Having refused the meeting with her yesterday and now showing I’m meeting with Antes first…’
There will surely be a fight.
Antes, too, seemed to expect Rosemary’s attack, as he put down his tea cup, ready to stand up at any moment.
But.
“…It seems brother came first.”
For some reason, Rosemary came into the greenhouse quietly without any attack.
And then she sat down quietly without making a fuss towards Luna and Antes.
Luna, feeling slightly pricked, apologized first. Rosemary’s obedient attitude felt like the eye of a storm.
“I’m sorry. I should have contacted you first.”
“No, it’s my fault for coming unannounced. Don’t worry about it. I just stopped by to see you after finishing my work quickly.”
But this time too, Rosemary was very polite.
Clearly, she had a slightly shocked expression at the entrance just a while ago. It was a very strange and suspicious situation, but it was a good thing as long as she didn’t get angry.
Luna felt relieved, and Antes became suspicious.
While he was narrowing his eyes and examining Rosemary, Laura found Luna again.
“Miss, Miss! A letter has arrived.”
A horse seemed to cross the garden, and it turned out to be a letter. As Luna reached out, Laura handed it over with a tense face and said,
“But… the letter is from the Imperial Palace.”
“…The Imperial Palace?”
What’s the occasion for a letter? Luna hurriedly checked the envelope, but there was no name. It was merely a letter with the imperial seal.
Who would send such an unfriendly letter?
Luna, curious, tore the letter to check the sender.
“Who is Callion Atlan?”
But looking at the name didn’t help. Luna’s reaction of not knowing who it was made Antes stiffen.
“…The Crown Prince.”
“His Highness…!?”
Why did he suddenly send a letter…!?
Only then did Luna recall that Atlan was the name of the Empire.
As Luna was very embarrassed, Rosemary, whose intuition was right on, turned pale.
“What does it say? It won’t be just a simple greeting letter.”
Antes, showing a hint of discomfort, urged to read the letter quickly. Luna, too, was curious as to why the Crown Prince sent her a letter, so she hurriedly read the contents.
[I was wondering if you were feeling okay. The reason I sent this letter is to formally request the conversation we couldn’t have at the party. I inquired and found that your mansion is quite close to the Imperial Palace.]
The letter mentioned that he would visit the Rose Mansion soon, which made Luna drop the letter. There was a moment of silence in the glass greenhouse.
It was a natural reaction as the Crown Prince suddenly wanted to visit the mansion to have a conversation.
‘Did pretending to be sick really upset him…?’
Unless otherwise, there was no reason to say that one would go out of their way to come. While Luna was confused, Antes, who picked up the letter, asked if he could read the rest of it.
As Luna nodded, he quickly checked the letter.
[This Tuesday would be good. I can spare some time in the afternoon, so let’s meet then.
I have a favorite tea, so I’ll bring it myself, so don’t bother preparing.
Callion Atlan.]
It was crazy. Antes frowned at the letter that unilaterally set the date.
Who is telling who what to do? Of course, the Crown Prince was in a position to tell Luna to do so, but for Antes, he was just an annoying opponent.
“…What?”
Rosemary asked, without even blinking. Antes briefly explained the contents of the letter.
“If it’s this Tuesday… it’s tomorrow, isn’t it!? He’s going to visit us all of a sudden!? What kind of weird person would do that?”
Is it because he’s a Crown Prince? Rosemary was very angry. She didn’t like him being cheeky with Luna in the first place, and she was thoroughly annoyed at the news of meeting the next day.
In the meantime, Luna couldn’t even utter a word. Antes said it’s okay, but undoubtedly, he’s coming to scold her in anger.
What should I do? Luna stared at Antes. What should I do? You said you’d help. I’m asking for help. Bring a knight to fend him off.
“I’ll visit again tomorrow.”
Even without such a sorrowful look, he intended to visit. Although he roughly guessed why the Crown Prince was doing this, Luna had no intention of treating him harshly.
“Me too! I’ll come no matter what!”
At the sound of Antes saying he’ll visit, Rosemary raised her hand and got up from her seat.
Since they didn’t know what the Crown Prince was thinking when he sent the letter saying he would visit, Luna, judging that the more people, the better, nodded.
“Thank you. Thank you both.”
Thanks to the Crown Prince’s letter, the atmosphere was ruined. Luna drank tea with a sorrowful face as if the sky had fallen.
Living peacefully was the only goal, why wouldn’t they leave her alone?
“There’s no need to worry. If the Crown Prince really had malicious intent, he wouldn’t have sent a warning letter.”
Antes left comforting words and shook off his clothes as he got up. There was no visit scheduled for tomorrow, so if they needed to make time, they had to take care of other affairs in advance.
“That’s right. If the Crown Prince tries to harm you, I’ll blow up the palace myself.”
Rosemary, who got up following Antes, answered quite seriously.
Of course, her concern was not the Crown Prince’s malicious intent, but the embarrassment; however, she remained unchanged in her determination to blow up the palace.
That’s right. What’s the use of worrying unnecessarily? If the Crown Prince really intended to harm, they would deal with it then.
With vigorous comfort, the reenergized Luna saw off the siblings.
However, while receiving Luna’s wave goodbye and trying to get on the carriage, Antes’s arm was suddenly grabbed by Rosemary.
“…What?”
Antes looked at Rosemary very uncomfortably. She, too, as if not wanting to do this, hurriedly said her piece.
“Behave properly.”
Of course, it was hard to grasp what the very short and implicit warning was about.
As soon as Rosemary climbed into the carriage, Antes was momentarily flabbergasted.
* * *
Regardless of the reason, the news that the Crown Prince is coming made the mansion a bit busy.
Thanks to that, time was wasted unnecessarily on cleaning the mansion, and the day disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It would be nice if all this was a dream. However, due to Antes visiting the mansion as soon as morning came, Luna’s wish was fruitlessly vanished.
“You seem to have had a sleepless night.”
Antes examined Luna’s complexion and said so. Indeed. Repeatedly waking up and falling asleep, the total sleep time didn’t even add up to an hour.
Looking at that tired face, Antes closed his mouth for a moment. He had requested the Crown Prince several times to visit yesterday, but all were declined.
It was annoying enough dealing with Fersen’s nonsense. He was truly irritated and gritted his teeth.
“I didn’t know, but I seem to have a more worrying personality than I thought.”
“It’s like being struck by lightning, it’s understandable. But it’s still early, so rest.”
As Antes answered, a loud clattering of hooves was heard.
She suspected it was Rosemary, so Luna checked but it was not. For the first time in her life, a splendid carriage was crossing the garden.
“Ah, Miss! It seems the Crown Prince has arrived!”
He said he would come in the afternoon, but he’s visiting so early in the morning.
Startled, Laura hurriedly wondered what to do.
“He must be truly crazy.”
Antes summed up the Crown Prince in a word. Luna also didn’t raise any objections.
Who visits someone else’s mansion at this hour? He must be truly mad.
Then why say meet in the afternoon? Luna, suppressing her irritation, went out to greet the Crown Prince.
Fortunately, only the carriage was splendid; there were not many knights. It was quite modest for the Crown Prince’s procession.
The Crown Prince, who alighted from the carriage, gently smiled at Luna who welcomed him with a bow.
“I only had time today, so I hastily set up the appointment, but I’m glad the timing worked out.”
No, the time we agreed upon was different. It didn’t match at all? Luna swallowed those words and awkwardly smiled.
Such Luna and Antes, who was clearly showing their displeasure, were alternately observed by Callion who soon asked with a meaningful smile:
“Has your headache gotten better? It looked quite serious.”
“…Ah, thanks to your concern, it’s much better.”
“That’s good. I was worried that I’d have to leave if you said somewhere else hurt.”
Luna unwittingly clenched her fist at the laughing response. It was fortunate that he didn’t get angry, but it was certainly not enjoyable to be teased.
But if he wasn’t angered, then what was his purpose? It must be quite an important matter if he bothered to visit.
Thinking so, Luna tried to guide Callion to the glass room, but he brought up his business before even taking a step.
“Actually, I heard that Lady found another gold mine, so I thought maybe she could give me one.”