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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Hmm, so that’s how it is.”
Lassiel, wearing dark sunglasses to shield her eyes from the sunlight, leisurely sat on a chair, sipping a drink and waving a piece of paper in her hand.
The paper was an official document that had come down from above.
Even though she was from a humble family, Lassiel was still a noble and had risen to a high position, so naturally, she had the obligation to attend this festival commemorating the Empress’ birthday.
However,
Excluding Arwen, who couldn’t openly attend due to her hidden identity, the number of people who had to attend this ball was four.
But like the other three, Lassiel also lacked a partner to attend the ball with.
There were four women, but only one man, Rudrick.
“Why are you making such a sly and scheming expression again? It doesn’t suit you.”
“Adjutant, I’ve told you countless times. I’m an intellectual who uses her brain.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Not even a passing dog would believe it…”
“But thanks to me, you’re comfortably staying in the capital, so it’s troublesome if you say it like that. Do you want to go down and receive fleet command training in my place?”
“Keh.”
After a brief banter with her adjutant Crowe, Lassiel’s lips curled up.
The place where she had set up a chair, a drink, and even a canopy to comfortably sit and shield herself from the sunlight was none other than the capital’s grand training grounds.
“From now on, you are the proud imperial navy! Keep that fact in mind and engage in training! From now on, all responses will be unified as ‘Aak!’ Understood?”
“Aak!”
“Look at your voices! Louder again!”
“Aak!!”
It was the beautiful sight of dust flying around and new recruits who had just joined the navy training under the scorching sun, barely avoiding death by swallowing that dust.
That’s right.
The position arranged by Elena for Lassiel, the admiral who oversaw the entire imperial navy, to stay in the capital was the result of careful consideration.
For now, they had received extensive support to meet the navy’s needs, and Lassiel’s assigned task was to observe and supervise the education of the officer candidates who had applied through that support.
If it weren’t for the premise of returning to her position as a naval admiral, others might consider it a demotion without any room for complaint.
But for Lassiel herself, it was a very satisfactory life.
“It’s definitely better than being on a rocking ship and getting sunburned every day.”
“When do you plan to return, Admiral?”
“Who knows?”
Lassiel shrugged her shoulders at Crowe’s question.
The timeline for her return was indefinite.
Thanks to the large-scale pirate sweep she had conducted just before, her return was unlikely for the time being unless there was a war with another country.
Her ultimate goal, or rather, what she had to achieve while staying in the capital, was to win Rudrick’s heart this time.
For now, her primary objective was to escort Rudrick as her partner for this festival.
“Adjutant.”
“What is it? Don’t unnecessarily lower your voice. It doesn’t suit you at all.”
“I told you before not to talk back to your superior like that. Anyway, there’s something I’m curious about. There’s one thing I need to confirm first.”
“So what is it?”
“You said it before.”
Lassiel asked, lowering her sunglasses. Unlike her curled lips, her expression and eyes were quite serious.
“You said that when you were young, you seduced all the men around you. What was it that you called yourself… Ah, right. You said your nickname was Crowe the Casanova of Yorta Harbor, didn’t you?”
“Oho.”
At the rare sight of her superior’s demeanor, Crowe’s eyes turned serious.
As if embarrassed, Crowe scratched the bridge of her nose with her finger and asked.
“Do you have a man you’re interested in?”
“…”
Silence was affirmation.
Crowe, who had figured out the reason behind Lassiel’s behavior, laughed heartily and put her arm around her shoulder.
“I knew our Admiral was acting strange lately, different from usual. It was all because you found a man you like!”
“…Could you lower your voice a bit? It’s not like you’re spreading rumors all over the neighborhood.”
“Just trust me. Isn’t my nickname Crowe the Casanova of Yorta Harbor?”
“…I’m not sure if seducing all the men in the neighborhood is something to brag about, but let’s hear your story anyway.”
“So, you see, men are creatures that fundamentally…”
Crowe, who had even brought a chair from somewhere and placed it next to her, began to share her know-how in a subtle voice.
Of course, there was no guarantee that her know-how would actually be useful.
But at least…
To Lassiel, who had never even held a man’s hand until now, it sounded plausible.
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“There’s really no place like home.”
Strictly speaking, it hadn’t been that long since he had come to live in the Imperial Palace.
But lying on a soft bed instead of the hard field bed that came with the mana kit made his body naturally feel drowsy.
Hot water gushed out as soon as he turned it on, the bed was fluffy, and being told to rest for the day because he had worked hard wandering outside—this was heaven.
He had already finished showering to commemorate his return to his sweet home, and now he was thinking of lying in bed, pulling the blanket over himself, and taking a nice nap.
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking came from outside the door.
Who in the world had the audacity to come looking for him when he was just about to rest?
With that disrespectful thought in his mind, he made the most annoyed expression he could muster and opened the door at that moment.
“Sorry to bother you while you’re resting.”
“…Princess?”
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Princess Elena.
Regardless of his true feelings, he quickly adjusted his expression faster than anyone else and widened his eyes.
From wondering why she had come here in the first place to thinking that she might have come to encourage him for his hard work, various thoughts raced through his mind.
“I received a report that you returned this morning, and you must have had a rough time over the four days.”
“…No, it wasn’t really that hard. It’s not like I was directly running around myself.”
“I heard from the adjutant that you handled everything, even the knights’ share.”
The princess, who had made small talk, gestured with her eyes as if asking if it was okay to come in, and when I stepped aside, Elena entered and sat on a chair as if it were her own room.
Ah, I didn’t properly clean my room.
Tsk.
What a shame.
Even for me, it was a bit embarrassing to let an outsider into a room that hadn’t been properly cleaned, but when they barged in suddenly like this, it was beyond my control.
Sitting cross-legged on the chair with a brazen attitude, Elena brought up the main topic.
“Then, first, there’s one thing I need to confirm.”
“Something to confirm?”
“A festival is being held this time to commemorate Her Majesty the Empress’ birthday. Have you heard about it from anyone else?”
“…Ah, I have heard about it.”
My answer unintentionally came a beat late.
Oh, surely not.
Coming to my room so suddenly like this, and bringing this up in a situation where we’re alone?
Although it was easy to predict what Elena was going to say, I hoped it wasn’t the case.
Right now, I was thinking of finding a way to avoid it somehow, but if it was what I was thinking, it would naturally be a place where everyone’s attention would be focused.
I’m an introvert.
I wanted to politely decline such an occasion as much as possible, like someone like me…
“And the undisputed highlight of the festival is the ball. You’ll obviously be participating too.”
But unfortunately, contrary to my expectations, the exact words I was thinking of came out of Elena’s mouth, without a single letter out of place.
Then, Elena’s next words would probably start with “if you haven’t found a partner.”
I’m not some shell game scammer who can cleverly guess what you’re going to say next, but this was a part that anyone could figure out even without being perceptive.
“So I came to inform you that you’ve been appointed as my partner for this ball.”
“…Pardon?”
But the words that came out of Elena’s mouth were slightly different from what I had expected.
I had assumed it would be a question asking if I would be her partner if I hadn’t found one yet, but it was an announcement, not a proposal.
‘Wait a minute. If I reconfirm what Elena said…’
It meant that I had been chosen as Elena’s partner, or in other words, the Second Princess’s partner, for the ball that would be held during this festival.
The very place where everyone’s attention would be focused, which I had wanted to avoid so much.
“…Me?”
“That’s right.”
“…So you’re saying I’ll be dancing with you, Your Highness, as your partner at this ball?”
“There’s no one else suitable to fill that role besides you.”
“…But I’m not good at dancing?”
“Does it really matter? It’s just a formality anyway.”
“…”
If she put it like that, my excuses only sounded lame.
I really couldn’t find a suitable response.
“Um, does Your Highness perhaps have a fiancé or something… If you try to find a partner, there would be plenty…”
“Unfortunately, I’m still not engaged. If it’s not you, it’s true that I don’t have any other suitable partner.”
“…Really?”
“It’s a fact without a shred of falsehood. What can I do about that?”
I opened my mouth to try to find any way to protest, but Elena’s red eyes sparkled with a peculiar light.
The way she shrugged her shoulders and made small talk was so annoying that I wanted to slap her, but if I did that, I would immediately be dragged off to some prison, so I held back.
In the end, my plan to run away from the ball or whatever until the very end was easily thwarted.
As if she had really come just to deliver this message, Elena got up to leave and quietly added, bowing her head close to my ear.
“…You can look forward to it. It will be an unforgettable day in many ways.”
And after finishing those words, Elena, as if she had completed her business, leisurely left my room.
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Elena is easily the worst heroine. The only things she has done this entire novel is force him to work long hours when he doesnt need to (to the extent he had to ask Eileen for help), make him uncomfortable by asking him to marry her out of the blue, and now force him to go to the ball against his will. At least Eileen asked him with consideration to his opinion, yet Elena has no such care for him.
Yeah, she’s without a doubt the worse heroine so far. Her advances are too forceful when she’s abusing her authority as the princess, even Sylphia and Arwen who could be considered the strongest entity on the continent felt pale in comparison.