‘Wait…… What is this? How did the story suddenly end up like this?’

“Christelle.”

“You just have to seduce young lady Bérénice Mendy, Prince Jesse. The talks of marriage will be bridge under the water if the young lady falls for you hard. A marriage is a ‘faithful union of two parties.’ It is an impossible vow to make if you have feelings for someone else. It is not honorable either,” ur dear MC pointed at me and proclaimed.

Everybody instantly focused on me.

I was truly flustered that my mind blanked out for a bit. This was a development where I could not even predict what would happen just one step ahead. As for the Imperial Crown Prince, he looked even more upset than earlier.

I closed Perry’s dropped jaw and barely managed to speak. “Wouldn’t that…be a bit difficult?”

‘In multiple ways.’

“But the only person in the entire Empire who is as handsome as his Royal Highness is you, your highness.”

‘Please don’t say such exaggerated things as if they are nothing!’ I felt like I was instantly drenched in cold sweat. I did my best to calmly choose my words. Even if I did as she said to do, there were many reasons it would be difficult to bring this plan to fruition.

First…

“It will hurt young lady Mendy.”

“Oh.” Vice Captain Élisabeth bit down on some ice from the café Chris and responded. I might have been wrong, but everybody seemed more focused on how I was reacting than discussing the plan itself.

‘I really have to live without being so self-conscious…’

“It’s true. To seduce her despite not having any feelings for her…… Doing that is not respectful toward the other person. This is not moral at all.”

“It sounds like you are saying you could easily seduce her if you wished to do so, your highness.” Christelle puffed into her pipe and dangerously smiled with her eyes.

I instantly got chills down my back and my heart sank. My instincts seemed to be saying that I would not be able to defeat her. ‘Is this that femme fatale thing I’ve only heard about?’

“That’s not what I mean-”

“I accept that. Being pretty or handsome is the greatest value that works anywhere on the continent. In that aspect, your highness is pretty much a chaebol, yes, a chaebol indeed.”

“Dame Christelle, what is a chaebol?”

“A billionaire. Someone who has so much money beyond their wildest dreams that they cause all sorts of issues here and there.”

“Ah. Then his highness is a chaebol in handsomeness!” Ganael smiled brightly and was happy to have learned a new word.

‘What are you teaching to a kid?!’

“Please listen. The young lady is only eighteen years old. I am twenty-nine. That’s more like an uncle and his niece.”

“That is a valid point. I also understand what you mean with what you said earlier. However…” She spun a pencil in her hand as she rested for a moment. As expected, the main character had a devilish power that captured your attention even as they just sat there breathing. The sweet scent of candy spread out every time her pretty lips puffed on that candy pipe. Little Bacary looked extremely serious, as if he had heard a prophecy from a fellow mage.

‘I’m sorry but don’t get too immersed into this.’

“Everything will be solved if you don’t actively do anything, your highness.”

“……I don’t understand.”

“Explicitly seducing someone so much younger than you can indeed lead to problems. Using her feelings is also not ethical either. However, what if you were just acting as you normally do, but the young lady fell for you, your highness? That is something that cannot be helped. You had no intention of seducing her but she fell for you? Oops! That’s just a prank by the Almighty God. It looks like the arrow of love flew in the wrong direction?”

‘How are you so good at persuasion?!’ Our jaws dropped as we observed her sketch-like movements and theatre-like tone. ‘Pew!’ Christelle acted out a scene of being stabbed in the heart by an arrow, leading the little troublemakers in the flower cart to peep and cheer. ‘Holy shit.’

“If you think about your goal, that is indeed the most efficient method, your highness.” Gerrit’s father, who had been silent this whole time, commented with a sparkle in his eyes.

‘Et tu, Sir Johann?’

“In order to increase the chances of success, she is accurate that someone as outstanding as his Royal Highness has to be the one to do it. Your highness has never stepped into the forefront of the Riester Beau Monde yet, so you probably give the young lady quite a lot of mystique. It would be even more effective if you don’t need to awkwardly act and just have to be yourself.”

‘Damn it……’ I avoided looking at Perry, whose eyes were sparkling with anticipation.It was such an unbelievable situation, but the problem was that I was oddly starting to accept it as well.

What I wanted was for crown prince Cédric and Christelle to get together. < I quit my job and ended up as a noble young lady in another world > was a romantic fantasy novel, and the two of them were the official couple for that ‘romance’ portion.

Why was it so hard to hope for that to happen?

– Squeeeee.

‘……That’s what they are saying.’ I looked at Rhea, who was sticking her tongue out, and held back a sigh.

‘This must be why Eunseo always shouted at her phone whenever the novel updated.’ I couldn’t even imagine how difficult it would have been to push for the second male lead to get together with the main character when the original was already so eventful. I tried my best to look at this situation as objectively as possible. I tried to come up with another plan, but I couldn’t think of a better one. As David mentioned, it was too late for them to reject it so she had to be the one to turn the crown prince down. The interference of a third party was necessary to do so.

And, Jesse Venetiaan was indeed very handsome. This was a fact.

I clenched my eyes shut and opened them back, but the miracle of the transmigration ending did not happen. I rubbed my innocent utensil for a while before gulping down the artichoke flower tea. The savory tea swirling through my mouth made it feel like I could focus a bit. I carefully put the tea cup down.

“……”

‘Yeah, this is the way to test my sincerity toward the official couple. Let’s at least maintain the frame of the original. The only thing I can do is give my best on the daily while chasing after the future. Miss Ga-in said something similar before.’

“I’ll do it.”

“Ooh!”

Everybody instantly cheered. Vice Captain Élisabeth said I made a difficult decision and pushed a raspberry soufflé toward me. I instantly scooped up a spoonful.

“However, I have a condition. The young lady is still young so she cannot meet with me alone. An open area with people, perhaps a place the young lady would feel at ease would be best. I also need help because it may be awkward with me there alone. And……”

“Under whose authority.”

My head instantly turned. Someone seemed to have thrown some flames toward the crown prince at some point. His orange eyes were boiling like lava while his gloved hand was sizzling and slightly smoking.

My jaw dropped down in disbelief. ‘You don’t want to get married but you also don’t want us to destroy your matchmaking session?’ The greed of this future Emperor might give Scrooge McDuck a run for his money. (TL: The Korean talks about Nolbu, a greedy character in Korean folklore, but I thought Scrooge McDuck would be a good localization. I don’t localize often, but when I do, I choose something that works)

I was about to scold him as an older brother figure when I heard some hitting noises underneath the table. I quickly looked down in shock. Vice Captain Élisabeth’s boot was quickly moving away from the crown prince’s shin. ‘Eek.’

“Please proceed as planned. I will confirm young lady Bérénice’s movements. As the young lady of a Pair de Riester household, she should at least attend small gatherings.” The young Countess smiled elegantly as she spoke.

I raised my head and blinked. Now that I thought about it, there was a problem.

“Would I be able to meet her without leaving the Imperial Palace?”

“Of course, your highness. There are all sorts of small gatherings in her Majesty’s Palace throughout the year, and dozens of invited guests come and go on the daily. You should be able to easily host one or two gatherings if you ask for it, your highness.”

‘I see. Then I guess I should be able to invite one of the young lady’s gathering groups to the palace. She shouldn’t be too anxious when meeting me if familiar faces are all around her.’

I nodded my head and Christelle smiled brightly. She winked at me before saying, ‘we will need to prepare some materials,’ and writing something in her notebook. Sand looked flustered and his shoulders twitched.

‘I know that look. Our priest looked like this whenever he read the latest episode of ReSeHo.’

“Communication is truly important. Don’t you agree, your Royal Highness?”

“……”

David spoke benignly with a jovial voice. The twenty-five month old acting kid still looked disgruntled, but he didn’t reject the black tea dacquoise pushed toward him.

‘Now then…… Oops! I almost forgot.’

“Umm, I have something else to say as well.”

I picked up Rhea, who was climbing over the flower cart, as I started to speak again. The little ones kept crawling on me, asking me to play with them, but there was something I needed to discuss. It felt weird for me to be the one to ask this, but I had no choice because Christelle didn’t know about the situation.

‘I’ll be a supporting character who thoroughly takes care of the MC’s duties as well.’

“I heard David talking about it. In the near future…… You said that important young ladies will enter the palace to ride horses or carriages with his Royal Highness. Who are they? Is his Royal Highness meeting with all of them for marriage as well?”

‘Did it sound too much like an interrogation just now?’

“……”

Silence filled the room for a moment.

‘Eek.’ The Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard started laughing to the point of crying like Tithé and buried her forehead in Ganael’s shoulder.

“Hohoho.” David laughed out loud.

As for the person involved, the crown prince, he looked at me and let out a deep sigh. His shoulders seemed even more slumped than earlier. The rest of us still looked confused.

‘So what is it? If it isn’t some major secret, let us know!’

*

The next day, in some fancy tea shop within the Imperial Capital, he location of the weekly reading club, the ‘Amour Courtois’. Elegantly dressed noble young ladies and young masters were seated around a table. Beautiful dessert plates were placed on tops of table clothes embroidered with tulips and deers. Fragrant coffees and teas arrived to match the number of people. The second daughter of the House of Mendy, Bérénice Mendy, was blankly staring at the sight beyond the thick curtains.

The entire street was sparkling with gold and purple decorations. The rest was covered in white snow, making it look even purer and more beautiful. She heard the loud voice of the baker.

“Tulip crackers! The tulip crackers are delicious! They are fresh out of the oven! I’ll make sure to give you a ton of chantilly cream!”

“Mommy,I want that too!”

“Honey, I want that too!”

– Ring, ring……

Elderly priests rang their bells as they walked through the crowd. It was time for the ‘Grand Celebration of the Advent of the Almighty God,’ the time the god was said to have created the continent. Even without special reasons, it was a time to share ham with your neighbors and bring out wine and cheese from early in the morning to cheer with others. The end of winter where you get to eat tulip crackers until your stomach feels like exploding. Seasons-wise, it was the excitement right before the arrival of spring.

Bérénice did not have the same experiences as the commoners, but she happened to have a vivid imagination. She tightly clenched the notebook in her hand.

Today was the once a month opportunity to share their respective novels. Most of them wrote short stories, but Bérénice had been writing the same novel since last spring.

“First of all, thank you to everyone who came out to our meeting without failure once again. May the Almighty God find joy in your lives.”

“May you find joy in this happy time.”

The young master that was the representative of the gathering calmly greeted them and everybody returned the words of blessing. The young man gently continued to speak.

“I know that I have to be the first to share a novel as the chairman of the gathering, but…… I have some important information I would like to share first.”

The members started to whisper. This was quite a hot reaction for these mainly quiet people.

“No matter what it is, I know there is nothing more entertaining than your < Silver-colored Lily >.”

“Chairman. Did you end up including the story of how Dame Christelle absorbed the Blessing of the Blue Sea into the story? I remember you were contemplating it quite a bit last week.”

“Would he have used it as a part of the story when her Majesty has not proclaimed anything?”

“Even if it is not the truth, everything is possible in our imaginations.

Starting with the sixteen years old young master who had just become an adult to the forty years old young lady whose passion and desires were all directed at the gathering… The faces of the members were surprisingly diverse. Bérénice felt deep affection toward the people who shared similar sentiments as herself. ‘Amour Courtois’ was the only Beau Monde club that she attended. The fact that she would no longer be able to come to this gathering was truly sad. Once the Chairman finished with his announcement, she would carefully raise her hand to share her news as well: hat she may end up marrying soon. As a result, she had to follow her parents’ advice and no longer attend the gathering.

Bérénice did not dare to go against their words. The novel that she was writing here…… was something that his Royal Highness absolutely could not learn about. She vowed to the Almighty God that he could not do so even if it meant she would die.

“Hahaha. You will forget about the < Silver-colored Lily > after hearing my story. The ‘Amour Courtois’ has been invited to the Imperial Court.”

“Excuse me?” Bérénice urgently covered her mouth with her hands. Her magnifying rimless glasses slid down from the bridge of her nose.

The other members’ reactions were similar. All of their faces flushed and they didn’t know what to do. Some were even sweating as if some shameful side of theirs was revealed.

“Holy Almighty God.”

“My goodness, her Majesty knows about the existence of our gathering?”

“H, how. How could such a thing…… Chairman?”

The young master awkwardly smiled. He calmly added on, “The invitation was not from her Majesty; the card came in the respected name of Prince Jesse Venetiaan. His highness, as someone who enjoys reading, seems to have heard about us somehow. Rather than our usual gathering day, he has suggested that we enter the palace this Friday.”

“Ah, ah…… I was certain that we were hiding in the shadows to enjoy this……”

“We won’t have to read our stories in front of his highness, will we?”

“No way! That doesn’t make any sense.”

Everybody gasped and hid their notebooks underneath their clothes. They all seemed secretly excited to see the rumored handsome prince up close. Only the patriarch or heir to a family that frequented the Empress Palace usually got to see a royal priest’s face up close. This prince had also not been seen outside the palace since the incident with Duke Simon de Sarnez.

Bérénice bit down on her shaking lips. This young lady also wanted to have an audience with his highness before she went to her meeting about her marriage. She had yet to write about him yet but Prince Jesse was her favorite of the ‘three VIPs.’

The cover of the notebook shook along with her thin fingers.

“……”

< A Scheme of Ice and Fire >.

This was Bérénice’s novel she had written, the love story of Pirate King Christelle and shepherd Cédric.

—
Translator’s Comments

It’s clearly a GoT reference. But I dig Pirate King Christelle and shepherd Cédric.

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