I’m Just a Counselor

“Ladies, His Highness the Crown Prince is a very strange man indeed.” “…….” 

I gave him an odd look as he casually cursed his boss.

 

Still, he’s an escort knight, and if he’s that bad, the crown prince must really be in trouble.

 

‘Wait, did Estella call him a childish tsundere before?’

 

Hmm… That might have been a tame way of saying it.

 “He’s the one who’s telling us to go north for the winter! No blood, no tears, just a complete psycho… No, you can’t say that, you must pretend you didn’t just hear that.” “I think you just meant to say total psycho.” 

But for the sake of Kianton’s socialization, I decided to listen to him. Estella seemed to feel the same way.

 “Anyway, we were supposed to go to a town called Hazel, but they took the map… away from us.” 

Kianton said, finishing his rant about his boss. My eyes narrowed at the familiar place name.

 

Hazel was the name of the village I had lived in before moving to the Duke’s castle. It was also the location of the Secret Garden.

 “Hazel?” “The Empress… Oh, no.” 

Kianton, who was about to answer without much thought, quickly blurted out the answer. It was as if he remembered his orders in hindsight.

 

It’s not something he can easily divulge to others. As an imperial bodyguard, he shouldn’t be surprised.

 “But this young lady looks familiar.” 

Kianton coughed and pointed to Estella.

 “May I ask your names, ladies, as you have been a lifesaver to me and I would like to make a case for you back in the Islands.”“Oh, I’m Vanessa.” “I see you’re Miss Vanessa, and this one?” 

Estella, who had remained stony-faced the entire time, slowly rose to her feet at Kianton’s question. My eyes and Kianton’s turned to her at the same time.

 

Holding the sides of her skirt, Estella bent slightly at the knees and spoke in a surprisingly elegant tone.

 “Estella, the Duchess of Oppenheim, wishes to invite Sir Kianton Bell to the Duke of Oppenheim’s castle, will you accept?” 

I watched Kianton stare at Estella with a stunned expression on his face.

 

* * *

 

Jeremiah seemed to be displeased with the fact that we were two when we left and three when we returned.

 

Today, as he left the castle and returned, he glared at Kianton across the room.

 

Even in Estella’s presence, Jeremiah did not hide his icy aura, and Kianton’s nerves were on edge.

 “I see. you’ve come all the way to Loasen on the Crown Prince’s orders.” “Not Loasen, but Hazel…” “Hazel is a branch of Loasen, so that’s where we are.” “Yes, Your Excellency, you are correct, of course.” 

A chill ran through the parlor.

 

Estella was sipping her tea, and I looked wistfully at Kianton, who was fidgeting.

 

Jeremiah continued to question Kianton.

 “What has His Majesty commissioned you to do?” “It is an imperial business…” “Don’t you think I know imperial etiquette better than he does?” “Yes, I do.” “I am very much offended that you dared to do something on my land without my knowledge. What does he think?” “Yes, I am very much at fault for daring to tread on the Duke’s land without telling him.” “You didn’t have time to do anything.” 

He was robbed.

 

I couldn’t hide my displeasure at Kianton for being reduced to a coward in front of Jeremiah.

 

So much for the prince’s bravado. One would think Kianton’s boss was Jeremiah, not the crown prince.

 “Esti, will you go upstairs with Miss Vanessa, and I’ll let you know when dinner is ready. Your brother needs to speak with Lord Kianton.” “Very well, brother. Come, sister, let’s go.” 

Kianton gave me a desperate look that said,

“Don’t leave me here alone with him!”

but there was nothing I could do about it.

 “Sorry, Kianton. I hope you get out of here okay.” 

Trembling in front of Jeremiah, Kianton was like a puppy to the wolf.

 

I gave him one last salty glance and left the parlor, led by Estella’s hand.

 “Surprising, by the way.” 

I couldn’t believe Estella was so calm about Jeremiah.

 

Of course, even if she knew from the novel that Jeremiah had such a cold attitude towards anyone other than her, it’s one thing to know it from the novel, but it’s another to actually experience it.

 

‘Oh, has Estella already experienced it?’

I don’t think so, judging by what she said to me the other day, and if she had, Jeremiah wouldn’t have to be such an ass in front of Estella.

 

I scratched my head, and soon came to a conclusion.

 

Brother is brother after all. Estella’s tone of voice when she invited Kianton was very similar to Jeremiah’s.

 “Awesome, awesome!” 

But back in my room, Estella was her usual lovely self.

 “What do you think the crown prince is up to?” “Lord Kianton said his destination was Hazel, not Loasen, so I don’t think there’s anything in the duchy.” “Phew, thank God. I don’t want to go to the islands. I’ll stay here with my sister.” 

Estella must have thought the same thing as I did about the original’s compulsion.

 

I sat down on the bed, patting her back as she clung to my waist.

 

Estella rubbed her head against my shoulder and suddenly made a face.

 “By the way, isn’t Hazel where you used to live?” “Uh-huh. Yeah, but…” “They’re not looking for you, are they?” “No way. I don’t have a problem with them. I’ve never even been involved with the imperial prince.” 

Estella’s suspicions were immediately denied, and I asked what I’d been wondering all along.

 “But did Lord Kianton and the Duke know each other before?” “Huh? I don’t think so.” “Well, it seemed that way when I saw the Duke talking to Lord Kianton earlier…” “Oh, not because of that article, but because of the Crown Prince.” 

I mumbled something about Jeremiah’s tone being more prickly, but Estella seemed to have guessed enough.

 

Giggling, she began to explain to me the relationship between Jeremiah and the crown prince.

 “Actually, Jeremiah didn’t really care for the crown prince, and the crown prince disliked Jeremiah.” “Aha.” 

Siscom brothers usually couldn’t stand their sister’s lover, so I thought Jeremiah and the crown prince didn’t get along, but apparently not.

 

I nodded and listened to what Estella had to say.

 “The crown prince is also a man, so he’s good at everything, so he has no one to compare himself to.” “Yeah.” “The only person to beat the crown prince…? I don’t know what to say. Better than the crown prince? That was my brother.” “Well, it’s kind of a rivalry.” “Anyway, the crown prince has a bit of an inferiority complex. He won’t even play against him…” “I think I know what you mean.” 

As the crown prince and the duke, the crown prince naturally thought of Jeremiah as beneath him. But then Jeremiah unexpectedly beats him, excels, and starts getting mentioned.

 

‘So the comparison would be such that the crown prince would be jealous of Jeremiah’s ritualized… jealousy.’

 

‘Then the crown prince probably didn’t even like Jeremiah’s sister at first, so the romance starts with a kind of dislike… relationship.’

 

A love-hate romance. It’s a romance plot that starts off with a lot of flirting and then suddenly,

“Huh? Why does my heart flutter when I see her?”

 

Well, then the word tsundere makes sense. At first, I was probably being more tetchy on purpose to deny my feelings.

 “Typical.” 

Now that I think about it, I actually kind of liked the idea of it, right? Estella and him flirting, that would be cute.

 

As I was thinking this, I couldn’t help but smile warmly.

 

There was a knock on the door, and the staff entered, announcing that the meal was ready. Jeremiah and Kianton’s conversation seemed to have wrapped up.

 

‘Kianton, how much longer are you going to stay asleep…’

 

His boss is making him suffer. Hearing this made Kianton seem even more salty.

 

I snorted and linked arms with Estella as we headed into the dining room.

 “Come on, sit down, Esti. Come sit down, too, Miss Vanessa.” 

Jeremiah smiled brightly at us from his seat at the head of the table.

 “…what? 

No, he was smiling brightly… He was definitely smiling beautifully, but for some reason, there was a chill in the air.

 

I immediately realized why.

 

His eyes aren’t smiling.

 

To Jeremiah’s right, Kianton was sitting in a very shy manner.

 

‘Well, Jeremiah, at least you’ve decided to do the human thing and feed him.’

 “So much for socializing.” 

You meet psychotic bosses, you meet people who bite like wolves. I sighed, suddenly realizing that Kianton wasn’t like everyone else.

 

I sat down next to Estella, resisting the urge to pat Kianton on the shoulder.

 

Then Jeremiah spoke to us.

 “Lord Kianton has decided to stay at the ducal castle for the time being. We have found an amicable arrangement with His Highness the Crown Prince.” “…Is that really an amicable arrangement?” 

I barely held back what I wanted to ask Jeremiah.