Drop!! ～A Tale of the Fragrance Princess～

Volume 06, Act 59: The Evening Party Brings a Stormy Premonition Part 2

Translator: Blushy

Editor: delishnoodles

However, Cordelia’s insight had been overly optimistic.

She was really grateful that they gave her a lot of attention…

(But I feel like my throat is starting to hurt.)

Whenever she attended tea parties with Nirupama, she was often the listener, when she talked with Vernoux, they talked the same amount and when she talked with Hazel, Hazel did most of the talking.

She had talked a lot at her coming of age ceremony, but the fatigue she had felt at that time had to do with her nervousness. However, she could talk with people slowly now unlike the last time, so they kept asking her short questions and she didn’t have time to rest her mouth.

(It’s also exhausting to be the hottest topic.)

Nirupama-obasama is quite talkative, but I’ve never seen her act tired from talking. I need to get used to this too after all. It seems like I have to work hard.

(But, I’m thirsty…)

It happened when she thought that.

“Would you like something to drink, Milady?”

“Excuse me?”

“Just kidding. How is it? Are you having fun?”

“My, Vernoux-sama.”

The women around her raised their voices when Vernoux spoke to Cordelia from among the crowd of people. Vernoux didn’t pay attention to those women, but he had an amused expression on his face, so it seemed like he had been gazing at the situation for a long time.

Vernoux had spoken jokingly and had presented the glass in his hand to Cordelia as if it was nothing.

At the same time, the women naturally distanced themselves from Cordelia.

They had done that because Vernoux was the son of a Marquis, but also because they concluded that it was better to give her time to moisturise her throat since she had been talking nonstop. 『We’ll talk to you later』they said before they left.

Vernoux put his own glass to his lips and Cordelia also drank the glass that she had been given.

“I had pretty good timing, didn’t I?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

“Give me back something in return. Anyway, something interesting happened, didn’t it?”

“I appreciated some things. But I’m not the only person who has something interesting happen to them.”

“Really?”

Some of the ladies were looking over at Cordelia and Vernoux while blushing. They probably weren’t looking at Cordelia, but at Vernoux. She had already gotten too used to him, but she realised once again that he was someone who made the ladies blush.

“It seemed fruitful.”

“Yes. It was quite fun to talk to different people.”

“Different people?”

Cordelia raised her eyebrows since his words seemed to have a hidden meaning behind them.

“Don’t look at me like that. I just think you’re right.”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, His Highness is also here. Myles is His Highness’s classmate.”

“Eh?!”

“Of course, he’s incognito. A lot of people really came, didn’t they?”

She wanted to think that he was joking, but when she looked where he was looking, she certainly saw a young man with black hair.

That was definitely Prince Sylvester.

Clive was by Sylvester’s side, and the other people around them seemed to be paying attention to Sylvester as well, but they didn’t seem surprised that he had come. She felt like she was the person who was the most surprised by this as far as she could tell.

(When the heck did he get here?)

Cordelia hadn’t noticed him arrive at all.

“It’s not that unusual. This isn’t the first time he’s gone incognito. When His Majesty was young, he would attend evening parties when the opportunity presented itself.”

“I, I see…”

“You seem surprised.”

“Because I never heard that he would be here.”

Rather, why aren’t you surprised? Come to think of it, it was Vernoux-sama who recommended that I come to the Gunnel evening party.

(… No, I’m thinking too much. Vernoux-sama isn’t trying to make His Highness and I meet.)

He doesn’t benefit at all from introducing me to His Highness.

To begin with, Prince Sylvester had come here incognito, so I don’t have to go all the way there to say hello. There’s a lot of people here, and if the Prince just talks to the people who he wants to talk to, then I don’t need to get involved.

When I was awarded the permit to enter the Big Bookcase, he had told me that he wanted to talk to me more, but two years had passed since then. He has probably already forgotten what he wants to talk to me about.

Cordelia looked at the middle of the hall while being careful not to pay too much attention to Sylvester. When she thought that it wasn’t strange for her to respond like this, she felt Vernoux move.

His movement gave her a bad feeling.

No, it wasn’t a bad feeling, she was confident.

There was no doubt that Sylvester would approach them because Vernoux had greeted him lightly.

She curtsied gracefully as she endured not screaming as Sylvester approached slowly. She honestly wanted to leave, but she couldn’t pretend not to notice someone as Earl Pameradia’s daughter.

(But, Vernoux-sama is so mischievous! Why did he invite His Highness over here?! Shouldn’t he go to greet His Highness himself at times like this!)

Maybe I shouldn’t care about this since it doesn’t look like His Highness does, but it doesn’t have to be right now, does it?!

“You arrived earlier than I expected, Your Highness.”

“Because I finished a lot of things quickly. ――― It’s been a long time, Cordelia-san. Do you remember me?”

“Of course, Your Highness Sylvester.”

Sylvester seemed more mature than when she had met him two years ago, and he had grown into a young man with a gentle aura.

And, his face looked exactly like the game in her previous life.

(He really became『Prince Sylvester』…)

It was unavoidable that she wanted to avert her gaze from him.

Cordelia urgently wanted to disappear from this situation as soon as possible as Sylvester had attracted more attention when he walked over here.

(Now that I’ve greeted him, I can leave since I’ll get in the way of his chat with Vernoux-sama, right?)

Alright, I’m leaving.

She made up her mind, but Sylvester opened his mouth faster than Cordelia moved.

“I heard that you went to Weltoria to learn a lot of things.”

“Yes. I spent my time wisely there.”

Did he hear this from Vernoux? Or did he hear about it from someone else? In any case, Cordelia’s cheeks twitched since she had been brought up in conversation somewhere.

“It might not be as good as real experience, but please use the Big Bookcase again. I’m sure the Big Bookcase is waiting for you to visit.”

“Thank you very much.”

She didn’t want to talk anymore about the experience, but luckily, it didn’t seem like Sylvester had a bad impression of her. I think he wouldn’t even meet me if he hated me, but it’s also frustrating that my position as an Earl’s daughter makes that difficult. However, I think that this much is polite for him even if he doesn’t hate me to that point.

“Oh yes, Dilly, you were dancing with Myles before, weren’t you?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“Were you able to dance without stepping on his feet?”

Cordelia widened her eyes at Vernoux’s banter.

“Of course!”

Why did he say something rude in this place?

Doesn’t that sound like I always fail at dancing? If Vernoux-sama has been watching me since the last evening party, then he should know that he doesn’t have to worry about that.

However, Vernoux looked at Cordelia amusingly when she refuted.

“Then, that’s convenient.”

“Huh?”

“Your Highness, do you want to dance once in a while? It’s not always fun just to practice. Dilly just said that she’s good at dancing.”

Cordelia almost screamed at Vernoux since he had said something outrageous.

“Me? Isn’t it better for me to dance with you, Vernoux-sama?”

“It’s disgusting, isn’t it? That situation. Give me a break.”

Can I take your distress as a joke? Vernoux shrugged then laughed. He had been serious, and not joking, but it wasn’t something that should be said out loud. All that’s left is to hope that Sylvester-sama would refuse to dance with me.

(If he’s here incognito then he wouldn’t do something that would make him stand out.)

Cordelia believed as she waited for Sylvester’s response.

However, her smile froze on her face when he presented his hand to her.

“Then, can I have this dance?”

“With pleasure.”

Even though she had replied straight away, she muttered, “No way!” in her mind.

Should I say that it’s thanks to the results of my lady training that I was able to behave perfectly despite thinking something completely opposite from what I said? Vernoux-sama did something unnecessary, she thought as she once again returned to the middle of the hall. Having a worn-out throat is better than this. When I danced with Myles-sama, we had attracted the attention of those around us, but I’m getting more attention right now.

Cordelia really wanted to get away from this situation, but since she had gotten this far, she won’t run away until she finished dancing a song with him. Then, she thought about dancing so well that she would fascinate those around her and leave an impression in their minds.

(If I can’t run away, then I should use this chance to show people what a wonderful lady I am, or it would be a big loss…!)

But Cordelia widened her eyes as soon as the dance began.

(He’s good…!)

The first thing she felt was that simple impression.

I didn’t think he was bad, but I can’t complain about his steps and tempo even though it’s the first time I’m dancing with him. Are we just compatible or did he happen to see me dance with Myles-sama?

Cordelia was surprised and Sylvester met her eyes.

Sylvester looked like he had been caught unaware for a moment, but he instantly smiled gently.

“It was worth practicing.”

“Excuse me?”

“I thought I would dance weirdly because I’m nervous. I might show you something uncool.”

Sylvester-sama might not be used to dancing in front of people since Vernoux-sama had said he only practices.

(But it doesn’t seem like he has to worry since he’s this good at dancing… Perhaps, did Vernoux-sama think it would be alright if something happened since Sylvester-sama is dancing with me…?)

I was chosen as a practice partner to give Sylvester-sama confidence because it was convenient. When she thought of it like that, she felt a little calmer. If I dance automatically, then I’ll be released from this soon.

“You’re very good at dancing and I don’t feel like it’s my first time dancing with you.”

“I’m honoured.”

“I’m sure the ladies who dance with Your Highness in the future will all say the same.”

“… I’ll have to do my best to make sure that happens.”

Cordelia felt like his cheerful voice had dropped a little, so she looked at his expression, but he didn’t seem uneasy. The song ended when she thought that she had misheard him, and they returned to their original location.

Then, Vernoux greeted them back with a light applause.

“Your Highness, you’ve shown the results of your practicing. Dilly, you danced well.”

“Yeah, it was fun.”

Cordelia only curtsied lightly in reply, but Sylvester, who had answered Vernoux, released Cordelia’s hand and smiled.

“Thank you very much for dancing with me, Your Highness.”

“I should be the one saying that.”

It ended without incident~.

Cordelia calmed down a lot since she felt relieved.

I’ll ask Vernoux-sama about his reckless gesture at a later date, but now I need to leave.

“Then, Your Highness and Vernoux-sama. I…”

Will excuse myself now.

Cordelia’s arm was suddenly pulled before she could finish her sentence and her back was turned to Vernoux and Sylvester.