“It's a strangely uncomfortable feeling.”
Leon grabbed Calsen's hand as he walked, but as soon as Belle disappeared, he violently threw his hand away.
“What makes you feel upset?”
“…There is something strange.
What is this feeling that she is making fun of me?”
“Is it possible for you to do that?
Actually, I’m not supposed to say this about the lady, but isn’t it known that she is the second least intelligent person in the empire after Your Majesty?
Even if we assume that you are an idiot...”
"She's definitely different from before.
Why did she suddenly change her behavior?
Before, she was completely ignoring me as if I didn't exist."
“She's not the type to think too complicatedly.
Amy said she was tired of shopping.
She seemed to enjoy playing motherly or protective over your lady.”
Leon nodded with a long sigh.
He agreed that she was not the type to think complexly.
The reason he didn't care about her before was because her actions were so predictable and simple.
“Do I look like someone who is triggering a maternal instinct?”
Leon asked, stroking his chin.
Calsen did not care about what he said and placed some papers on his desk.
“I'm also feeling bored lately, so let's play with her for a bit?
Kalsen, get me a glass of whiskey.”
Calsen placed the previously prepared glass of whiskey on Leon's desk.
Leon sat deeply in his chair and took a sip of whiskey.
"but-!"
Suddenly, the door opened violently, and Belle entered, panting hard, her cheeks flushed as if she had run.
Calsen threw himf quickly to snatch the glass of whiskey from Leon's hand.
"What's that smell?
Like tooth, isn't that the smell of alcohol?"
Calsen began to sniff the air, then raised the glass of whiskey in his hand, and looked at Bill, smiling embarrassedly.
“I was thirsty so I had a drink...”
"Wait, I'm sure the Duke was just holding it!
Didn't he sneak it?"
“Oh, what a pity!
I said get water, you idiot.”
Leon showed a sullen expression as he let the whiskey leak out of his mouth.
“Kalsen, you have to be careful.
It seems the Duke drank it thinking it was water.
What do we do?”
Belle approached Leon, looking worried.
Leon looked at her, and quietly turned over the papers he intended to read.
Belle took out a tissue and gently wiped his mouth, then gently patted his back.
"Are you okay?
Maybe you should rinse your mouth?"
“Hee hee, beautiful Belle.”
“It seems that the Duke is drunk.”
Belle looked at Calsen with displeasure.
Calsen put his whiskey down and lowered his head.
His shoulders were shaking slightly, which meant he was having difficulty holding back his laughter.
“Summon the servants to take the Duke to his bedroom immediately.
If you are going to do this randomly, I will teach it myf.”
"What?"
Calsen suddenly raised his head.
“But, Mrs...”
'She's known to be a fool.'
Cales gritted his teeth and swallowed his last words.
“At the very least, I will not drink alcohol with a depraved state of mind while teaching him, nor will I allow a child to drink alcohol.”
"Bill, I'm not a kid.
I'm gorgeous!
And handsome!"
“Yes, yes, you are the handsome, brilliant Duke.
But Belle is very worried.
Isn’t it known that bad things are taught first?”
“My apologies, ma'am.
I'll be more careful.”
Leon frowned slightly and sent a look to Calsen, who quickly apologized.
Kalsen felt like he had been hit in the back of the head when he heard the words “corrupt state of mind.” Is this the feeling Leon talked about when he said she was making fun of him?
“But, why did you come?
Did you miss me?
Her.”
Just as Belle was about to answer Calsen, Leon suddenly grabbed her hand and asked her with a bright look.
“...Really, why did I come?
Our dear Duke, you've been laughing a lot, haven't you?”
She couldn't say she came because imitating an idiot sometimes made her want to embarrass him.
Belle scratched her eyebrow with her index finger, then suddenly clapped her hands together.
“I wanted to consult Calsen about the dress I will wear to Duke Hollande’s charity ball next week.
I thought it would be a good idea to match it to the Duke.”
“You could have consulted the maids about this matter.”
“But I was also interested to know whether the Duke was doing his job well.”
Belle responded to Calsen's rebuke with a slightly drawn look.
“My apologies, ma’am.
I will inform the maid in charge of the duke’s clothes.”
“Since the Duke loves the color red, I thought we would coordinate with red, so keep that in mind.”
“I like white.
I don’t like red anymore.”
Leon spoke quickly.
Red uniform?
He can't even imagine it.
"Our duke is moody, isn't he?
Well, I'll choose white then."
Duke Holland was someone close to our family and to the Emperor.
The only reason he invited Leon and me, the son of the previous emperor and the arch enemy of the current emperor, is one: to make us a laughing stock in front of the people.
The reason Leon attended was because he accepted their plan.
He decided to be enough of a laughing stock in front of them.
In this way, the Emperor might temporarily less monitor him.
Therefore, I had to prepare with clothes befitting my notoriety.
On the day we traveled to the capital, I dressed up to meet expectations and went down to the first floor where Leon was waiting for me.
When I saw Leon wearing a white uniform, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.
“…It's Belle!”
He looked at me for a moment in amazement, then suddenly called my name.
No doubt he was surprised by my appearance.
I too was shocked when I saw myf in the mirror.
'I look a bit amazing, don't I?'
"But why did you choose red?
Didn't we agree on white together?"
'Oh, was he staring at me in amazement because of the color of the dress?'
Leon suddenly sat on the ground and started kicking his legs and crying.
'What a child indeed!'
I suppressed my urge to slap him on the butt, approached him with quick steps, gently pushed him with my foot and called him gently.
“Your Excellency, come on, get up.”
Kalsen and the servant next to him rushed to help him stand up.
I gently wiped the snot from his nose with the sleeve of my dress.
"Look, this dress doesn't show dirt no matter how much you wipe with it.
If I wear white too, who will wipe what you spill?
Try the texture of the fabric.
Soft, isn't it?
I chose a soft fabric so that it doesn't hurt your face when you wipe.
I've thought a lot about this, and I'm really disappointed.
I hate you, Your Majesty the Duke!"
I pretended to be angry and turned my head away.
“No, no, Bill is a genius.
I love Bill.”
Leon rubbed his face on my sleeve and shouted excitedly.
I nodded my head with a calm expression, and ran my hand through his messy hair to brush it back.
We used the teleportation portal that connects Aster to the capital.
Originally, the North ran its territories and border defenses independently, so it refused to install a transport gateway with the capital.
But after Leon obtained the title of prince and came to the north, the Emperor ordered it to be installed to monitor him.
This was also the reason for the frequent visits of the emperor's envoys to the territory.
'Well, that's convenient for me.'
I can go to the capital for entertainment whenever I want.
Of course, before, I never tried it because of my fear of strange places.
But this time, it seemed good to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the capital, and perhaps stay there for a few months, as the real Belle did after her marriage to Leon.
Leon, who was expelled to the north, did not have a princely palace in the capital as the central nobility did.
The princely palace in the capital, which was owned by the former Duke of Esther, had long since passed into the hands of the imperial family.
There was no reason to give it to Leon.
Therefore, we had to rely on the help of my family in the capital.
The people who came to receive us were from the Marquis Sweden, Belle's original family.
“Miss, or rather, I must now call you Duchess,” said a man of an imposing figure, smiling slyly as he greeted us.