The Talentless Inheritor

"..." Sebastian looked at the giant palace towering over the rest of the city. He had only gotten near it but now, he was going to enter as a guest.

"What are you waiting for?"

Amy held Sebastian's hand and pulled him inside. Sebastian had insisted on accompanying her for the next few days on her errands and today's errand happened to be in the royal palace with the royal family.

"Welcome, Miss Luna, Sir Sol."

One of the gatekeepers greeted Sebastian and Amy with a lowered head once they neared.

"Her Highness is waiting in the usual room."

"Thank you."

Amy had already informed them beforehand so after receiving the greetings, they were allowed inside. And because she had already been here many times before, they didn't have to wait for a guide.

Amy led Sebastian while locking arms with him and cutely asked, "why are you so nervous?"

"..."

Sebastian looked at Amy with raised brows.

"What?" She asked.

Giving up, Sebastian placed his hand on top of her head and rubbed it vigorously.

"My hair!"

She quickly released Sebastian's arm and tried to fix her hair in front of one of the mirrors but much to her dismay, it didn't look as good as before. After glaring at Sebastian, she gave a humph and walked faster. Nevertheless, to Sebastian whose stride was larger than Amy's in the first place, it didn't make much of a difference.

After grumbling in disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e for a little, Amy fixed her posture and slowed her steps. They were about to reach the room that the princess was residing in after all.

Before stepping inside, Amy turned to Sebastian and warned him in a solemn voice, "Sebastian, you have to make sure not to ogle at the princess."

"Why would I ogle at her?"

"So you haven't heard... Well, though there may be a lot of beautiful women in the kingdom, they don't hold a candle to the second princess. It's just that only a minority have seen her face and so that fact isn't well-established. One thing that the princess hates the most is the l.u.s.tful gazes of men. The only reason I allowed you to accompany me here is that you're my fiancé. If we were only dating or best friends, I wouldn't be granted permission to bring you."

Sebastian nodded but inwardly, he didn't take her words to heart. What kind of beauty would she have to be to warrant that kind of attention? He felt like Amy was exaggerating.

Once Amy received Sebastian's confirmation, she opened the door and raised the hems of her skirt to greet the person inside. Today, she was wearing a casual green dress with a bow by the waist. Her hair was left untouched save for the braid circling around her hair just above the neck [1].

"Your Highness, it's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to see you again."

"No, the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e is all mine."

A woman wearing a beautiful cerulean dress and a tiara nodded at Amy and gestured for her to come inside.

"This is the fiancé I've been telling you all about, Sebastian Sol."

When the princess heard the name, she suddenly twitched and turned her eyes towards Sebastian.

"I-it's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you, Sir Sol."

Amy didn't miss her stutter but quickly dismissed it as her being nervous.

"...It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you too, Your Highness."

Sebastian lightly bowed slightly.

Sitting down next to Amy, Sebastian held his breath as he took a second glance at the princess. Unlike Wisteria, she wasn't as striking and unlike Amy, her beauty wasn't as soothing, she had her own charm that strung the hearts of men. Amy wasn't very far from the truth. Many would go mad just from seeing the princess's face once.

The contours of her face were evident as if they had been sculpted by a master. The lips that Sebastian had seen under the mask's shadow at the time were shapely and had the perfect natural pink tint. Her cheekbones made the light smile she had on her face become as dazzling as the sun and the clear gaze in her eyes was captivating. Accompanied by the air of nobility, even Sebastian had to admit that she was even more beautiful than Amy.

"Jeez..."

Amy lightly nudged Sebastian's sides and he had just realized that he was staring at the princess's face.

"Please forgive him, Your Highness! You're just so beautiful that..."

"No, it's fine, I'm used to it. And, he's my treasured friend's fiancé after all," the princess had cut her off.

After receiving the reply, Amy was stunned. She had personally witnessed the princess punishing people who stared at her, so why was Sebastian being let off the hook so easily? She had barely shown any reaction!

Even though it was good news that Sebastian was spared, she couldn't help but feel suspicious in her heart.

'Do they know each other? No, Sebastian doesn't look like he knows her...'

"Umm... Amira?"

"Yes?!"

Amy suddenly yelled out. She was too absorbed into her own thoughts that she hadn't realized that the room was completely silent for nearly half a minute.

After waking up to the call, a blush crept up on her face and she intentionally coughed a few times to cover it up. Sebastian stroke her back but instead of comforting her, it only served to embarrass her further.

Glaring at Sebastian one final time, Amy turned her full attention back to the princess.

"Your Highness, let's begin. About the resources—"

...

After an hour, the two of them finally finished discussing what they were supposed to. Sebastian didn't know how he had spent the time but his mind was definitely burning the figure of the princess in his mind.

With the errand in the palace done, Amy stepped into the carriage with Sebastian. At that moment, she spoke.

"Pervert."

Amy turned her head away from Sebastian and pouted.

"Don't worry, you're the only one I love."

"Your eyes were practically making a copy of the princess! Why should I believe you?"

She noticed his unconscious actions after all.

Sebastian wanted to make an excuse but... he really couldn't think of any. The first thought that popped into his head was just because he couldn't buy the goods, then that didn't mean he couldn't admire them but it felt like if he said it out loud, both Amy's trust and his retained social standing would plummet.

Facing silence as an answer, Amy looked down at her c.h.e.s.t and lightly kneaded them.

"Maybe if they were a bit bigger..."

Her c.h.e.s.t was of modest size but they weren't too small. She would be somewhere around the average line for women her age but the princess, on the other hand, had a bountiful c.h.e.s.t. When they were put side by side, Amy's definitely looked small in comparison.

'She's thinking about silly things again...'

It was a bad habit that they both held. But, neither of them had realized this fact about themselves. In Sebastian's mind, Amy occasionally thought about silly things while in Amy's mind, it was Sebastian.

Sebastian neared Amy and slipped his arms under her armpits and hovered his hands in front of her c.h.e.s.t.

"Shall I do it for you?"

Of course, he had absolutely no intention of doing so. It was just another one of his attempts to tease Amy.

"...I don't mind. Go ahead."

"Eh?"

Contrary to his expectations, Amy agreed and lowered her hands.

"Wait—"

Sebastian was going to retract his hands in a fl.u.s.ter but Amy was faster and slipped out. She moved further to the side and stuck out her tongue, "I was just teasing you. But, you looked like a carnivore about to savagely eat its prey..."

She feigned the look of a victim but Sebastian couldn't do anything.

Hasn't she been completely destroying his attempts at teasing and returning her own lately?

'Well, since you're so cute, then, of course, I wouldn't be able to control myself if you gave me consent. Like I could say that!'

After mentally reproaching himself, Sebastian decided to stay silent and scooch away further. Amy, seeing that she was the victor of this round, lightly laughed and moved to comfort Sebastian.

...

After a few days of accompanying Amy around to do her errands and sometimes, help her do paperwork, Sebastian hadn't found a single clue as to who would be the spy. In the first place, Amy didn't have an entourage like Gilbert and she was mostly alone due to her work and the secrecy that needed to be maintained.

Sebastian was given permission to know about these matters because he was Amy's fiancé. Although there were still times that Amy had him step out, he was there for most of the conversations and deals.

"..."

Sebastian g.r.o.a.n.e.d and crumpled up the piece of paper in his hand then threw it away.

"You've been grumbling a lot lately," Wisteria popped up from behind him.

He would've gotten surprised, if she hadn't done it with every opportunity that was presented, that is.

"I'm just having difficulty tracking down the spy."

"Well, obviously. If the spy was so easy to track down, then the House of Luna would've found out about the spy a long time ago."

"Tomorrow is the last day Amy will do errands for the next couple of weeks. If I don't find the spy tomorrow, then the chances of finding them would get significantly lower..."

Wisteria had planned on giving Sebastian some tips but seeing how hard he was working, she just couldn't bring herself to give him a shortcut.

'Good luck.'

She mentally cheered him on and left the room.

Sebastian had been frequently staying inside the mansion with the other members because he had his own private room that didn't have any chances of being breached by the outside. He could keep all of his personal items in there.

"...I need a good bait. Something that a spy can't help but take advantage of..."

Sebastian wrote down on the papers in front of him in a frenzy. His eyes were dazed as he searched for clues among his notes and made strategies with those clues.

"I've got it...!"

The sun had long since set but he wasn't tired in the least.

"I'll make you pay for making me so tired!"