AN: Slowly writing over Obon weekend, I post.
“What is this commotion?”
Leticia spoke in a clear voice.
The surroundings fell silent.
Wearing a light blue dress that gave off a tidy impression, Leticia’s slender body slowly made her way towards Wynn’s group.
Unlike the gaudy dress she wore to the banquet, since she was having tea with close friends, her dress was embroidered with simple silver thread. The way it glistened and sparkled matched her blonde hair well.
In addition to that, the castle evoked a solemn atmosphere, as if she were a goddess who had descended into the earth.
Even those who should have been accustomed to the pretty noble lady unconsciously drew their breaths.
As if time had stopped, the area feel silent.
Everybody watched as the breathtaking Leticia slowly walked to Wynn’s side.
“Leti?”
Leticia grabbed Wynn’s left arm.
However, Leticia’s emerald green eyes looked back at Elstead coldly.
Not only Her Highness Cornelia, but also Leticia-sama was invited. [1]
When they arrived at the castle and met Cornelia’s maid, Leticia was invited in first.
Though she was worried about leaving Wynn, who was unused to that sort of place, alone, Cornelia’s believed in her newest friend. If he were with Leticia, he wouldn’t be apprehended as a suspicious person.
Cornelia’s has prepared that dress taking into account the fact that Leticia liked clothes that are easy to move in.
Just as it was when she was young, after her odyssey as the Brave, she was never without a dress.
If she ordered one of the Duke’s tailors, they would tailor it for her.
“I understand that Leticia-san prefers this sort of attire, but a feminine appearance will make Wynn-kun’s heart skip a beat. ”
She was distracted by the words “skip a beat.”
She was quickly surrounded by maids, and her clothes were changed in the blink of an eye.
“Well, you look wonderful!”
The maids, who were obviously used to such things, rapidly changed Leticia’s clothes, then raised their voices in praise.
“Do I really look wonderful?”
Even Cornelia agreed with a smile, though the Leticia, who didn’t normally fuss about her clothes wasn’t bad.
“I shall go to meet him now.”
‘Maybe Onii-chan will say that I’m cute?’
She soon arrived where Wynn was, wanting to show her dressed-up appearance to him as soon as possible.
Her heart pounding, she spotted Wynn.
Leticia’s good mood turned foul.
Elstead bowed politely, but Leticia didn’t notice.
“It is an honour to meet you, Lady Mavis[1] I am Royce van Elstead. I have been given the title of Count from His Highness. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Nice to meet you, Count Elstead. So, what is this commotion?”
“What, I was just letting the plebeian know that he is out of his place, being in this palace by chance. I told him to leave.”
While bowing, Count Elstead stared at Leticia’s right hand holding onto Wynn’s left hand.
At those words, Leticia took a deep breath.
She tried to restrain the anger building up inside.
“Count Elstead.”
Even then, she was unable to keep the cold tone from her voice.
“This personage is my master, Wynn Byrd-sama. Even if he is of unknown pedigree, as my Master, he is still an acquaintance of His Majesty the Emperor.“
“What!?”
“The Brave’s master?”
“Then, that rumour about that young plebeian was…”
They simultaneously shouted in surprise at Leticia’s words.
Being a weak noble, Count Elstead did not receive an invitation.
His face turned green with jealousy.
The one recognized by the Emperor as the “Master of the Brave.”
Belatedly, they recalled the maid’s words.
‘These people are the honoured friends of Her Highness the Princess, whom she had invited.’
As the Brave herself, and as an eminent noble, Leticia’s actions showed that their relationship was more intimate than that of a master and disciple.
From, her earlier tone of voice, he realized that, with the influence of her family second only to royalty, she was capable of doing more than just glare.
“Speaking of, the Master of the Brave is said to be a classmate if the Princess.”
However, the lackeys exclaimed in surprise, and regretting their previous attitudes, they timidly compared Leticia and Wynn, and only Count Elstead continued to talk, his expression unchanged.
‘Oh, as expected of the head of a small faction.’
Locke mentally reappraised Count Elstead.
With the appearance of a beautiful young lady, her body concealed the strength that could oppose a whole country, and she even held a high status in the court.
However, despite all that, he still had the courage.
‘Is he judging her by her appearance?’
Locke thought, closely examining Count Elstead.
“This day, Master and I will attend Cornelia’s tea party. There are no problems with his being here, right?”
“But what about on his hips? When meeting royalty, how can we allow a dangerous weapon approach?”
“That dagger, is it?”
Wynn wore a dagger at his waist.
Then, letting go of Wynn’s hand, she turned around, and without minding that her dress would wrinkle, she reverently knelt down, and slowly drew the dagger.
The surroundings murmured, as the Brave, a Duke’s daughter, showed overwhelming respect towards a commoner like Wynn, but a larger stir arose in her words created a larger stir.
“This dagger is one that I personally gifted to Master.”
She showed the words engraved onto the blade to Count Elstead.
It was the symbol of the country, the Royal Crest.
And on the other side was the Coat of Arms of the Mavis house.
“This, this is…!”
Even Count Elstead, who had, at least on the surface, appeared unperturbed, he widened his eyes upon seeing the crest on the blade.
“This dagger was conferred to me by His Highness when I was born. It is proof of the right to the throne.”
Flabbergasted, Count Elstead was silent.
‘I was given such an important thing!’
On the other hand, even Wynn was speechless.
He had used it as a mere weapon, to injure, letting it face the explosion from an attack magic.
Though he had maintained it carefully, he realized that he had treated something as valuable as a national treasure disrespectfully.
‘Will I face divine punishment?’
Locke, who had accompanied Wynn in the dagger throwing lessons, sent Wynn, who had broken into a cold sweat, a look of sympathy.
“This is proof of the trust between he and I.”
Leticia held out the dagger while smiling.
Up until then, he had been casually wearing a national treasure on his waist.
However, Leticia merely smiled tenderly, her eyes urging Wynn to take the dagger.
That dagger was one of Wynn’s countermeasures against magic.
It was now impossible to use it as he had, and he absolutely couldn’t use it for practice. He vowed to be much more careful when maintaining it.
“If that is the case, I have no choice to concede.”
“Then, we have kept Her Highness waiting.”
The maid nodded, and Count Elstead silently bowed politely, and walked on ahead.
Wynn just bowed down in deference to them.
“Ow ow, you hit my chest.”
“Shut up! Onii-chan should just silently follow me!”
Wynn was dragged along strongly, as Leticia walked.
Chuckling behind the pair, Locke bowed to Count Elstead and the others, then chased after them.
“They’re still kids. Is that their weak point.”
Turning around, Elstead and his lackeys had already walked in the other direction, their expressions unseen.
“What is it? Locke, we’ll leave you behind, you know?”
“Ah, I’ll go now.”
Of course, as the Princess’s guest, the maid wouldn’t actually leave Locke behind, but he still replied.
As he walked quickly to cat ch up to Wynn and Leticia, he once again looked back at Count Elstead, feeling a bad feeling, but they had already turned the corner, their figures unseen.
When he returned home, he would ask for information from his father and elder brother.
His best friend, and the girl who was his childhood friend, wouldn’t be hindered by the inevitable obstacles.
Speeding up to follow the two, Locke, as a person who knew the dangers of being deceived by appearances, etched the name Royce van Elstead into his memory.
AN: I plan to upload the next chapter later this week. (TN: I don’t! sorry!)
Translator Notes
Japanese includes the fact that she is the third child (female) of a duke —backTranslator Not Sure
??? Line not sure, sketchier phone translations starts around here. Read with caution—back