Chapter 20 - An Interpretation (2/2)

“Thurman Palace…”

“You mean the Crown Prince’s Palace?”

“That Thurman Palace.” Dorothea flashed me a wide smile. “Right, Marie?”

“…”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me, and I flushed at the sudden concentration of attention. As I racked my brain on how to get out of this, I suddenly made eye contact with Odeletta, who also looked taken aback. I bit my lips without realizing it.

Dorothea…are you really going to do this?

“Yes, that is correct,” I replied honestly, and tried to give my sunniest smile. “Lady Dorothea’s words are right.”

“Ah, really?”

“Why? Did His Highness invite you himself?”

“Is that alright?”

Then, Dorothea’s voice interrupted the chatter once again. “She danced with the Crown Prince at his birthday banquet. Didn’t you all see it?”

“Oh yes. That happened, didn’t it?”

“I wondered who that lucky young lady was!”

“So you must be dating the Crown Prince.”

Before answering, I surreptitiously stole another glance at Odeletta. Her face was smoothly calm, but beneath it I could sense her shock. Then I happened to look at Dorothea’s face, and I saw her laughing at Odeletta. The moment I saw that, I was so upset that I wanted to ask her if it was alright for her to be so childish, but this was not a problem that could be solved this way.

Instead, I burst out into loud laughter while still keeping the smile on my face.

“Ahahaha!”

As I laughed loudly, I felt all eyes at the table, as well as the nobles from the crowd, focus towards this side. I was embarrassed at the attention, but this was the best way.

“Wait—wait a minute,” I pretended to gasp through my laughter. “Can I laugh for a minute?” After I said that, I cracked up again, and I felt the guests staring at me oddly.

After an uncomfortably inappropriate time had passed, my frivolous laughter began to die down. I still gave small giggles, and then spoke with a smile on my face as if I was going to die of amusement.

“Oh, I’m sorry if that was rude, everyone—but it was so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing.”

“What’s so funny, Lady Maristella?”

“You were all wondering whether I was in a relationship with the Crown Prince.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Is it not true?”

“Of course it’s not true,” I said with wide eyes, as if they had suggested something completely absurd. “I’m flattered by the misunderstanding, but that’s not the case at all. Yes, I accidentally spilled a cocktail on the Crown Prince’s jacket, and I tried to compensate him, but he said it was unnecessary. However, I didn’t think it was polite and wanted to make it up to him. He said he didn’t have a dance partner, so he suggested that I dance with him one time.”

“A-ah, really?”

“Wouldn’t the Crown Prince’s clothes be expensive? He must have been considerate.”

After I finished speaking, I looked around to gauge the reactions of the other young nobles. Fortunately, everyone seemed to forget the absurd idea from the exaggerated laughter. And of course, that wasn’t the end of the story.

“And the invitation to Thurman Palace was to give me back my handkerchief that had been stained when I cleaned his jacket,” I continued to explain. “He could have sent a servant, but he invited me in person. I was so touched. I heard that he had a great personality, but I didn’t know that he was that kind.”

That was a bit of an interpretation. Inviting someone to the palace to return a handkerchief was a little too much for common sense, but when wrapping it up with “The Crown Prince has a great personality,” it sounded more like a generous gesture to everyone.

The young ladies sighed at the Crown Prince over every little thing as usual, and I breathed in relief and glanced over at Odeletta. She looked better than before, but it seemed clear that she paid attention to Dorothea’s words.

I sighed inwardly again and made a note to talk to her. Since Xavier and I really had nothing between each other, it would be unfortunate to continue with this misunderstanding. In fact, I could even introduce Odeletta to Crown Prince Xavier.

“Lady Odeletta,” I ventured carefully, and she answered me in a casual voice.

“Yes. What is it, Lady Maristella?”

“May I talk to you for a moment?”

I had to correct this misunderstanding. This person was the one I wanted to be friends with even more in the future.