Chapter 102 – The elite troops arrive
Ignoring the objections of Maurice and Hannah, me and his highness helped clean the employees’ rooms until dawn.
It was no secret that both me and his highness enjoyed doing this work that we had never done before.
By the time we were done, Maurice made us some tea.
But then, while we were taking a break, we suddenly started hearing some loud noises come from outside the hotel.
We went outside to see what was happening, and then we saw lady Vanette, in the form of a green dragon, and a few people descending from her back.
When one of the people noticed me, she ran towards me.
Three boys that were fifteen to sixteen years old had arrived, as well as one woman in her early twenties.
“Carol?” I couldn’t help tilting my head as I saw her.
“Congratulations on launching this new business, young lady.” Carol gave me a curtsy.
She’s the daughter of the head maid and head chef of the Nogger household. She’s a versatile woman who works both as a maid and as a manners teacher in the orphanage.
She has long black hair, crimson eyes and tanned skin. Carol is definitely a sexy beauty.
“Why did you come, Carol?” I asked her.
“We couldn’t find any suitable woman to answer your sudden summons, young lady, so even if I know I am lacking, I felt like there was no choice but for me to personally come here.” Carol explained.
Well, there’s going to be a lot of manual work to be done in this hotel, so the all-purpose maid, Carol, is definitely going to be a strong force here.
And I suppose it was important to have at least one woman, other than Hannah, working here.
“Maurice, Hannah, a great helper has arrived.” I told them.
After I called out to them, Carol stared at Maurice and Hannah for just a second, before quietly muttering some words that I had never heard she say before, “He is my type.
“Young lady, is it okay if I live here permanently?”
“… Can you wait until the hotel’s management gets on track, at least?” I asked her.
“Of course, young lady.” She replied, then gave a bewitching smile to Maurice, who was cautiously staring at us together with Hannah.
Then, Carol approached them both and did a curtsy that emphasized her curves, “My name is Carol. I hope you can look over me for many years to come.”
Both Maurice and Hannah’s cheeks were died red as they saw Carol’s curtsy.
“We’ll be in your care.” Maurice hurriedly bowed his head, and Hannah quickly followed after her brother.
I think I shouldn’t let Carol keep on staring at Maurice as if he’s prey, so let’s intervene here, “Everyone, this is Maurice, the manager of this hotel; and Hannah, the deputy manager.
“If anything happens, please report it to them immediately.”
The three boys from the orphanage eagerly nodded to my words.
“We’ve made preparations so as to let you store your luggage right away, so please put it on the second floor of the building.” I told Carol and the three boys.
******
After they deposited their small luggage in their respective rooms, everyone gathered in the employees’ cafeteria.
Then, as soon as everyone got inside, blood letters were written on the wall, ‘Did you have breakfast?’
I almost jumped in place when seeing that.
“Wow! What happened here?” One boy asked.
“Eh? Is this easy to erase?” Another boy commented.
“I think our first reaction should be of fear?” The third boy wondered.
The calm words of the boys eased my fear a bit.
“Young lady, what is this?” Carol asked me.
“Those blood letters are written by the Maurice’s mother. They’re her way of communicating with us.” I explained.
Then, the blood letters changed to, ‘I’m sorry for surprising you.’
“Amazing. They disappeared and new letters appeared in their place.” One boy commented.
“Can you draw a dog?” A second boy asked.
“Would a dog be good at creating a scary atmosphere?” The third boy wondered.
I felt confused when seeing such out-of-place remarks come out of their mouth… Besides, there’s hardly anything more eerie than a dog painted with blood.
“Breakfast is ready. Please enjoy it.” Maurice brought us some sandwiches and tomato soup.
“Let me help you, manager.” Carol immediately started helping Maurice out, and the boys quickly followed her, creating a friendly atmosphere.
“New owner, this is fun. I feel like I’m going back to the old days.” Hannah said with tears in her eyes.
“Let’s get these old days back.” I smiled at her.
Hannah smiled back as the tears started freely flowing down her eyes.
She was cute, so I hugged her and stroke her head.
… However, that made her faint, which made me regret my decision. It seems like I’ve done something that I shouldn’t have.
“Our princess strangled the deputy manager!” The three boys screamed in unison.
Carol hit them on the head, “The young lady isn’t strong enough to do this kind of thing.
“The deputy manager must be tired, so let me put her on her bed.” then, Carol picked Hannah up in a princess carry, “Manager, could you show me the deputy manager’s room?”
“Certainly. Though Hannah is heavy, isn’t she? Let me carry her.” Maurice stated as he approached Hannah.
In response, Carol gently moved her head close to Maurice’s ear and whispered, “I’m strong, so it’s alright.”
Maurice immediately went bright red at Carol’s words.
“She is that tempting, huh?” One boy commented.
“Miss Carol is playing with the manager.” Another boy commented.
“She’s not playing with him, she’s locked on her prey.” The first boy replied.
“Let us pray for this poor unlucky man.” The third boy said.
Then, the three of them put their hands together, while Maurice guided Carol and the unconscious Hannah to Hannah’s room.
“Is Carol a problematic maid?” His highness tilted his head.
“Your highness, don’t you know?” One boy asked.
“Miss Carol is the second scariest being out there, losing only to our princess.” Another boy complemented.
“She’s a demon.” The third boy said.
Carol is three years older than me, and she was taught cooking by her father, and maid manners by her mother.
She was also taught self-defense by the head butler, and artistic gardening by our gardener.
… I have to wonder why they consider me scarier than this perfect maid though.
“It is rude to call a woman a demon.” His highness gave a vague answer.
“Come on, let’s finish our meals, then I’ll buy you the things you need, so that you can start working tomorrow.” I told everyone.
“Yes ma’am!” The three boys cheerfully replied.
“I’ll finally become a full-fledged adult.” One boy said.
“I’ll work properly.” Another boy said.
“I’ll make plenty of money.” The third boy said.
The boys’ enthusiasm made me happy.
“By the way, what happened to Michael and lady Vanette?” His highness asked.
I had completely forgotten about it, but they’re not here.
“They said they were tired, so they went back to their rooms to sleep.” One of the boys explained.
And just when I thought it would be nice if they didn’t make much noise this time around, I heard the sound of someone running at full speed, and of a door being flung open.
“Young lady, listen! Grandma is trying to give me a sleeping drug!” Michael exclaimed as he entered the cafeteria.
“It’s just a relaxing tea. You’re exaggerating, Ma.” Lady Vanette, who was chasing after Michael with a cup of tea in hands, said.
“If I relax with this, I’ll fall asleep immediately!” Michael replied.
I think he should sleep right now though.
I was stunned, wondering if it would be better to intervene, so I shifted my gaze to his highness, who yawned with disinterest.
Perhaps we should leave those two alone.
Or so I thought, but after watching the exchange between Michael and lady Vanette for a while, I grew tired of it, so I asked the boys, “He’s being troublesome, so catch Michael.”
“Yes ma’am!” The boys replied in unison, then quickly moved in, surrounded Michael, jumped on him, and held his limbs down.
“Alright, hold him just like that.” Lady Vanette approached Michael and tried putting the tea on his mouth, but he closed his mouth with all his strength.
However, lady Vanette grinned, then pinched Michael’s nose with her fingers.
The boys seemed to pity the struggling Michael, so they averted their gazes.
After a small while, Michael couldn’t hold his breath any longer, so he opened his mouth, which allowed lady Vanette to pour the tea inside it.
“That’s… Cowardly.” As Michael said those words, he fell asleep.
Didn’t her drug act way too quickly?
“Will Michael be okay?” I worriedly asked.
Lady Vanette smiled in response, “He must be tired, so let me throw him in his room.”
Then, as soon as the boys let go of Michael, lady Vanette picked up Michael, put him on her shoulder, then left the cafeteria.
Once we could no longer see lady Vanette, the boys started muttering, “That was one dangerous drug, wasn’t it?”
“I heard that mister Michael has a strange constitution that makes it hard for medicine to work on him.” Another boy said.
“Lady Vanette is scarier than ghosts.” The third boy commented.
Well, I suppose that’s one way of them learning who they shouldn’t disobey.
And now that the disturbance calmed down, his highness yawned again.
“Why don’t you go rest, your highness?” I asked him.
“I think I’m stronger than you.” He replied with very strange words.
“But you have been yawning since a while ago, your highness? Aren’t you sleepy?” I asked.
“I am sleepy, but if I sleep now, I’ll be looking weaker than you, won’t I?” His highness replied.
I do not understand what is the correlation between sleepiness and strength though.
Maurice, who had just arrived together with Carol, smiled, “Please take a break too, new owner”
Carol nodded, “I agree with him, young lady.
“From what I have seen, we don’t have any guests staying at the hotel right now, so please leave this to me and the boys.
“You too, manager, you should go rest, just like the deputy manager went.
“And please do not worry, I can wake you up at noon if you’re worrying about oversleeping.” Carol then gave Maurice a carefree smile.
Maurice scratched the back of his head after hearing her words, he seemed troubled at this suggestion, “I appreciate the concern, but I don’t want to put everything in your hands after you have just arrived at the hotel…”
“Please do not worry. We were allowed to sleep while we traveled on lady Vanette’s back.
“Besides…” As Carol said that, with a swift motion, she placed her hand on Maurice’s cheek and used her thumb to trace the dark circles under his eyes, “I want to heal your fatigue, manager.”
Feeling like I saw something I shouldn’t have seen, I averted my gaze from those two.
The boys also seemed to be averting their gaze, so they probably thought the same thing.
“I appreciate your consideration, Carol.” Maurice said with a calm voice and a wry smile.
Everyone immediately stared at them again when hearing that, as we realized that Carol’s temptation attack failed.
“Brother! You… That’s not…!” Hannah, who apparently woke up, and just entered the cafeteria, covered her face as she shouted that.
Maurice just tilted her head, “If Carol gets tired or is having a hard time, I want to be available, so that she can report to me immediately.
“Being able to answer issues in a timely manner, communicating properly, and being someone the other employees can consult with are all important duties of a manager.
“Though well, those were just things I have inherited from my father.”
Carol took her hand away from Maurice’s face and meekly nodded while saying, “Understood.”
Maurice, Carol and Hannah didn’t seem to have realized it, but the boys’ respect for Maurice seemed to have suddenly soared after this exchange.
******
I seemed to be more tired than I thought, because even though it was bright outside, as soon as I laid down on the bed, I immediately fell asleep.
When I woke up, I heard a lot of noise coming from outside.
I opened the window to look and saw that there seemed to be trouble in front of the hotel.
I quickly got dressed and hurried to the scene.
Once I got there, I saw a trio of men confronting Carol.
“I’ll forgive you if you wash my back in the hot springs!” One of the men said.
“We don’t provide such services here.” Carol replied.
“Huh? What’s with this kind of attitude towards your guests!?” Another man exclaimed.
I saw that the boys were on standby, watching the situation, so I decided to ask the what was happening.
Apparently, this trio of men suddenly came and started making a fuss about how they wanted to use the hot springs.
They were turned down, but they did not give up and kept on pestering Carol.
Also, other townsfolk have come to ask about the hot springs or make reservations to stay at the hotel, so this trio of men are not only being annoying, but also disrupting the business.
So, I walked closer to them, stood right next to Carol, and stated, “I am Yulias, the owner of this hotel, what might be the problem?”
The men started laughing, as if they wanted to make fun of me.
“Such a little girl is the owner?” One of them said.
“There are plenty of problems, missy.” Another of them said.
“How will you fix this, missy?” The third one said.
The boys seemed to be entering fighting stance after hearing the taunts from these men. I suppose they’ll be ready to move at a moment’s notice.
“What specific issues have you found?” I asked the men.
“Everything… Everything!” One man shouted.
“Who would even want to stay at a hotel like this one!?” Another one shouted.
“I’m definitely not paying for this kind of place!” The third one shouted.
At this moment, Carol grabbed the third man by the collar and lifted him up.
“Did you hear that, young lady?” She asked me.
“Yes, of course.” I replied.
The man who was picked up by Carol went pale, and his legs started flapping.
“H-hey! What are you doing!?” He shouted.
“Does this hotel use violence against its guests!?” Another man shouted.
Carol gave a bewitching smile to these men who were making a fuss, “This person is not a customer.” Then giggled.
The men did not seem to understand what she meant, so she continued, “People unwilling to pay are not customers. They’re just nuisances who interfere with our business, and will therefore, be handed over to the local authorities and be dealt with accordingly.”
The man who had gone pale shouted, “V-violence is never the answer!”
“Oh dear, please do not worry, for I am not using violence. I just caught a nuisance that was interfering with our business. I did not do any violent act, such as punching or kicking.” Carol told him.
At this moment, I smiled and told all three men, “So, would you please tell me, in detail, what were the exact things you had issue with? To the point you didn’t even want to stay at my establishment?
“If you cannot give me a detailed explanation, then I’ll have to assume you never had any intentions of paying in the first place, and instead just came here to sabotage my business.
“In that case, I’ll have no choice but to ask you to pay a very generous compensation fee.”
All three men went pale and started trembling at this point.
At the same time, the actual customers who were nearby, waiting until the commotion was over, started applauding.
Then, the remaining two men seemed to have noticed that the current mood was really bad for them, so they tried running away.
“Customers do not run away, do they?” I muttered.
The boys immediately reacted to my words and rushed towards the two men and pinned them down.
“Miss Carol, if someone acts violently against us, it is okay to hit them in self-defense, right?” The boys asked Carol, who was now pinning down the man that she had been holding by the collar.
“I know you’re good boys, but it can’t be helped if you break one, two, ten or twenty bones when handling people who went berserk.” Carol replied.
“We’ll handle people who go berserk appropriately!” The boys replied.
The three men fainted at this point.
I figured now was a good time to address the actual customers, so I started speaking, “I apologize for this inconvenience, my dear customers.
“The hot springs will open in a week, but I’d like to do something to make up to you, as you had to see such a scene right in front of my hotel.
“Therefore, for today only, why don’t you all come inside and use the bath? Free of charge.
“And if you like the experience, please tell your family and friends about it.”
Hearing my words, Carol quickly handed over the man that she captured to the boys, then started guiding the customers inside.
The boys then asked me if they should just get rid of the captured men or if the nuisances should be handed over to the guards instead.
“For now, let’s contact the guards. We need their help to figure out who was it that paid those men to interfere with my business.
“There are plenty of witnesses here in case they ask if you have any proof, so remember to tell that to the guards.
“Also, tell them that his highness is here, at hotel Charlotte, and that he is personally interested in finding out who is trying to mess with the hotel, alright?” I told the boys.
“Yes ma’am!” They replied, then cheerfully carried the men towards the guards.
******
After that, I went back inside the hotel, had some tea prepared for me, then started waiting while drinking it.
Shortly after the tea was ready, his highness woke up.
To get some small talk going, I told him about what had just transpired, but his highness became angry as he heard about it.
“It’s dangerous to handle those things directly! You should have called me or Michael!” He told me.
“But Carol is the number one apprentice of my store’s manager, you know? She is pretty strong, as she is Michael’s senior apprentice.
“The boys are pretty strong too, as they’re Carol’s apprentices, so I felt safe when near them.” I explained.
His highness muttered something in response, seemingly frustrated at my words.
… I suppose he remembered the store manager that often tied Michael with a rope.
“… Am I this unreliable” His highness asked me.
His frustrated face was cute…
“It’s not that you’re unreliable, your highness, it’s just that Carol too is worth relying on.” I replied.
His highness hung his head, seemingly at a loss for words.
After a small while of silence, he asked, “How many people are there in your house’s special forces?”
“Well…” I muttered.
“Do you, their lady, not know?” He seemed to be quite confused, but also surprised.
I think it can’t be helped that I don’t know it though.
I mean, in the first place, Carol and Michael were supposed to just teach manners and general education to the children at the orphanage.
To put it simply, I never attempted to create any special forces.
“Anyways, the boys took those men to the guards and… Ah, I should apologize to you, your highness.” I told him with a wry smile.
“What for?” He seemed to be have gotten quite wary after hearing my words.
“You don’t need to be this worried.” I told him.
“Something must have happened to make you wish to apologize to me.” He replied.
“It’s nothing big, but I asked the boys to get the help of the guards on investigating who instigated this business sabotage, and I told them that they should say that this was done on ‘his highness’ order… I’m sorry for using your name like that. Did I overstep my boundaries?” I explained.
His highness stared at me with a dumbfounded expression, “No, it’s fine… Or rather, I think it’s fine for you to use the means available to you, if it means you’ll be heard after someone attacks your business.”
His words gave me a bit of relief, but… Coming to think of it, I used his name really naturally. That’s not something I would have done before coming to this hotel.
“… I think I may have gotten used to being spoiled by you, your highness. I’ll be more careful with that in the future.” I told him my sincere thoughts.
But when I looked at his face, I saw his highness covering his mouth with one hand and averting his gaze.
“Your highness?” I asked.
Even though I was properly apologizing, his highness was trying his best to stifle a laugh… He muttered something, but I couldn’t quite understand it.
I was about to ask him what all this meant, but then the boys returned to the hotel, and they brought three strong men with them.
“Your highness, one of the guards wants to report directly to you.” One of the boys told us.
“That’s why we brought them here.” Another boy said.
In contrast to the light-hearted boys, I could see that the guards were very tense.
“I’m the guard captain! My name is Rosmond! It’s an honor to meet you, your highness…” One of the guards started saying.
It seemed like he could go on for a while, so his highness cut him off, “There’s no need to spend too much time in pleasantries.
“So, did those men say why they came to interfere with this hotel’s business?”
The guard captain took a deep breath, “They said that they were offered a large sum of money, and that they would be paid even more if they did a good job.
“They don’t know who hired them though, for the person was wearing a cloak that covered their faces. They only know that it was a man.”
It was within expectations, though I have to wonder why they’d accept a request from such a suspicious person. Did they seriously not imagine that they’d be handed over to the guards?
If one only thinks about short-term profits, then they’ll surely lose money in the long run.
“Shall we try catching the hooded man?” His highness suggested.
“Do you know who the hooded man is?” The guard captain’s eyes shone when hearing his highness’ words.
“No, I do not.” His highness replied.
The guard captain was visibly disappointed by that reply.
His highness gave him a suspicious smile in response, “For now, let the people who interfered with the business go.
“They said that they’d be paid more if they did well, right? In that case they’ll surely be contacted by the hooded man again.”
“It would be troublesome if the hooded man escaped once he was sighted though.” I commented.
His highness snorted, “Your special forces can surely handle that too, can’t they?”
The boys immediately rose their hands as they heard his highness’ words, “Mister Michael has been teaching me how to tail someone!”
“I’m good at it too!” Another boy said.
“I’ve never been able to tail mister Michael for long, but I can easily tail normal people!” The third boy stated.
… Strange.
Michael was just supposed to teach them general knowledge. Why are the children receiving this kind of training in the orphanage?
“I was joking, but it seems like earl Nogger’s family really trains special forces, huh?” His highness muttered with an astonished face.
I want him to understand that I’m surprised by this too though.
“Your highness, you’re wrong! This isn’t special forces training! It’s training to catch shoplifters red-handed!” One boy replied.
“If they’re a group of shoplifters, then we’ll follow them to their hideout!” Another boy said.
“Shoplifting is a crime! Absolutely not allowed!” The third boy said.
Somehow, I felt a motherly happiness when seeing how far those children have grown.
“But it could be dangerous…” His highness muttered. He seemed to still be reluctant about their participation.
The three boys all said, “We can do it!” in response.
They’re already 15 to 16 years old, so they’re surely old enough to do this kind of task, but I’m worried that they might not be ideal for tailing because their faces have already been seen by the troublemakers.
“I want you to focus on taking care of the hotel. I’ll ask Michael to do the tailing.” I told them.
“Eh?” All three boys said.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that your faces were already seen by the troublemakers that came here earlier.
“The only ones whose face weren’t seen were his highness, Michael and lady Vanette.
“Among those options, the only one suitable for tailing should be Michael.” I explained.
His highness and the boys seemed troubled at my explanation though.
“What’s the problem?” I tilted my head.
His highness sighed, “Michael is still sleeping, due to lady Vanette’s drug.”
I was dumbfounded by that comment.
His highness avoided my gaze, “Lady Vanette told me that he won’t wake up until the evening.”
… Just how strong was that drug?
And just as I started pondering about what to do next, the hotel’s door was opened.
The people who came inside were two beautiful women… No, not quite. They were my two bodyguards in disguise, Rucharu and Bariga.
“The perfect people have returned.” His highness grinned.
The two of them stared at his highness with disgust.
“I just came back to deliver the report you requested. What do you want now?” Bariga glared at his highness as he said that.
The scene was quite picturesque, to be honest, probably because of my escort’s beautiful disguise.
“I’d like the two of you to tail some men who came to interfere with Yulias’ business.” His highness explained.
The moment they heard his highness’ order, Rucharu and Bariga approached me with worried expressions.
“Are you injured?” They both asked me with their beautiful faces.
“I’m alright.” I replied.
Seemingly relieved by my words, the two of them went back to glaring at his highness.
“I don’t want to let lady Yulias be without her escorts in case another dangerous situation occurs, so I refuse.” Bariga said.
“Our highest priority is to protect lady Yulias.” Rucharu said.
They were smiling and their words were polite, but there was real power behind their eyes right now.
However… “I’m sorry for being selfish, and I’m really happy that you two are worried for me, but I could I ask you to please tail these men?
“If we don’t catch the main culprit, then I won’t be able to ask them for a compensation fee.
“… Or rather, I won’t be able to run this hotel with a peace of mind if that happens.” I told them.
Rucharu and Bariga immediately nodded to my words, and said, “Understood.”
His highness seemed bothered by that exchange, “I was the one who asked you to escort Yulias, you know? You’re still my subordinates.”
The two looked at his highness with visible disgust in their expressions.
“That’s why we went in your undercover investigation, right?” Rucharu said.
“Your highness pushes his employees too hard.” Bariga sighed.
They were both openly complaining.
“Anyways, I would like you to have a proper meeting with the guard captain to get details about what happened, then start working towards capturing a hooded man.” I told them.
Rucharu and Bariga looked at each other after I said that, then Rucharu said, “There was a hooded man among the people who came and went to the Aino mansion.”
“If we catch him and make him testify about his connection to the Aino household, then we win?” Bariga asked.
I don’t know about winning, but that should be enough to allow me to ask for a compensation.
“As expected, earl Aino’s family was involved with this… What did you even do to them, Yulias?” His highness sighed.
The two escorts seemed annoyed at that comment.
“Don’t you realize that it’s your fault, and not lady Yulias fault?” Bariga commented.
“The unaware popular boy is annoying.” Rucharu said.
Rucharu used a bad word there.
“It’s my fault?” His highness asked with a dumbfounded expression.
Rucharu and Bariga nodded with absolutely cold expressions.
“According to our investigation, we have figured out that Michelle Aino wishes to replace lady Yulias.” Rucharu explained.
“Your highness’ proposal to lady Yulias involved asking her to manage the country with you, so there are many women who think that they can take lady Yulias place for as long as they have good management skills.
“Therefore, they want to make lady Yulias fail at managing this hotel, so as to make your highness’ faith in lady Yulias’ management skills falter, giving them a chance to take her spot.” Bariga told us.
A deep wrinkle was formed between his highness’ eyebrows.
“I also heard from servants at the Aino territory that his highness in love not with lady Yulias, but with her management skills instead, so this thought seems to have spread even to the lower classes.” Rucharu added.
“The current thoughts of Michelle Aino seem to revolve around the idea that her management skills are good enough, and that she is cuter than lady Yulias. She seems to believe that her appearance should give her enough of an advantage if she was able to make your confidence on lady Yulias falter.” Bariga added.
Since I first met miss Aino, I always thought that she was a bit hard to understand, but I had assumed that she was just a child with a lot of positive thinking… But now, I am finally understanding what her goals were.
“I didn’t get engaged to Yulias just because of her management skills. That woman is out of her mind.” His highness squeezed my hand tightly, stared directly at my eyes and said, “I love you.”
I felt my face heat up at this sudden confession, “H-hey, what are you saying in public!?”
I was really embarrassed, so I tried shaking off his hand, but his highness grabbed me firmly and refused to let go.
“This is better than being misunderstood!” His highness exclaimed.
I don’t want him to show his masculinity in a place like this.
“… I am not misunderstanding, so please let go of my hand.” I told him.
I wanted to cover my face with both of my hands, but it was impossible because he was holding my hand tightly.
I had no choice but to bury my face on my knees.
“Lady Yulias, you are so cute!” My escorts exclaimed.
… Let’s ignore that.
In any case, I really wanted his highness to let go of my hand, but he squeezed it even harder instead.
It seems like I have no choice but to create an opportunity that would make him let go of my hand.
So, I glanced up at his highness’ face, but… He had such a warm smile in his face, that I almost melted while looking at him. It was hard to do anything in this situation.
Moreover, his highness kissed my fingertips, which made me freeze in place.
“Hyah!” A small scream came out of my mouth.
“Ever since we came to this hotel, you have been way too cute, Yulias.” His highness happily started trying to envelop me in a sweet atmosphere.
I tried looking around to see if I could ask for help, but…
The guards were smiling while looking at me; the boys were looking out the window, so as to not see the situation; and the guard captain seemed to be trying to blend with the background, pretending he wasn’t here.
I wanted help, but nobody was willing to offer me a helping hand.
“Alright, if I start emanating an aura that I absolutely love you, Yulias, and that nothing can change my mind, then the people around us should surely understand that nobody other than you can become my fiancee.” His highness told me.
“Wait! What are you going to do to exude an aura of love!?” I asked him.
“What do you mean with that…?” HIs highness asked.
I then looked at his highness’ hand, which was still interlinked with mine.
If he told me to always hold hands with him, that would definitely be too much for me.
“Your highness, I don’t think I can handle holding hands in public for long.” I told him honestly.
His highness tilted his head, “But if you can’t even stand holding hands, then there isn’t much that we can do.”
His words made me start thinking about things that could be done in public that would make his affection clear just from looking at us.
“Wouldn’t a gift work?” Rucharu suggested, and the people surrounding us immediately nodded, seeming to think that’s a good idea.
His highness disagreed though, “No way. The gifts that Yulias would be happy with would be things like laws that help her business out, contracts, monopoly rights… That would totally make it look like we have a marriage of convenience.”
Rucharu sighed as he stared at me with a pitying gaze… Isn’t that too rude?
Bariga then added, “Even if his highness tried other types of gifts, it probably wouldn’t work.
“Stuff like dresses and accessories are frequently donated to lady Yulias by smaller merchants, so they are completely unnecessary.”
Bariga’s words made his highness wrinkle his eyebrows, “That’s the first I heard of that.”
“There are people who want to discuss the design of new dresses and accessories with me, so they often give me one as a gift to let me better analyze the product.” I explained.
Moreover, there is an urban legend that says that any accessory or dress that I wear at a ball or tea party will inevitably sell well, so I often get letters from people asking me to wear their products.
Well, I only wear what I like, but this constant influx of gifts made me have very little attachment to dresses and accessories. I’m mostly interested in designs that sell.
“You’re really popular, Yulias…” His highness muttered.
“I don’t want to hear that from you, your highness.” I replied.
The people that come to me do so due to commercial reasons, but the ones that go to his highness do so to earn his favor.
Even if the definition of ‘popular’ applied to me, there would still be a difference akin to heaven and earth between me and his highness.
“Well, the easiest way to do this is by holding hands, so please give up on resisting and get used to it, Yulias.” His highness told me.
I would like to avoid people misunderstanding my relationship with his highness, but… This is still too embarrassing.
Still… I suppose I have no choice but to do my best.
So, I tightly grasped his highness’ hand, which was still holding mine.
I didn’t expect that today’s meeting would lead to the guard captain start spreading the word about how much his highness loves his fiancee…