ITMWG 48

Chapter 48…

This is the first time.

Nadia peeked her head out from around the corner of the hallway and watched over the drawing room where Prince Orca was, trying to calm her nerves.

“Madame…Why are you here…The lord told you to rest…”

Marie, who followed her, sighed as if unable to understand why Nadia was trying to pierce through the door with her gaze. To her, who did not know better, it seemed strange that she was putting so much effort into welcoming the guests.

“But it is the mistress’s responsibility to welcome the guests. I couldn’t come and greet them, so I have to prepare tea and refreshments.”

“That’s right, but…There is no need for surveillance like this…”

“Th-that’s not true, I’m just watching!”

“Madame, this is usually called surveillance.”

Marie sighed and shook her head as Nadia stubbornly remained where she was. She had given up on trying to convince her master to go back to her room. Nadia felt sorry for Marie, who had a hard time following her around, but she just couldn’t neglect it.

Orca is not an ordinary guest!

People who didn’t know the true identity of Prince Orca seemed nervous that a ‘royalty’ had arrived, but she was anxious for a slightly different reason. The party in question was the real villain in the novel! The dark force that planned every tragedy!

He’s pretending to be a good person, but who knows what he might do if he’s wronged.

It was like that in the novel too. If there was someone he didn’t like, he would quietly get rid of them in the dark. Yet, on the outside, he would put on the sweetest smile.

That’s why I can’t let my guard down.

Nadia continued to stare at the closed door. She had no idea how Prince Orca would retaliate if they got accused of being negligent to guests.

Maybe he has already started nitpicking us.

Having that thought, her heart became heavy. At the last gathering, Prince Orca was almost assassinated. Of course, that was just Altair’s plan to deal with Balhail, and the person Balhail was up against would have been either herself or Altair. However, Altair took advantage of the fact that Prince Orca was attending and cleverly turned Balhail’s hostility toward a royal member, thereby accusing him of a great crime…

Altair used Prince Orca.

Prince Orca enjoyed using others to solve his problems, but he would be very displeased when it was the opposite. In one way or another, he thought that he could use others as a tool, but he could not be a tool for others.

To have such selfish thoughts, no wonder he’s the serpentine villain!

But that’s just how villains were, so there’s nothing she could do about it. In novels where such villains existed, heroines usually tried to civilise them. But Nadia was aware she didn’t have the ability to do that.

So let’s just strive to keep myself, no, to keep both me and Aylesford from being involved with him.

Nadia wasn’t confident that she could change the situation, but she felt like she could at least avoid making it worse. Her strategy was simple – feed Orca what he liked and provide him with a comfortable place to sleep to dull his sharp gaze toward Aylesford! Normally, when people ate something delicious and got a good night’s sleep, they would tend to let down their guard. It was a very simple plan, and that was all she could do.

I know what Prince Orca likes.

Because Orca played an important role in the novel, it was natural for her to have certain understanding of him.

Of course, I’ve only read the novel about 50 times, so I can’t have a full grasp of him.

If she had known this would happen, she would have read it at least 100 times.

Why do I always fall short like this?

The moment Nadia let out a small sigh at her own laxity, the tightly closed door slowly opened. She looked at the door nervously and saw Prince Orca and his subordinate following out with Pavel’s guidance. It seemed as if the room for the prince was ready and he was about to leave the drawing room.

I’m confident in the bedroom too! It was completely decorated to Orca’s taste!

Although it was a bit short on time, she was able to decorate the room by thinking of Orca’s favorite scents and colours. The rest was thanks to Pavel and Anna’s flexibility and quick movements.

So I’m confident!

Nadia strained her eyes as if declaring war and stared at the back of Prince Orca’s head as he walked away. The gaze was so blatant that Prince Orca, who was walking, stopped and turned his head.

Oh gosh!

Orca’s gaze was aimed squarely at her. The moment their eyes met, Orca smiled softly. It would have been natural to go out and exchange greetings the moment they confirmed each other’s presence, but there was no way Nadia’s timidity would have allowed her to do such a thing. She unconsciously drew a sharp breath and hurriedly hid behind the corner. She only belatedly realised she had made a mistake, but it had already happened. Her heart started to quiver and her hands started to sweat.

Should I go out and greet him now? But isn’t that even weirder?

After much thought, she decided to say her greetings. With much effort to calm her legs, which were shaking from tension, she carefully walked around the corner into the hallway. However, to her worries, the hallway was empty.

Huh…?

(Whoosh).

The wind blew by and she could only blink in daze.

“Pft!”

As Prince Orca walked down the hallway, a small laugh was leaked from his mouth. At that sound, Pavel, who was leading the way, glanced at Orca wondering what was going on, but he was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice Pavel’s gaze. He recalled Baroness Aylesford, whom he had encountered in the hallway a moment ago.

Though, I don’t really know if that could be called an encounter?

It would be more correct to say that he unilaterally discovered the Baroness who had been secretly observing him. When he thought back to that moment, he could not help but laugh again.

She surprised me.

She was staring at him intently with both eyes strained without a blink. If it were a normal situation, Orca would have thought, ‘How dare she spy on me?’, with doubt and vigilance arising within him. But when he recalled the Baroness’s expression, which was trying to appear all innocent, he didn’t feel such emotions anymore. It was hard to believe it was something that came from the mind of a man who had been wary and suspicious of others his whole life. He himself was astonished as well.

I must say, this should be considered an ability.

Specifically, the ability to lower people’s guard with a seemingly harmless appearance and actions was rare.

Furthermore…

“You may stay here until your carriage is repaired, Your Highness.”

The sight of the room the butler showed him completely captivated him. The scent that first reached his nose melted his heart, and the blue tone that filled the view that followed calmed his mind. They were all things to his preference.

“Is this all the Baroness’s work too?”

Pavel’s face, which had been stoic throughout his guidance, relaxed at Orca’s question. His face was now filled with subtle pride.

“Yes. The incense, bedding, curtains and decorations were all chosen by the madame herself.”

“Outstanding.”

Orca appeared to be clearly impressed, not even bothered to hide it. This room was much more to his taste than the third prince’s room located in a corner of the palace.

No one there took my tastes into consideration this much.

The emperor preferred the colour red, enjoyed drinking sweet tea, and liked the subtle scent of flowers. His tastes were completely different from Orca, who preferred the colour blue, enjoyed drinking leave-scented tea, and liked woody scents. Everything in the imperial family revolved around the emperor. The person with the second greatest influence was the empress, and next in line were the successors closest to the throne. The position of third prince was at the end of the order. Hence, for him to receive treatment that perfectly suited his taste…

This is my first time.

People who knew his tastes wanted to please those higher than him, and those who wanted to treat him with sincerity did not know his preferences.

“… I would like to express my gratitude to the Baroness.”

“Yes. I shall let her know.”

Pavel, who thought Prince Orca’s words were merely out of courtesy, bowed deeply to him. But he shook his head and put on his signature gentle smile.

“No. I meant I want to tell her that in person.”

“I beg you pardon?”

“I really liked the tea I had in the parlor. I would like to ask the Baroness for information on the tea. Well, unless she is too busy.”

“Uh…”

At first glance, it sounded like a small request, but were he to refuse, it would come out as ‘she is too busy and doesn’t have time to deal with you’, so in the end, he had no choice but to accept. Pavel, upon becoming aware of this, lowered his head.

“I think the madame will be glad to accept it. I will convey your request to her.”

“The third prince is currently resting in his room. He seemed very satisfied with our welcoming and there was nothing seemed suspicious about him.”

“Is that so.”

Altair, who was looking at a document, put down his pen and touched his temple as if tired.

“Still, keep an eye on him. It’s obvious that he realised we were using him to deal with Balhail and came to Aylesford to get something out of us.”

“Are you sure? On the outside, he seemed quite chilled.”

“I guess I’m even more sure now that he is not that ordinary of a person to have deceived your eyes like this.”

Altair snorted and leaned back in his chair. He had already felt it at the Eastern gathering, and now that he met him again at Aylesford Castle, he was certain.

He is the same as me.

People of the same kind easily recognised each other, so it wasn’t difficult to notice.

Perhaps the reason Pavel did not recognise Prince Orca’s true nature was that he was not the same as him.

A person who was on alert, always wary of others, and always concerned about his own interests. But Pavel tilted his head as if he still couldn’t agree.

“But he seemed truly delighted at Aylesford’s hospitality. He was especially grateful to the madame.”

“Nadia?”

When Altair looked up at those words, Pavel realised he had made a slip of tongue, but still obediently confessed the truth. He told Altair about how Prince Orca seemed pleased after drinking the tea that Nadia had prepared, about how Prince Orca also seemed impressed when he saw the room she had decorated, and about how Orca eventually asked to arrange tea time with her. In the end, there was nothing going on in Aylesford Castle that Altair didn’t know about, so it wasn’t something that could be kept secret for long.

“Nadia really did all of that? I clearly told her to rest, but when did she have time to do that?”

“It seems she heard about the situation through Anna. She came to see me in a hurry and personally took charge of everything, saying that the third Prince was a difficult guest and that it would be troublesome if he was not treated properly.”

“…How does she know that the third prince is a difficult guest?”

Altair narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. His face clearly showed signs of discomfort.

Now that I think about it…

Nadia’s reaction was strange when she heard that the 3rd prince was coming to the eastern meeting. At the time, he didn’t think much of it, but seeing Nadia caring about the third prince like this made him think that it wasn’t something he could just ignore.

“Since the madame is from the capital, she may know a lot more about the royal family. She probably knows more about matters that rural people like us don’t know.”

“Yet, it’s not the first or second prince, but the third prince. He is a member of the royal family in name only, so what kind of information would be circulating?”

“Well, the capital is the centre of gossip after all.”

Unlike Altair, who frowned in annoyance, Pavel shrugged his shoulders indifferently. But Altair thought otherwise.

“…Don’t tell Nadia about the tea time request.”

“What do you mean don’t tell her? How can I do that when it’s a request from His Highness the third Prince?”

“I will attend it instead.”

“Pardon?”

Pavel’s face crumbled at Altair’s way too convenient suggestion.

“How are you intending to serve him tea?”

“Is there anything I can’t do?”

“You can’t even make proper tea.”

“…”

Altair pursed his lips at the accurate point. He was not picky about what he ate because he was a person with the mindset that ‘all food is going to end up in your mouth ends up your mouth anyway, so what’s the difference’. The same was for tea, and he didn’t really know what it meant to brew tea with care and get the right flavour. It was just leaves soaked in water anyway, so what’s the difference?

Of course, the tea Nadia brews tastes good for some reason…

With that thought, the image of Nadia brewing tea appeared in his mind. His head started to get hot as he pictured Prince Orca sitting across from her smiling. Tea time was meant just for the two of them. So absolutely not!

“I will learn how to brew tea.”

“…I don’t think it will work though…”

Having predicted how the future would unfold, Pavel sighed deeply.