Chapter 90

The collapsed Lady Cesar cried out,  

“I miss Lady Meia, sob sob.”  

At her words, Meryl flared up and raised her hand once again!  

Bang!  

The glass greenhouse door swung open violently, and Crown Prince Patzraelli, who had been informed by an attendant, stormed in.  

“What on earth is going on here?!”  

In Patzraelli’s eyes, he saw Meryl, about to strike a fallen young lady with her hand raised, committing violence.  

“Lower your hand.”  

Patzraelli stared at the disheveled Meryl. She looked truly pitiful and shabby.  

“Return to the Ducal residence at once, Lady Meryl.”  

“But, Your Highness! Lady Cesar insulted me, a noble lady of a Ducal—”  

Meryl’s words were cut off.  

“Do not make me raise my voice here any further!”  

Meryl clenched her trembling fists and bit her lip, trying to suppress her anger, her face flushed red. Patzraelli’s voice eventually rose.  

“Immediately!”  

At his stern tone, Meryl began to cry.  

“Did you just yell at me?”  

At her retort, Patzraelli frowned deeply.  

He felt terrible. It was as if his entire body was rotting from the inside.  

“If you truly don’t want to disgrace yourself further, I suggest you do as I say, Lady Meryl.”  

Patzraelli passed by the trembling, tearful Meryl and lifted the collapsed Lady Cesar into his arms.  

“Lady Meryl, you are to remain confined to the Ducal’s residence for the time being.”  

***

Ashilom of the Berton family was the second son of an Earl.  

To be precise, he was the second son, and his occupation was that of a journalist.  

Not long ago, he had boarded a cruise ship bound for the Mage Tower.  

Everything had been perfect—gazing at the magnificent sea, enjoying delicious food, and relaxing until the beautiful sunset.  

That is, until pirates attacked.  

When pirates raided the cruise ship, chaos erupted.  

‘I should’ve just teleported….’  

Regret surged over him like a tidal wave.  

Still, as the second son of an Earl, he refused to beg for his life from filthy pirates and decided to face death with dignity, sitting nobly and awaiting his end like a true noble.  

But he didn’t die.  

It was a miracle.  

There was a hero who defeated all the pirates and saved the people!  

That hero was none other than Lady Meia Hatzbellua.  

Before Meia disembarked from the ship, she diligently conversed with everyone onboard.  

Naturally, the journalist was thrilled when he heard about this.  

<What?! Lady Hatzbellua defeated pirates? This is a scoop!>

As a result, Ashilom ended up publishing multiple articles about Meia instead of the Mage Tower.  

The people, who had long been curious about the movements of Meia, the beautiful flower of Carpen Empire’s social circles, cheered enthusiastically when they read articles about her saving lives.  

[Lady Meia Hatzbellua Defeats Pirates!]  

[Elegant Hand Movements Unleash Ice Magic as Beautiful as a Flower.]  

[The Beautiful Lady Becomes a Hero!]  

[The Proud Flower of Carpen Empire’s Social Circles!]  

[Lady Meia of the Hatzbellua Ducal Family: A Hero from a Young Age…]  

[Why Did She Board a Cruise Ship to the Mage Tower?]  

[Men Who Gaze at Lady Meia! No Man Looks at Her Just Once!]  

[The First-Class Cabin Where Lady Meia Stayed.]  

[Reservations for Her Cabin Fully Booked for a Year—Demand Overflowing Until Next Year.]  

[First-Hand Accounts from Those Who Met Lady Meia!]  

[The Lady Who Forgave a Young Girl Who Spilled Food on a Noblewoman’s Dress…]  

Ashilom, who had been on the scene, wrote vivid articles.  

Every magazine and newspaper featuring his articles sold out completely.  

Thanks to this, Ashilom received a special vacation and bonus before returning to the Berton family.  

Having tasted the thrill of breaking news, Ashilom sought new scoops, but unfortunately, there wasn’t any suitable material around him.  

Then, the face of the handsome man who had escorted Meia with utmost care popped into his mind.  

Theodore Florence, Grand Duke of Sirius Empire.  

Something about this man triggered an instinctive feeling in Ashilom’s journalist mind, as if he was about to miss an important story.  

“It’s strange. I feel like I’m overlooking something.”  

“Brother Ashilom.”  

“What is it, Sandra? You’re back early. Weren’t you going to Concubine Luruna’s tea party?”  

“There was an incident at the tea party.”  

At his younger sister Cassandra’s words, Ashilom looked at her with a disinterested, cold gaze.  

“An incident at a tea party? It’s just socialite drama, isn’t it?”  

“I saw something at the tea party that I’ve only read about in stories about commoners—an all-out brawl. Are you still not interested?”  

Concubine Luruna’s tea party! A gathering of elegant noble ladies!  

But a brawl, like something commoners would engage in?!  

Ashilom’s mind began to race at Cassandra’s words.  

“What do you want, Lady Cassandra?”  

“I’ve been eyeing the new fur fan Madame Marienne debuted recently.”  

“Understood.”  

Cassandra smiled sweetly, sipped her tea, and began recounting the events at Luruna’s tea party to Ashilom.  

“So, Sandra, are you saying that Crown Prince Patzraelli picked up Lady Cesar in his arms and yelled at Lady Meryl?”  

“Exactly! Everyone there was saying the two of them are bound to break off their engagement!”  

“Thank you. This is an excellent scoop.”  

“Are you sure you can publish it?”  

“I’ll discuss it with the editor-in-chief.”  

Ashilom imagined the scene of the Crown Prince embracing another young lady and shouting at Meryl during Concubine Luruna’s tea party.  

“Outrageous romance isn’t just for novels, it seems.”  

“Do as you wish. But be careful; if you publish the wrong thing, you might get on the wrong side of someone important… Well, I don’t care.”  

“Don’t worry.”  

Ashilom had been struggling to find a good story after the recent articles about Lady Meia defeating pirates on the cruise ship.  

“I need to write this down before I forget!”  

“Oh, wait!”  

Cassandra suddenly grabbed Ashilom as if she’d remembered something.  

“Brother!”  

“What? Did you think of another good scoop?”  

Cassandra looked at him with a tired expression and said,  

“I ran into Prince Demian after leaving Concubine Luruna’s tea party. He told me to give this to you.”  

Cassandra pulled out a letter from her bag.  

“Prince Demian?”  

‘Why me?’  

Ashilom opened the letter on the spot and read it.  

The letter simply requested that Ashilom come to the Imperial Palace immediately.  

Was it to ask me not to publish an article about the tea party incident?  

He couldn’t know why he was being summoned, but Ashilom had no excuse to refuse or reason to avoid the Prince’s invitation.  

And he was extremely curious about the reason for the summons.  

“Since Prince Demian wants to see me, I’ll head to the Imperial Palace.”  

“Come back safely. Oh, and our eldest brother insists you join us for dinner tonight. Even busy Clairira will be there.”  

“Clairira? She’s coming? Isn’t she too busy designing dresses?”  

“She must be in a good mood for some reason.”  

“Alright. I’ll be back before dinner.”  

***

Demian smiled brightly at Ashilom, who sat across from him, and said,  

“I’ve read all the articles about the cruise ship, Lord Ashilom. I was curious about her news, so thank you.”  

“It was nothing! I was simply doing my job as a journalist.”  

Demian’s cheerful smile soon turned bittersweet as he spoke.  

“She’s endured so much sorrow all at once. I can’t help but worry about her.”  

“Your Highness…”  

Demian spoke with concern.  

“That’s why I’d like to hear about her from you, Lord Ashilom.”  

Ashilom’s eyes sparkled as he opened his mouth to speak to Demian.  

“I didn’t know Lady Meia was aboard the cruise ship. While I was suffering from seasickness—suddenly, the pirates burst in—”  

“Lord Ashilom, I’m not interested in your story about being attacked by pirates.”  

Demian smiled as he gazed intently at Ashilom.  

“I’m interested in this.”  

Demian placed a copy of Ashilom’s article on the table and continued speaking.  

[Men Who Gaze at Lady Meia! No Man Looks at Her Just Once!  

Among them, the handsome man who desperately called out ‘Lady Meia’ embraced her with tears in his eyes. Many men present…]  

Ashilom broke into a cold sweat at Demian’s pointed question.

For some time now, rumors about Demian intending to take Lady Meia as his Princess had spread throughout the Carpen Empire, known by everyone. If Ashilom said the wrong thing, it could lead to a misunderstanding.

However, Ashilom didn’t know the exact relationship between Grand Duke Florence and Lady Meia. All he knew was that the Grand Duke had suddenly appeared on the deck and embraced her. And that Lady Meia didn’t reject it.  

If a strange man suddenly hugged her, shouldn’t she have slapped him?  

No matter how high his status as a Grand Duke of another empire might be, embracing a lady without permission?  

It didn’t make sense!  

Ashilom felt as though he was piecing together an important puzzle, but he didn’t dare speak his thoughts aloud.  

Swallowing hard, Ashilom looked at Demian.  

“I’m curious about the identity of this rude man who suddenly rushed in and hugged her.”  

Ashilom was startled and began to stammer.  

“W-Well, from what I saw, it seemed like he rushed in to save Lady Meia. And in the process, there was an embrace, haha.”  

Clang!  

The loud sound of a glass teacup startled Ashilom, making his heart pound as he tried to calm himself. He looked nervously at Demian.  

“Please don’t misunderstand, Your Highness.”  

“A misunderstanding occurs when something is discovered to be untrue… But didn’t you write the article because it’s true that the man embraced her, Lord Ashilom?”  

Demian’s words were accompanied by a smile, but his gaze seemed to pierce through everything.  

“If you speak truthfully, I will be very pleased, Lord Ashilom. However, if you say something that could lead to a misunderstanding, I might be disappointed… and I cannot guarantee what I might do in that case.”  

Though Demian’s smile was gentle, there was no malice in it, the underlying warning was clear.