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"Well, that's a relief... But still, he didn't seem normal. Lady Averil tried to stop the fight between the two of them…"
Ezkhiel's eyes trembled as he stopped mid-sentence. Even without him finishing, Letticia understood what he meant and completed the sentence for him.
"Did she speak in a childish tone and act all cutesy?"
"You've seen it too, Letty?!"
"Yes. I don't think she actually enjoys doing it though."
"Definitely not. When she made eye contact with me, she looked so embarrassed, like she wanted to crawl into a hole."
Just remembering it made Ezkhiel so embarrassed that he covered his forehead and sighed. Letticia, not wanting to speak ill of their family but rather to ease Ezkhiel's mind, explained the situation.
"According to Lady Averil, she was abused by a truly horrible tutor when she was young. Even the servants joined in, but they hid it so well that the Duke and the young lords didn't notice for quite some time."
"So that's why they've become so overprotective... That's the opposite of me. My brother wanted to push me out of the house quickly so I could be independent."
After hearing the explanation, Ezkhiel's previously pale face regained some color, and his voice held a tinge of sympathy. The mention of abuse likely struck a personal chord.
"If that's just how the Duke's family handles things, then there's nothing more to say... But still, acting like that even as an adult is a bit concerning. Once you're an adult, you should be forced to move on from childhood, even if unwillingly."
"They feel guilty for standing by and doing nothing. So they're trying to make it up to her, letting her enjoy a long childhood. Whether they're truly making amends to her, or just comforting their own guilt… I'm not sure."
"If the wounds hurt the family more than the person herself... Maybe she's now living her life trying to heal her family's pain more than her own."
Letticia said cynically without realizing it, and Ezkhiel muttered back, a little conflicted himself.
At that moment, the boat ride ended. As they got off, a servant set up a shaded spot and unpacked a basket to prepare their meal.
Letticia, not wanting to stay long under the early summer sun, gladly moved into the shade.
While the guards kept watch nearby, Letticia pulled out cookies and juice and offered them to Ezkhiel. When she tried to feed him a cookie directly, Ezkhiel panicked and waved his hands.
"I-I'll eat it myself, Letty! People are watching…"
"So if there's no one around next time, you'll let me feed you?"
"Mmm..."
Ezkhiel couldn't bring himself to say yes and just fidgeted awkwardly.
Letticia thought to herself that next time, she would just feed him without warning when no one was around.
Even so, enjoying tasty snacks together while catching a cool breeze made the moment delightful.
And since they had baked the cookies together, it really felt like a proper date, which made her heart flutter.
"When you get busier, we probably won't be able to go on dates like this anymore. Isn't there a way to keep the Crown Prince from getting more work?"
"…If His Majesty stops talking about marriage, or if the Chancellor doesn't bring in more work..."
Ezkhiel gazed off into the distance as if speaking of a hopeless wish. That reminded Letticia of the issue with Matthias's marriage.
'Her Majesty the Empress said she would leave Matthias's marriage up to him, so if we go by what he wants… ugh.'
According to Lenard, at the music concert, Matthias went out of his way to ask him whether he felt sad about his younger sister starting a relationship, and he did this right in front of the Averil brothers.
Lenard assumed Matthias just wanted to gauge the possibility of conflict between the Sharon and Averil families.
But Letticia, who knew the original story, could only think one thing.
'He's setting things in motion.'*
The real issue now was that Seraphina, not her, had taken over the role of 'obstacle.'
If Matthias followed his character in the original novel, he'd find some excuse why Seraphina wasn't suitable and then propose a political marriage to Ariette.
However, Seraphina had aspirations, as Crown Princess, she hoped to bring progressive reform to the western nobles, and instill in the capital's nobles a renewed sense of duty and aristocratic spirit. She had the popularity and support to make that expectation realistic.
On the other hand, Ariette had no interest in Matthias. Even if he started showing interest in her, with Seraphina already in the picture, it would be unlikely, both emotionally and practically, for Ariette to accept.
Even if, by some miracle, she did accept him, Seraphina would undoubtedly go all out to turn Ariette into a fitting Crown Princess. And Ariette would carry the guilt of having trampled on Seraphina's dreams.
'That'd be hell.'
Whether it was Seraphina or Ariette, the ending would be awful for either of them. And the saddest part was, that's assuming things go well.
Letticia no longer had to worry about being tangled with Matthias herself.
But she couldn't just sit by while two of her friends were headed toward that hell.
'Besides, whether it's that guy or the three bastards from the duke's household, they're all the same. For Ariette, leaving the tiger's den only to step into the lion's would make no difference at all.'
Ariette's goal was to stand on her own two feet, to succeed through her own abilities and live without shame as an independent adult.
As long as Matthias didn't change at a fundamental level, Ariette's dream would never be possible if she were with him.
The problem was, no one had any clue how Matthias truly felt right now. Or whether he had even started thinking of Ariette as his potential Crown Princess.
"Letty, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"
As Letticia sat lost in thought, Ezkhiel, sensing her mood, asked worriedly.
Looking at his face, Letticia decided to finally ask a question she hadn't dared to until now.
"…Ez, I feel bad asking this, but... is there someone His Highness the Crown Prince has been interested in lately?"
"Huh?!"
Ezkhiel stared at her in shock, clearly not expecting such a question.
"Just as I said. Like, has he shown sudden interest in someone? Or maybe asked you to look into someone for him?"
"Why are you asking that all of a sudden? You're not the type to ask something like that just out of curiosity."
"Because it's important. Not just out of curiosity, I need to know for the sake of understanding the current situation."
When Letticia signaled with her eyes, the guards and servants stepped back a few paces to give them space.
Ezkhiel hesitated, eyes shifting uneasily, before answering in a quiet voice.
"I've never stepped into His Highness's personal affairs, so I don't have any definite information. As his aide, my job is to assist him with his official duties, I'm not someone who has the right to interfere in his private life without permission."
"I'm not asking you to dig up anything for me. I just want to know, from being by his side, have you sensed anything? That kind of thing."
Ezkhiel gave her a very serious look. From that alone, Letticia could tell he must've received similar questions many times before.
"…Even for you, Letty, you know there are limits to what I can say about His Highness, right?"
"I know. That's why it's enough if you just tell me what you can, within what won't get you in trouble."
She would've preferred to find out through another method, but only Ezkhiel, who stood closest to Matthias, could provide the insight she needed.
Whether or not Matthias liked Ariette and how much could change everything.
"…His Highness the Crown Prince believes that even his own marriage is a matter that must be decided with careful political consideration."
After taking a sip of orange juice as if to moisten his dry throat, Ezkhiel began with a neutral answer.
"Given that the recent incident with the Wallace county has stirred up issues like hereditary office succession and touched on matters the old nobles are particularly sensitive about, there's an opinion that the Crown Prince should take a consort from an old noble family as a sort of compromise. But whether His Highness actually agrees with that view is another matter entirely."
"And if he refuses? Among the high-ranking families of the old nobility in the capital, there isn't a single young lady close enough in age to be considered for the position of Crown Princess. The older ones are all married, and those my age, or younger, have had their reputations tarnished ever since the incident with Lady Wallace back in our academy days."
"So finding a good alternative is difficult... It'd be great if someone naturally caught his eye, but I guess that's too much to hope for."
Ezkhiel took another long drink of juice, his expression full of weariness and concern. He was the one responsible for investigating candidates, but if the man in charge wasn't interested, all that work amounted to nothing.
"If someone is going to catch His Highness's interest, wouldn't it have to be someone outside the social circles? Maybe someone from the civil service or political world? I heard before that he was looking for a woman with insight, intelligence, and philosophy."
"…More precisely, it's someone who has insight, intelligence, and philosophy in the fields His Highness values. Which happen to be things the social circles don't usually consider important."
🍓; *Setting things in motion, means deliberately starting a series of events that will have future consequences.
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