you’ll use this time to enchant someone.”

“I told you I’m not a mage.”

“Anyway, I shall enjoy observing your abilities once more.”

“You may look forward to it.”

But now, Arpad was absent.

For some reason, a surge of unfairness and disappointment welled up, threatening to overflow.

‘You said you’d watch from the side, so where on earth have you gone?’

Now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts.

Understanding exactly what I meant, the Duchess asked.

“Are you perhaps proposing the position of Head Lady-in-Waiting to me?”

I nodded.

“Yes. I wish for you, Duchess, to assist me by my side and teach me well.”

“It is an honorable proposal, but it is too sudden……”

The Duchess, who had been gazing at my purple eyes like a maiden, hardened her expression.

What remained in her place was the mistress of the great house ruling the South.

Becoming my Head Lady-in-Waiting meant the entire House of Müzen would become enemies of the Empress’s faction.

From her perspective, she had no reason to take my side so decisively when she hadn’t even finished assessing the situation.

‘Of course, I did save her life, but that alone wouldn’t be enough.’

I already had something to drive the final nail.

“You must have heard about the young lady of Marquis Ruth being there when you collapsed last time, Duchess.”

“Yes. I heard from my son. That she had a treatment, though I don’t know how effective it was.”

I asked with a gentle smile.

“Do you think it was truly a coincidence that she was there with a treatment?”

“…!”

The expressions of the Duchess and Aron hardened like stone.

I smiled brightly.

Victory was already decided.

* * *

As promised to Yulken, Arpad returned to the Crown Prince’s Palace exactly one week later.

“Your Highness! You have returned!”

“You’ve finally come back!”

“We were preparing.”

In truth, for someone of the Crown Prince’s position to be absent should normally cause an uproar, but Arpad had frequently been absent using his madness as an excuse, so the palace staff were accustomed to covering for his absence.

But even that had clear limits.

No matter how capable the ministers and close aides were, a situation without the ultimate authority to command was inevitably stressful.

Yet, the Crown Prince’s Palace, upon his return after a week, was remarkably peaceful.

The expressions of the palace staff overflowed with stability.

What was the difference between before and now?

Arpad soon thought of one thing.

‘Hilia.’

It was solely her presence.

The existence of a dependable mistress had sustained the Crown Prince’s Palace during Arpad’s absence.

Arpad felt an impatience rising to his throat.

It resembled hunger or thirst, but was several times more intense.

It was a craving for her, something gnawing at his stomach—no, at his soul.

He wanted to run to Sia’s bedroom immediately.

It was night. It was time for Hilia to be in her bedroom.

But Arpad could not run there right away.

‘In this state… I can’t.’

He had just returned after completing an adventure fit for a novel over the past week.

He was filthy with dust and monster fluids.

He had to wash first, dress properly, and then go.

Arpad stroked the item in his pocket and smiled with satisfaction.

He couldn’t possibly give such an important thing while looking like a ball of dust.

Perhaps because he was on duty, Yulken came running upon hearing the news.

“You’re too late! Did you go off to catch some dragon or something?!”

At Yulken’s resentful words, Arpad smiled confidently.

“Enough, we’ll talk tomorrow. I’m busy.”

Arpad threw his dust-covered cloak at Yulken, cutting off further talk.

“What is this! Cough! Du, dust……!”

Leaving the coughing Yulken behind, Arpad rushed to the bath.

And about an hour later.

Yulken witnessed Arpad, freshly washed, his hair neatly combed up, dressing as splendidly as possible.

“This color doesn’t match. Where are the jewels? The new lambskin boots made recently?”

It was an unprecedentedly meticulous grooming session.

Dressed more fastidiously and splendidly than at the banquet in Artanus Hall some time ago, Arpad headed for Sia’s bedroom.

Yulken looked out the window.

It was dark. It was clearly night.

‘The moon is out, not the sun?’

He soon understood.

After all, love was the magic that made the moon rise during the day and summoned the sun at night.

* * *

Feeling an unfamiliar flutter, Arpad opened the door to Sia’s bedroom.

“Hilia!”

There sat Hilia, wearing a rather pleased smile.

“Ah, welcome back. Arpad.”

Surprisingly, her greeting sounded unbearably sweet to his ears.

But the moment he saw the ‘something’ in Hilia’s hand, Arpad’s expression stiffened.

He knew what that was.

The ring the Emperor had given to Ludwig as a wedding gift.

In other words, it was Hilia and Ludwig’s wedding ring.