***
I looked out the window absentmindedly.
The sunlight filtered in through the small window, the dust was flying.
I had come all the way to the Imperial Palace Library to investigate, and all I could find out was that the priests had committed systematic fraud….
Is this the reason why I came to the capital?
No, I had my own social gatherings. Sometimes the unproven stories were much closer to the truth.
Even more so on issues like this where authority figures are intervening. That’s why at a social gathering…..social gathering?
“My debut!”
I shouted suddenly, and Pelos turned to me with a surprised expression.
“Pelos!”
I grabbed his hand.
“Lady?”
Pelos tried to pull his hand out with a panicked look on his face.
“Um……….. I don’t hate Lady, but I don’t want to play against Devan.”
“What?”
Pelos shouted back.
“There, a priest cannot get married!”
What is he saying all of a sudden? He must have understood something.
“I must also exercise extreme restraint in contact with women. This kind of skinship…”
“What are you talking about when you once kissed a maid on the back of her hand?”
“It was an inevitable situation. So, when did you like me? Is it because of my face? No wonder you complimented me earlier…..”
“It’s not like that, so stop it.”
“If not, what is it? What is your reason for holding this innocent priest’s hand?”
Pelos chuckled with a twinkle in his eyes.
Now I didn’t have to muster up a great deal of courage or bend over to ask Devan.
“Please be my debutante partner, Pelos.”
***
I don’t know what method he used, but Pelos escaped from the library before I did.
It’s always difficult to sneak in somewhere, but it’s easier to come out, he bragged.
We met outside the library and walked through the garden to the detached palace.
My full-time attendant followed closely behind me, and I was forced to call him Sir Webow.
“So what do you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“Be my debutante partner.”
He was dodging replies.
“That’s…”
“Pel…… No, Sir Webow is the last one. There’s no one to ask anymore.”
“But …………………… “
He glanced at the maidservant behind me, then whispered quietly.
“How can a priest go to a social gathering!”
“Why can’t you? There’s no law against that.”
“There is no law, but…”
Pelos scratched his cheek.
“I don’t know what the others will think of the Lady.”
“At least it’s better than going alone.”
“Lady, if you have a quarrel with Devan, please make it up quickly.”
“Excuse me?”
“He’s naturally a tough talker, has a bad personality, and a fierce impression, but he is not a bad guy. Probably.”
“…Are you complimenting him?”
“Yes. Maybe?”
“I didn’t quarrel with Devan.”
“What?”
“What are you so surprised about?”
“Didn’t you say this was your social debut to show that you’re going to be the Grand Duchess?”
“But what about it?”
“So, if you didn’t fight with Devan, why didn’t you go with him?”
I coughed and quickened my pace.
“Are you going back to the temple?”
I asked, changing the subject.
“You’re avoiding answering…” (Pelos)
“…what answer do you want to hear?”
“I was simply wondering why you were taking the long way around instead of the easy way. Are you trying to tell everyone what’s going on at the debutante?”
“What about it?”
“I’m sure everything will be resolved at once, as long as you’re next to Devan. ‘Ah! That’s the royal Grand Duke who was cursed? Isn’t that Lady Diego who went missing! Oh! She’s the lady who lifted the curse of the royal family!’ ….Wouldn’t something like this happen?”
Pelos said in an exaggerated tone, as if he was putting on a play, unlike his indifferent expression.
I looked at him with a hateful expression, but in fact, he was right.
If I showed up without Devan or took Pelos with me, it would be like I admit something was wrong.
There was a good chance that all sorts of rumors would spread, and there were people everywhere who liked to talk behind the scenes.
“The Lady should know about these things.”
“…”
“You don’t like Devan? But two of you are married. ……… Hmm. It didn’t seem normal to me.”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“If not, then talk to him again. Maybe that guy would like that.”
‘You don’t know anything.’
I glared at him. Before I knew it, I was in front of the detached palace.
Naturally, we entered the palace together, I suddenly wondered.
“Are you really not going back to the temple?”
“I’ve come this far, and you’re just going to send me away? The Lady can’t be that heartless.”
Pelos took the lead. His steps were unhurried, as if he knew the exact geography of the palace.
“You must have been here a lot.”
“Devan used to live here even when we were children. It didn’t look like this back then, though.”
“When he was young?”
That must have been before Devan was cursed.
After he was cursed, he left the palace as if he was kicked out to the Grand Duchy.
Before he was cursed, there would have been a good chance that he would become the Crown Prince, but he was living in a separate palace?
“Did His Highness line here?”
“You can ask him openly.”
“…Was Devan being discriminated against? Why? Surely he wasn’t in an equal position before he took the qualifying exam.”
“Yes. Well, there are many reasons for that.”
It was his mother.
I suddenly remembered his past that I had seen in the original story.
Devan’s mother had died giving birth to him.
The new empress that came in after that was the current empress and mother of Crown Princess Astrilla.
“Is it because of the curse?”
“Ummm …………….”
Rather than trying to avoid answering, I had the feeling that Pelos was really worried.
I looked at him and walked ahead.
“No, it’s fine.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I’m sure the Lady’s curious.”
Of course I was curious. That’s why I asked him. But I didn’t feel comfortable hearing it from Pelos’ mouth.
Personally I don’t like talking behind people’s backs, and most of all…
“I still hate myself. My existence and birth, even my terrible fate.”
It was because I thought of what Devan had said to me in the carriage coming to the capital. I didn’t want to betray Devan’s inner feelings like this.
“You’ll have to ask Devandirectly.”
“He’s not going to tell me.”
“So, isn’t it strange to ask someone else about something you don’t want the person involved to tell you?”
Pelos shook his head.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but have a cup of tea or something. I need to dust my dress.”
I looked down at my dress, my face frowning. There was so much dust on it.
Pelos asked.
“If we wait, will Devan come down?”
I checked the time and it was almost evening.
“He’s coming to eat. Would you like to have dinner with us while you’re here?”
“That would be nice. I was just getting tired of the overly fresh food in the Temple!”
Pelos was left alone. After confirming that the butler, I went up to my room.
***
The dinner table where Devan, I, and Pelos sat together was somewhat awkward. Not a single word was spoken in the dining room, only the sound of dishes clattering the air.
Obviously, I wasn’t awkward with Devan and Pelos, so the problem must have been between the two of them.
“How did the two of you get close?”
When asked to calm down the atmosphere, Devan looked coldly at Pelos.
“Not really.”
What’s not good about it? My question was the kind of question that couldn’t be answered with “not really”. I gave up on asking Devan for an answer and stared at Pelos. He just laughed.
“……………… Shall I call Karen too? Since the three of you are friends.”
“That’s a terrible idea.”
“Huh?”
Devan put the water cup down nervously.
“This is enough, and you’re going to bring another one?”
Pelos laughed again.
“Why in the world?”
“Why what?”
“What did the two of you talk about before I came down?”
Devan averted his gaze and cut the meat without replying to my question.
Haha, Pelos laughed a little more brightly.
“Pelos.”
“Yes, Lady.”
“What did Devan say?”
“Ummm…Didn’t Lady say earlier that she didn’t want to hear what the person involved didn’t want to tell her?”
“And this is a little different!”
“I don’t want to be unscrupulous, but it seems that my image in Lady’s head has already fallen to the bottom.”
Glaring at him, I cut the meat.
Devan frowned bitterly as my knife touched the plate and made an unpleasant squeaking sound.
Knowing this, I deliberately made a friction noise.
I would have rather he had said something. Therefore, if I could break this awkward atmosphere.
But Devan quickly averted his gaze from me and continued to eat in silence.
“Lady.”
Pelos started again. I said sulkily.
“What?”
“The debutante.”
Cough. Cough.
It wasn’t me who coughed, it was Devan. What’s wrong with him all of a sudden?
“Would you like a glass of water?”
Pelos gently handed him the glass.
Devan glared at him and drank his own water, ignoring his sincerity.
I looked at the two of them alternately.
Pelos looked mischievous, and Devan looked annoyed.
It was as if …… Pelos was teasing Devan. Teasing? Why is that? About the debutante?
“Devan, did you talk about the debutante?” I asked.
Devan held back his cough and picked up his water cup. Pelos chuckled this time.
“…………… What do you mean by talk?”
“Hmmm…”
I decided to probe him.
“Actually, I’ve decided to go with Pelos for my debut.”
“Whose choice?”
His voice was fierce as Devan replied.