T/N PLEASE READ: For those of you who read through novelupdates, just an FYI that I was having trouble uploading anything past chapter 27 there. But you can still keep on reading through the chapters on this site until I fix that problem! The ‘Fake Cinderella’ series (all 3 volumes) is actually completed on this website, so if you can’t find them on novelupdates yet, you can just keep reading here. If the problem is fixed, then you can just ignore this message!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Your Highness, this is Count Altheidel Exanidium, who will serve as your new apprentice householder.”
The first person introduced to Lilia first thing in the morning was a…nobleman with a slightly unusual atmosphere, around the same age as His Highness.
I can tell at a glance that he is a nobleman by his clothing. The garb has a very detailed regulation according to the imperial hierarchy.
The knowledge in me associates the person with a single name.
Ragphil Eridian Il Regzelsnowdill Iltik Altheidel Exanidium, Count of Exanidium.
At the moment he does not hold a title himself. However, he is sure to receive his title sooner or later. He is the Crown Prince’s milk brother and fellow student who went to university with him and is a member of his trusted aides.
“Please, just Phil-Lynn.”
He grins. He doesn’t have much of a scholarly vibe. Rather, it feels more like His Highness Al or… a warrior person. He’s also more like a loose fold than a tight fold.
“Phil-Lynn?”
“Yes. The name is too long, so that’s what I use. People in my family are supposed to go by shortened names for everything except in official documents.”
“It’s a very long name.”
With a small smile, Phil-Lynn’s eyes widened with a look of disbelief as if he had seen something incredible.
I’ve gotten used to this kind of reaction by now, and I can afford to enjoy it.
Right now, I’m trying to show the people around me that I’m different from what I used to be in this palace, little by little. I can’t stay in the doll princess role forever…However, I still can’t get rid of my faceless mask in an official setting.
“…What is it?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just surprised to see Her Highness in such a different state than before.”
He’s an honest person.
But he’s not just that person either. Maybe it’s an observation …… no, I think it’s being measured.
“I”…what kind of person was Crown Princess Arthirea? Whether or not she was fit to be the Crown Prince’s wife.
Phil-Lynn is perceived by those around him as the Crown Prince’s peerless confidant, and I think that is in fact true.
Before he arrived, Lilia had told me.
Originally, a person who went to university and has the status of a consul could not be a family householder, even if only temporarily.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to find a way to make the most of the trust placed in him by His Highness the Crown Prince, even more so than a brother. His Highness Prince Shion often regrets this thinking he will never be a match for him…Count Altheidel Exanidium is such a person.”
Such a person like is purposely despatched and sent all the way to me with some halfway decent position called ‘apprentice householder.’
Your Highness, I am a little glad to see that you are really worried about me.
On the flip side, this may also mean that’s how dangerous it is.
Yeah. That seems right.
When His Highness is away, naturally, this palace will be less occupied than usual. That will leave an opening.
No, since it’s His Highness, maybe he’s setting up a trap for that!
I wish he had told me about those things i person or something, but maybe that would affect the trap.
At any rate, most of it starts and ends in places I don’t know about, so it’s not that much of a concern.
I’m sure there have been many, many different things that have happened in the past that I didn’t know about.
The only time I would be in danger or suffer any repercussions is when His Highness’s plans like that fail…
I think the best example of this is probably my fall in Elzevert, the attempted poisoning…no, maybe this one is a little different…
So I don’t have to think too much about failure……maybe.
“Please talk it over with Lilia to see what you can work out.”
I don’t know what the householder does or what jobs they hold, or if there are other circumstances. Whatever it is, Lilia will do a good job.
“Understood.”
He answered in a few words and bowed his head. I thought it was typical of someone so close to His Highness that he didn’t say any useless things.
“Thank you.”
I’ll nod my head hawkishly.
This is a kind of ritual of sorts.
“…Then, Lilia, I will be in the library.
“Very well. How would you like to have lunch today?”
The solitary breakfast is long overdue.
A tasteless breakfast.
A cheese melted omelette or crunchy but juicy bacon doesn’t taste very good on its own.
It’s not the same if I don’t have breakfast with His Highness…
For a while now, my life has revolved around the “mornings” when I could have meals with His Highness.
This is a difficult time for the country, but for me, breakfast, which I cannot share with His Highness, feels more important.
Ever since I started having breakfast with His Highness, I’ve been making breakfast and snacks at home.
Lately, we’ve been gradually making lunch as well, as we’ve been bringing in some food for him. The only thing that doesn’t change is dinner, which is still brought in from the kitchen in the West Palace, but I don’t often eat it.
…Because foreign matter was mixed in twice.
I didn’t even make a fuss because Lilia and the others noticed it immediately.
We don’t know if it was a poisonous substance or not. We’re still investigating now.
When the kitchen we’re working on now is finished and the cooks from Elzevert enter the palace, I’m sure that will be less of a problem.
“Let’s make it easily over here.”
“I’ll will prepare then.”
“Yes.”
I turn to the library, vaguely lost in thought.
People do change, right?…
I was even a little surprised to find myself unfazed by the extent of the foreign matter contamination.
What really scares me is that it looks like it’s…not blatant malicious intent.
If I knew that the security around me was very tight and very sensitive to poisonous substances…but if I didn’t know that I was very sensitive to poisonous substances, then the perpetrator is just an idiot, lacing it with a foreign substance.
I think this is just a warning and a threat to me.
Being threatened means I’m getting closer to the truth.
A few known facts and the speculation that can be drawn from them.
Ellucia, a childhood friend, and her hometown of Neve…fragments of information rushes through my head.
I don’t think all the pieces of the puzzle are in place yet, and I don’t think all the characters are in place either.
However, I have a feeling that something will be lost.
Something is going to be lost…or something that has been just barely balanced is going to be destroyed…or something like that.
To be honest, I’m scared.
But I can’t stop now.
I’m not doing this just for the sake of the dead Ellucia, but now for my own sake as well.
“Your Highness.”
Hmm?
“Your Highness.”
He called out to me again, and I stopped.
“Yes?”
It was Phil-Lynn.
“Yes?”
I stop and look up.
…He’s almost as tall as His Highness, too.
The angle at which I look up is almost identical.
“May I have a moment of your time?”
“…I do not mind.”
What is it?
I ushered Phil-Lynn into my own library.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T/N: Repeated note. For those of you who read through novelupdates, just an FYI that I was having trouble uploading anything after chapter 27 there. But you can still keep on reading through the chapters on this site until I fix that problem! The ‘Fake Cinderella’ series (all 3 volumes) is actually completed on this website, so if you can’t find them on novelupdates yet, you can just keep reading here. If the problem is fixed, then you can just ignore this message!
|♡| Table of Contents |♡| Support me! |♡|
KizunaTLs 