“His Majesty wants to have dinner with us.”
The Emperor’s attendant came to see Leone today as well. The Emperor seemed happy to be close to his nephew and wanted to spend time with Leone every day. For the past week, she had been an attendant for a variety of reasons: one day for a walk, one day for a meal, and one day for teatime. Yesterday, he asked him if he would like to see his government affairs together, saying that he would teach him the skills to be cultivated to become an Emperor. Of course, Leone avoided the Emperor with all sorts of excuses. He often ran away when he smelled the Emperor while walking.
“Today, I am taking waltz lessons, and since dancing is a basic skill required for a welcome ceremony- I pay a lot of attention to it, and the lesson time is very long. In the evening, it will be difficult to match the time.”
Leone answered firmly. The servant raised his eyebrows and politely protested.
“Your Majesty is still waiting, so could you give me a moment?”
“Today is difficult. Please tell me that I will definitely visit you separately and that I am sorry.”
Most of the time, it was an excuse that the class was full or that he was tired. Perhaps the Emperor thought it was immature to force his nephew, who was studying hard, so he didn’t bother to cancel class and come see him. That’s good, but… If you refuse at this point, you might find out Leone’s heart. Perhaps it was because he had lived without paying attention to others all his life, but the Emperor was persistent.
“It’s getting harder to say no now, Lord Leone.”
“I know.”
After the attendant left, Leone and she looked at each other and sighed. But on busy days, even a sigh was a luxury. They moved according to schedule. It was the day to try on the formal attire being prepared for the welcome ceremony. It was said that the ‘princess formal wear’ was subtly in vogue in the capital, and Leone was waiting for a completely changed style of clothes.
“I like this outfit.”
“Your Highness, I think this color would suit you better.”
The tailor and Adler were fighting in front of the clothes, claiming what would suit Leone better. Leone looked at them and turned to ask her.
“What do you think of Trixie?”
She looked through her clothes. There seemed to be about ten pieces, but two white, three black, green, purple, and blue… It was so different that it made her eyes dizzy.
“Me? It seems to me… I just think it will all go well together.”
What was the meaning of choosing clothes? No matter what clothes you bring, Leone would eventually wear them. Originally, the clothes that were popular were just dirty clothes, but Leone was able to pull off the shiny clothes with balloon-like sleeves.
“Okay? Trixie’s favorite. I wanted to wear it.”
When would he develop tolerance for Leone’s words and actions? Her heart raced for a second, and she mercilessly slapped her forehead.
Shit.
“Trixie? what’s the matter.”
“There are bugs.”
“Bug? Your forehead is red.”
“It doesn’t hurt, it’s okay.”
Surely. The pain came and it made her feel a little sane. Anyway, Leone decided to try on the clothes that Adler and the tailor each recommended.
“Sir Adler. By any chance, what happened to what I asked for last time?”
As she went to recover, she asked Adler.
“Ah, Trixie. Well prepared. I heard you brought it today, try it.”
The other day, it was a simple banquet where only the Emperor’s acquaintances, who did not show their faces in social circles, gathered together in a small salon, so they didn’t bother. But the welcome ceremony was different. From the capital city, Tennant, to the outskirts close to the Tennant, all the nobility of the Empire would attend. If so, at least one could have remembered Beatrice Giuseppe. It’s already been nearly two years, and since Leone, the main character of the welcome ceremony, stood out so much, I didn’t think I’d catch anyone’s eye… Her unusual hair, blue eye combination, and small body. It was difficult to shake off her worries because of the easy-to-identify impression. Of course, she could wear a cap, but red hair itself was not common.
‘He really doesn’t want to face me.’
Nobles were people who love to laugh, so it was obvious that if they recognized her, they would gossip and laugh at her. Besides, it seemed that the Archduke had found out where she was, so it was dangerous. It was unreasonable for the Archduke to attend because he knew how to dress. She was worried about leaving Leone alone to not attend the welcome ceremony. So she asked Adler to get items for her disguise. Adler readily agreed, saying it was a reasonable concern.
“I don’t think I can use it. Is this right?”
It was a chestnut wig, the most common hair color. Along with the wig, glasses frames were also prepared.
“Not everyone will pay close attention to the lady-in-waiting, so this should be fine.”
“Yes. Then I’ll just tell them to bring it to your room.”
Adler called one of her maids and handed her the box.
“And… Prince Highness. It shines!”
And Leone came out at just the right time. It was a black suit, but unlike the white one, it gave off a strange sexiness. This time, Adler pushed Leone into the dressing room to try on the clothes he was wearing. That’s how Leone had to try on all ten suits in everyone’s torch. And… everything fit so well.
‘As expected, it didn’t make any sense to choose.’
At this point, it was no exaggeration to say that the clothes were being washed by Leone. Lined up ten suits, ‘Which one should I choose? Guess it.’ It was less tiring to choose with your eyes closed while singing.
“Ugh, ugh…!”
The tailor and Adler looked at Leone in pain. She couldn’t quite choose either.
“Even if I’m not familiar with clothes, I can’t even choose a tailor…”
“I know, right.”
“All good, all… something, very little! I feel inadequate! Very little…!”
The tailor tried to tear his hair off. She didn’t know how many hours he had already blown trying on clothes. However, the main character of the welcome ceremony was Leone. That’s why she couldn’t easily dig it out and went on worrying and worrying. Leone, on the contrary, sat there without saying anything, and mainly Adler, the tailor, and a few of her ladies-in-waiting were arguing. Since it was a welcome ceremony close to the debut of the socialite in the capital, everyone seemed to be on edge.
As she watched the scene, she suddenly remembered a person. The person who checked Leone’s appearance from afar and laid out all sorts of styling methods. A child with extraordinary senses!
“Sir Adler! It would be nice to bring Lou!”
“Yes? By Lou, you mean the servant of our house? Why is she…?”
“I think it will solve these problems.”
She smiled.
* * *
“Your Majesty has high expectations.”
A servant with a happy face chattered next to Leone. Leone slowly removed his foot. Trixie was following him. In fact, Leone didn’t know much about shame or the feeling of being sorry. That’s why he didn’t have much problem even if he refused the Emperor’s request again.The reason why he didn’t openly say “no” to the Emperor’s proposal was because he had learned in etiquette class that proposals, especially those of superiors, should be rejected as politely as possible. But today, Adler also came to ask, and Trixie, who was watching the attendant delivering the Emperor’s words, seemed a little nervous, so Leone realized too. It’s a situation that can no longer be avoided.
In the past, he could not avoid the Emperor, so he would have rushed in and bit his neck. No matter how politely he was taught to refuse, he wouldn’t have done it. Leone’s reason for going to meet the Emperor was, as always, only one.
“Every day, how long have you waited for good news…! Haha. In fact, he even said that His Highness the Prince didn’t like him. Are you good at joking?”
The sound of a well-behaved voice was loud.
‘Hate. I hate it terribly.’
Surprisingly, as Trixie held onto him, he was able to suppress even his heart. It was because the time when she was seriously injured and fell asleep because of him came to mind like a panorama. Leone, who was a wolf, realized that he could hurt Trixie, so he decided to become a man and defend Trixie in a human way. As he became a human, he learned many things, but the most shocking of all was the fact that Trixie was in danger because of him. Did he say he was the Archduke of Evans? Adler told him that Archduke Evans would do anything to kill Leone and usurp the throne.
Besides, the sounds of Adler’s fighting with the infiltrators began to be heard quite close. He was getting more and more nervous and couldn’t sleep. The day he finally dealt with countless assassins. The night Trixie was almost kidnapped, Leone thought.
‘Wouldn’t there come a moment when I can’t protect Trixie someday?’
Because of him, wouldn’t the being he loves lose her life again? Why was he such a complicated being? He was not a wolf among wolves, and he was not a human among humans. The lovely beings who barely made it only sacrificed for him. At the end of that thought, Leone thought that in order to protect her, he wanted to rise to the top of his rank among humans. So that she no longer has to sacrifice. So that no one can threaten her with him… He wanted to rise to the top and put Trixie on top. He wanted to put her in the highest seat in the world. Then she would be safe.
Inside the man, the longing to go upward raised its head.
“Come on. Leone.”
So instead of facing the Emperor at the level of putting up with a lot for Trixie, a little more…
“Good evening, Your Majesty.”
He had to go a little further. Just avoiding it won’t change anything.
“It’s good to see your face, sit down.”
“Yes, thank you for the invitation.”
“Let’s not have such a formality among family members.”
But he thought so. ‘Family’ It was so hard to keep his composure in the face of the man who dared to say that word. Even more so than the moment he put on his shirt for the first time.
