What a surprise.
“Then, you didn’t use to care this much before?”
“Yes. I could understand if it was for the First Prince or First Princess, but for the Second Prince’s birthday……”
“It was relatively simple in the past.”
Siena’s trailing words were picked up by Mari.
Right, that’s how it used to be.
Come to think of it, Joshua once said this to me before.
So I had a slight suspicion that he might also be a neglected child at home.
……But this is not the scale of a birthday party you’d throw for a neglected child.
It may have been meager until now, but this time it’s as grand as it gets.
Anyone who sees it would believe it’s the Crown Prince’s birthday. Gasp. Could it be that he suddenly became the Crown Prince?
Hmm. That doesn’t seem likely.
Then what’s the reason for this sudden change of heart?
I tilted my head while flipping the shiny golden invitation.
Of course, I quickly figured it wasn’t my business and just went to sleep.
[This is the timeline separator]The one most surprised by the news of the Second Prince’s grand birthday banquet was…
“What in the world are you thinking?”
The birthday boy himself, Joshua.
He too had just received notification about his own birthday ball.
They were planning to hold a three-day banquet in the Imperial Palace’s central ballroom.
When he heard that invitations had been sent to all the nobles in the empire, he couldn’t even tell if this was a dream or reality.
Honestly speaking, he wasn’t very pleased.
He didn’t really care whether his birthday passed by quietly or with fanfare.
However, what bothered him was what change of heart led his father to do such a thing.
His father had a ruthlessly sharp side to him.
In other words, he wasn’t very interested in children who had no value.
In that sense, he was a child who was completely out of his father’s interest.
The third son who had long given up the throne and lived quietly, nothing more and nothing less.
The nagging question grew deeper on the day of the birthday ball.
The ballroom was sparkling as if all the crystals in the world had been embedded in it.
The piles of gifts.
The nobles who had lined up early to enter the ballroom.
The endless procession of carriages.
To Joshua, who dreamed of living quietly and humbly, this whole situation felt absurdly burdensome.
Sitting on the window sill of his room, Joshua looked down and frowned deeply.
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand.”
“You’re still saying that on the day of the event?”
As he mumbled in an exasperated tone, Chelsea threw a question while checking her nails.
“But I really don’t know what Father is thinking. Sister, do you know something?”
“Well, maybe Father has suddenly found his youngest son adorable?”
“……What kind of nonsense……”
“Have some confidence, Joshua. You’re quite cute.”
Ugh.
After saying that with a bright smile, Chelsea made a vomiting gesture.
Joshua shook his head and fixed his gaze back out the window.
No matter how he looked at it, the scale was too large. It was obvious there was some ulterior motive, but not being able to guess it at all was driving him crazy.
Chelsea approached behind Joshua.
“Why don’t you just enjoy it? It’s nice to receive a lot of gifts.”
Covering her nose with a fan, she widened her eyes at the ant-like swarm of people.
“And while you’re at it, take this chance to meet some nice women. You’re also at the age to start thinking about marriage.”
No, was it past that age already?
As Chelsea added with a shrug, Joshua fixed his gaze on her.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious.”
“……That’s unexpected.”
At the dazed response, Chelsea tilted her head.
“What’s unexpected?”
“I thought you would have someone in mind as my match. Someone from a family that would be helpful to you.”
At the words filled with sincerity, Chelsea paused for a moment.
Then she burst into laughter.
“Oh my, Joshua. Do you think I’m so lacking that I need the help of my snotty little brother?”
Still with laughter in her voice, Chelsea wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with her fan.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but you can think about and decide your women issues on your own.”
“Oh dear. I’m so disappointed I could die, what should I do?”
“Haha. My brother is sometimes really amusing.”
However, Chelsea’s expression as she said that was colder than ever.
Turning around with a twirl, she looked down the window again.
Her golden eyes busily scanned the carriages. Soon, her gaze lingered somewhere.
The lips that always held a smile faltered.
As if pointing somewhere with her fingertips tapping on the window, seeming to tell him to look there too, Joshua also turned his gaze back to the window.
Finding the place her fingertips were pointing to with difficulty, a dark blue carriage caught his eye.
That familiar pattern on the carriage……
“It’s the Richter ducal family’s carriage.”
“Yes. Father invited the Richter ducal couple as well.”
Of course.
It would be harder to find a noble who wasn’t invited to this ball.
Staring fiercely at the carriage slowly moving in the long procession, Chelsea raised the corner of her mouth.
“By the way, I’m a very open-minded person, Joshua.”
“Where did that suddenly come from……”
“Whether it’s a divorced woman or a woman about to get divorced, whoever you bring as your partner, I’ll support you.”
It was a remark he couldn’t even laugh at.
Wasn’t she the one who jumped up and down telling him not to do anything outrageous when she heard he had become friends with the Duchess of Richter?
Unable to even respond out of absurdity, Chelsea turned her head towards Joshua, smiling brightly.
“I mean even if the relationship is a bit morally flawed, I don’t mind. So…”
Yes, so Joshua.
“Don’t lose courage and seize the opportunity. Understand?”
Leaving only those words, Chelsea left the room saying she needed to fix her makeup.
Left alone, Joshua pondered seriously.
“……Has everyone collectively lost their minds?”
From his father who suddenly pushed for a birthday party of enormous scale to his sister who was advocating unbelievable open-mindedness.
He was deeply suspicious that someone might have poisoned the Imperial family.
[This is the timeline separator]“……There really are a lot of people. Did they invite every noble in the empire?”
“Who knows? In any case, it’s definitely on par with the scale of the hunting festival.”
At Dante’s explanation, I gaped.
He had said the hunting festival was one of the most notable events in the empire. And this is on par with that hunting festival?
Joshua, could it be……
That you’re an immensely loved youngest prince?
In novel terms, you’re the protagonist of a title like ‘The Youngest Prince Loved by All!’
And yet you told me we were in the same situation.
Is there any greater deception than this?
I was wallowing alone in the sense of betrayal that rose for no reason when…
Knock knock.
At the sound of someone tapping on the carriage, I looked out the window and a person in servant’s clothing politely bowed his head.
“Are you the Duke and Duchess of Richter?”
As Dante nodded affirmatively, the servant delivered his message in a solemn voice.
“His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you two. I will escort you to the audience chamber.”
The Emperor is looking for us?
I recalled the Emperor I had seen at the hunting festival before.
I wondered what he wanted to say that he sent someone to the carriage to fetch us.
As neither of us said anything, cold sweat began to flow down the servant’s face.
Oh dear, right.
What fault does the servant have?
I took Dante’s hand and got out of the carriage.
The servant led us with a relieved expression.
“Hoho. Long time no see.”
Arriving at the audience chamber with the escort, the Emperor welcomed us with a bright smile.
Dante and I greeted him and sat in the seats he gestured to.
“You two seem to have better complexions than before. Very nice to see! Hoho.”
“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s care.”
“Haha. The Duke must be happy to have a wife with such smooth speech.”
……I feel like he just subtly jabbed at me.
Saying I’m good at making flattering remarks.
However, while I had the courage to pick fights with princes, I didn’t have the nerve to do so with the Emperor.
I’ll just pretend I didn’t notice and curse him when I get back to the room!
With that mindset, I patted the back of Dante’s twitching hand.
It was a signal that I was fine and for him to stay still.
The Emperor sat us down and rambled on about trivial daily life stories that we had no genuine interest in.
The forcibly raised corners of my mouth were about to go into spasms.
“Oh my. I’ve been talking too much nonsense. Seeing you two getting along so well put me in a good mood, so I got carried away.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty. It was an honor to be your conversation partner.”
I heard you’re good at flattering remarks, so I responded with words blatantly wrapped in hypocrisy.
“……I see. I’m glad to hear that then.”
But my husband could no longer hold back.
At the blunt question, the Emperor laughed with an ‘oops’ expression.
__________
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
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