"My lady, her majesty ask for your presence in her office"
"I got it, thank you"
I wonder if the office became her room. I mean, all this time, I've never saw her somewhere in the palace other than her office.
"Your majesty, I heard that you have requested for me?"
"Yes. Come in lady Emond"
She stood up from her chair and sat on the sofa facing me.
"My brother, the first prince, will arrive tonight. The ceremony will commence tomorrow. I trust that whatever it is you are planning won't damage my country"
"No it will not. But, it will most likely damage your pockets though"
"I am looking forward to it. And I hope that this is the first and last time you'll do such things"
"I will if you won't do anything underhanded again, your majesty"
After having some friendly chat I went back to organizing the event once more.
Samuel who recovered fully on the second week is now training under the guidance of the vice-captain of the imperial knights. Though it sound grand to be though by John, if anyone saw how they train, people would think that John is training Samuel to go to the slaughter house or something.
'How is your training going, Almas?'
-Master, I can turn two hundred flowers into gold now!
Basically, his power doubled in a month. What a frightening spirit he is. Wait, now that I think about it, isn't he the manifestation, the symbol that reflects me, the owner?
In the end, it was because of my greed that he came out, huh.
-Master?
Still, I sure love this adorable fur ball.
'Don't push yourself too hard, okay?'
-Of course!
...
Before the sun set, I went back to the emerald palace. And just like what her majesty said, the first prince, prince Diego Arte Vanifi had arrived.
For once, I am thankful for my curfew. I won't meet his highness, the first prince in such a cliche manner.
"Good evening lady Emond. I am the first prince of the Vanifi empire, Diego Arte Vanifi. I would like to show you my gratitude for preparing my coming of age ceremony"
Ah~ So this is what it means to jinx yourself, huh.
"There is no need for you to do such a thing. I am merely doing her Majesty a favor. I can't let myself live here without doing anything which is why I accepted"
"...."
Why isn't he saying anything?
He held out his hand.
"My sister ask me to make sure to thank you for staying up for so many nights on preparing my birthday. She said that you worked hard for this since my coming of age only happens once. So please, accept my appreciation"
If he wasn't saying it with his trembling hands I would have thought he was forcing me to do it.
I took his hand and followed him to a balcony on the third floor of the palace.
There in the balcony, it was obvious that her majesty set this up. A romantic scenery with a lot of plushies and snacks that compliments the mood.
Thankfully, the first prince seems to be oblivious about matters like this.
"Her majesty must have exaggerated a lot of things when she told you about me"
"But, she always narrate everything accurately"
Yeah, accurately from her eyes.
Thump.
He lie down with dozens of plushies surrounding him.
"How did you knew that the kingdom of Mheodure would send people to kill her majesty?"
Now that is the Diego I know of.
His nervousness was replaced with a stern expression, an expression that belongs to someone who was questioning a possible threat.
"I have my ways. 'Strength' is not the only factor for power, your highness"
"Really?"
"Yes. If you think that strength is the definition of power then you are a very narrow minded individual. It seems like rumors about your greatness was also exaggerated"
"How insolent. If you weren't my sister's honored guest, I would have already cut your tongue"
Wow, they sure do share the same blood. Even their manner of speaking is the same.
"Unfortunate, but you can't do anything about it. Of course, I won't stop you if you want to cut my tongue"
"You won't?"
"No. But I think the knights around us will"
"....."
"Is some wrong your highness?"
"You can sense them?"
In response to his question, I simply shrugged with a smile.
"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself? Unlike me whose safety is guaranteed at the moment, starting tomorrow, you will only have seven days to choose your partner for life"
"While that is true, I am considering of being a bachelor"
"Oh my, I wonder how the empress would react if she heard that. Don't you know that being loved by another is something... magical"
"Is that your way of asking me?"
"Surely you jest. I am already engaged to someone"
"And yet you are flirting with me?"
"I am not. Right now, I believe I am being force to be here with my life on the line. You are delusional if you think I am trying to hit on you"
I stood up after stuffing my mouth with the remaining snacks.
"I will get going now. And, I don't need you to escort me since I live here at the moment"
"I suppose you will have no problem with me sleeping here"
Huh? What does he mean by that?
"You see, the emerald palace is where I live"
How come I didn't knew about this? I mean, I knew that he was only a side character but, seriously?