Chapter 39 – Episode 39. Champagne and Citrus Sauce Should Not Be Eaten Together (1)
Something is strange.
Leopold thought so.
Astrid von Mitterien.
She is the fiancée of Leopold and the daughter of Wolfgang von Mitterien, who made a great contribution to the founding of Eindhafen.
It is said that she has grown up close since childhood and has been twisted a lot due to some incident, but Astrid still occupies a large part in Leopold’s not-so-long life.
And to her, Leopold was well aware that she had been cold to him too.
‘Spirit… Did you let go?’
Astrid in front of her eyes was somehow talking nonsense, not only did her tone of voice change from a moment ago, but her eyes and her impression itself seemed to have changed somehow.
‘But it can’t be. Because Astrid hates me too… You don’t have to suffer that much just because I treat you harshly.’
However, it was true that Astrid in front of her was strange.
Her way of speaking, her atmosphere, her gibberish, her bewildered attitude, etc. Astrid right now is so strange that she can name the reason right away.
“Astrid, are you okay?”
“Okay, it’s okay. It’s just a little noisy in her head.”
‘My head is noisy… ?’
She knew nothing about medicine, but she thought that having hallucinations or other noises in her head wasn’t a very good sign.
“… Astrid, do you have an appointment tonight?”
“Anyway, no. No! Yes No, I did!”
Leopold’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
She doesn’t even seem to know what she’s talking about.
“In the evening, let’s have a meal together.”
“Joe, fine.”
Even if she didn’t have to go back home, the only thing left in the imperial palace was her room.
Besides, if it was for Astrid, the fiancée of the crown prince, she would have to make a room without it, and Astrid was lying on a soft bed in the waiting room she was guided to.
Before dinner is ready, the attendants will come to dress up, so until then you can rest freely.
【Oh my God, Her Highness invited me to eat first. After all, isn’t that proof that His Highness is the only one with me?]
Astrid’s irritability was soaring that her blood pressure was rising.
Anyone can see that Leopold hates Astrid. She hates him to the point of not even wanting to be with him.
It was inevitable that Astrid’s tone itself was sharp, and because she had lived a high-handed life, she was always authoritative and looked down on everyone.
He can’t treat Leopold like that, so he says he has no choice but to purify himself a little, but even that has a limit, so what man in the world would like a woman who behaves like that.
‘When I couldn’t hear your voice, the world was quiet… Can’t we go back to that time?’
【Did you say anything!?】
‘That’s what you mean. Anyway, I haven’t been able to talk to you until now, so why did you suddenly become clear? I didn’t do anything.’
【I said I didn’t know either. Just-】
*
Around the time the ball was in progress, at the mouth of the snowfield at the northern end of the Mitterien territory.
“Captain, don’t you see something strange over there?”
There is no concept of four seasons in permafrost where snowstorms rage throughout the year.
In it, one of the Mitterien rangers on night patrol pointed across the blizzard.
“Anything strange? Hey, I won’t let you go if you ask if it’s a strange snow woman or something like that.”
“Ah, it’s not like that. Look over there, isn’t there something like a tower?”
“Tower… ?”
At that, the captain also strained his eyes and looked out across the blizzard.
Indeed, there was something grotesque about it.
That look that looks a little taller than a person’s height.
“It looks like a tower. Aren’t these the altars again?”
“Shouldn’t we break it down?”
The number of savages living in this permafrost was uncountable.
A lot was a rough estimate because of the endless invasions, and whether there was actually a lot or not was still a mystery.
“I will have to break it down. Come on, let’s go!”
The 20 members of the guerrilla army began to advance through the snow, killing each other all at once.
Even if the tower seems to be getting closer, it is difficult to properly measure the distance due to the rapidly increasing snowfall.
Around that time, the blizzard started to get stronger, and it was getting harder and harder to move forward in the snow field where the feet were sinking.
“Captain, I don’t think so! Why don’t you come with the second half of the group instead?!”
Snow flurries so strong that you can’t even hear them if you don’t scream even when you’re nearby.
The captain was lost in thought for a long time.
“… Okay, let’s retreat. Any further advance seems dangerous.”
The distance from the tower was slightly reduced compared to when it was discovered.
However, the captain, who judged that the risk was too great to break through the fierce snowstorm, chose to retreat without overdoing it any longer.
*
【-At some point, that happened.】
‘Okay… ?’
Is that how it works?
However, this phenomenon could not be asked anywhere.
I wonder if anyone knows, and even if there is someone experiencing the same phenomenon, I will know where it is and look for it, and there is no guarantee that that person knows how to solve it.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to look for it alone.’
【Isn’t that why you got permission to use the Imperial Library?】
‘That’s true, but.’
Does the library have such information?
If it was a record, there was a possibility that it would remain.
For example, a record that says that someone somewhere went through such and such.
There was likely no record of how the person solved the problem.
However, if there is at least one person who has been through the same phenomenon, you will be able to find traces of that person’s quest to solve the problem.
It will happen.
Then… I, too, go back to the original world.
Astrid will marry Leopold so she can live happily…
【Wake up. The attendants have come.]
‘… Huh?’
Her head was buzzing and Astrid opened her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the attendant’s face, which had a slightly embarrassed expression, but then straightened up again.
【How can you fall asleep as soon as you lie down?】
‘Originally, you sleep when you lie down… ‘
It seemed that he had fallen asleep.
After she opened her eyes, she hadn’t come to her senses for a long time, so she sat there idly by. Astrid’s blonde-haired attendant approached Astrid and asked cautiously,
“I, Lady Mitterien… ?”
Astrid, who had been looking up at her blankly, opened her mouth, still with her blank gaze.
“Leopold… ?”
【What are you talking about!!】
Astrid finally woke up to the high voice that seemed to shake her head. Her attendant in front of her also had a puzzled face, and Astrid looked at her and blinked her eyes a few times, then shook her head several times as if she had come to her senses.
“… Shi, excuse me. What’s going on?”
“Ah, yes, yes… Mealtime with Her Highness is approaching, so to dress up… “
An attendant with an awkward face pointed to the side.
In a room lined with wash basins, towels, makeup boxes, and clothes hangers, Astrid looked around and was stunned.
First of all, Astrid had nothing to do.
All preparations, starting with the basin, were done by the attendants, and while Astrid sat still, the attendants did everything from washing, washing, and finishing, so Astrid just sat still.
And makeup, the attendants wouldn’t dare to discuss Astrid’s skin, but Astrid had very good skin, and her skin was also on the white side, so she was the type to wear color makeup perfectly.
Basic makeup is added to the white skin that does not show the color well, and the color tone is applied on top of it, turning the face into a reddish and healthy-looking face.
“Do you have any favorite dresses?”
The degree of exposure of the clothes was low.
It’s probably a private meal with Leopold, so now it’s a design-oriented dress that minimizes Astrid’s exposure to prevent unexpected accidents.
I really liked Astrid as much as this part.
*
In the end, the dress worn by Astrid was a light blue party dress.
Astrid also liked it because it was a dress that minimized the dent in her chest and looked relatively innocent.
“Are you here?”
“… Yes.”
Leopold, who had arrived first at the meal prepared in the small banquet hall, greeted Astrid as he entered the door. The well-dressed white uniform looked good on him.
【As expected, Your Highness… You are so cool… 】
‘Yes, yes… ‘
To those words, Astrid didn’t particularly deny it.
In a pure white uniform, a red drapery crossed diagonally down from her right shoulder.
The golden buttoned uniform shimmered in the orange light.
In addition, the blonde hair that was shining under the light and the blue eyes that were looking at Astrid were shining enchantingly.
“Sit down.”
The attendants did not move.
Leopold moved himself, pulled out the chair across from her and invited Astrid.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
“It was nothing.”
Sweet melodies played by a small orchestra filled the small banquet hall in a subtle yet quiet way.
In the midst of the flowing music, pre-meal bread, butter to eat together, and jam began to be prepared to look good and to eat.
“What would you like the sauce for?”
“Astrid hates citrus sauce-“
“Oh, tangerine sauce, please.”
Leopold stopped talking and stared at Astrid.
【I hate citrus sauce!】
Oops, I regretted it, but it was already too late. Leopold, who was well aware that he hated tangerine sauce, looked at Astrid who asked for it himself with strange eyes.
“Oh, my taste has changed.”
“Is it. You seem to have grown up a bit too.”
【You must have been looking at me as cute as a child!】
‘… Are you stupid?’
While they were fighting fiercely with the real Astrid in their heads, champagne began to fill the glasses in front of them.
Champagne sparkling in gold.
The problem was, Astrid hadn’t been drinking here before.
‘Are you good at drinking?’
【Sure. Where can I be weak?]
Haha, there’s no way Astrid, who used to be a butcher hunting people in the northern snowfields, was weak in alcohol.
Astrid held her champagne glass lightly, tilted it slightly towards Leopold, and took a sip.
