Chapter 37: Prince-sama
The carriage ride was bumpier than Naru expected. Every little bump in the cobblestone roads would cause the carriage to bounce and Naru’s bottom was becoming more and more bruised by the second.
[Don’t they have suspension in this era.]
Naru said as she rubbed her butt exiting the carriage.
She instantly felt a swift slap to the back of her head,
“A proper woman must not rub her bottom.” Delta quipped.
Naru put on a sour expression and rubbed the back of her head, Delta may have be blind but she was surprisingly percetive about these sorts of things and Naru was never quite sure how she managed to figure such things out.
The area in which Naru and Delta has been dropped of was the front of the large mansion. Naru was fairly certain this was one of the largest estate she had ever seen in this world. While Delta lived in a large estate herself, Naru could confidently say that the estate she was looking at was twice the size of Delta’s.
While it couldn’t match the large homes of the ultra-rich in Naru’s past life she could tell it was quite impressive for this world.
The man who greeted was a neatly dressed servant who was quite handsome in his own right. Looking around at the various servants in the castle she realized all of them were quite attractive. It seemed like the owner of the estate was not only rich enough to own it, but also rich enough to hire servants that looked like this.
“Duke Vicharoft welcomes the daughter of Count of Verity”
“Ah yes, we’re very happy to have arrived I trust there will be no issue with my maid servant follow me along?”
Naru felt herself blinking in shock. In an instant delta’s hard demeanor has change. It was infinitely softer now and more gentle. One that gave in the impression that she was a sheltered noblewoman.
The servant smiled.
“Of course, we wouldn’t rob the countess of her helper.”
The servant gave an emphatic look towards Naru who bowed her head in the fashion a servant might.
The manservant then led them into a large hall. Where several well-dressed people were milling about. Along the wall there was a long table filled with refreshments and several waiters walked around with platters offering hors d'oeuvre to the guests.
Naru was surprised to noticed that no guests were taking them.
She felt Delta whisper under her breath.
“This is a banquet celebrating Duke Vicharoft birthday. We are here the rumors in the kingdom and thus you will follow me. You will not speak unless spoken too, and you will avoid eye contact with all nobles.”
“Ok” Naru said nodding her head lightly.
The next one hour was filled with Delta flitting from conversation to conversation with Naru “Guiding” her to each new person.
The conversations were rather bland but there were a few interesting nuggets that Naru picked out. Mainly the gossip around certain nobles in the city and also the royal family.
The king’s daughter who has a weak constitution was finally seen outside for the first time in years. There were several nobles who had been recently caught in trafficking cases and also apparently there was going to be preparations for a concentrated efforts to finally clear the wildlands.
The wildlands was the area that Naru was born in and upon hearing this information she nearly broke her promise with Delta and wanted to pester the noble who said the rumor with questions. Delta did not seem concerned with most of the rumors she heard and based on Kotori observations many of the nobles did not seemed concerned with telling her secrets.
Delta played a very unassuming noble woman with a gentle demeanor that disarmed most of the nobles she came across. In fact, many of them seemed to pity her.
Based on what Naru could tell. Delta was somewhat of a delicate flower in the noble space. A reclusive heiress who due to her disability was unable to leave her estate very often.
Naru thought back to the woman that trained her and felt herself internally scoffing at their assessments. Most of the nobles would be shocked to learn about Delta and her actual personality.
The one that was one display seemed to be a carefully curated persona and Naru realized how skilled as an actor Delta truly was.
Her currently personality was light and airy with none of the domineering atmosphere that Naru was used to.
Eventually, they reached well dressed young man who all nobles seemed to crowd around. The man gave Delta a warm smile.
“Ah Delta! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you at a social event”
“It’s been difficult to leave my estate as you know, Prince regulus…” Delta said looking away slightly with a demure expression.
[The prince!] Naru thought as she looked at the man in front of her.
The man’s smile widened.
“There’s no need to apologize! I am always happy to see you at any event, and always if you run into any problems please let me know I will let my father straighten them out”
Delta only gave a soft smile and Regulus appeared to be quite happy with himself.
Looking at this exchange Naru began to realize something.
[This damn prince is in love with her!]