At the voice from behind, the crown prince moved one step away from me with a regretful expression.

Behind the crown prince, I could see Brother Rubert looking at us with a surprised expression.

“Ah, Your Highness the Crown Prince is here too.”

As Brother Rubert bowed to the crown prince, the crown prince waved his hand as if to say the greeting was sufficient.

“Ah…. They said the venue would be moved for a banquet after the coming-of-age ceremony…. But I didn’t know Your Highness the Crown Prince would be here.”

Hearing those words, I quickly grabbed the book that the crown prince had placed on the railing and waved it at Brother Rubert.

“His Highness the Crown Prince said he had something to give me, so I stepped out for a moment.”

Hearing that, the crown prince quietly nodded.

However, Brother Rubert looked at us with a suspicious expression.

“The distance seems to have been too close just to hand over a book…”

Stung by those words, I avoided my brother’s gaze.

“Since we need to move to the banquet hall, let’s say that’s the case. Do you still have more business, Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

At my brother’s words, the crown prince raised one eyebrow as if something displeased him.

“Your tone seems very rude, but since we need to move to the banquet hall, I’ll let it slide. Let’s move together to the venue where the banquet is being held.”

As the crown prince was about to pass by my brother, his left arm collided with my brother’s shoulder.

It didn’t seem like a major collision, but the crown prince clutched his left forearm as if in pain.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince! I’m sorry, I…”

As Brother Rubert bowed and offered an apology, the crown prince waved his hand as if to say it was fine and then put on an expression as if nothing had happened.

It was a coincidence.

The spot where Brother Rubert had struck Kresen with a club a few days ago was the same place where the crown prince complained of pain.

While my gaze lingered on the crown prince’s left arm that had collided with my brother, my brother urged me to hurry along.

In the end, I moved my feet to follow my brother and the crown prince without time to think further.

* * *

The invitations to the coming-of-age ceremony were divided into two types.

The general invitation that only allowed entry to the coming-of-age ceremony itself, and the invitation that also allowed attendance at the subsequent banquet.

And only the invitations received from the emperor, empress, and crown prince qualified for the consecutive banquet.

In other words, Leila could not attend the banquet.

I surveyed the banquet hall, where Leila and Bershua were absent, with satisfied eyes, then briefly thanked the crown prince who had guided the way and sat in my designated seat.

“Oh, that’s right. Lady Rowenloa, you said you received an invitation from His Majesty the Emperor!”

“Um… but the name written next to your name is… isn’t it His Highness the Crown Prince’s name?”

Hearing that, I smiled sweetly and answered their questions.

“Thankfully, I received invitations from both His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince. I attended the coming-of-age ceremony in His Majesty the Emperor’s name and this banquet in His Highness the Crown Prince’s name.”

The ladies’ eyes sparkled at my words.

As I was agreeing with the ladies seated beside me, the emperor entered the banquet hall.

Everyone closed their mouths and rose from their seats to bow to the emperor.

After formal speeches from the emperor and crown prince, when music filled the banquet hall, people began to speak excitedly again.

Indeed, perhaps because this banquet was attended by only a select few, unlike at the coming-of-age ceremony, heavier topics such as business discussions and important social events were exchanged from mouth to mouth.

Brother Rubert, who would now be proceeding with the dam project under his name, could not avoid the artificial words of nobles approaching him trying to get a piece of the action.

He looked at me with eyes pleading for help, but I simply smiled lightly and avoided his gaze.

Being invited to the banquet was quite meaningful as it signified that the imperial palace had recognized me, but the content exchanged at the banquet had nothing to do with me.

I just needed to sit here quietly and spread the rumor that “Rowenloa received invitations from both the emperor and crown prince to the imperial banquet.”

“Hehe……”

I couldn’t help but smile at the steadily increasing value of a person like me.

“Oh, but Lady Rowenloa, what is this book?”

As I was quietly sitting and eating the food placed in front of me, the lady sitting next to me took interest in the book placed on my lap.

“Oh my… I can’t even read what’s written in it. What kind of book is it?”

And that lady’s question became the most embarrassing question for me today.

…This is the book… I received it from the crown prince.

“Ah, did the Gellions Empire have such a language?”

As the lady continued to show interest in my book, the gazes of the nobles sitting around me turned to me.

As I was racking my brain, the voice of another noble lady caught my ear.

“Oh, that’s it. The language of the demon tribe! I learned it at the academy, but I can’t read such difficult characters.”

…I’m doomed.

Even the Masipacius family couldn’t easily obtain a book written in the demon tribe language.

“But how did you get this book?”

As I was desperately rolling my eyes trying to find an answer to the question, someone set a wine glass down on the table with a loud thud.

When I turned my head toward the sound, the crown prince was sitting there.

“I lent it to her.”

“Gasp……”

And with that, not only the gazes of everyone in the banquet hall but also the emperor’s gaze fell on me.

A worried sigh escaped me without my knowing.

I could only stare blankly while sweating profusely.

I managed to turn my head to look at Brother Rubert, but he mouthed ‘Good luck!’ with a teasing smile on his face.

This is my karma.

“Hoho, so you lent a book to Lady Masipacius…”

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the crown prince nodded.

“After all, books related to the demon tribe are not easy to obtain even for wealthy nobles, so I just lent it to her for a while.”

“Hmm……”

Facing the emperor’s burdensome gaze, I nodded slightly and lowered my eyes to the floor.

“And I’ve even issued an imperial pass so she can come in and read comfortably even when I’m not there.”

The nobles stirred at once upon hearing those words.

“A pass…?”

“A lady who hasn’t even made her debut has a pass?”

Only high-ranking nobles working in the imperial palace had passes that allowed free access to the imperial palace.

The nobles’ eyes sparkled when they heard that I had such a pass that those people possessed.

The pass allowed entry to the imperial palace with one accompanying person.

Having someone with that pass by your side meant you could enter the imperial palace at any time, which meant you could get one step closer to the emperor.

Uncomfortable with the pouring gazes, I deliberately picked up a teacup to divert attention, when suddenly the teacup was pulled down as if by someone and spilled over my dress.

“Oh my!”

The surroundings became noisy, and the crown prince rose from his seat and approached me.

As I was looking around for a handkerchief to roughly clean my dress, a handkerchief with a red rose cross-stitch embroidered on a navy background suddenly entered my line of sight.

“Thank you.”

After hastily wiping my dress with that handkerchief, I raised my head to find an entirely unexpected face smiling at me.

And standing beside him, the crown prince, who was tightly gripping a handkerchief in one hand, softly recited the name of the man smiling in front of me.

“Veltune……”

The person who had offered me the handkerchief was Veltune Crescent, the one who had invited Leila and Bershua to the crown prince’s coming-of-age ceremony.

“Um, thank you…”

As I extended my arm to return the handkerchief to him, the crown prince irritably snatched the handkerchief from my hand.

“I’ll wash this and return it.”

No, why would you take the handkerchief that I used….

As I stood between the two with a bewildered face, the crown prince turned away first and returned to his seat.

Veltune also met my eyes as he watched the departing crown prince, then moved his feet back to his seat with a smirk on his lips.

What is this….

What is this…?

* * *

After that, the crown prince seemed to just sip his drink for a long time without making eye contact with anyone, and then the banquet ended with the emperor’s final greeting.

When I returned to the residence with the book I had received from the crown prince after the somewhat unsettling banquet, I saw Father coming down the stairs just then.

“Father, we’ve returned from the imperial palace…”

Just as Brother Rubert was opening his mouth toward Father, Father began to fume as he irritably threw a stiff piece of paper at the butler.

“Where did this document come from?”

The butler, sweating profusely while watching Father’s reaction, finally opened his mouth with difficulty.

“That… that is…”

“I asked where it came from!”

At Father’s shout, the butler reluctantly opened his mouth.

“It came from the assembly hall where the Gels Council is held.”

Hearing that, Father’s face seemed to turn red and blue, and then he stomped his feet in place, angry.

All the servants looked at Father with surprised expressions before quickly leaving the area.

“I was so careful! Where did the information leak from!”

Father, as if his anger was not subsiding, began to throw the bottles the butler was holding onto the floor.

“How dare they oppose my business! Where exactly did the information leak from!”

Watching Father’s outburst, I barely concealed my rising smile by pretending to cough.

It seemed that the Gels Council had submitted an objection to Father regarding the land purchase.