Chapter 43: Letter from Belsia — Part 1

The next morning, just after I woke up, an attendant assigned to Joel-sama came to invite me to breakfast.
Bell quickly helped me get ready, and I headed to Joel-sama’s room.

“Good morning, Lady Maria.”

Brian-sama, looking completely refreshed, greeted me with a pleasant smile.

Breakfast had been set up by the bright window.
Beautiful flowers were arranged, and elegant tableware had been prepared.
It seemed Joel-sama had excellent taste.

“Good morning.”

I replied softly and sat primly in the chair that the attendant pulled out for me.

Across from me, Joel-sama alternated his gaze between the two of us, with Chuck sitting on his lap.
Chuck had slept with Joel-sama last night, so he was delighted to see me.

Unusually, he let out a little bark, calling for me.

After giving my preference for eggs to the attendant, I tried to avoid looking at Brian-sama and made myself as small as possible.

“Brian, hey… you didn’t do anything inappropriate last night, did you?”

At Joel-sama’s bombshell remark, Brian-sama blinked in confusion.
Judging by his expression, he probably didn’t remember anything.

Thank goodness.
I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart.

Only then did I finally pick up the fresh juice placed in front of me.
The cold orange juice seeped into my dry body.

Brian-sama, who had been staring at me thoughtfully, received a small smile from me as I said, “Nothing happened.”

The moment I said that, he covered his face with one hand and began to panic.

Gradually, his face turned red.
Then he suddenly looked up.

“Um… could it be that I…”

“No! Don’t say it!”

I cut him off immediately. He replied only, “Yes!” and fell silent.
But after a moment, he abruptly stood up.

“I will take responsibility. Please, let me take responsibility.”

As Brian-sama suddenly declared this, Joel-sama lightly tugged at his sleeve.

“Calm down. You probably just kissed her a little, right? Isn’t that so, Lady Maria?”

I silently gave a small nod.

“Ugh… I don’t remember. This is terrible.”

“You were half-asleep—it just brushed for a moment, so it’s fine. Please forget about it.”

“But it was your first kiss.”

Saying that, Brian-sama sank into visible despair.
Now that I thought about it, that really had been my first kiss.

“Maybe first kisses are like that.”

The words slipped out of my mouth without thinking.
Brian-sama immediately looked up.

“Your first kiss? What about at your wedding?”

“That didn’t happen. It was just a light kiss on the cheek.”

With a surprised expression, he began, “Between husband and—”

Then he suddenly stopped himself and closed his mouth.
After that, he straightened up and spoke firmly.

“It was your first kiss, and I don’t even remember it. That’s unacceptable. I must take responsibility.”

“Good grief… so in short, you want to take responsibility for Lady Maria.”

Joel-sama said this with exasperation.

“First, aim to be promoted to ‘lover,’ shall we? Didn’t you say you have to beat Chuck? I’ll support you. Now, let’s eat breakfast.”

With that, Joel-sama cut into his omelet.
Steam rose softly, revealing mushrooms inside. The demi-glace sauce looked delicious.

Since I had ordered mine well-done on both sides, I couldn’t help but think his looked better.

“Shall we switch? The omelets here are exquisite.”

Brian-sama offered kindly.

“Why not split them in half? Divide both dishes between them.”

Joel-sama instructed the server, then told Brian-sama to sit over there.

I was always amazed—his movements were light and fast.
And the time it took him to start moving was incredibly short.
Before I realized it, he was already beside me.

As soon as he sat down, he stared intently at my lips.

Please don’t look at them.
They’re completely ordinary.

If they were glossy and plump, maybe I wouldn’t mind…

The server divided both dishes onto small plates.

I thought he would finally stop staring at my lips—but before I knew it, he had already finished eating and was looking at me again.

It felt like telling a large, affectionate dog to “wait.”

“This is serious.”

Joel-sama laughed and ordered an attendant to bring over a scroll-like letter.

After I finished eating and took a sip of coffee, he slowly held it up in front of me.

“Now then, we need to talk about this.”

He untied the ribbon and unrolled it, scanning the contents.

“Quite an impressive letter, right? This is from the royal family of Belsia. This is what he threw at me yesterday.”

I could feel the atmosphere shift slightly.
This probably contained something serious.

Joel-sama turned the letter toward us.

“The reason Brian suddenly rushed back must be because of this. Isn’t that right, Brian?”

When I looked at him, his expression had turned cold.
The contrast with his earlier pleading look was so stark that it made me hesitate.

“I checked the contents before going to bed last night. This is addressed to the Cruz Count’s family. And it says they wish to invite Lady Maria and the others for a distribution of mementos? How interesting.”

He said this while observing both of us.

“Um… what kind of relationship exists between the Cruz family and the Belsian royal family for such an invitation to be extended?”

There’s no way they could have realized anything about me.
I haven’t told anyone, and no one should suspect anything.

And if they investigated, they would know that the Cruz family paid no special attention to that stone.
On the contrary, it had been used as a simple fastening on an everyday fan.

The stone had already returned to Belsia.
There shouldn’t be any further involvement.

Thinking this, I glanced at Brian-sama.

He spoke with a troubled expression.

“At the welcoming banquet in Belsia, I spoke briefly with the Queen Dowager. Apparently, long ago, she had some acquaintance with your grandmother. She said your grandmother had looked after her during a visit to this country. She asked about the current state of the Cruz family.”

“Oh? Is that so? Lady Maria, have you heard anything about this?”

“No, nothing at all.”

I was confused, unable to grasp the intent.

Her son now sat on the throne, and there was already a crown prince to succeed him.
She lacked nothing.

Even if she resented the fact that the king had once loved another woman, that was forty years ago—and even the king himself had forgotten it.

As I fell into thought, Brian-sama gently spoke to me.

“In this country, a large band of thieves has recently been active, and although the Cruz family was affected, I told them that nothing significant had been stolen. I also added that things would likely remain unsettled for a while.”

I smiled at him in gratitude.
He smiled back at me, then let his expression soften.

“However, this letter was handed to the delegation’s clerk along with other documents. When I reviewed the paperwork before returning home, I was quite surprised to find this.”

That was rather forceful.
Even after being told things were unsettled due to bandits, they pushed forward anyway?

“Go ahead, Lady Maria. Please take a look.”

I accepted the heavy letter from Joel-sama and opened it in front of me.