Translator: Kay

Ah, how can you compare? Chloe is my person1.

At those words, Count Chamberlain, who was walking ahead of us, looked back at me with his eyes wide open. Huh, why?

What about me?

Felix then asked with a look of sadness.

If you ask such a question so openly and suddenly, itd be quite embarrassing for me to answer.

Why are you asking me the obvious? Did you really want to hear it from my mouth? Was that it?

In order to hide my embarrassment, I deliberately scratched my cheek and frowned.

I formed a gun with my fingers2 and blew a bullet towards him before I spoke.

Of course, Felix is also my person.

.

At the same time, the eyes of everyone around me focused on me. I only noticed it after I did it. This was even more embarrassing.

Ha, please respond. There was a surge of shame.

Felix, who had stiffened, regained his composure and advised me earnestly.

Dont do that in front of others.

.I already did it in front of Erica once. It was a finger heart back then.

You didnt want me to look like that. How sweet of you.

Please kiss me, too.

What?

Id never kissed anyone before.

Claudia looked at me and scratched her head. It was so out of the blue3.

The shape of your mouth that just babbled about was so cute.

So cute enough to be kissed. Claudia, who couldnt figure out her train of thought4, began to make ridiculous claims.

Cant you? What if Rins one and only Chloe is the one asking you to do this?

The way she referred to herself in third-person narration was so adorable.

But, rather than being burdensome, she was so lovely.

I couldnt resist Claudias charms and her cute request. I sighed and kissed her puffed-up cheek.

At that moment, Hugo, who had been observing us, muttered quietly.

Im sure the word baby5 is appropriate.

It was a conclusion he decided to settle on after a long time of confused pondering over the relationship between his daughter and Irene.

I barely managed to escape from Claudia and approached Felix. Felix pinched my cheeks from both sides and then responded to Hugo.

Can you say it, again?

Why cant you say it if you have a mouth?

Hmm, is that it?

As if saying, You dont think I can do it? Hugo raised his eyebrows with a strained expression. Then he took a big breath and opened his mouth.

Ah, ah, ahhh.

Kaonashi6?

Ah, anyway, walk faster! Its been a while since the banquet started!

He couldnt.

Hmm, interesting.

I rubbed my tingling cheeks and looked at Hugo, who couldnt say the two syllables of the word baby, and had a temper for nothing.

Come on!

He kept rushing us and exclaiming that we were late like the character in Alice in Wonderland7. He then left us and disappeared into the banquet hall.

I faced Erica again on the last day of the banquet. This time she approached me first, not me.

Lady Amber.

As I was laughing with Claudia, I looked up at her with genuine surprise.

On the first day of the banquet, it was dawn when I spoke with her, so most of the nobles passed by. However, now the celebration had started, so people were steadily filling up the hall.

Even if it wasnt, everyone was listening to us.

It was a face-to-face meeting with the princes fiance, his crush, and his opponent.

It was like a crazy drama. Who on earth wouldnt want to pay attention to it? It would be fun to see if anyones hair was pulled.

If this was a novel, the narration would have been, The villain has approached the heroine! and Id be ready to chew on her8.

Of course, even though I was called directly by Erica, I wasnt included in the drama due to my oxygen-like presence.

It was because everyone thought of me as just a way to talk to Claudia directly.

Claudia showed signs of outright vigilance against Erica.

No matter how much she had helped me, she was the princes fiance, and Claudia was worried that she would harm me.

That was when Erica broke the overwhelming tension and opened her mouth.

She stared at me steadily.

Dont you have any plans to stay with me?

Pardon?

It was so noisy. The room was buzzing.

In a dull drama between the crown prince and me, in an instant, it transformed into a strange square relationship surrounding me.

Everyone was amazed by Ericas shocking remarks and exclaimed, Hoo, isnt that crazy? and What, Ive never seen such a thing at a ceremony like this before.

This situation was phenomenal for me too.

I turned from oxygen to the center of the controversy. I just blinked with a dumbfounded expression.

This felt like dj vu. Didnt something like this happen before?

Maybe it was a trend to make shocking declarations in a banquet hall.

I received a proposal outside my calculations. It was a pretty big deal for Erica.

I had expected her to acknowledge me but was that enough to make her want to take me and put me by her side?

I didnt expect it as I was deceived by her cold appearance, but she was warmer than I thought.

It took me a year to seduce Claudia, so I couldnt believe that it only took a few days. In fact, I might be more magical than I thought.

That couldnt be true.

Maybe it was because of how desperate Erica was for someone like me.

Claudia had at least a family that cared for and loved her.

But Erica was isolated with no place to rely on, so what I said might have caused a more significant impact.

At that moment, Claudia threw me a look of I knew this would happen! and firmly interrupted.

Never.

Thats a shame.

Erica then gently withdrew as if she had anticipated that Claudia would not let me go.

For some reason, I felt like I did something terrible.

I still dont know what the will of the flower smells like. So I just wanted to ask.

Then Claudia, who seemed to have a question mark over her head, looked back at me curiously.

Is it valuable if flowers are not beautiful?

Ericas question was referring to her as an individual, not as the Crown Princess, and whether she was worthy of being outside the greenhouse that was her family.

It was because aristocrats had a preference to use metaphors to communicate with each other.

That was why I compared Erica to flowers in order to make my own code so that other people wouldnt understand our conversation even if they heard.

If everyone was listening, just like now, it was all the more necessary.

Its okay if its not beautiful.

It was awkward to bring it up, but I said it immediately without hesitation.

It was words that anyone could say, but no one was willing to say them.

Do whatever you want. Dont get involved in junk and go live your life.

I wanted her to know that what I hoped for wouldnt always bring the best results, but at least she wouldnt have to push herself to the extreme. If it was really hard, there were appropriate ways to compromise.

As expected, I want it.

Why was she talking like this?

Erica smiled lightly at that moment. This time, it was not mockery.

Her eyes were raised slightly and showed a gentle curve, and her originally glittery and gorgeous appearance was even more radiant.

I, who was infinitely weak against beauty, instantly hardened at what I saw.

Oh, my God

Neighboring people! Erica smiled! Lets cheer for her first smile in public like shes the queen of the palace!

This must be how a clown felt if they made a princess who had lost her laugh, laugh. Her smile was as transparent as snowflakes. No one would think she was a wicked woman.

I felt very proud when I saw her clear and pretty smile.

Im glad to be alive.

Yes, I have lived all this time to send a happy smile to the beauties of the world.

Im sorry to ask you this, but can I call you Irene?

Isnt this how it should be? Why dont we get to know each other, and then we can call each others name naturally?

Claudia, who had been standing like a rock during our conversation, seemed very upset.

Hang on. In novels, the wicked woman harasses the princes lover because she loves the prince so much.

Shes not going all this way just to bring about the development of a wicked woman bullying the heroine, was she?

No way. I shook my head after imagining something ridiculous. Even if she wanted me so badly, Erica wouldnt make such an extreme choice unless she was upset.

And now Claudias personality wouldnt be as easy as the original. Shed treat bullying as harassment.

It seemed that there was no need to worry.

Is Irene staying at the Chamberlain residence? Then can I come to visit sometime?

Dont come! Im going to kick you out.

Then Claudia hugged me and growled.

Oh, Chloe, come on! Youll get in trouble if youre rude to her!

Erica seemed to want to smile again, but instead, she blinked and returned to her blank expression.

I asked Irene.

Erica, you shouldnt speak too strongly. You might get bitten by Chloe.

Then Claudia hugged me so tightly and buried her face in my chest. I was struggling to breathe.

Help me.

Im speaking with the authority of the landlord.

Oh, then I can just invite her to my mansion.

Not at all!

Was this situation all right?

I seriously wondered whether, or not, I should bring up the phrase, Both of you, dont fight over me! Wasnt such a line always featured in romance dramas?

Do you think Ill let her go?

There are plenty of ways to take her without you letting her go.

How did this happen?

Off in the distance, the sound of bells that marked the end of the empires foundation day celebrations filled the banquet hall.

T/N: I actually got excited when I saw the line Please kiss me, too cause I thought Felix said it, but it was actually Claudia ahahah. (Why authorrrr, why are you doing this to us!)

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I found Hugo really funny because he was hesitating over a word he whispered (you already said it once so just say it again) XD Please have a lovely weekend and see you on Tuesday!

1. To be declared as my person means that you are someone that person can count on no matter what i.e. their closest, most trusted, and/or favorite.

2. You can imagine her forming a finger gun gesture where her hand imitates a handgun. In this situation, she makes a gun gesture and blows the bullet (aka like a kiss. This is why Claudia says Please kiss me, too a few lines later). In pop culture, this is used as a greeting or to acknowledge something as funny, clever, or insightful (especially when said by yourself).

3. Out of the blue = without warning; unexpectedly/suddenly.

4. Train of thought = series of ideas/thoughts someone is having.

5. So the author uses the word which means baby. In this context, the word baby is used as an endearment (i.e. a pet name equivalent to sweetheart, honey, etc.).

6. Ahem. If youre a Studio Ghibli fan you might get this reference. The author is referring to the character, No Face, in the film Spirited Away where No Face is seen to converse by saying Ah a lot. Heres a video in case anyone was interested in what Im trying to describe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTUxMa07tLM. Additionally, he is saying Ah because the first syllable of is pronounced as Ah.

7. In the novel and movie, Alice in Wonderland the White Rabbit always exclaims that he is late. The author likens Hugo to that character.

8. To chew on someone means to criticize someone angrily/speak ill of someone.