Chapter 94

Anyway, this conversation is boring. Ellenia pretended to tilt her glass and glanced back toward the dinner table.

A place where Duke Omerta, Duke Vishelier of Rembrandt, and Cardinal Valentino sat together.

No one would disagree that it was a truly bizarre combination.

It was a picture that managed to be buried because everyone was excited and distracted by the heat of today’s game.

At other times, regardless of whether it was a foreigner or a native, they would have been mesmerized to watch those three with their mouth open all the way until the dinner was over.

Nevertheless, the element that had been attracting Ellenia’s nerves since earlier was not a picture of that unrealistic combination itself.

The reason why she kept paying attention was because of Rudbeckia sitting next to the Cardinal Valentino.

More like, what she was doing.

“Have you ever visited Dorias?”

“No, I’m shy. I’ve never been out of Elendale yet.”

Now, Rudbeckia was eating lemon tarts piled up on a large plate after quickly finishing Shepherd’s pie.

Aside from if she thought it was very delicious, there was no time to empty my mouth for a moment.

No matter how Ellenia looked at it, something was strange. Even when they’d been eating together, she’d been...... Should she say that she eat well? Ruby never seemed to have a strong appetite.

As expected, was it because her brother’s presence made her feel comfortable?

No matter that, it would be quite inconvenient for her later.

“My lady, you were here.”

“Ivan.”

It was nice to hear the cheerful voice that suddenly intervened.

While Ellenia was looking back at Ivan, who was approaching with long strides, she felt everything slow down.

“Why did you leave alone?”

“I’m sorry. Here, I was....”

“Oh, this person...? Let me see. Aren’t you Dorias’ ambassador?”

Ellenia didn’t know how the ambassador felt when Ivan smiled and threatened him silently with his girl-like beautiful face.

Whatever it was, he coughed a little and stepped down, asking for understanding.

“Did I just intrude without realizing it?”

“No, I’m rather grateful. I was so bored.”

Mumbling softly, Ellenia directed her gaze that way.

Rudbeckia was still silently focusing on finishing all the dishes on the table.

After eating several tarts in a row, she was now eating chocolate souffle and strawberry pudding.

“It’s a little weird.”

Ivan whispered in a low sinking tone.

He seemed to be looking at the same place as Ellenia.

She didn’t know if the weird thing was about the combination of those three men or about Rudbeckia.

“It’s very weird... she’s enjoying it. Did she always have a good appetite?”

As expected, Ivan also felt something strange about Rudbeckia.

In the mood of unexpected gossip, Ellenia whispered slowly.

“It suddenly feels like she’s overdoing it.”

“Why do you think so?””

“I don’t know. I just felt like that throughout the whole day.”

There was a moment of silence.

Ellenia, who was staring at Rudbeckia, wondering what this intrusive anxiety was, soon raised her head.

Then she realized that Ivan was staring at her face.

When he made eye contact with her, he suddenly smiled.

“Why are you smiling all of a sudden?”

“No, I just thought that the princess was a sweet person.”

“It’s not like that.”

Just then, Rudbeckia drank a whole glass and seemed to get up from her seat.

Was she going to throw up? Ellenia suddenly felt her heart throbbing.

As expected, was it the opposite, and not the comfort of mind?

She thought she should follow her for a moment, but soon realized that it was a silly idea.

So, what should she do?

“Princess? Are you okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

She hoped this festival would end soon.

Swallowing the feeling that even she could not understand, Ellenia returned to her friends’ table with Ivan.

Drinking games were in full swing at the table where several young people led by Freya were gathered.

“Welcome, Ellen. Why did you take so long?”

As soon as Ellenia sat down, Freya suddenly crossed her arms and asked.

She was a little tipsy.

“Because I ran into an ambassador from Dorias in the middle. Didn’t you drink too much?”

“I didn’t drink much. Loren drank a lot, unfortunately.”

Indeed, the trainee, whose face was red on one side, looked pitiful.

Of all things, a trainee was a servant, so even if he tried to take an easy way out under the pretext of his age, Paladin seniors who had a bad temper could not have let it go.

As expected, everyone giggled as if they had been waiting.

“I can’t believe he’s so out of it after drinking a bit. What a baby..”

“God must be angry that a weak person like you becomes our colleague.”

It was very childish, but a fun atmosphere in the same way.

But what was this feeling that told her that the important people were missing?

Ellenia slowly began to doubt her condition.

Eventually, she thought it was all because of Izek.

In other words, why did he offer such a request in the first place to make people feel uncomfortable?

Didn’t Ruby seem to get along well with Cardinal Valentino?

Older brothers are a problem everywhere. He didn’t do anything wrong.

Reflecting on such thoughts, Ellenia looked back at the table where her father was sitting, which she had been closely watching since earlier.

She realized that the combination had already been reduced to two.

* * *

A sea of praise above me.

Even though I had suffered for years because of food, I finally got through by having the strawberry pudding. It was a great defense.

I was so mad to have finished so much food in such an instant.

How do I know who’s thinking about what and what’s up to?

Perhaps all three were simply drunk and joking.

Cesare, I knew he could never do that, but I wasn’t sure about the other two.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t show even a little gap to all of them.

Phew, I’m dying. Still, if I endure it until tomorrow, this will be all over.

“Are you okay?”

It was the moment I came out pretending to wash my hands with a handkerchief after rinsing my mouth clean, fixing my makeup again.

As if I was waiting there, I almost jumped up to the sight of my brother leaning against the wall of the hallway a little away from the entrance.

I managed to catch my chest, heart pounding like a rabbit in front of the fox.

It’s okay, there’s nothing to be afraid of, he doesn’t know anything about my anorexia.....

“Yes, thank you. I just ate too many sweet things and my mouth became dry.”

“That’s understandable. By the way, it’s been a long time since I saw this.”

“What?”

“You eating this well.”

At the moment, I wondered if he was being sarcastic after noticing something, but Cesare, who stared at the floor silently with blue eyes down, didn’t seem to be sarcastic or joke.

“It was my first time seeing you like this since I was young.”

The atmosphere was unfamiliar.

It was just my misunderstanding that it sounded strangely bitter, right?

Was he really drunk?

It was said that he was not good at drinking, but monkeys sometimes fall off trees.

I had already noticed that this psycho pervert sometimes makes a strange look almost unfamiliar when referring to my, that is, Rudbeckia’s childhood.

I thought he missed those days.

But the Rudbeckia at that time wasn’t me.

I was not the girl who followed a guy like him without knowing anything.

“I always ate well... I just tried to enjoy the new dishes. According to the trend.”

“.......”

“What’s wrong? Did I make another mistake?”

When asked across the boundary between calmness and caution, he shook his head and loosened his arms.

Then he reached out, grabbed my left hand, and glanced at the ring stuck on my finger.

The ring I had worn since I had a marriage in Romagna was ordinary without any characteristics.

“No... I’m just saying.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

A short silence passed by.

My older brother fiddled with my hand for a long time, and then stood up with a sigh.

Finally, his face, looking into my eyes, had a grim smile.

“Can you show me around? There’s a place I want to see in particular.”

“What do you want to see in particular?”...”

“The glass garden.”

“.......”

“I think it’s quite famous.”

...That’s right. It was strange from the time he took a break.

As tension soared again, my armpits began to become damp.

“It’s very famous... But you’ll be disappointed if you see it. It’s just mimicking a little bit of Romagna’s garden.”

“That’s something I’ll know in person. You don’t want to show me?”

He said this naturally, but underneath it, there were signs of warning.

You got that right.

To be honest, I didn’t want Cesare to step into the garden more than anything else.

It was just a garden, but I didn’t know why he wanted to see it.

However, I hurriedly shook my head because I couldn’t show my refusal.

“No, of course not. Let’s go.”