I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 117

The nobles, noticing this, smiled, realizing that the duke and duchess were indeed very close.

“Estella.”

 

Jeremiah called out as he pushed his way through the nobles to reach his sister.

Estella, looking lovely in her tiny tiara, as befitting a lady of the banquet, looked back at him with a wide smile.

Jeremiah extended his hand to Estella in a graceful, fluid motion.

“Would you like to dance with your brother?”

 

“Of course!”

Estella clasped Jeremiah’s hand and headed for the dance floor.

The nobles who had been dancing earlier made way for the beautiful silver-haired siblings. The orchestra stopped playing and began to play music for them.

“You must understand if I step on your feet.”

 

“Of course not.”

Jeremiah smiled softly at his sister’s admonishment, remembering Estella dancing perfectly with the crown prince.

Estella moved her feet carefully to the music, and as she danced, Jeremiah squinted at her surroundings.

There was no sign of dissatisfaction on the faces of the nobles. Of course, this was the Duke of Oppenheim’s castle, but they were clearly pleased with the banquet.

 

This girl…

The bright and cheerful atmosphere of the banquet hall was almost entirely Estella’s creation. From the decorations, to the flowers, to the food, to the music, she’d had a hand in everything.

Jeremiah remembered what Estella had said shortly after they descended the mountain.

“It’s my birthday banquet, and I want to organize it. You started it, but I’ll finish it.”

 

He’d been reluctant to agree when Vanessa had suddenly collapsed…

“I didn’t know you could do this.”

 

As he’d told Shane the other day, Jeremiah didn’t think Estella would be able to do this. 

 

He’d given her the basic training she needed, but he’d never put her in charge.

So he didn’t expect her to be able to do something she’d never done before.

“It’s impressive that you were able to command the duke’s castle without causing any casualties.”

 

He felt proud and flattered, but also a strange feeling that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Jeremiah had thought his sister would always be a child in his shadow, but Estella had grown out of it.

“Estella.”

“What?”

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

‘For caring so much for you and only thinking of locking you up.’

Jeremiah mumbled a heartfelt apology for his sister, then frowned, sensing something strange in Estella’s movements.

 

“Estella.”

“…?”

 

Estella, taken aback by the sudden apology, looked up at him, her eyes widening at another call.

“Did you teach Miss Vanessa to dance?”

It was a casual question, since Estella’s movements were similar to Vanessa’s.

But Estella giggled and gave him a completely unexpected answer.

 

“Vanessa taught me.”

 

“Huh?”

“Because I was dancing… that, and I was terrible at it, so I asked her if she could help me!”

 

“So Miss Vanessa learned from me, and then she turned around and taught you?”

“Yep. It’s actually a secret, but I think you can tell my sister now. Um, she was my partner at the time.”

 

Suddenly, Jeremiah could think of one thing.

‘So then…’

When she was learning to dance with Jeremiah, Vanessa had watched not only the steps that women were supposed to do, but also the steps that men were supposed to do, so when she danced with him, she kept bumping her nose against the same steps.

Now it made sense. If she wanted to be Estella’s partner, she had to know the men’s steps.

“Huh.”

Jeremiah felt a little sick when he realized why: Vanessa had bled to death learning to dance… and it was all for Estella’s sake.

Jeremiah let out a low sigh, his head spinning from memorizing all the steps for women and men.

‘Worst of all…’

“She was with me, and all she could think about was Estella.”

Should he be annoyed by this, or should he be grateful to her for helping his beloved sister so well?

Jeremiah spun Estella around in a circle, then asked again.

“Why didn’t you ask me to help you, you didn’t have to ask Miss Vanessa…”

“You don’t understand.”

 

“Huh?”

“Oh, no. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself to my brother!”

 

Estella laughed bashfully. Jeremiah swallowed a bitter laugh.

 

He could be as silly as he likes, but she seems to think it’s a burden to him.

“You should be grateful.”

Vanessa always does for her what he can’t do for her.

Maybe it’s because of Vanessa that Estella is the way she is, and that makes her feel even more special.

Vanessa has pushed both Estella and himself to take a step forward.

From one day to the next, she was the reason for everything that pleased him. And for that, Jeremiah was glad.

“Ah, brother.”

The dance ended. Estella, who had dropped to her feet and gracefully turned to face her partner, spoke up as if on cue.

“After the banquet, I have something I’m preparing for you…”

“What? Really, there is such a thing?”

Jeremiah had already heard of it from Vanessa, but as promised to her, he pretended as best he could that it was the first time.

But the effect was minimal. Estella looked at him suspiciously and said,

“You heard about it from Vanessa.”

 

“What? No way.”

 

“Uhhh… Anyway, I’ll invite Brother then.”

“I can’t wait to see what it is.”

 

“Stop talking in such an artificial tone.”

Estella said sternly and walked away from the dance floor. Jeremiah shrugged and kept walking.

Well, at least he kept his promise to Vanessa.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“This, a letter for you.”

 

Shane, who hadn’t seen me sitting on my bed during the banquet in the main hall, had gone to Hazel’s house instead.

He handed me a letter along with some books for me to read.

 

The luxurious gilt envelope bore no sender, only my name in fine cursive, but Shane seemed to recognize the letter’s sender immediately.

 

“This is from the crown prince, isn’t it?”

 

“Oh, you knew it right away, didn’t you?”

 

“That envelope is for imperial use only, so why does he keep pretending to be friendly with you?”

Shane grumbled, but I decided to laugh it off and tore open the envelope.

The envelope was pretty thick, and there were several letters inside. 

 

‘Julian, did he have so much to say to me?’

“Let’s see.”

The first page of the letter was a greeting full of platitudes.

“Haha. So this is how they greet you in the imperial court.”

[Whenever a fragrant breeze like yours blows in, I’m like…] 

 

‘What is this guy talking about?’

I rubbed my chicken-fleshed forearms and threw the first chapter away.

 

Shane caught it, reread it, and clicked his tongue. I feel like I just swore, but let’s pretend I didn’t.

[I didn’t know you liked snow, which must be a shame because it never snows in the Islands.]

I picked up the second page of the letter and began my long-winded reply about the northern winter.

It’s full of unnecessary sentences, except for the first one, so I skipped over a lot of it. 

 

The third chapter is all about him.

[It’s the Princess’s birthday soon, isn’t it? It may have already passed by the time this letter arrives. My servants are insisting on choosing a birthday present for the princess, even though I’ve told them to just send whatever they want, since I’m not interested.]

 

I suddenly wondered what Julian had sent Estella for her birthday.

[My mother’s thinking of marrying me to the princess, and that’s the first time I’ve ever been honest with her. Marrying a princess is one thing, but being related to the Duke? I can’t stand the thought of it.]

I see you still dislike Jeremiah, which is good. Estella doesn’t like you either.

[I’ve tried to convince her, but I don’t think she’ll give in. Since this is your specialty, I’d like you to use your words to persuade her.]

 

As if being crown prince wasn’t bad enough, I’ll be exchanging letters with the empress.

 

I chuckled.

His handwriting was unusually bold, as if he wanted to emphasize the point. I chuckled a little as I pictured Julian writing with a fountain pen, his hand steady and strong.

After the complaints about marriage, there was a flirtatious note. There was talk of Kianton, and of the manor, and especially of the concession I would make to him…

[I’m trying to be the emperor you want me to be, though I still find it hard to think like you.]

Finally, the last chapter.

I cringed a little when I saw the words, because the idea of Julian trying was somehow very close to my heart. His effort is probably more than I expected.

[So, think about repaying me in kind, my closest advisor, Viscount Asell.]

 

The letter concluded. I read the last line and muttered to myself with a slight sense of wonder.

 

“I’ll have to tell the Crown Prince to keep his next letter a little shorter.”