4. Island Lumentium – 04
– I mean, you seem quite familiar. As if it were someone I had known for a long time.
– Duchess Estelle, have you ever met me in the past?
The princess clearly said this. I think the person you are is quite familiar. And, by any chance, have you ever met yourself in the past?
…That question, no matter how much I thought about it, wasn’t a question out of curiosity. There was a certain conviction in the eyes of the princess who asked me such a question. I assure you, the woman did not ask such a question out of mere curiosity. The princess must have asked such a question to find out something from me. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the unusual look the princess gave at the last moment.
“…..”
Of course, there was no point of contact between a country boy named Cain von Estel, who was born and raised only in the Duchy of Estel, and the princess, who was born and raised in Lumentium, the capital of the empire. Even the palms must meet to make a sound. It is very unlikely that we have met in the past, who are completely different from each other in the region we live in and the way we walk in life.
Yes. For example, the witch who brought winter appeared all over the continent, something like an expedition was organized to subdue him, and the princess and I unluckily belonged to the same expedition.
“…..”
All sorts of thoughts started running through my head. There were many possibilities. If you think about it most rationally, there was a high possibility that the princess’s words were a simple greeting. If it wasn’t that, the floating population of the island is well over 1 million people, so there must be at least one person with a similar impression to me somewhere here. To put it bluntly, this is a more realistic hypothesis.
…But, what if, just in case, what if the princess really remembers the future, though it’s a terrible thing to imagine? What if you had said something about me based on that memory?
“…..”
But sadly, I couldn’t choose the option of getting out of the system right now and returning to the Duke of Estelle. It was because the princess had formally invited me to the banquet to commemorate the founding day. Naturally, it was absurd to ignore her invitation at this point, having even received a polite invitation in the name of the imperial family.
“Cain. Please stretch out your hand. Your robe is crumpled.”
It was then. Arya, who was helping me put on the wedding dress for the banquet, said something to me. I was thinking so gloomy that I forgot that Arya was struggling with the robe behind me.
“Oh sorry. aria.”
When I apologize to her with my sincere words, Arya turns her head away as if it was nothing.
“You don’t have to tell me that. It’s something I have to do!”
By the way, Aria, who said that to me, was also wearing a neat dress, not the maid’s uniform she usually wore to attend the banquet.
“…But me, Cain-sama.”
“yes?”
“Is it really okay for someone like me to wear such classy clothes?”
Aria murmured as she slightly lifted the water-colored dress she was wearing. In fact, the dress Arya wore was a bit luxurious for commoners to wear, but at the same time, it seemed frugal enough in the eyes of nobles. Even if they wanted to buy something expensive in the first place, the Estel family didn’t have that kind of budget.
But even with such a cheap dress on, Arya’s figure was breathtakingly beautiful. Her glossy white hair and azure dress matched well as if the tailor intended and made it from the beginning, and even though she was not wearing a single common accessory, Aria’s body overflowed with elegance that overwhelmed others. It looked like a princess from a remote place visiting an unfamiliar place.
“…ah.”
I wasn’t aware of it when I was wearing maid’s clothes, but when I see her dressed so well, I suddenly realize how beautiful Aria is. Come to think of it, the witch, who could be said to be the grown-up version of Arya, was also stunningly beautiful. As expected, since she was so cute 10 years ago, she must have grown into such an amazing beauty 10 years later.
“…? Are you Cain? Why are you like that? After all, clothes like this don’t suit me?”
When Arya turns to tears and talks to me, I rush to soothe her.
“No, not at all. It suits you very well. really.”
When I speak to Aria with full of sincerity, Aria’s face quickly turns bright.
“…really? Does it really suit you?”
“yes.”
When I expressed my affirmation without hesitation, Aria smiled again, hehehe. It looked so cute that I unknowingly cleared my throat. The original witch didn’t seem to have this kind of personality. After all, he lost his memory and his personality changed like this.
It was then.
kiik-
The door opens. The person who opened the door was none other than my father, Franz von Estel, who had been conquered as a duke for the first time in a long time.
“…seems to have arrived just in time. Is everyone ready to go to the banquet hall?”
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My father looked at me and Aria with an expressionless face and said that. However, I noticed that my father’s gaze, even though it was only for a moment, was slightly shaken as he looked at Aria. After all, it seems that even a great man like his father could not easily maintain his composure while watching Aria.
“I will enter the banquet hall with Your Majesty. So Aria, take good care of Cain at the banquet hall. And Cain.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Don’t buy anything today. please.”
“…..”
****
The National Foundation Day Banquet was a banquet held to celebrate the founding of an empire with the blessings of dragons a thousand years ago. The banquet takes place over three full days. The first day is for the glory of the empire that has lasted for the last thousand years, the second day is for the eternal glory of the emperor who is leading the current empire in the right direction, and the third day is for the hope that the glory of the empire will continue for another thousand years. .
Originally, the banquet of nobles was not such a world full of dreams and romance as commoners imagined. The purpose of holding banquets by nobles was to create a cause for people to gather legally, and when people gathered in one place, insidious and greedy stories were bound to come and go.
However, the atmosphere was quite different today. It was because there were more exciting stories spread among the nobility than talking about gold and power. The story was none other than the story of sloppy love.
And indeed, to my regret, I could not say that the story was my favourite. Because the main character of that damn story was myself. To explain exactly where the word leaked from, the news that Sarah and I were breaking up our marriage was sweeping the entire system. It was the first time since I was born that I had monopolized other people’s attention like this, so I was experiencing real-time unpleasant feelings.
“Oh, is that young man the one from the rumor?”
“Hmm, isn’t Sarah Cernard one of the top five beauties on the continent? Rumor has it, however, that the young man rejected Sarah Cernard first.”
“This is just a rumor, but that young man decided to break off his engagement with Sarah Cernard in order to marry the person he truly loved. And since she was a woman of a really noble class, he didn’t want Sarah Cernard to be by his side. There are rumors that it was not tolerated.”
“This is really nonsense. Isn’t Sarah Cernard the only daughter of Count Cernard? There are probably less than ten women in the Empire who are of a higher rank than her?”
“By the way, the woman the Duke of Estelle has next to her is also truly beautiful. Judging by the way she wears the dress, she looks like a girl from a certain family. Has there ever been a young lady with white hair in the Empire?”
From the moment Arya and I entered the banquet hall to the present, there was never a moment when other people’s gazes left me. The voices talking freely while looking at me about it were so loud that even though I didn’t want to hear them, they were still stuck in my ears. Aria also didn’t think about leaving me while holding my hand tightly, as if this atmosphere was only feeling strange.
And the nobles full of nearby were talking as they wished again while watching such an aria. To be honest, I had a chimney-like desire to run out of this banquet hall even now, but I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if I went outside before the banquet hosted by the princess even started, so I stopped talking nonsense about them. There was no other option but to endure it.
And that was when
“…..”
“…..”
Suddenly, a strange silence fell over the entire banquet hall. The nobles, who were busy talking nonsense about me at a considerable distance, also stopped teasing their tongues and started rolling their eyes while looking this way. And their eyes are full of interest and anticipation for what will happen in the future.
I slowly turned my head back, ignoring the feeling of a truly indescribable ominous feeling. Before long, my pupils clearly reflected the image of a woman staring at me with a stiff face.
gulp-
I don’t know if it came from someone’s throat, but the place was filled with silence so that the small sound filled the banquet hall. And all the audience had anticipation for the sticky love affair that would happen in the future.
“…Cain.”
A voice I know all too well comes from her mouth. However, that voice was ten times colder than the one I was familiar with. It was cool enough to say that it was a northern wind and snow.
Why the hell was she here? The sky just felt resentful. No, should I say that I feel some kind of malice?
“…Sarah.”
In the end, I didn’t have a choice this time either. I sigh softly and look straight at my ex-fiancé, Sarah Cernard, who could be called my fiancée.
“…?”
And Arya, who doesn’t know anything about how this situation is going, was looking at Sarah and me alternately with a puzzled expression.
It was the time of the muddy three-way face-to-face that everyone here had been waiting for so long.