The madam, who owned the VIP salon where Eric had his blind date, knocked and entered the office.

Inside, the woman who had entered the room carrying a pile of documents was sitting.

That woman, Lady Alicia Lancaster, smiled politely as the madam entered.

Despite working on documents for quite a long time, she was sitting up straight, so the madam couldn’t help but praise her for her proper and neat posture.

The madam first met Alicia at a dress shop. As she was a business partner entangled in various ways with the dress shop’s madam, she was introduced to Alicia, who was handling the dress shop’s accounting and taxes, and now she was also helping with the salon’s affairs.

“Are you still working?”

“I have a bit left. Do I need to finish it by today?”

“No, no. You can take your time with that.”

The madam came in and sat in the chair next to the desk where Alicia was sitting.

“Thank you every time.”

“It’s nothing. I find it interesting.”

“My goodness, you find it interesting? Just looking at numbers gives me a headache.”

The madam shook her head and looked at the pile of documents stacked beside her. Then she stared at Alicia for a moment.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Well, you see. Do you remember Marquis Callen whom you briefly greeted last time?”

“Ah, yes.”

Honestly, she didn’t remember, but she nodded anyway.

“It’s fine if you don’t remember. Actually, it doesn’t matter if you know the Marquis or not, but his son wants to meet you.”

“Madam.”

“Marquis Callen is quite wealthy, you know? Moreover, his son is the sole heir and quite handsome-”

“Madam. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”

“Is that so? Yes, I thought you might say that.”

The madam nodded with a smile at the sharp rejection, as if she had already known. It wasn’t particularly surprising, given the same response every time.

“Sigh. Of course, I thought you’d say that, but they were so eager.”

How many times has this been now? She was actually embarrassed to bring it up after being rejected so many times.

But what kind of place was this salon? It was a place frequented by VIPs who were somebody in the empire, so the madam couldn’t refuse without at least trying.

“I’m sorry, madam.”

“No, it’s not something you should apologize for. If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry for always relaying these messages.”

She waved her hand, telling Alicia not to worry about it, as the latter smiled awkwardly, and then stood up without lingering.

“Then I won’t disturb you any further.”

“I think I can finish by tomorrow.”

“Take your time, take your time. Don’t overdo it.”

“Yes, I will.”

As she was walking away, the madam looked at Alicia again.

She too was a half-noble and had seen many young ladies while running the VIP salon, but Alicia was different.

She seemed to prefer work over men, and she was actually intelligent and good at her job, as well as elegant and neat.

Moreover, her ingrained manners were impeccably crisp, making her a young lady who could be introduced to anyone without receiving criticism, but she was an iron wall.

If only a match could be made, she thought regretfully that she would receive enough gratitude to have several dresses made, as she left the office.

‘Come to think of it, did Count Russell come by today? I’m sure I saw a reservation.’

The madam stopped a passing employee.

“What about Count Russell?”

“He left after 15 minutes.”

“Ah, it’s getting faster and faster.”

It wasn’t particularly surprising.

When taking the reservation, based on past experience, she had only booked 30 minutes and was still inwardly anxious just in case, but it turned out as expected.

From next time, it seemed she could confidently book a 30-minute reservation slot. If there was a next time, that is.

***

As Eric was coming out after reporting to the Emperor at the Imperial Palace, he encountered William, the First Prince.

“Hey.”

“Your Highness.”

“I heard you rejected another one?”

“Has the news reached even the Imperial Palace?”

William leaned his arm on Eric’s shoulder and chuckled.

“Why don’t you just get married? At this rate, there won’t be any suitable young ladies left.”

Eric frowned slightly as he gently pushed away the prince leaning on him. He had nothing to say, and even if he did, he didn’t particularly want to say it, so he just kept his mouth shut.

“That’s why you’re getting the nickname ‘Britannia 3%’.”

“Who on earth came up with such a ridiculous nickname?”

“Hmm. Who knows. I just picked it up somewhere.”

Britannia 3%. It meant that out of all the unmarried noble women of marriageable age in the empire, excluding those with fiancés, betrothed, or lovers, he had met with all of them, and that number amounted to 3% of noble women.

“Where did such an absurd rumor… Even so, I couldn’t have…”

“So you admit you’ve met with a lot?”

“…”

In the end, he frowned, regardless of whether the prince was in front of him or not.

“Still, you shouldn’t have been so rude.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Don’t you know that salon where you had your blind date is for VIPs? I heard there was a woman there crying and making a fuss.”

“It couldn’t be helped. She kept pushing even though I said no, so before I knew it…”

When his father, Duke Gloucester, first brought it up, he seemed to be rambling for some reason, and Eric was worried that he might actually be scammed.

So he squeezed out time he didn’t have to carefully review the business feasibility report and legal review report that the company had supposedly submitted, and went to that meeting.

Of course, he felt sorry for hurting an unrelated woman. He usually chose to remain silent at blind dates rather than behaving that way, but this time even he got angry.

‘Maybe I’ll have a chance to apologize someday. Hmm. What was her name again? Come to think of it, I don’t even remember her face well…’

He could only hope that his parents had managed to smooth things over.

Seeing Eric’s irritated face, William chuckled and then finally changed the subject.

“How was the report?”

“It’s finished.”

“It took longer than expected.”

“His Majesty’s schedule ran long.”

“Well, since you’re already late, why don’t you have a drink before you go?”

“Here, you mean?”

“Where else would we do it? You know I can’t go outside the palace without causing a stir? Want to go drinking with a string of attendants?”

“…”

“Of course, with you here, it wouldn’t be a problem even if a fight broke out.”

“Are you assuming a fight will break out anyway?”

“It’s common, isn’t it? When you drink and get drunk, you might pick a fight, and then it could turn into a brawl, you know.”

“You seem to be quite bored lately, but getting into a fight with civilians would be a big problem.”

“What’s the big deal if a prince is backing you up?”

“So you’re saying I should fight after all?”

“What are you talking about? In these peaceful times, we need to make use of such a skilled Knight Commander somehow. Do you know how much your salary is?”

As William said, the continent had been in a peaceful mood recently.

The last conflict with the rival Valois Empire was more than a year ago, and the last time a magician caused an incident or a magical beast appeared was 10 years ago.

As a result, even Eric, the Knight Commander, had been stationed in the capital for nearly a year, with almost no conflict situations requiring deployment.

“But I don’t know why I’m even busier. It might be better to be at the border region instead.”

“Hehehe. Well, you have been busy with blind dates for the past year.”

Eric, who had been looking at the chuckling William with displeasure, finally closed his mouth.

“So, are you dissatisfied? Because it’s an era of peace?”

“What are you saying? As a knight who protects the empire and its people, of course I should be happy-”

“That’s what I’m saying. As the Knight Commander who should protect the empire’s people, why are you being so mean to the women who are also citizens of the empire?”

“…”

Since it seemed he was determined to tease him anyway, Eric, as if familiar with this situation, closed his mouth before the conversation could go on any longer.

“Tch, you’re no fun.”

Knowing that Eric’s reaction meant he wouldn’t respond anymore, William also clicked his tongue and removed his arm from Eric’s shoulder.

The two were classmates from the military academy, so despite being a prince and a subject, they were on fairly casual terms.

And thanks to being a prince, he was also the only person who could speak rudely to Eric.

“I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go drink the salon’s special brandy.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to go with attendants earlier?”

“I don’t want to spend this rare free time in the palace. Besides, nothing will happen if you’re there. Let’s sneak out.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to manage your expression?”

“Ah, was it obvious?”

William glared at Eric, who was trying to play it off smoothly, and then grinned.

“Drink till we die?”

“Do that by yourself. I’ll watch you die.”

“Sometimes you say really hurtful things so casually, you know?”

“Someone who knows all my rumors talking about being hurt? That’s unlikely.”

“Have you perhaps forgotten that I’m a prince right now?”

“That’s absurd. Because you’re the prince, I’m enduring and not hitting you no matter what you say, aren’t I?”

“You really don’t back down an inch, do you?”

“Ah, should I yield to you? I didn’t know your self-esteem was that low.”

“Let’s stop, let’s stop.”

In the end, the prince raised both hands in surrender.

***

In the VIP salon office, Alicia turned the last page of the document.

“Good. This is done here.”

She organized the desk, looked at the clock, and then stood up. Once she handed over the final version to the madam and explained it, it would really be over.

“It’s going to be a bit late, I should hurry.”

As soon as she opened the door, someone almost bumped into her, grabbing the open door.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Eric nonchalantly let go of the door he had grabbed and continued walking with William.

Probably because he was a prince, he often used the back corridors that the employees used to enter and exit quietly, but since the corridor was narrow, this happened occasionally.

“Oh. Quick reflexes. I don’t regret paying your salary.”

“…”

Alicia quickly came out into the corridor to apologize properly, but the two had already gone far by then. Having no choice but to give up, she headed towards the madam’s office.

***

The meeting with the madam took longer than expected, and she was just about to hurry out and get into the carriage when it ended.

“Miss Alicia Lancaster. I’ve been waiting for you to come out.”

“Who are you?”

A strange man approached and spoke to her.

“I’m Richard from the Callen Marquis family.”

“Ah, yes. But what’s the matter?”

She remembered the madam mentioning a similar name.

She was certain she had refused, but she hadn’t expected him to appear in person.

Feeling that this might become troublesome, she inwardly sighed.

“Well, it’s a sudden matter so you must be surprised, but I actually have something I really want to say.”

“If it’s about the message you sent through the madam, I believe my intentions have already been conveyed.”

“That’s true, but I thought it might be properly conveyed only if I saw you in person and talked-”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think my mind will change.”

“Lady Alicia.”

“I have nothing more to say, so I’ll take my leave now. I need to go quickly.”

“Then let me escort you home.”

“That’s alright. Well then.”

Alicia refused in a firm voice and turned around to get into the carriage.

“Ah!”

Her arm was suddenly grabbed and she was pulled away from the carriage in an instant.