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"Anyway, if you're that busy, will you even have time to get Letty's autumn season dress tailored soon?"
"Already? But it's only the end of June."
"Considering how many orders the capital's boutiques get, we have to prepare early. Especially since Letty needs her jewelry coordinated too, that takes a lot of time."
"Oh, right… Wait, don't tell me I have to get mine tailored too?"
When Ezkhiel exclaimed in alarm, Lenard gave him a sympathetic nod.
"It'll still be faster compared to Letty. You're not officially part of our family yet, so instead of coordinating an entire set of jewels, you'll only need to pick a few accent pieces."
"…I see. Then will you be getting yours done at the same time too?"
"Unfortunately, no. It's important for it to be known that you and Letty called the boutique together, just the two of you. I can't attend. It'll probably take several hours, so you'd better bring a book. Letty loves shopping, it's at least three hours, minimum."
"……"
Hearing the "minimum three hours," Ezkhiel stared blankly into space and sighed.
For him, who only cared about clothes and jewelry enough to avoid nobles nitpicking, it would be a torturous time. Still, since Letticia enjoyed it, he felt he should at least try to share in her fun.
"Lenard, you get new clothes made every time the social season changes too. Do you know any way to actually enjoy it?"
"For me, it's just an extension of work, so there's no enjoyment in it. As the heir of Count Sharon, I'm practically the face of Sharon Jewelry. I have to serve as a sort of promotional model. Unlike my mother or Letty, who are official models, I don't even get any extra pay for it."
Lenard took a drink, avoiding the ice, then grabbed one of the chocolates he'd brought as a side and sighed.
"On top of that, this autumn season, they're telling me to attend social gatherings even more often, so I have to get twice as many outfits. Honestly, I just want to tell them to give me every design they've got. Or at least hire an employee just to handle this stuff."
"Right, you said you've been busier helping with Letty's business too. Is there anything I can help with?"
"No, it's fine. You're busy too. If I dumped my work on a friend, I'd have no conscience."
Although he waved it off, Lenard looked at Ezkhiel with a touched expression.
"Real friends are the best. My siblings only ever pile more work on me instead of less."
"What's wrong with Letty? She does her work really well."
"She does. But she doesn't just work hard by herself, she ropes other people into working hard with her. She even asked me to advise her again this time. Thanks to that, I barely get four hours of sleep these days. Maybe I should just dump picking my outfits onto her too, seriously."
Though he complained while drinking, the fact that he considered making his little sister take over even that showed they were truly siblings. And, of course, the things he thought of passing off were never the most important duties anyway.
'Do siblings normally avoid giving each other compliments or kind words?'
From what Ezkhiel had seen, Lenard and Letticia rarely spoke positively about each other.
Of course, they usually got along well enough, comfortable in daily life and consulting each other when problems arose. It wasn't that their relationship was bad. But for siblings that close, they didn't seem to care much about showing affection either, which Ezkhiel found curious.
"Oh, speaking of business, Lady Averil will be joining again. Her Majesty the Empress personally notarized the contract between our two houses."
"…A business project involving all three factions isn't something the Imperial Palace can easily abandon, so I expected that. But… are you really okay with it?"
"I already asked that, aside from Lady Averil herself, the other members of her ducal house won't need to deal with me. And what matters isn't how I feel, but the bigger picture."
As Lenard raised his glass, in an instant his expression shifted to that of the heir to Count Sharon's family. He looked squarely at Ezkhiel.
"Now Letty's business isn't just her business anymore, it's gained political weight. Has His Highness said nothing about that?"
"What exactly do you want to know?"
Ezkhiel, slipping back into his role as the Crown Prince's chief aide, replied calmly. Lenard answered with a hardened expression.
"The Sharon family's sphere is high society and commerce, not politics. His Majesty the Emperor may have made use of us politically before, but at least he never dragged us into politics by force, nor treated us like hounds to be commanded."
Back during Seraphina's attempted assassination case, because the commander of the knights and most of the order—those who held jurisdiction—were enemies, it had been wiser to side with Matthias and follow his lead. But because Matthias's true goal was to stir up the issue of hereditary officialdom, the Sharon family nearly ended up making enemies of many of the old noble families.
They were only spared because Marquess Wade and Marquess Eskis persuaded the old nobles, and Matthias took responsibility for punishments and damage control. But had it gone wrong, the Sharon family would have lost a massive number of clients.
"His Highness is mindful of that. There's no need to worry. He knows well that if he rashly gave orders like before, the Sharon family could lose the very advantages it holds."
"I hope so. I cannot bear for us to shoulder risks like the last time again."
Lenard's eyes carried a chill far deeper than his words, leaving Ezkhiel frustrated but unable to reply.
Lately, Lenard had shown signs of strong distrust toward Matthias. It had started subtly around the assassination attempt, but after Alexander's birthday banquet, he no longer even bothered to hide it in Ezkhiel's presence.
The problem was, Ezkhiel couldn't deny that Lenard had good reasons.
For political motives, Matthias had forced a family unrelated to politics to shoulder risks that could have cost them many of their customers. And for personal motives, he had shown unnecessary interest in a young lady who hadn't even made her social debut yet, putting her in an awkward position.
Both publicly and privately, Lenard had ample grounds to distrust Matthias.
'Still, since Lady Averil can no longer become Crown Princess, His Highness will surely sort out his feelings and return to his old self.'
The Duke of Averil had been punished by the Emperor, exiled from the capital, and had a quarter of his fertile lands in Elrey confiscated. The family's standing had plummeted far more than what could be seen on the surface.
Even if the rest of Elrey still belonged to House Averil, the Duke's actions had been sheer madness, and with the Emperor personally handing down punishment, the family was bound to look as though they had fallen out of imperial favor. Not to mention their irreparably tarnished honor.
Moreover, since the victim had been Lenard, heir to the Sharon Count's house, all families friendly to the Sharons—and all those personally allied with Lenard—had effectively become House Averil's potential enemies.
If the Duke quickly passed his title to Alexander and retired, recovery might still be possible. Alexander's personal reputation was excellent, and as an aide to the Chancellor, he had built solid connections among the capital's nobles.
But from Ezkhiel's perspective, the Duke valued his own pride more than his family. And a man like that would never willingly let go of power unless it was taken from him by force.
Thus, in this situation, if Matthias were to enter into a political marriage with Ariette, instead of checking the old nobles, he would risk turning the rising nobility against him. Matthias wasn't foolish enough not to realize that.
Though it was regrettable that Matthias's love now seemed impossible, Ezkhiel believed that if he could overcome the pain, he would mature. He would reflect on the mistakes he had made out of youthful inexperience with love, and grow into a stronger man.
***
After the Empress notarized the contract, Letticia reached out to Seraphina and Dayna. Both immediately insisted on meeting, so the gathering was arranged just two days later.
To ease the atmosphere, she suggested they meet in the garden and even prepared ice cream and sweet tea. But neither of them seemed to notice any of it.
"I understand it must be difficult to speak of the details, so I won't press you. More importantly, have you been taking care of your health? I've been so worried since I couldn't reach you and had no way of knowing how you were doing."
Seraphina, who had tried contacting Ariette, began by checking on her well-being. In contrast, Dayna was glaring at Ariette with a fury that was unusual for her.
"I'm fine. More importantly, I'm truly sorry that my family has caused trouble for your business."
"…Lady Averil, I know this may sound rude, but there's something I'd like to say, would that be alright?"
At the sharp tone laced with hostility, Ariette flinched but still nodded her head. Once she gave permission, Dayna took a deep breath and fired back with intensity.
"You're aware that because of you, Lady Averil, the House of Sharon has suffered losses twice now, aren't you? Why is it that whenever Lady Letticia or Lord Sharon shows kindness toward you, they end up getting hurt because of it? What did either of them do wrong?!"
Ariette's body trembled at Dayna's harsh words. She bit her lip and lowered her head, and Letticia quickly tried to calm Dayna down.
"Hey, Dayna. Strictly speaking, it's not Lady Averil's fault. It was the Duke who caused the commotion—why are you blaming her?"
"The Duke only acted that way because of Lady Averil! Five years ago, maybe that was understandable. But now? Lady Averil, you know perfectly well how the Duke and your brothers react when it comes to your affairs. Yet you still got into Lord Sharon's carriage? Did you not even stop to think what would happen if they found out you were alone with another gentleman?"
But Dayna didn't back down, glaring hard at Ariette. Ariette couldn't deny it, she only trembled in silence.
"I don't know what circumstances you're in, Lady, but if you're going to drag others into your situation, at least make sure they don't get hurt because of it. Not everyone is willing—or obligated—to understand you and willingly bear the consequences on your behalf."
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