4. First is Survival, Second is……?

On a leisurely afternoon, at the Frey family’s annex prepared in the capital.

Arthe, who had finished the debutante ball quite successfully, had been up since early morning reading [Practical Guide! The Art of Capturing His Heart!].

“Miss!”

Just then, Mel suddenly opened the door and entered.

“Have you seen this week’s Sable Weekly?”

For some reason, Mel was extremely agitated and had a bundle of newspapers clutched in her hands.

Arthe narrowed her eyes and looked at the newspapers.

It was a gossip magazine that dealt sensationally with social circle gossip and was popular among idle noble ladies.

“Mel, are you reading those subversive publications again?”

“The title! Who is the woman Prince Cardi chose?”

Arthe’s mouth, which had been loading up to scold Mel, closed just like that.

Mel, who had already strode right up to Arthe, read out the weekly magazine’s article in an excited voice.

“Prince Cardi and Lady Arthe whispered sweet words to each other intermittently while dancing, and even after the dance ended, Lady Arthe stared intently at the prince for a while. The lady’s appearance was unmistakably that of a girl in love itself!”

“……Mel, let me explain everything first.”

“Miss. Don’t tell me, this is why!”

At Mel’s highly elevated tone, Arthe hurriedly waved her hands and made excuses.

The front page of the Sable Weekly published after the debutante ball was covered with pictures of the two dancing.

The two people in black hair and black uniform symbolizing the imperial family, and silver hair and silver dress symbolizing the Frey family, were unmistakably Cardi and Arthe at first glance.

However, Mel shouted without even listening to Arthe’s excuses.

“This is why! You chose the silver dress instead of the blue dress?”

“No, that’s…… huh?”

“The blue dress would have shown your collarbone and suited you better!”

“……The clothes were the problem?”

“Of course! I told you to trust me and Lady Cerneiz more about dresses, but you were so stubborn…… Well, it does match well with His Highness’s uniform though.”

Mel added her passionate argument that the blue dress was still the best regardless.

“Besides, they should showcase your face above all else, Miss, but they only printed dancing pictures and didn’t include any large portraits of your face. This is something the ducal house should protest about.”

“Well, there’s no need to go that far…… More than that, won’t you show me too?”

Embarrassed by Mel’s extreme praise, Arthe coughed awkwardly and took the newspaper she had brought.

[A Secret Meeting Between Prince and Lady in Imperial Garden, What’s the Truth Behind the Rumors?]

[Special Article: Are Lady Arthe’s Feet Really Safe?]

As Mel said, the Sable Weekly was full of sensational articles about Prince Cardi and Arthe.

After reading the weekly magazine articles thoroughly for a while, Arthe finally discovered one article and asked Mel back.

“Shocking! Lady E Reveals Her Thoughts on the Couple of the Hour? Who on earth is Lady E?”

The article Arthe pointed to contained interview content from a lady whose photo was pixelated.

The first words of Lady E’s interview published in the article were ‘For the lady to be His Highness’s partner…… What a perfect pair, the lady certainly has excellent taste.’

Anyone could see it was definitely targeting Arthe for becoming partners with the foolish prince.

At Arthe’s question, Mel snorted and answered.

“Who else could it be? Obviously Lady Elisa.”

Despite Mel’s answer, Arthe, who couldn’t recall Elisa, scratched her head and finally remembered Elisa and answered.

“Ah, that lady from House Person?”

“Of course! She’s definitely jealous of the attention you’re receiving and trying to keep you in check, Miss. Really, that lady doesn’t know her place.”

“……That lady should study etiquette rather than give interviews as soon as possible.”

Arthe, who had now properly remembered Elisa, muttered in a serious voice.

“Etiquette?”

“Well, there was just a small incident.”

When Arthe changed the subject, Mel, who had been looking at Arthe with a suspicious expression, asked in a curious voice.

“But Miss, how on earth did you become Prince Cardi’s partner? You didn’t say anything special to me!”

“Ah, that’s……”

Arthe couldn’t bring herself to say the reason and glanced at the book she had been reading just moments before.

[Practical Guide! The Art of Capturing His Heart!] had definitely been effective as Mel said.

Chapter 1’s ‘Baby talk melts even hearts of steel’ and ‘A fragile fawn makes even beasts fall in love’ steadily filled Arthe’s basic knowledge, who was ignorant about romance.

Among them, especially the part ‘Referring to yourself by name is an essential for lovely ladies’ was truly a secret technique.

‘Without this book’s secrets, it would have been impossible to become Prince Cardi’s partner.’

Worried that Mel might tease her mischievously, Arthe coughed unnecessarily and opened her mouth.

“Well, old books indeed contain the wisdom of sages.”

At Arthe’s roundabout words, Mel grumbled for a moment, but eventually Mel couldn’t overcome her curiosity and poured out other questions.

“Who asked for the dance? Don’t tell me you did, Miss?”

“They say His Highness’s beauty is so enchanting! Is it really like that?”

Mel’s questions continued endlessly.

However, the more she listened to Mel’s question bombardment.

And the more she recalled the memories of that time.

「Arthe thinks her ankle is completely broken……」

“Ha……”

Arthe somehow wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

‘……Really, how do people do such things so naturally.’

Arthe, sinking into self-loathing from the memories that surfaced intermittently, kept shifting between dark and bright expressions from moment to moment.

Mel, who mistook such changes in Arthe’s expression for embarrassment, waved her hands and opened her mouth.

“Miss, really. Your face is getting all red…… Then just tell me this one thing. There’s talk that His Highness made a mistake while dancing, what was that about?”

At Mel’s question, Arthe’s pupils momentarily stopped minutely as if reflecting emotional turmoil.

‘A mistake……’

Right. That was the biggest problem.

Cardi de Sable.

Though she had approached the prince thinking it would be easy, somehow he wasn’t easy-going at all.

「Cardi already forgot the name. Tell me again.」

Wasn’t he clearly the foolish prince who couldn’t even properly memorize names?

But just for that one moment while dancing, he was different.

The touch that naturally embraced Arthe’s waist through the familiar melody was as smooth and resolute as someone who had always danced while considering his partner.

His flawless etiquette was also as elegant as a born royal.

The way he covered for Arthe’s mistake by pretending it was his own mistake.

‘……Right. Even if he was foolish, his character seems kind, so it could be seen as manners.’

However.

「Is your ankle okay?」

Such an unexpected question in that situation!

They said he was lacking, but was he really lacking after all?

Whether it was intentional or not, Arthe suppressed the rising anger as she recalled how flustered she had been at the time.

“Ah! Come to think of it, the rumor that His Highness is lacking……”

“Who’s lacking!”

“Ah, Miss?”

“Who’s lacking! ……If you’re asking, it’s naturally His Highness Prince Cardi. It’s not a rumor.”

Though Arthe made a nonchalant expression pretending nothing was wrong, at Mel’s gaze that narrowed suspiciously, Arthe coughed unnecessarily.

“His face was really handsome though. What a pity.”

Mel looked at the weekly magazine and grumbled for a while that the prince’s appearance not matching his looks was a national loss.

“Stop the nonsense now, is there anything else unusual?”

“Hmm, well. Right now it’s all about Miss and His Highness……”

Mel, who had been tilting her head, suddenly clapped as if remembering something.

“Oh right. Come to think of it, there was something a bit strange.”

Mel lowered her voice.

At the heavy voice unlike Mel, Arthe raised her head and glanced at Mel’s face.

Mel, whose eyes met Arthe’s, looked around for a moment then whispered in an even smaller voice.

“This weekly magazine. It was discontinued with this issue.”

“……What do you mean?”

At the news that the weekly magazine she had been reading enthusiastically just moments ago was discontinued, Arthe asked back in surprise.

“Actually, after seeing this issue I was so disappointed that I was going to send my personal collection of Miss’s blue dress portrait.”

“And then?”

“But at the location where the office was, there was only a notice that it was discontinued due to publishing circumstances, and all the employees had disappeared too.”

At the strange story, Arthe asked back with a hardened face.

“Could it be financial problems?”

“Probably not. There aren’t any nobles in the capital who don’t read the Sable Weekly, right? Besides, as soon as Miss’s article came out, it sold out completely so they were planning to reprint……”

“……”

“It’s really mysterious, isn’t it?”

At the news that the Sable Weekly, which almost all nobles enjoyed reading, was discontinued overnight, Arthe’s face darkened.

‘The person who would do such a thing is indeed……’

Empress Mariposa’s face came to mind in Arthe’s head.

‘To even touch a mere weekly magazine…… She must not like this public opinion.’

Though she had expected the empress’s side to move after the stage with the prince, she hadn’t expected it to be this fast.

Arthe, who quickly closed the Sable Weekly, took out her memoir recorded so only she could understand from her desk drawer.

Now that a connection with Prince Cardi had been made, she had to move faster than the empress.

To check the empress and continue public opinion with the prince, Arthe needed funds she could operate personally.

Moreover, once she entered the academy, her room for maneuvering would definitely narrow more than now. She needed forces that could move outside on her behalf.

‘I need to secure funding somehow before enrollment…… How do I do this?’

Unable to think of a sharp solution, Arthe, whose throat was parched, spoke to Mel casually as if frustrated.

“Mel, put away this weekly magazine and just bring me a glass of water.”

“Yes, ah! How about tea? Since it’s this year’s harvest, it’s quite fragrant.”

“Well, I’m not drawn to sweet scents right now. Rather than tea, I’d prefer……”

And at that moment.

Arthe’s hand, which had been underlining, stopped abruptly at one point in the memoir.

As if possessed by something, she stopped speaking and stared intently at that one point, then quietly murmured.

“……Ah, there was that.”

Before she knew it, a triumphant smile hung on Arthe’s lips.

***