I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 67

As I was thinking about that, Jeremiah said gravely.

 

“I can’t believe Miss Vanessa would accept that invitation out of the blue.”

 

“What?”

 

“I never thought you’d be invited to the…  imperial palace.”

 

“What? The imperial… palace?”

 

My eyes widened at the unexpected comment.

 

Jeremiah’s head tilted sharply at my shocked expression.

 

“Why are you surprised?”

 

“No… no, I’m…”

 

I’d met the crown prince at a different cafe not long ago, so of course I’d assumed that’s where the empress would be.

 

Now that I think about it, yes. Nobles usually have teatime in their homes and invite people over. The Empress’s home is the Imperial Palace!

 

Oh, the crown prince too!

 

He was sending my train of thought to a strange place!

 

I sulked, having never planned to go to the Imperial Palace.

 

“Miss Vanessa, you’re not going to rescind your invitation now, are you?”

 

I looked at Jeremiah with an arched eyebrow.

 

Jeremiah gave a small snort as he looked at my flustered face.

 

“You’re not going to tell me you didn’t know you were going to the imperial palace, are you?”

 

“I didn’t think of it that far…”

 

“It’s too late, they’re sending a carriage to the manor tomorrow.”

 

Jeremiah’s words cut through me like a sentence. I sighed heavily, realizing that I would never be able to bite this decision. Then I realized one more thing.

 

“So Estella is going to the palace with me, too, right?”

 

“If Estella accepts the invitation, yes.”

 

“Well, that’s…”

 

I don’t know if Estella would want to go to the palace.

 

“If she goes to the palace, she’ll most likely meet the crown prince, right?”

 

Estella and the crown prince. I don’t yet know what will happen when they meet. Will they fall in love like in the original story that Estella knows, or will something else happen?

 

But anyway, Estella has said it before. She doesn’t want to meet the crown prince…

 

But the thought of me dragging her to the palace made me feel depressed.

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

“For what?”

 

“The duke doesn’t seem to want to show Estella to the palace yet…”

 

“Never mind. The New Year’s ball is coming up, so it was going to happen anyway, and Estella is a princess of Oppenheim.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Of course, as Jeremiah said, it was inevitable that Estella would meet the royal family since she was a princess of the Duke of Oppenheim, but at least Jeremiah would have wanted to wait until she was more prepared.

 

‘I would have expected the court to wait until after the ball, at least, but this is so sudden.’

 

I accepted the Empress’s invitation for Jeremiah’s sake, but I never thought it would come to this.

 

“Well, let’s not overthink it. If Estella doesn’t want to go to the palace, she won’t let me go no matter what.”

 

“Oh, that might be true, and if she does…”

 

“Miss Vanessa will have to go.”

 

Of course, since I had accepted the Empress’s invitation myself.

 

Still, it’s better that way. I’ll go back to the mansion, consult my etiquette book again, and…

 

“I suppose you didn’t see me because Her Majesty is in front of you?”

 

“……?”

 

“You didn’t even look in my direction when you answered.”

 

Jeremiah muttered, narrowing his eyes. I blinked and stared at him in disbelief at the bluntness of his tone, and then asked him, a little suspiciously.

 

“Duke, are you… pouting?”

 

“…….”

 

Jeremiah’s jaw clenched and he stared at me, but his silence was short-lived.

 

His voice cut through my words with a reluctant denial.

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“I guess you are.”

 

“I’m not.”

 

I could hear it in his tone.

 

“Are you pouting because I listened to the Empress?”

 

I glance at Jeremiah’s sideways face and barely suppress the smirk that escapes.

 

I don’t know if I’m allowed to use such cute language with the Duke.

 

Anyway, I don’t know if it’s really me, but… is it okay to be this cute?

 

Chuckling inwardly to save his face, I said soothingly to Jeremiah.

 

“It’s not that I couldn’t see the Duke, I was just trying to figure out how to not embarrass you.”

 

“…….”

 

“I was thinking that if I were to decline Her Majesty’s invitation there and offend her, it could be bad not only for me, but for the Duke of Oppenheim as well.”

 

Jeremiah’s face cleared of its grim expression as I hastened to explain.

 

“You’re right. I just thought…”

 

Jeremiah opens his mouth to say something, but then clamps it shut again.

 

I was still swallowing my laughter, but relieved that he seemed to be convinced.

 

‘But what is it that the Empress wants to talk to me about?’

 

‘Something about the crown prince? If so, I don’t know what to say.’

 

‘I can’t tell her that the crown prince has a bad impression of me.’

 

“Has Her Majesty the Empress been to the counseling center?”

 

I sighed heavily inwardly, but Jeremiah spoke up.

 

“Come to think of it, I should explain that.”

 

Realizing this in hindsight, I hurried to answer his question.

 

“Yes. She only brought an escort with her then, and she was changing her hair color to brown, as you saw earlier, so I didn’t recognize…”

 

“I see.”

 

“That’s why I said I did not recognize her when Lord Kianton came.”

 

“That’s just as well.”

 

If I had told Kianton that I had met the Empress when he was there, something unpleasant would have happened.

 

Jeremiah seemed to think so, too, and he crossed his arms and shook his head.

 

“And what did Her Majesty say to Miss Vanessa then?”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. I don’t think anything happened, anyway. Her Majesty didn’t seem particularly offended or anything…”

 

“Though it would be nice to have some idea of what His Majesty will say to Miss Vanessa tomorrow.”

 

Jeremiah said ruefully and glanced at me, but I just shrugged.

 

“From the way you’re talking, I don’t think you’re trying to say anything bad, though.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

 

“Well, since it doesn’t seem like anything dangerous, I’ll just give you an escort, but you can never let your guard down in the imperial palace.”

 

Jeremiah nagged me, worried that I might make a mistake in front of the Empress.

 

“You’re in puppy-master mode again.”

 

He glared at me in disdain.

 

But maybe it was because I could sense the affectionate concern in his nagging now, and it didn’t seem as unpleasant as it had before.

 

“If Esti is going with you, it’s perfectly polite, but… if you’re going alone, Miss Vanessa, if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can secretly ask your escort.”

 

“To the chauffeur?”

 

“A chauffeur who’s been through the formalities of chivalry knows all the tricks of the trade.”

 

“I thought you said I had a sense of propriety.”

 

“Well, you never know. Her Majesty isn’t one to make a big deal out of nothing…”

 

“Yes. I see.”

 

I nodded meekly, and Jeremiah smiled with satisfaction.

 

Time passed, and I finally caught sight of Estella running toward us from a distance.

 

I could tell she’d had a great time, as her youthful appearance and the face of Sir Melvin behind her seemed to have aged a decade or so.

 

“Sister Vanessa!”

 

Estella called my name as she ran up to me. I giggled and stroked her hair.

 

Still, Jeremiah was right next to me, and she called me first…

 

Jeremiah’s sad.

 

“Look!”

 

Estella said, still not caring about Jeremiah.

 

I looked between the siblings and finally smiled and turned my attention to what Estella was holding out. She was holding a small paper bowl of soggy food, which looked like…

 

“…tteokbokki?”

 

“I was wandering around and found them selling this!”

 

Red broth and rice cakes. The food Estella was holding looked like a tteokbokki.

 

‘I thought we didn’t have this food here.’

 

If they did, they wouldn’t have made it in the Duke’s castle.

 

As I stared at it, wide-eyed, Estella snatched a rice cake and shoved it into my mouth.

 

I took it, stealing the seasoning from the corner of my mouth, and began to eat slowly.

 

“This isn’t tteokbokki.”

 

First of all, the sauce had a strong sour flavor instead of spicy. Mmm… seems to be tomato sauce rather than chili. Also, what I thought was tteokbokki was similar in texture, but it didn’t seem to be tteokbokki.