Vol. 3 - Chapter 103 - Katariona Participates in the Royal Ball (Part 1)
Author-nim: Like Rio, I sometimes buy clothes that I like in different colors.
The day of the Royal Ball has finally arrived.
Due to the large number of people attending the Royal Ball, the Magic Academy is temporarily closed today.
The townhouse was busy since early morning.
"Will she be going too?"
While Marie was polishing my nails, I was taking care of May.
She never leaves me, not even when I\'m getting ready, so Mother asked me to take care of her.
"You are right. I have to ask her to stay at home. ......"
"Ya--! May is going with sister!"
That\'s what I thought. The plan is to leave in the evening, so I\'ll try to get her to sleep and sneak out, but I\'m worried if she\'ll cooperate.
"Don\'t be so selfish, May. I\'ll follow her as an escort."
"Fluffy will be with sister. Always?"
Leon\'s words somehow calmed May, who had been squirming.
"That is right. That\'s why I\'m quietly keeping her company."
"That\'s good, then!"
May smiled and started to pet Leon.
Eh! Is this okay!?
What exactly happened to Leon and May\'s relationship that caused such trust?
I already knew that May was the reincarnation of the God of Creation, but did she have memories of being a God already?
I glanced at May, and she looked at me with an innocent smile.
"I see an angel."
"You\'re a sis-con. Rio, you really are."
A sister-complex is fine. May is just too cute! An angel.
"Which color would you like your dress to be, Milady?"
Marie brought two dresses from the closet, which had been recently made, and held them out in front of me.
A lace ribbon was fastened at the waist where a floral corsage once was.
"Marie, can you show me the back of the dress?"
The dress reversed to reveal a back bow with a flower corsage.
They really took my opinion into account, I realized.
The blue gradient dress and the moss green dress were princess line. However, the flowers on the back ribbon and the shape of the skirt cut-outs were different. Laura and Marie must have paid close attention to this and changed it.
"Which do you think is better?"
Unsure, I asked Leon.
"I think moss green would suit you better."
I was taken aback. I was expecting him to ask for my preference of dress.
"Well then, I\'ll go with moss green. Marie, would you mind picking out some accessories to match?"
"Yes, ma\'am."
Marie put the dress on the stand and went to the closet to pick out the accessories.
"Leon, why did you choose this dress?"
"It is the color of the forest. It is the color that represents the forest and is appropriate for my family member, Rio."
"I was surprised because I felt like I was being told to wear my own color."
"Hey, Leon. What do you think about a dress with two colors, blue and gold?
"Half blue and half gold? I don\'t think that\'s a good idea."
That\'s not what I meant. The dress was based on the image of Leon\'s odd eyes, but Leon was dense.
"Wouldn\'t it look better if the dress was made of blue fabric with gold thread embroidery?"
Marie, who had come out of the closet with a selection of decorations, suggested.
I imagined something along those lines. I knew that Marie had great taste.
"The embroidery could be on the hem of the skirt or on the edge, with a pattern that looks like a forest. Let\'s do that for the next dress we order."
Marie seemed to have understood my thoughts.
"Fluffy is strange."
Where did you learn that word, May?
We held a family meeting in the carriage on the way to the Royal Ball.
"Rio has been invited to speak to Princess Christina, so you must stay with her at all times. Father and Mother will be close by after the audience and greetings."
"Your mother will try to find out from Her Highness. Beatrice didn\'t say anything about it at the tea party the other day."
Beatrice is the name of Her Royal Highness. My mother and the queen are good friends, so sometimes they forget to use honorific titles sometimes.
"I will be accompanying His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I\'ll let you know as soon as there\'s any movement. Besides, I have a few things bothering me."
In front of family, my brother calls him the Crown Prince instead of his nickname, Rick.
"Something bothering you? What is it? Big brother."
He pondered a bit and then opened his mouth.
"It\'s about the crown prince\'s bodyguard knight. He sometimes sneaks around with the crown prince to talk about something. If that was all, I would have just assumed it was business and would not have minded."
According to my brother\'s story, he happened to pass under a tree behind the school building on an errand for the student council and saw the Crown Prince.
When he approached the Crown Prince to talk to him, he heard their conversation and immediately hid himself in the shadows.
They said, "Miss Charlotte of Baron Campbell\'s family has not yet shown any signs of entering the Magic Academy. There is no way to be sure if she will manifest light magic at this point."
Hearing this, I felt my skin crawl. A worst-case scenario crossed my mind.
"They know that Charlotte will eventually awaken light magic?"
Or are they pointing out that Charlotte, who has no attributes, has the potential to develop light magic, but has not yet entered the academy?
We should anticipate the worst-case scenario and think of a countermeasure for the former.
"Brother, when did that happen?"
I restrained my trembling voice and asked my brother.
"I\'m sorry it took me so long to tell you. I went to the school in the morning to do some errands. That\'s when I heard about it."
Despite my attempts to control it, I still began to tremble.
"Rio, are you okay? You don\'t look so good. You should go home. Let\'s go back."
My mother, worried, squeezes my hand.
"No, I\'m not. Mother, I\'m fine."
I have to make sure.
I have to be sure, in case Charlotte knew that she would eventually awaken light magic.
Another human being fell into the reincarnation belt tear with me .......
Is it the crown prince? Or is it the knight escort?
"You do not need to push yourself too hard, Rio."
Leon in his cat form puts his paw on my shoulder. It\'s like I\'m being pampered by a cat.
"Don\'t worry, Leon. I just want to see for myself."
For now, Leon is disguised as a cat, but when he arrives at the palace, he plans to change into a human and pretend to be a knight escort.
I hugged Leon. His fluffy fur touches my cheek and makes me ticklish. As long as he is fluffed up like this, I\'ll calm down sooner or later.
"Big brother. Do you know the name of the crown prince\'s escort knight?"
"I believe his name is Will."
No! In my previous life, it was Sir Albert and Sir Clive who were the Crown Prince\'s escort knights. His name was not Will.
Why didn\'t I notice that?
I was so focused on avoiding the Crown Prince that I didn\'t pay heed to my surroundings.
When I told my family about it, my brother nodded.
"All right. I\'ll look into Sir Will for you."
"Brother. Take it easy, okay?"
He smiled and patted me on the head.
"I\'m doing this for my little sister. You don\'t have to worry about me. It is a good thing I learned the art of espionage from the head butler for times like this."
A black smile appeared on my brother\'s face.
Ever since learning from the head butler about the management of the estate, he may have learned what espionage entails at that time.
"Rio, do you think that the Crown Prince kid or Will or some other escort knight is the one who fell into the tear of the reincarnation belt?"
Leon gave me a look that said he knew exactly what I was thinking.
"It\'s very possible," I replied, "I\'m just making a worst-case scenario assumption based on what brother said he heard. My fears may be unfounded."
"No. No, I don\'t mean to make you upset Rio, but I think it\'s better to consider the worst-case scenario."
Leon worried about me, but he seemed to be expecting the worst.
We decided to collect information at the Royal Ball.
But please be careful .......
[!