Chapter 96
[Royal hunting competition hosted by the Imperial Family, high-ranking priests decide to attend in an unprecedented move.]
Alice lowered her gaze to the detailed article below the headline.
[Many nobles are expected to gather at this hunting competition to be held by the Imperial Family in three days. In response, Pope Altaino has expressed his intention to send high-ranking priests to prepare for any potential accidents.]
Priests attending a hunting competition…
[However, the public is speculating about this unusual decision by the Temple, which has never participated in Imperial events before. Some suggest that the Temple, weakened by the absence of divine oracles for over 100 years, is dispatching high-ranking priests to strengthen its relationship with the Imperial Family.]
Alice furrowed her brow as she recalled the contents of the original story.
The hunting competition wasn’t described in detail in the original, so she didn’t remember much about it… but there was no mention of priests attending.
This seemed to be another deviation from the original story.
But is it okay for the priests to be so openly involved with the Imperial Family like this?
Of course, the Empress had people in the Temple, and there were many corrupt priests currently, but outwardly, the Temple had always maintained a distance from the Imperial Family.
Even in the original story… until High Priest Prion became the Pope and overhauled the Temple, there was no mention of how corrupt the Temple had become.
The article was clearly treating this as an unusual event, discussing it in a somewhat negative tone.
“…Is this really okay?”
Alice was a bit worried.
She feared that the Temple’s involvement, which wasn’t in the original story, might twist the future.
Her own plans were problematic too, but she was also concerned about the Temple.
She hoped that High Priest Prion would become the Pope as planned.
And there was the matter of divine oracles not having been received for over 100 years.
But in the original story, there was definitely a scene where High Priest Prion received a divine oracle…
The problem was that she couldn’t remember what the content or scene was.
She remembered the early parts of the original story and the major events, but not all the details.
“Ah, damn this memory.”
She tried to concentrate, but still couldn’t remember.
Alice let out a short groan.
It can’t be helped.
It probably wasn’t very important content, that’s why she couldn’t remember it.
Perhaps he received the oracle after becoming the Pope.
Although she felt somewhat uneasy for some reason, Alice put aside her thoughts about the divine oracle.
The upcoming hunting competition was a more pressing issue right now.
She had thought it was fortunate that the Third Prince had decided to become the Crown Prince before the hunting competition was held. But now another issue had come up.
Alice narrowed her eyes and read further down the article.
[…Despite the many words surrounding the Temple, the priests being dispatched to the hunting competition are … High Priest Hylus, High Priest Prion…]
“…So High Priest Prion is coming to the hunting competition.”
Alice found a familiar name in the article.
It was unexpected.
He wasn’t the type to attend such events.
Of course, he must have been forced to attend.
I’ll see High Priest Prion that day.
As Alice was recalling the last time she had seen High Priest Prion, a sudden scream was heard from somewhere.
“Ack!”
Alice’s reverie was broken.
She turned her head towards the person who had screamed.
The protagonist was none other than the Third Prince.
He was curled up in pain, rubbing the top of his foot over his shoe.
“Oh dear. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
A gentle voice sounded above the Third Prince’s head as he massaged his foot.
The person apologizing with a face that didn’t look sorry at all was Sienna.
So, the current situation was that Sienna had stepped on the Third Prince’s foot…
“…How many times has she stepped on it now?”
“Exactly 12 times, Madam.”
Ruyd answered her quiet mutter.
12 times.
The last time she had counted it was 10, so Sienna had stepped on his foot 2 more times since then.
12 times… it’s not easy to repeat the same mistake that many times.
But Sienna had managed to do it.
Had Sienna decided to crush the Third Prince’s foot today?
Alice had to admit that Sienna’s persistence was truly remarkable.
The problem was that this persistence was being used to torment the Third Prince.
This wasn’t why she had paired Sienna with him as a practice partner.
This place was the party hall of the Dearrut ducal residence.
In this vast space, Sienna and the Third Prince were in the middle of waltzing to beautiful music.
To be precise, one of the Third Prince’s etiquette lessons, a dance lesson, was being conducted here. And Sienna was his dance practice partner.
After the Third Prince decided to stay at the Duke’s mansion, Alice had pondered.
How to bring Sienna and the Third Prince together.
In the midst of this, she heard about the Third Prince’s dance lessons.
For dances at balls, a partner is naturally needed.
Alice suggested to Sienna that she become the Third Prince’s practice partner, and she readily agreed.
So Alice had imagined:
The two of them falling in love.
Dancing together, gazing at each other from a nose-to-nose distance.
The music was just right for falling in love, a beautiful piece.
Usually, in such a setting, the male and female protagonists would become aware of each other and feel a tingling emotion, wouldn’t they?
So she had expected a sweet scene to unfold, but…
“I’m not sure if I’m the one learning to dance, or if it’s you, my lady.”
“As I grew up in the countryside and didn’t have many opportunities to attend parties, I keep making the same mistake.”
“Mistake… It’s quite an achievement to repeat the same mistake 12 times. Perhaps you’re not as intelligent as I thought, my lady.”
“My, I’ve rarely been told I’m not intelligent. But seeing as you’ve had your foot stepped on in the same place 12 times, Your Highness, it seems your reflexes aren’t very good.”
At Sienna’s last words, the Third Prince’s face crumpled.
Why were they arguing?
The Third Prince, who had been rubbing his foot, was now standing up straight and engaging in an elegant dispute with Sienna.
Alice sighed as she watched Sienna and the Third Prince.
She had hoped their relationship might progress if she put them together. But this was worse than cats and dogs, they were at each other’s throats.
She just couldn’t understand it.
Especially Sienna.
When she first took on the task of persuading the Third Prince, Sienna had admitted that her thoughts about him were prejudiced.
After that, she had diligently gone to meet him, saying that the Third Prince seemed to be quite a decent person.
But why was she suddenly being so sharp towards the Third Prince now?
The atmosphere that day had been quite strange.
The day when Sienna caught… no, that sounds a bit odd.
The day when Sienna encountered Alice holding the Third Prince’s hand.
At that time, Sienna had engaged in a peculiar battle of nerves with the Third Prince.
Could there be some lingering resentment from that time?
But Alice had separately explained the situation to Sienna afterwards.
No, in fact, was there anything in that situation for Sienna to hold a grudge against the Third Prince?
Jealousy over him holding my hand…?
Alice looked at Sienna’s eyes as she stared at the Third Prince.
Jealousy is only felt when there’s affection.
How could one find any affection in those sharp eyes?
“I hope you’ll display your reflexes this time, Your Highness.”
“And I hope you’ll use your head this time, my lady.”
The gentle voices of the two sounded to Alice like fierce growls directed at each other.
Alice shook her head.
At this rate, would the day ever come when these two fell in love?
She clearly remembered that this novel’s genre was romantic fantasy.
The music that had stopped with the scream resumed, and Sienna and the Third Prince’s dance also recommenced.
And Alice got up from her seat.
“Aren’t you going to watch anymore?”
Ruyd asked.
It was understandable for him to be curious, as Alice had stayed until the end of the dance lessons for the past two days.
“There’s no progress, so I’m going to stop watching.”
Alice answered with a bright smile.
“Ah…”
Ruyd couldn’t deny it. Even to him, the two seemed hopeless.
“I should go buy something sweet. Everyone’s mood might improve if we eat something delicious.”
Even if there was no visible progress, it was too early to give up.
“Shall I tell the chef to prepare dessert?”
At Aileen’s question, Alice shook her head.
“No. I’ll go buy it myself.”
Alice watched the Third Prince avoiding Sienna’s shoe heel for a moment before leaving the party hall.
* * *
The Imperial Palace of the Pentium Empire.
Today, the biannual regular state council meeting was being held at the Imperial Palace.
Usually, it would have ended in less than an hour after exchanging a few formal words, but today was different.
Because Duke Dearrut was attending the meeting.
The last time Duke Dearrut had attended a state council meeting was nine years ago.
In fact, Duke Dearrut had only shown his face at a state council meeting once, when he returned from the battlefield.
He had always stayed one step back from politics, making various excuses to miss meetings.
But today, Duke Dearrut was the first to arrive at the meeting hall, waiting for the other nobles.
