The Princess' Bedroom Doll

Jamela closed the glass door and went out. Despite her desire to lean against the door, she moved her feet calmly. Suddenly a voice was heard.

“Lady Jamela?”

“…Princess? Have you changed your clothes already?”

“I’m wearing thick clothes, so I just need to change my top.”

“Ah, I see.”

Raha glanced behindJamela and asked.

“Who’s chasing you?”

“No.”

Jamela cleared her throat.

“I was in a hurry to get here because I was afraid to leave the Princess alone for a long time.”

“Is that so? You didn’t have to. Thank you.”

“Well then…..are you ready to go back? I’ve got champagne and tea ready.”

Raha, who was looking at Jamela with an immense expression, said.

“I suppose the tea will end the meal.”

“Yes? Yes. …… Did you have enough to eat?”

Jamela asked a little nervously. There was no worse nightmare than the lack of hospitality of the host who led the feast.

It made Raha almost laugh.

Jamela had a perfect attitude of a noble lady, but sometimes she was surprisingly nervous when Raha asked back as if something was not to her liking. In fact, Raha had never had a complaint against Jamela. Perhaps it was the unavoidable attitude of the nobles toward the royal family. Moreover, it was because she was the future empress.

 “I like the meal. So it would be a shame if we had to end it already.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jamela’s face finally filled with relief. Raha looked around the spacious crystal greenhouse. Since Jamela was still in the status of the emperor’s fiancée, she couldn’t fix it up extensively. There were still traces of the previous empress.

“You look different. Like you’re going to cry.”

Shed’s words suddenly came to her mind. She was sure it was a joke, but she didn’t know why the words suddenly lingered in her head.

Who cries…. 

Raha asked while looking at the beautiful crystal ceiling.

“Young lady.”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Did the two talk a lot?”

She asked because she knew Jamela went back to the two men in the dining area earlier. Jamela was silent for a moment, then opened her mouth with a smile.

“Yes, Princess. Master Rosain is a talker. He was having a chat with the royal lord.”

“Then let them keep talking.”

“Yes?”

“As you know, he doesn’t have many same gender friends to talk to in the inner palace.”

Jamela’s face hardened in bewilderment. She was well aware that the inner palace Raha referred to was where the slaves stayed. Feeling embarrassed, Jamela cleared her throat.

“The Princess is very considerate of the royal lord.”

Raha chuckled.

“Is that so? Perhaps it’s because he’s my fiancé.”

“Then shall we go over there? The pond I mentioned the other day, we drained out all the old water and filled it with new water. I thought it would be nice to have a tea party there, so I placed crystal lights there. That’s what they say they do on the eastern continent.”

While Karzen was away at war, Jamela would sometimes talk to Raha about the crystal greenhouse. First of all, because the authority of the hostess of the palace was officially in the hands of the princess. It was a separate issue from the fact that it didn’t matter whether Raha took it all or not. She went along with Jamela as she showed her various redecorated parts.

In the meantime Jamela noticed a fact. The Princess seemed to like the royal lord more than it showed.

What had happened during the week they were together? Jamela took a breath, feeling her ears turning red.

Then she thought of something else.

“…….”

She was very unfamiliar with the sight of the Princess, who had always been as cold as a statue poured into a plaster mold, suddenly smiling while talking about her fiancé.

* * *

“So, they are looking around the greenhouse?”

“Yes, Master Ligulish.”

The servant answered politely to Rosain’s question. This greenhouse was vast and it was an exclusive place for the Empress. Moreover, there were so many precious shrubs with tall trees and diverse colored flowers. It was beautiful, but the visibility distance was not good.

“Can you take me and the lord to the Pincess….”

Rosain said as he looked at Shed who was sitting across from him

“My lord, would you like to have a cup of tea first?”

“No.”

Shed stood up and looked around.

“I will find the Princess.”

* * *

“Count Paltz is certainly very skilled.”

Jamela thought as she looked up at the overgrown trees. It was so full of all kinds of rare trees that even she, who grew up seeing all the good things as a noble woman, was dazzled several times. Looking around, she tried not to think about Rosain.

“Jamela.”

The familiar voice was suddenly heard startling Jamela greatly. She stepped back and almost fell, but her arm was caught.

“Rosain?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Because you appeared so suddenly…..where’s the royal lord?”

 “He’s over there.”

Jamela looked in the direction Rosain had pointed. Along the white gravel path that had formed between the tall shrubs, the royal lord was seen striding towards the pond. And there sat Raha by the pond.

“Let us go there too.”

“….. yes.”

Jamela grabbed Rosain’s arm and walked slowly.

The pond itself was close by, with only tall shrubs blocking the view.

Dozens of beautiful crystal lights floated in the pond, though not as beautiful as they looked at night when it was still daybreak. Each one was a very expensive decoration with magical power. Originally lit for a tea party appropriate for an evening time.

The lights scattered along the crystals, which were cut at various angles, were dazzling, even though the sky was bright.

“Raha.”

Raha lifted her face at the sound of Shed’s voice. She blinked.

“Why did you come?”

“Because you didn’t come back.”

“I thought I should let you and master Ligulish talk.”

“Talk?”

Shed clicked his tongue.

“If you sent me to seek information about the Count, you should have told me in advance.”

“It’s not like that. Because you don’t have anyone to talk to in the inner palace.”

That did not mean that Oliver was not as chatty as before.

“And The Ligulish is not involved in politics, but just a noble family so there’s nothing to seek.”

“So you avoided me. It’s a very gratifying thoughtfulness that brings tears to my eyes.”

The sarcastic Shed sat idly by Raha’s side.

“Were you sitting here alone, looking at the pond?”

“It was prettier than I thought it would be.”

Jamela looked somewhat puzzled as to what she had seen. The couple was looking at the pond lovingly side by side.

“I’m thinking about asking the Young lady for one crystal light.”

“Which one?”

“I couldn’t decide because there were so many colors.”

“What color do you like?”

“Ummm….”

These crystal lights were floating peacefully on the calm water. There were no ponds in the gardens of the Princess Palace, but there was a river. Of course, if you float it on the river water, the crystal light will be swept far away…. It would not be a bad idea to float flowers on a water basin made of white stone.

But she thought she would never come back to this fire garden again so she wanted a souvenir.

Raha looked at the crystal lights, which were shining in a variety of different colors.

“Right now I like the blue-gray one the best.” 

It was a neat answer. The hand that Shed had been wrapped around Raha’s back from earlier was now straining. Still he said nothing and shifted his gaze to Raha. She was still looking carefully at the crystal lights.

Shed’s eyes were especially intense as he looked at Raha. So much so that Jamela’s cheeks were hot as she looked at them for no great reason after already instructing the servants to lay a new tea table here.

The swift servants had already called the orchestra over here, so their voices probably wouldn’t reach there.

Jamela, apparently with a sense of relief, turned her attention to Rosain. Then she gently raised one eyebrow.

“……?”

It was because Rosain brought an unopened bottle of champagne in one hand. He was normally polite and dignified but now he looked like a madman carrying around a bottle of liquor at the Imperial Palace in broad daylight.

“Why did you bring it?”

“Isn’t this what you like? You brought it on purpose.”

“It was served by the imperial cook, and it was a long time ago that I liked that champagne, Rosain Ligulish.”

It was a champagne that Jamela naturally stayed away from because it was overly sweet. To be precise, she never drank it at banquets, but drank it at home when she ate alone.

“There are no nobles here. And I don’t think the royal lord would start a rumor about me bringing you something to drink.”

“I won’t drink it.”

“Then keep it for later.”

“You’re just as stubborn as you were a child.”

Jamela inevitably picked up a glass filled with champagne. But she did not take a sip. Rosain eventually burst out laughing.

“You’re still a perfectionist, aren’t you?”

“Because this is what I’ve learned.”

“Many others have learned as well. But just because you’ve learned it doesn’t mean you’re good at everything, does it?”

Rosain looked as impressionable as ever.

“No matter how much I think about it, the Emperor will be the happiest husband.”