Vol. 3 - Chapter 153 - Katariona Undergoes Unforeseen Events
According to custom, I will be accompanied by my parents to the royal palace for an audience with His Majesty the King and Her Royal Highness the Queen.
Just as was the case with my brother, I accompanied my parents to the royal palace.
My brother left for the Dukes of Villiersberg to escort Tria this time. We will meet up with them at the ball.
Sylphy-sama will bring May with her later.
May, who is fond of Sylphy-sama, was happy to hear that she can ride a dragon.
"I see. I'm very grateful to the Dragon Gods for all their help."
"We're always thankful to them for all their help. We should thank them in some way."
My parents expressed their gratitude to Ron-sama and Sylphy-sama.
Ron-sama and Sylphy-sama are usually active as adventurers.
They took the initiative in repairing the exterior walls and making night patrols while they were staying at our house.
"Let them eat sweets. They like sweets."
Leon snorted.
"I don't think that's possible. I have to pay Sylphy-sama and Ron-sama for being S-class adventurers."
Suddenly, the carriage rumbled to a sudden stop.
I almost stumbled forward, but Leon was there to stop me.
My mother seemed to be fine, as Father protected her.
"What's going on!?"
Father shouted to driver.
The window of the seat was connected to his seat, so he opened the window and peeked out.
"I'm sorry, Sir. Are you hurt? The carriage in front of us came to a sudden stop, so we also stopped it in a hurry. Please do not move from the carriage."
"Is something wrong?"
I thought it might be a ruffian. So I pulled out my hairpin out of my hair and transformed it into a small sword.
"Oh my, did you bring a weapon? But you wouldn't be able to maneuver around in that formal attire."
Mother tilted her head.
It is true that it is difficult to move around in this outfit, but if push comes to shove, we can manage by removing the train.
After a while, the carriage shook. It seemed that the coachman had returned.
"Was there an incident?"
When Father called out to him, he peeked out the window again.
''An incident, I suppose you could say. It seems that a carriage entered the gate of the palace from the side, and all the following carriages are stuck."
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I looked behind me through the window and saw that the carriage following ours had also stopped. At this rate, the street would be jammed with carriages.
"What? What idiot came in from the side?"
"That's ...... the Baron Campbell's carriage, they say."
It's the carriage of Charlotte's family.
There is no particular order in which carriages enter the royal palace, but it is bad manners to sidestep in.
"It's the carriage of Idiotte's house? What is she thinking?"
"What are they doing here? What are you doing at all, entering from the side......?"
My parents were furious.
Why did Baron Campbell's carriage enter the side entrance?
They would find out at the entrance to the royal palace.
"Why did they sidestep! It's not safe!"
"The Crown Prince will escort your daughter. We cannot keep the royal family waiting."
As they got out of the carriage, they heard Tojurou-san and Baron Campbell quarreling.
"But that doesn't mean you must sidle up to them! You almost caused an accident!"
"You're so noisy! What kind of foreigner are you!?"
"Watch your mouth."
A cool voice echoed from behind Tojurou-san.
Kikuno-sama, dressed in a dress in the style of the Kingdom of Findalia, stepped forward in front of Tojurou-san.
"That person is a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hinoshima. He and I have been invited as ambassadors from abroad. I will not tolerate any disrespect."
"Wha--!?"
Baron Campbell seemed to be intimidated by Kikuno-sama.
However, Charlotte who was beside Baron Campbell was not afraid.
Although she wore a white dress, she did not wear a train. She may be planning to put it on later.
"Father," she said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is waiting for you. Let's go."
"Charlotte. Mm-hmm. Yes."
Baron Campbell and his family left without a single word of apology.
"What the? Those guys.."
"They're quite rude, aren't they? I'll talk to His Majesty the King about it later."
Kikuno-sama smiled broadly, but I was afraid of such a Kikuno-sama at a time like this.
She must be planning some kind of retaliation.
"Tojurou-sensei. Kikuno-sama. Are you hurt?"
"Oh. Yurie. You seem mature today."
Tojurou-san greeted me lightly, seeming to be unaffected for the time being.
"I wish Baron Campbell had the same consideration as Yurie. ......"
"...... Kikuno-sama."
Kikuno-sama put her hand on my cheek.
"You are already an adult huh. Yurie, congratulations on today."
"Thank you very much. Kikuno-sama."
Kikuno-sama blinked and smiled, this time with a less scary smile.
"May you have an uneventful audience. I will see you later at the ball. We'll go now. Hikoshiro."
"Ehh. See you later. Yurie."
They bowed and went toward the wing where the waiting room for the honored guests was located.
"Kikuno-sama is going to kill him."
"She's going to kill everyone today."
"I see. Well, then, my fiancee. Please take my hand. I will escort you to the waiting room."
Leon offered his arm, and I intertwined my hands with his.
"Nice to have you here today. My future husband."
In a moment, the audience would begin.
But I have received word that the audience will be delayed.
"What do you mean the time will be delayed?"
Father protested to the attendant of His Majesty the King who has come to inform us of the delay.
"...... that's ......."
The chamberlain spoke crisply.
"The Crown Prince insisted on having an audience with the woman who will be his fiancée first. ......"
"The Crown Prince's fiancée? Nonsense! I have never heard of such a thing!"
The woman who will be the Crown Prince's fiancee is Charlotte.
Even still, this is too much.
Even royal fiancées are not given priority in the order of audience.
According to our country's law, a fiancée is only a fiancée until the marriage is consummated, and only after the marriage is consummated is she incorporated into the family of the bridegroom.
As the crown prince, there was no way he could have been unaware of this.
"What does His Majesty the King have to say about this?"
"He is currently trying to persuade His Highness the Crown Prince that such a thing is unacceptable. I sincerely apologize for keeping you waiting. ......"
"I am not convinced, but I have no choice."
The attendant solemnly apologized and headed to the next waiting room.
I'm sure that he has to go around to all the other nobles and apologize. What a hard job.
"It's one nuisance after another, like the carriage thing. I'll have to demand compensation from Baron Campbell. Master."
"Most definitely!"
My parents were furious.
"No wonder, but other nobles might be thinking the same thing."
"The Baron Campbell's family might go bankrupt."
Leon snorted.
"Then we'll have to prepare the documents for a claim for compensation as soon as possible. How much?"
The head butler was trying to prepare for the compensation procedure as soon as possible. He was the one who had agreed to escort us today.
"But today will be the end of the Campbell family. If the property is seized, we can't claim it, Head Butler."
I chuckled as I listened to the bitter conversation between the head butler and Marie his daughter.
A knock on the door prompted the head butler to answer it.
The visitor was my brother.
"Father. Did you hear that the time of the audience will be delayed?"
"I heard. What does the Duke of Villiersberg say?"
"He's going to the waiting room of the bride-to-be of the Crown Prince to protest against the delay."
"I can imagine."
My father sighed while my brother scoffed.
My elder brother escorted Tria to the waiting room of the Duke of Villiersberg, where he heard about the audience delay.
"Brother. Where's Tria?"
"Hello, Rio. You are very beautiful. Different. Tria has calmed down. She's fine."
"I see. Good."
The audience was delayed and her father, the Duke of Villiersberg, was furious.
I was worried about the sensitive Tria, but I'm relieved to see that she seemed calm.
While chatting with my family as it seems like this will take a long time, the chamberlain from earlier visited us again.
"I apologize for keeping you waiting so long. The audience will begin shortly, so please get ready."
As custom, the order of the audience was the same as before.
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TL: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and happy reading~!