Chapter 12
“If it’s all right with you, may I join you as well?”
At Blanc’s sudden, out-of-context remark, Vieta and Fulcare’s eyes widened.
Oh no.
Blanc’s eyes darted around aimlessly too.
*
When Blanc arrived near Vieta’s office, he saw Vieta and Fulcare heading somewhere.
Given the time, they were obviously going to have lunch.
Seeing the two of them joking around so amicably, Blanc’s resolve to apologize to Vieta at once began to melt away.
If I wedge myself between those two now…
He felt as though he would be intruding.
But for some reason, Blanc didn’t want to back down this time.
Remembering Raymond’s advice that he try having a meal with the two of them, Blanc approached them and blurted out,
“If it’s all right with you, may I join you as well?”
“We’re going to eat now….”
Vieta awkwardly scratched her cheek with one finger.
Fulcare’s expression beside her wasn’t particularly pleasant either.
With one hand resting on Vieta’s shoulder, he half-wrapped her in the cloak he always wore.
He seemed to be rejecting Blanc’s company with his entire body.
“I don’t have any ulterior motive; I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier.”
Blanc gave a slight bow.
"I mean it."
Having thrown out his final card, Blanc anxiously waited for Vieta’s response.
If she refused him here, he intended to withdraw cleanly.
He didn’t want to become an obnoxious pest who clung to someone who had said no.
“You put it that way, so I can’t refuse. Then let’s go together. Oh, I’ve already chosen the menu—is that all right?”
“…Vieta.”
Chief Fulcare called her name in a disappointed voice, but she shook her head.
“Yes. Anything is fine.”
Blanc had finally obtained Vieta’s permission.
***
The brown-and-white interior was rustic yet cozy, befitting a restaurant named ‘Mama.’
Through the windows covering one wall of the restaurant, Parkville’s lush scenery could be seen at a glance.
Soft classical music flowed through the restaurant, preserving the visitors’ privacy without interrupting their conversations.
From affordable dishes to expensive fare,
Restaurant Mama Maria offered a truly wide variety of dishes made with fresh ingredients.
Thanks to Fulcare’s identification card, the group was able to sit in the best spot in the VIP area on the second floor.
Before long, two B courses featuring fish as their main dish and one C course featuring meat were laid out on the white tablecloth.
“Please enjoy your meal.”
After those words, silence descended over the table.
Only the rasp of meat being sliced and the quiet clink of glasses being set down could be heard; unlike the other tables, there was absolutely no convivial atmosphere here.
Even as he drank water, Blanc felt his throat closing up.
He had thought everything would be resolved if they simply ate together, but he had been mistaken.
He’d laid the groundwork, but the real problem came afterward.
‘What am I supposed to talk about?’
He discussed the subjects he had studied that day with Big Brother Garvin,
while with other nobles, he mainly talked about art or music.
‘This is insane.’
Blanc quietly shook his head.
No matter how he thought about it, discussing the style of a new painter currently making a name for himself in the Duchy of Sijak was out of the question here.
“Have some of this, too.”
Fulcare broke through Blanc’s tangled thoughts.
He removed the bones from some fish and placed the flesh on a clean plate, then pushed it toward Vieta.
“Hm? Why?”
Vieta’s eyes lit up at the sight of the fish.
“I mean, stop being picky and eat some fish, too.”
“Mmm? Thanks.”
In an instant, Vieta plucked up a piece of fish without the slightest hesitation and popped it into her mouth.
“It’s good.”
With her mouth full of fish, Vieta smiled.
Fulcare smiled as well when he saw how happy Vieta was.
'He shared his food?'
Blanc tilted his head slightly.
He had never once considered sharing his food.
No, to be precise, he had no concept whatsoever of sharing food from his own portion.
With a single gesture, a fresh, steaming dish would soon appear, so there was no reason to give someone else any of his portion.
Besides, whenever Blanc happened to offer food to a young lady, most of them would shyly smile and say they were full. In his eyes, they had barely eaten enough to feed a bird.
The prince realized that his worldview was narrow.
Having lived as a member of the imperial family, like the noble ladies who bought a single piece of candy from a street vendor and offered a gold coin as though giving alms, he knew nothing about how ordinary people thought or behaved.
He was ashamed of that fact.
“Is the food not to your liking?”
When Blanc sat motionless with a fork and knife in both hands, Vieta asked him.
“No. By the way, Chief, are you all right? Is the portion too small?”
Blanc forced a smile in an effort to hide his feelings.
“I’m fine. I ate some cake earlier.”
“Then do you want some of this? You like salad, don’t you?”
Vieta held the plate of salad out to Fulcare.
She too had left the salad untouched, perhaps because she was thinking of Fulcare.
“Sure. I could manage some salad.”
“You should eat too, Lord Blanc.”
“Ah, you too, Lady Vieta.”
To be honest, his appetite had vanished long ago from the shock and humiliation.
Even so, Blanc slowly savored his food so as not to ruin the atmosphere of the meal.
***
Thank goodness.
Vieta secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Blanc’s expression had been so serious that she had impulsively invited him to eat with them, but the situation had been awkward for her as well.
After all, he was a prince.
She wasn’t particularly intimidated by royalty—she had even exchanged blows with the Emperor.
If anything, she was closer to disliking them.
But Blanc was a better person than she had expected.
He neither bullied people by flaunting his status nor displayed the arrogance typical of the imperial family.
True to the rumors about his timid nature, he was visibly nervous.
Still, as time passed, he began to smile little by little, and he now seemed much more at ease.
‘That’s good.’
Even so, Vieta decided never again to casually eat with someone she barely knew, then lifted a napkin and wiped the corners of her mouth.
“Check, please.”
Once the table had been cleared, the server set down tea and refreshments, then took the money Blanc held out and left.
“Can I really eat all the cookies?”
“Don’t worry about it. Eat.”
“You may eat them.”
Since neither Fulcare nor the prince ate dessert, all the cookies belonged to Vieta.
Just as she reached for the pile of cookies,
“Eek—!”
Crash!
A sudden, piercing scream rang out, followed by the sound of something tumbling across the floor.
***
The second-floor lobby of Mama Maria was a place only VIPs were permitted to enter.
In other words, the second floor of this otherwise ordinary restaurant was filled with people who held positions of importance in the Empire.
Most people were careful, since even a minor mistake would quickly become the subject of gossip,
but Charles was utterly unrestrained.
He had just kicked the server who had been attending to his table in the stomach.
The reason was simple.
The way she trembled like a leaf had put him off his food.
“Aah!”
Perhaps she had struck something when she fell, because bright red blood flowed from the woman’s head.
The sight, which would have horrified any ordinary person, only excited Charles further.
“Did you know who I am and still have such an incompetent maid wait on me?”
Charles picked up a plate from the table and hurled it to the ground.
The expensive dishes fell, leaving their marks on the pristine white apron, while the elegant silverware rolled across the wooden floor like trash.
The server’s complexion grew even paler, but Charles paid no attention.
Instead, he half-reclined on the sofa and enjoyed the spectacle.
It was a sight perfectly suited to those idiotic commoners.
But Charles’s crooked smile did not last long.
“You’ve gone too far.”
A brown-haired man had suddenly appeared and dared to stand up to him while supporting the server.
“Too far? I’m a member of the imperial family, and she offended me. Isn’t it fortunate that I’m letting it go with this?”
At the appearance of new prey, Charles’s eyes gleamed as he slowly straightened his upper body.
Judging by his disheveled appearance, he seemed to be the son of some no-name noble who had only just come up from the countryside.
“By the way, who are you? You do know who I am, right?”
As Charles scrutinized the man from head to toe, his eyes fell on the man’s eyes beneath his brown hair.
“Huh? I never thought I’d run into those cursed purple eyes here.”
The corners of Charles’s mouth twisted even further.
Every member of the imperial family, including that wretched Blanc, had eyes like clear amethysts.
But Charles himself was not one of them.
With eyes as black as obsidian, he had been called the Black Cuckoo and treated with contempt for as long as he could remember.
The instant he saw the man’s purple eyes, the inferiority complex he had painstakingly buried deep within himself exploded.
“Did you summon me?”
At Charles’s gesture, one of the knights waiting in the second-floor lobby approached.
“I really don’t like those eyes.”
All the more reason, then, not to let him walk away unharmed.
It was absurd that a mere lowly beggar bastard possessed something Charles himself did not.
After giving the order, Charles stepped back with a bloodthirsty smile.
His loyal subordinate would know how to meet his expectations.
“Understood.”
The knight serving the prince moved with disciplined precision.
The knight drew his sword as fluidly as flowing water, and perhaps frightened by the force of it, the man said nothing.