A few days later…

Avril, having received a summons from Alexandra, had come to the royal palace with Samuel.

Dylan wasn’t with her today. This was a formal summons from Alexandra, the woman who would become queen, and it was personally directed to Avril.

Alexandra and Lawrence were already engaged and now intended to officially hold their wedding ceremony. However, with Lawrence’s ascension to the throne as the occasion, they seemed to have decided to carry out a series of ceremonies and the coronation as well.

As those preparations were proceeding at a rapid pace, Alexandra was said not to have returned to the Count of Lindberg’s house, and that she was instead spending her time in a room within the royal palace.

Avril stiffly gave a formal greeting upon being shown into that opulent room

“Lady Alexandra, thank you very much for inviting me today.”

“Rather, I should be thanking you. I apologize for calling you so suddenly. …Oh my, I believe that child is Samuel of the Marquis of Brandner household?”

“My name is Samuel Brandner. I have come today as an attendant. To be granted an audience with Her Majesty the future queen is to my utmost honor and delight.”

Before Alexandra, who was displaying an elegant smile, Samuel awkwardly bowed his head while keeping his hands clenched in fists on top of his knees.

Even though he was a child of the Marquis of Brandner household, little doubt existed that he never until now had an opportunity to be invited to the royal palace and greet someone who would soon become queen. His nervousness was palpable.

Alexandra gave a meaningful smile as she watched him with amusement.

“Fufufu. How cute. Are you perhaps Fernand Brandner’s youngest brother?”

“Yes. My eldest brother serves at the royal palace.”

“I know him. You may perhaps have more opportunities to meet your brother here.”

Samuel might have opportunities to meet Lord Fernand at the royal palace…?

Alexandra turned to Avril, who had tilted her head in wonder, and continued.

“I have a request for you, Lady Avril.”

“Yes.”

“I would like for you to come to the palace as my partner for conversation.”

Avril blinked at the completely unexpected request.

“Me…?  Surely, there are others more suitable for a conversation companion of Her Majesty the future queen?”

“Where? I do not get along in conversation with the others at all.”

“I-I understand…”

It was said so matter-of-factly that there was no way for her to refuse.

However, generally, conversation companions for nobles often came to reside in the royal palace. The ladies who had come to the castle as conversation companions to royalty in the past should all have had private rooms in the palace.

Except Avril couldn’t do that. Leaving the Duke of Lancester family was unthinkable.

“Please allow me to consult with Lord Dylan first. Even if I decide to accept, I believe it would be difficult to remain here all the time. I would like to have it in the form of visiting a few times a week.”

“That is my intention as well. However, until the coronation, you might need to stay here overnight, Lady Avril. Though I feel apologetic to the Duke of Lanchester.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, if it is to that extent. I will properly give you my reply later.”

Alexandra’s smile bloomed like a great flower at her answer. Then she once again turned her gaze to Samuel.

“Come to think of it… have you heard of what my black-hearted fiancé did to Lord Fernand in the past?”

“You mean what His Highness the Crown Prince and Lord Dylan were talking about the other day, correct? I asked Lord Dylan for the details afterwards.”

Avril recalled the story.

The other day, in the carriage on the way back from the royal palace, Dylan prefaced it with, “I got permission from Lawrence to speak about it, so I can finally tell you.”  From there he told her about an incident that had once happened between himself and Fernand.

Dylan and Fernand were of the same age, and because the social circles their families stood in had also been similar, they had known each other by sight since childhood. Both of them were outwardly well-behaved and respectable. However, Fernand had another side. While highly regarded for his brilliant mind and wide circle of acquaintances, his relations with women were flamboyant.

Signs of such had been present since childhood, and Dylan, who regularly saw the foolish conduct of his own father, apparently kept a clear distance from Fernand. Thanks to that, they were able to maintain a formal relationship without encroaching on each other’s territory.

However, when they were both twenty years old—four years ago—the incident occurred.

At the time, Fernand, though engaged to a count’s daughter, apparently had five or six other lovers. Avril felt faint with dizziness when she heard that, but it seemed that this was commonplace for high-ranking nobles.  When she thought of it, her father also had a mistress and acted as if it was perfectly normal.

After the death of Avril’s mother, that mistress immediately entered the Count of Allingham’s household, and on top of that, she even had a younger half-sister. This was a decisive turning point in Avril’s life.

Perhaps it’s fortunate that Lord Dylan doesn’t make outside lovers as deemed by aristocratic custom…

While having such thoughts, Avril was told of the outcome to a hopeless incident by Dylan.

Dylan, under Lawrence’s instructions, was tasked with separating one of Fernand’s lovers from him. The reason was perfectly clear. That lover’s family supported Lawrence, and moreover was a count house abundant in funds.

The young lady’s father tried to keep the two from associating, but of all people, her lover was from the Marquis of Brandner. That coupled with his daughter’s blind devotion prevented him from being too forceful.

Lawrence was earnestly begged by her parents to make her end that fruitless relationship, and he reluctantly decided to act.

Dylan, having been asked to handle the entire affair, refused, claiming there was no need for him to be the one who took on that role. However, Avril was also aware of his relationship with Lawrence. Ultimately, he couldn’t completely refuse and ended up accepting the task.

And so, at a certain evening party. Dylan, under the guise of a coincidence, created an opportunity to introduce another man to that young lady. That man was also a son to a noble in Lawrence’s faction.  He was a capable person who understood his own role, and above that, was handsome.

As planned, the two formed favorable impressions of each other, and she naturally broke up with Fernand—or so it was assumed. However, a problem arose.

Although the young lady broke up with Fernand, she didn’t fall in love with the nobleman introduced by Lawrence. The reason was Dylan. She did hold a favorable impression of the introduced nobleman, but more than that, she seemed to have become infatuated with Dylan, with whom she had only exchanged a few words. She even began stalking Dylan. Her successful experience in having the heir of the Marquis of Brandner household become her lover spurred her confidence, leading her to believe that perhaps she could win over a man of even higher standing.

Then, unbelievably, her parents didn’t stop her. At the time, Dylan didn’t allow young ladies to approach him, rarely showed himself in society, and was a beauty of a young man known as a mysterious figure to those who knew him. Yet, through the crown prince’s intervention, that man had approached their daughter. That sense of superiority was probably enough to make them hope they might forge ties with a ducal family.

“…Looking back, I was naive. I should have suspected that Lawrence had another intention— that he meant to assign some suitable woman to me, a man who had no intention of marrying anyone.”

As Dylan’s expressed in his words of regret, the situation became rather troublesome.

Among those involved, the one not in the slightest bit pitiable yet unhappy to a certain extent was Fernand Brandner at having had one of his lovers taken away.  That young lady had apparently been especially favored by him.

Fernand, whose lover’s heart was stolen, resented Dylan. The young lady, upon being rejected by Dylan, continued pestering him without relent. The young lady’s parents continued offering marriage proposals to the Duke of Lancester. It was a quagmire.

Dylan, taking that as the trigger, resolved on a marriage to ward off marriage proposals. He searched for a villainess that everyone would accept, which lead to their present.

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