Chapter 54: Audience Room

I turned around to find Nina, staring at me with a startled expression on her face.

“Nina?”

“Oh, Lady Cecilia!”

I called out Nina’s name, and she ran to me like a bullet and hugged me as fast as she could.

“Hey, Nina!?”

“Lady Cecilia! Lady Cecilia!”

“Nina, Nina! Please calm down!”

I was confused by Nina, who was burying her face in my chest and calling my name over and over again. I managed to call out to her and put my hand on her shoulder to help her calm down.

That’s when I noticed Nina’s shoulders were trembling and she seemed to be crying.

I was confused as to what to do with Nina.

Then Nina finally calmed down a bit and took her face off my chest and looked up at me.

And again, her eyes were wet with tears.

“Nina…”

“Ce-Cecilia…where have you been all this time?”

“What? Oh, that’s…”

“And the way you look…”

With that, Nina let go of my body and stared at me from top to bottom with a stern expression.

The way Nina looked at me made me confirm my appearance once again.

…Wow~ dust and sand have stained every part of me, and the hem of my dress and decorations have been torn without my noticing…and although it doesn’t look like it, my head probably looks like it’s in terrible state too. Well, that’s usually what happens if you go through the vents.

I smiled bitterly as I looked at my palms, which had turned black.

But then I realized something with a huff and looked at Nina in a hurry.

“Ah…I’m sorry. Even Nina got dirty.”

Apparently it had gotten on her when I hugged her, and Nina’s face and clothes were a little black and dirty.

“If it’s about me, don’t worry about it. Cecilia-sama is more important! As I recall…you came out of there, didn’t you?”

Then Nina turned her attention to the vent I had come out of.

“Oh, yeah! Never mind that, I just came out of there for a bit of a reason.”

I chuckled and hurriedly put back the vent fence that had been removed.

“Why? That’s…”

“Well, more importantly, I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here in this form all the time. Nina has gotten dirty too…Maybe this is behind the castle, right? Even though this place doesn’t get many visitors, it’s not like I can let anyone else see me like this…”

“…Right. Let’s go to my room for now.”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

So we walked through the castle, away from the public eye, and arrived at Nina’s room.

***

“Nina, thank you so much for lending me your bath, and for letting me use your clothes…”

With that said, I came out of the bathroom with an apologetic expression on my face.

Then Nina, who had already dressed and cleaned her dirty face, got up from the couch she was sitting on and approached me.

“Oh, I’m so glad I got the right size.”

Nina said that and smiled at me.

Nina had lent me the bath attached to her room.

Moreover, she prepared my dress and shoes for me while I was taking a bath.

By the way, there were only two people in Nina’s room, Nina and me.

She refused all the maidservants to look after her on the first day she came to live in the castle, because Nina, a commoner, could do it all by herself.

Thanks to that, I still haven’t met anyone but Nina.

“Lady Cecilia, please take a seat in front of the mirror table so I can fix your hair.”

“What? It’s okay if you don’t bother.”

“It’s fine! Now please sit down.”

Nina took my confused hand and led me to the vanity and sat me down on a chair.

Then she took the brush that was on the vanity and gently brushed out my hair.

“…I’m really glad that Cecilia-sama is safe. The other noblemen were not too worried, thinking that Cecilia had gone off on her own again. But we were looking everywhere to see if anything had happened to her.”

“Is that so…I’m sorry to have worried you.”

“…Lady Cecilia, could it be that Prince Leon is involved?”

“Eh!?”

“Also…”

“No, no, that’s…”

“You don’t have to hide it. Actually, I…I’ve always been suspicious of Prince Leon.”

Then Nina stopped brushing her hair and looked at me through the mirror with a serious expression.

I gave Nina such a surprised look.

“Why on earth…”

From the first time I met Prince Leon, I knew at least a little about his feelings for Cecilia. But…I had witnessed the dangerous glint in Prince Leon’s eyes for a few moments when he spoke of Lady Cecilia, and each time I felt a chill run through me.

“…”

Hearing Nina’s words, I remembered the face of Prince Leon smiling madly in the basement, and I couldn’t help but involuntarily hug myself.

Then Nina gently hugged me from behind.

“Nina…”

“You must have been very scared.”

“…”

“I…Ever since Cecilia-sama went missing, I immediately thought Prince Leon was suspicious, but like everyone else, he was worried about Cecilia and tried his best to find her, so I was getting less and less sure. But then I suddenly remembered that Prince Leon had told me a long time ago that he was making something in his room, so I went to the back of the house where Prince Leon’s room was located, hoping that I might be able to find something. Just then, Cecilia-sama appeared there.”

After hearing Nina’s story, I knew why Nina had shown up in a place where people rarely came.

What good timing! If I had found anyone else but Nina…I’m sure they would have made a big fuss at the sight of me. I’m really grateful to Nina for that!

I stroked Nina’s hand gently as she hugged me with that thought, and smiled at her through the mirror.

“Thank you so much, Nina.”

“Lady Cecilia…”

“I’ll have to go to the King to explain this to him.”

“What? Lady Cecilia!?”

“As expected, it’s another disturbance like last time…I think I need to apologize in person.”

“But it’s not Lady Cecilia’s fault…”

“Still…I have to go.”

With that, I removed Nina’s hand and got up from my chair and turned to her and smiled again.

“Thank you for everything, Nina. I’ll be off then.”

I bowed briefly to Nina before walking to the door to the corridor. But Nina followed behind me.

“I’m coming too!”

“…Thank you. Honestly, it would be reassuring to have Nina follow me.”

“You can be rest assured that Lady Cecilia has me with her!”

Nina’s words made me happy and I smiled at her and she smiled happily too.

So we left the room and headed towards the King.

***

When we heard that the king was apparently conducting his governmental affairs in the audience chamber, we hurried to over, receiving various glances.

We then asked the guards who were guarding the door to give us an audience to the king.

Permission was quickly granted and we opened the door to the audience chamber and entered.

But as I had expected, I was pierced gazes of the bureaucrats who were in charge of political affairs inside.

…Well, that’s the kind of reaction you’d get if a long-lost young lady suddenly appeared, right? Especially if she’s also the daughter of the duke and the crown prince’s fiancée

I chuckled inwardly at the reaction of the bureaucrats, but I didn’t show it on my face and walked with dignity to the king sitting on the throne on the platform.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father standing there with tears of joy, and my brother, who was trying to run towards me with his arms being held back by father.

I dared not say a word, but bowed to them and quickly returned my gaze to the king.

As I walked up to the king, I plucked the hem of my skirt and did the perfect lady’s bow.

Then I saw Nina, who was a step behind me, who also bowed.

“Your Majesty the King…I am very sorry to have disturbed you at this busy time in your governmental duties. However, I have come here today to talk to you about something.”

“You want to…talk about it?”

“Yes…”

The king understood what I meant by this, and he asked me to leave the room.

The king seemed to understand the meaning of that look and said that he would suspend his political duties and let the bureaucrats leave the room.

But as I expected, my father and brother insisted that they had no intention of leaving.

I smiled at them and thanked the king for his time.

“Thank you”

“No, it’s fine…more importantly…where has Miss Cecilia been all this time?”

“That is…”

Then the door opened with a loud bang and Prince Leon rushed in through it.

“Sister Cecilia!”

Prince Leon’s call made my shoulders tense up for a moment, but I immediately turned back to him, feigning my composure.

Then Nina intervened to protect me and turned her sharp gaze on Prince Leon.

Nina’s gaze startled Prince Leon, and he stopped running towards me.

“Thank you, Nina. But it’s all right.”

“But, Lady Cecilia…”

I smiled gently at Nina, who tried to protect me, and I gave a ladylike bow to Prince Leon, who looked uncomfortable.

“Prince Leon, it’s been a long time.”

“What?”

My attitude startled Nina and Prince Leon at the same time.

But I dared not reply, and once more turned my body back to the king.

“I apologize for interrupting the story. And so to continue…I’ve been hiding out in a distant city for some time now.”

“What? Lady Cecilia!”

Nina looked at me in a small voice of surprise at my explanation.

But I only looked at her and gave a small shake of her head.

And Prince Leon, who had come to my side, also looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“…Hmm, I sent a search party, but I’m surprised they didn’t find you.”

“I’m…surprisingly good at blending in with the masses.”

“Yes, well…but as for what you were thinking…is this about being Kaiser’s fiancée?”

“…Yes. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since then, but it was still too much for me to bear, and I couldn’t bear the weight of the responsibility, so I went into hiding.”

I said, and with a thoughtful look on my shoulders, I turned to father and brother, who were silently watching us.

“But because of that, you’ve caused a lot of trouble for various people, and even more, you’ve tarnished the Heinz family’s reputation, haven’t you?”

“No, that’s…”

“Cecilia isn’t bad at all, so there’s nothing to worry about! Me and dad will take care of it. Isn’t that right, father?”

“Oh, oh! Of course! Anyone who says a bad word about my little girl…I’ll be the one to take them and…”

“…and I’m willing to help.”

I saw them laughing at each other with a scary look on their faces as I looked away, my cheeks tugging upwards.

Just then, the door opened again with a loud bang, and Kaiser and the others came crashing through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: Honestly a bit upset that she didn’t shove Leon under the bus

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