Chapter 31

Do You Like Playing with Fire on Summer Nights? (1)

Legina was enjoying tea time with a refreshing feeling after a long time. It was now late spring, entering the beginning of summer. She had been upset by the assassin and annulment issues, but ever since the Emperor started spouting nonsense—no, garbage—she had completely given up and was spending her days quite leisurely, with the intention of taking up the regent’s crown if necessary.

Aside from tending to the Imperial Palace’s internal affairs in place of the vacant Empress, her days were incredibly fulfilling: attending Theore’s various lessons, taking sword lessons with Theore, diligently pushing the disobedient Theore, and wielding a club. The only slight regret was that rumors about her still hadn’t spread widely enough. Legina had clearly expressed her intention to annul the engagement that day, but Hermann, following the Emperor’s command, was still coming and going from the Imperial Palace three times a week to meet her.

Of course, Legina did not meet Hermann. The Emperor’s attendant came, practically in tears, begging her to meet him just once, but what did she care?

[“If you want a marriage with Slyveig, tell His Majesty to do it himself, as I said before. And if the adopted daughter Slyveig takes in isn’t to His Majesty’s liking, be sure to add that a male Empress is also acceptable.”]

Thanks to Legina saying this with a bright smile, the attendant, who had been on the verge of tears, ended up truly crying, shedding copious tears, as he returned. She felt a very, very, minutely tiny bit sorry for the attendant, but what could she do? He probably knew better than anyone that the person caught in the middle of such matters always had it harder, so she could only hope he endured it.

“Anyway, that’s done. Now, I should start acting more seriously…”

She had already laid the groundwork, so now she needed to prepare a proper fishing rod.

“Selma. I need to write a letter.”

“I will prepare it.”

“Aren’t you going to ask who it’s for?”

“It will be for Sir Aaron, or Sir Aaron, or Sir Aaron.”

“Selma? Are you… angry right now?”

“Una! Prepare the ink!”

Selma, with a sharp tone! Selma would usually stiffen and take charge if Una made even a minor mistake, worried that something bad might happen to her. But now, she was acting sullenly, not bothering to hide her displeasure, as if she wasn’t concerned about cleaning up the mess she was making. It was hard for Legina to suppress her laughter.

I know she’s reacting this way because she knows I won’t do anything truly bad to her… but Selma is just too cute, isn’t she?

Legina bit the inside of her cheek, barely holding back her laughter, then cleared her throat and glanced at Selma.

“Are you angry because I insisted on annulling the engagement?”

“I have no intention of forcing Your Highness to do something you do not wish. No matter how much noble and royal marriages are political, His Majesty proceeded without even asking Your Highness’s consent.”

She was sincere. It wasn’t a lie to avoid the situation or reveal uncomfortable feelings. Legina waited for Selma’s next words, who somehow seemed gloomy.

“Why would Your Highness… why would our Highness…”

“Hmm?”

“Yes. Sir Aaron is handsome, but… but Your Highness…!”

“Selma?”

“Why must Your Highness appear to be clinging to Sir Aaron?!”

“Pfft—!”

That burst of laughter belonged to Johan. Hermann had stepped down from close escort duty, and Johan, who had regained his original position guarding Legina’s back, finally couldn’t hold back his laughter. Seeing Selma glaring fiercely at his back, it seemed Johan couldn’t suppress his laughter nor maintain his expression.

Legina secretly pinched her thigh to stop herself from laughing and composed her face, then smiled faintly at Selma. For Johan’s sake, she had to draw Selma’s attention back to herself.

“Selma, what can I do? If I don’t passionately pursue Sir Aaron, the subsequent storyline won’t make sense. Besides, I’m the one asking for a favor.”

“But!”

“And think of it the other way, Selma. What if Sir Aaron were to passionately confess his love to me? With that face? Selma… I want to live a long life.”

From his cheekbones to the bridge of his nose… Now, when Legina looked at Aaron, her gaze finally managed to settle on the center of his face. His nose bridge was so exquisitely beautiful that it was incredibly difficult to adapt to, but she had only recently achieved this feat after diligently practicing to strengthen her heart. She couldn’t even look him in the eye properly, yet for Aaron to like her, no, to love her… Just imagining it put a strain on her heart.

“Selma.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“My ultimate goal is to make Theore Emperor and then live as an unemployed noblewoman until I die, simply enjoying life as his sister.”

“…”

“If I leave a history of being so madly in love with a man like Aaron that I went crazy, won’t everyone understand if I don’t marry afterward, thinking, ‘Ah, his first love was Sir Aaron…’?”

“Wouldn’t people then advise you to lower your standards?”

“My brother is a troublemaker Emperor, isn’t he? And I’m the crazy woman who wields a club at that brother? Who would dare?”

Selma wanted to refute, but she couldn’t. She truly wanted to scream that it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t ignore the presence of the club, lying neatly on the table where Legina’s teacup rested. No, she truly shouldn’t have let that club be made. Selma, filled with belated regret, placed the stationery, pen nib, and the ink Una had brought before Legina.

“What kind of trouble are you planning to cause with Sir Aaron now?”

“Oh, Selma. I haven’t done anything yet.”

“From my perspective, it seems you’ve already done a lot.”

“That’s an illusion.”

In reality, the only things Legina had done with Aaron publicly were attending his sword lessons and dancing with him at the banquet. So now, it was time to move more seriously. Legina pondered what the first sentence of her letter to Aaron should be, and continued speaking.

“Now, I’m gradually going to let it be known that Sir Aaron is the one I like. Then everyone will understand why I decided to annul my engagement.”

“Will they believe it?”

“If they don’t trust me, trust Sir Aaron’s face, Selma. All the plausibility lies in that face.”

This, too, was an undeniable statement. She was already an opponent hard to win against with words, but lately, each word Legina uttered seemed to carry more weight. Her birthday hadn’t passed, so she was still fifteen. If she was like this even now, what would happen when she became an adult and her words gained official power? Selma sighed, praying that she would be able to handle it.

“Will His Majesty just watch as you refuse to meet Lord Hermann, who keeps coming, and instead go to meet Sir Aaron?”

“What are you worried about? We have Theore.”

“His Highness Theore?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Where did my cute and beloved brother Theore see and hear and learn such crude language?”

“That is…”

“It’s the Imperial Palace. How could those moving within the space where Imperial Family members reside display such undignified words and actions?”

That was true. The Imperial Palace managed everyone, from the staff working there to those who briefly came and went. Furthermore, those residing in the palace were even managed with a demerit system. But would such people use crude language in front of the Imperial Prince? Even if they did, they would do so secretly when they were alone. There’s no way a child with such a strong presence, in various ways, like Theore, would have secretly observed such things.

“Then there’s only one answer.”

“What is that?”

“A secret passage.”

“…What?”

“He must have slipped out of the palace without anyone knowing and had some fun. His Majesty is normally infinitely benevolent towards Theore, so he must have pretended not to know. He would have stopped it if he thought it went too far, but secret passages are never just one.”

Before her regression, before Theore’s reformation, this wasn’t a problem she had particularly thought about. She had just assumed he was born a troublemaker and acted like one. She didn’t know he had been sneaking in and out of the palace through secret passages, causing trouble, since he was little. She ironically learned this fact only after Theore became a pushover. He was caught trying to smuggle imperial property through that secret passage, claiming he was helping a pitiful person—who was actually a swindler. When she asked Theore why he did it, he replied that whenever he tried to do something good, Legina would get too angry, so he intended to perform good deeds secretly behind her back.

At that time, I truly thought I was going to die from frustration.

Fortunately, she didn’t die, but she had to stay in bed for two or three days.

“So, Your Highness. Are you saying you’ll use a se-secret passage… to meet Sir Aaron?”

“It’s fine; no actual dogs will be going in and out. Probably?”

“That’s not the point! Sir Johan! Please say something!”

“I also often used secret passages in the mansion to play when I was a child.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about right now!”

My dearest Sir Aaron Vestein.

Legina, writing the opening of the letter in elegant handwriting while listening to Selma’s screams, called Una closer, who stood blankly, watching Selma and Johan, without taking her eyes off the luxurious stationery.

“Una.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“There’s something you need to prepare. You have relatively free access, so after delivering the letter to Sir Aaron, don’t return to the palace, but prepare what I told you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“And Johan.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Would you go to Theore right now and tell him I want to see him?”

“I receive your command.”

Listening to Johan’s quick footsteps as he left the room, Legina wrote a long letter to Aaron, expressing her wish to have lunch and dinner with him today. And at the very last line of the letter, she added these words:

‘My lord, do you perhaps like playing with fire?’

— Mochinuna.