Chapter 20
Taking Eleonore’s small, pale hand in a white-gloved one, Dominique escorted her with great care.
Following Dominique’s kind and considerate escort, Eleonore arrived at a terrace before a garden filled with brilliantly blooming spring flowers.
At the sight of petals in every color all around her, Eleonore let out a soft gasp of wonder.
“Wow… There are flowers everywhere.”
Watching Eleonore lose herself in the scene before her, Dominique smiled sweetly.
“You know, Eli, the garden behind the palace is planted with lilies, unlike this one. In summer, it’s filled with white blossoms and looks quite beautiful!”
Then that gentle hand led Eleonore beneath the terrace roof.
At a table laid with moist cakes and beautifully arranged, freshly baked cookies, Dominique finally let go of Eleonore’s hand.
Of course, Dominique kept up the gentlemanly act right to the end, pulling out a chair for her at the table.
Eleonore lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed her head.
“Thank you for being so considerate, Your Highness.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be so formal.”
With a breezy smile, their private tea party began.
#.
After that, they talked about all sorts of trivial things.
The princess before her was dressed like a man, but at heart, she was a fresh young girl.
Her golden eyes sparkling, she peppered Eleonore with questions: Had any men approached her since then? Was there anyone she liked?
The young lady listening to Dominique as she demurely picked at her cake with a fork was the complete opposite.
She wore a flowing dress, but inside it was a dark-hearted man.
So the questions Dominique asked were, to Eleonore…
Not particularly interesting topics for the twenty-one-year-old man Seo Juha.
Yet once she started talking, Eleonore found herself swept up in a conversation with the princess, who was positively overflowing with feminine hormones.
Completely captivated by Dominique’s eloquence,
she ended up chatting and laughing for a long while with Dominique, who enthusiastically responded to every word she said.
The girls’ long conversation paused for a moment as Dominique gracefully lifted her teacup to her lips.
Only then did Eleonore belatedly come to her senses and sink into a fit of self-loathing over the conversation they’d just had.
And just as Sophie had said in the carriage…
Dominique’s golden eyes gleamed brightly.
“So, have you seen the young Marquis Louis Edmond since then?”
At the mention of that troubling name, Eleonore lifted her head from her self-loathing.
The mood Dominique directed toward her had subtly changed.
Of course, Dominique’s voice was unchanged, as was the graceful way she carefully returned her teacup to its saucer.
But the words that flowed past her pink lips carried a weight that hadn’t been there in their conversation until now.
“No. I haven’t met him or anything. He sent me a few letters inviting me to his parties, but I ignored them.”
As a result, Eleonore’s reply was decidedly stiff.
At Eleonore’s answer, Dominique touched her fingertips to her lips and murmured,
“I see. So that red pig bitch did send you an invitation.”
It was a phrase completely at odds with her voice.
Dominique stared at the tea leaves for a moment, then clapped her hands and met Eleonore’s sky-blue eyes again.
“Oh, right! What about my youngest brother? How are things with Julian?”
Wait, wait a minute. Why is Julian coming up now?
At the unexpected name, Eleonore gave a startled cough.
“C-cough. J-Julian… You mean Young Duke Vallatiere?”
“Yes! My youngest brother.”
The corners of the princess’s pink lips lifted high, a smile spreading across her face.
But the look in her eyes as she gazed at Eleonore remained unchanged.
“Hmm… Maybe you wouldn’t know, since you’re the youngest, Eli? Well, he’s the youngest in our family, so I feel a little protective of him. I heard you spoke at the ball. Rumors spread all over the capital that Julian even kissed the back of your hand.”
The princess, who had somehow turned back into a lovestruck young girl, continued with a delighted laugh.
“You know, Eli. That’s why I decided to copy him today.”
Looking at Dominique’s innocent smile, Eleonore gave a small sigh.
“…I told him I’d been bedridden and couldn’t reply to his invitation, and that I wasn’t well enough to dance with him. We parted ways after that. It’s been quiet since.”
The teacup on its saucer gave a little clatter.
The voice that followed from Dominique was quite serious.
“Eli. Julian is truly a pitiful child. He may have some talent, but he’s a bastard.”
Dominique lightly tapped the empty teacup with her teaspoon.
At the clear chime of the spoon, Baroness Viola, who had come over at some point, began pouring tea into the empty cup.
Just as the teapot tilted, Eleonore’s head tilted slightly at Dominique’s words.
Did the princess not consider Julian a rival?
In the original story, Julian would eventually sit on the throne… Was this the result of her underestimating him like this?
“As his family, I can only feel sorry for him, dreaming in vain on the strength of what little talent he has. Even if that bastard got the West’s backing, nothing would change.”
Once again, clap!
Dominique clapped her hands, drawing Eleonore’s sky-blue gaze back to her.
“Besides, I hear you were with my brother Dmitri on a balcony, and you’re even having a meal together this weekend?”
A chill ran down Eleonore’s spine.
The black pupils within her sky-blue eyes shook violently.
She could understand the matter with Julian.
It had happened somewhere full of people, after all.
But what had happened on the balcony was different.
Only the people involved—Grand Duke Dmitri, Eleonore, her father, and that woman Daphne—knew about it.
Obert’s laughter had been rather loud, but she hadn’t noticed anyone looking their way behind him.
Besides, the meal with the grand duke had only been added to the schedule today, just before they left for the palace.
Looking into Dominique’s brightly gleaming golden eyes, Eleonore said,
“If I may ask, Your Highness, how did you learn even that?”
At Eleonore’s question, Dominique smiled softly with her eyes.
It was certainly the same sweet, eye-crinkling smile she’d given when she kissed the back of Eleonore’s hand at the palace entrance.
But Eleonore felt none of the excitement she’d felt before.
“Umm… I wonder… Should I tell you?”
As if dealing with a child, Dominique tilted her head, hiding a smile at the corners of her mouth.
Then their eyes met.
Dominique gazed at Eleonore with an innocent smile.
“You know what? If you call me ‘Domi,’ my nickname, I’ll tell you!”
Domi?
At the completely unexpected name of a fish, the tension filling her mind melted away.
Of course, fish by that name probably didn’t exist in this world, so Dominique hadn’t meant it that way…
Still, Domi. That’s a delicious nickname for a princess.
Unaware of Eleonore’s irreverent thoughts, Dominique continued speaking.
“Eli. Given who I am, I’ve never had any friends I grew up with. Once in a while, the Grand Duchess would visit—once each season—and she was the only girl my age who would talk to me. And the only times my mother ever called me Domi were a few times before she passed away.”
With a wistful expression Eleonore hadn’t seen before, Dominique gazed at her.
“So I want you to call me Domi. I want to have a close friend I can call by a nickname, too.”
“…You mean a friend?”
“Yes, a friend. The kind who never betrays you.”
Those last words weighed heavily on Eleonore’s heart.
The princess’s golden eyes sparkled at Eleonore’s sky-blue ones, as if demanding an answer that very moment.
A brief silence wrapped around the two women on the terrace beneath the warm spring sun.
The princess’s words were no casual remark.
A friend who would never betray her.
She’s asking me to take her side, isn’t she?
Did the princess truly need a friend she could call by a familiar nickname, as she claimed?
Or did she need my father’s power—the power of the Margrave?
Eleonore racked her small brain, thinking as hard as she could,
until Dominique broke the silence.
“Pfft. Pfft. I-I’m joking. Just kidding! Ahahaha! Why are you taking it so seriously? You’re so cute.”
The platinum-blonde head that had been bowed in deep thought lifted again.
Whatever she found so amusing, the princess was laughing so hard she even slapped her knees.
“Hahaha! Eli, you’re just too cute. Wow, I’ve laughed so hard I could cry.”
Just as she said, tears glistened in her golden eyes.
Dominique picked up a clean napkin from the table and dabbed at her tears as she continued.
“You know, Eli, I’m well aware your family will keep its neutrality, just as it has until now. Of course, I’d like you to come over to my side, but there’s no point in trying to win you over when you don’t have the power to decide that.”
Dominique’s back, which she’d kept straight all this time, tilted slightly.
Her elegant face leaned closer to Eleonore, bringing her gaze level with those sky-blue eyes.
“But, Eli. What I said about wanting to be your friend was true.”
The two women were close enough to hear each other’s breathing. Their gazes met between them.
The golden eyes burned as if they were ravenous, ready to devour the sky-blue ones.
The sky-blue eyes kept trying to avoid them, but held their ground without retreating.
And Eleonore was the first to look away.
“Sigh. All right, Domi. Is that good enough?”
“Yay! I really like you, Eli!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Dominique leaped to her feet.
Then she crossed to Eleonore in a single stride and pulled her slender body into her arms.
The princess’s embrace was wonderfully soft and warm. Unlike Eleonore’s own frail frame, it felt just like a mother’s embrace.
Just as Eleonore, her face flushed red, was flusteredly trying to push her away,
Dominique held her tightly so her prey couldn’t escape, then whispered softly in her ear.
“Eli, at least while the margrave is staying in the capital, don’t trust anyone. There are eyes watching us everywhere. Me, for one—and that red pig bitch in the empress’s palace, too. The fox bitch at the Vallatiere estate, and probably even my father…”
Then something moist and soft gently brushed Eleonore’s flushed cheek.
The princess’s kiss sounded vivid and clear right by Eleonore’s ear.
Bright red with embarrassment, Eleonore struggled with all her might to escape that warm embrace.
“W-What are you doing! Dominique!”
“Not Dominique—Domi! You’re breaking our agreement, Eli!”
Dominique laughed brightly and released Eleonore from her arms.
Then she stood and straightened her rumpled jacket.
“Eli, I had such a lovely time today. Since I’m your host, I’d like to see you off properly, but I have an appointment afterward. I’ll invite you again, so please don’t turn me down.”
“Ah, um, Your Highness. Dominique—no, Domi!”
Eleonore shouted after Dominique, who was already some distance away, but all Dominique did was smile brightly and wave.
Only Eleonore and Sophie, standing politely behind her, remained in the spacious garden of Lily Palace.
The platinum-haired young lady, drained of all energy by a short tea party, slumped over in the rattan chair where she sat.
Author… No, you bastard of an author!
This really is an NL novel, right? I didn’t end up in a story that suddenly swerves into yuri, did I?
Keeping those words she couldn’t say aloud inside, Eleonore absently stroked her cheek with her tiny hand, touching the trace left by her new friend.
#4. And Behind the Scenes — End