The Villainess's Daughter Is Getting an Obsession

“I even greeted the prince. For some reason, Duke Lige came with him. It’s hard to see the two of them together unless you’re in the Imperial Palace. So I decided to call this my lucky jewel from now on.”

She spoke with a hazy look as if it were a dream. Apparently, she was in a high mood today. It’s not bad for me either. I answered with a smile.

Ellabrihi, not sure if she could control her joy, tried to take me into the crowd she was in. Then the chat took a long time, but the prince might go away in the meantime. It’s good for me if that happens, but then I will have to force another meeting…

“Excuse me.”

I thought there was a dark shadow behind me, and I heard a man’s voice.

“Lady Hemel?”

Ellabrihi turned her body to check who it was, and her eyes widened enough to pop out.

“D-Duke Lige?”

Ellabrihi said in a trembling voice.

“If you don’t mind, can I talk to you for a moment?”

At the same time, joy and a troubled look appeared on Ellabrihi’s face. She was the one who took me to the crowd, so she felt sorry to leave me.

I took a step back.

“You two have a conversation. I’m going to have a break over there.”

Then Ellabrihi spoke quickly in a small voice.

“Thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing.”

Duke Lige took Ellabrihi with him. They said that he and the Delkian have similar personalities. They said he wasn’t interested in women, but has he changed? As I thought about it, someone else approached. I raised my eyebrows.

“Ah, greetings to the First Prince.”

Then I quickly grabbed the hem of my dress and bent my knees and waist. As I finished my greetings, he held out one of the cups he had brought to me. A clear, light green, fragrant fruit wine was fluttering.

“First of all, I apologize for interrupting the conversation between the two ladies. I asked my friend a favor because I wanted to talk to you.”

Ah, so that’s why young master Lige suddenly approached. No wonder I thought it was strange for him to suddenly approach.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Is the place where you got hurt in the accident healed?”

At that time, I remembered Delkian, who always looked at my knee.

“Yes, thanks to your concern, I’m all better. Are you okay, Prince?”

On the contrary, the first prince gently raised the corner of his mouth.

“That’s a relief. I can’t be fine if Lady is not fine. I tried to send people in a few times, but my brother stopped me. He said Lady would feel burdened.”

“Ah…”

“What I said at that time is still valid, so come to me whenever you need help.”

Valery’s determined voice that I didn’t have to meet Delkian again and that he would take care of it seemed to be heard again. I can’t believe that was what he meant.

“Thank you so much for your words.”

However, Delkian hesitated for a long time and coughed as if this was not all he had to say.

“Actually.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if there was any way I could meet Lady again.”

I raised my head and looked at him, slowly widening my eyes and blinking.

“Is that so?”

“Of course, unless you’re uncomfortable. I guess my first impression wasn’t good.”

His purple eyes were very similar to Valery’s. Still, when I look at his black hair color, I can tell that he is a different person, not Valery.  

The brothers wore similar clothes, but on closer inspection, they were different. It was difficult to see any wrinkles in his clothes, and the button was neatly buttoned. If it was Valery, he looked free as he loosened one of the top buttons as if he only could breathe when he did that. 

I folded my eyes.

“No way. There is nothing to be uncomfortable about, Your Highness.”

“Then I’m glad. I sincerely apologize again. I had to take responsibility until the end.”

“You don’t have to do that. The Second Prince has already paid a lot of attention to me.”

“He’s a prudent man. By the way, I heard you’ve met Valery before.”

I added with a nod.

“Ah, I gave him a little help the other day. It was a very simple thing.”

“I see. I was curious about you because he cared so much about you, not like himself.”

There comes the opportunity. But my mouth didn’t move.

Mother told me that for today I should get a one-on-one meeting with the Delkian, but I didn’t like it.

It’s not hard to do, but why do I hate to do it this way?

I guess it’s been a while since I’ve moved, so I made some mistakes. I even thought to forgive myself, thinking it might be okay once in a while to make a mistake, which is something I wouldn’t normally do.

“Is there anything special about me?”

“That’s possible. Or maybe it’s because of your eyes.”

“My eyes? Ah, it’s a rare color here.”

“More than that.”

Suddenly, there was a loud cheer from behind the first prince. As my eyes turned to that direction at once, Delkian also turned to that direction. Before I knew it, people gathered in one place, cheering and enjoying something. There was also a crackling sound.

“They must be playing something fun.”

“Ah, the game. Lady, do you want to try? You can also place a bet.”

Naturally, the topic changed.

“A bet?”

“Yes, I want to participate. So, would you like to try it too?”

He gestured as if to follow him. What kind of game is it that he is so passionate about? I followed him towards the crowd.

“It’s a top.”

It was a simple game in which a long, slender top made of gold was rotated on a slanted board to reach one of the three grooves at the end.

“The middle one has the highest score.”

“Do they give the winner something good?”

Delkian, who had his hand crossed his arms, leaned slightly towards me and pointed at someone.

“That person is the one who is hosting this banquet, and he collects a lot of rare items. He runs an auction house.”

“Ah.”

Behind the man Delkian pointed at, the items stored in the clear glass dome caught my eye. Seeing that none of them had been emptied yet, it seemed that no one had succeeded in winning the game.

“Would you like to try?”

“Shall we? I think it’ll be fun.”

While the couple failed, Delkian raised his hand and received two small tops. He stretched out his palm as if to take it, and I picked up one of them.

“You can do both.”

“One must be done by Your Highness. It’s a game.”

Before it was our turn, the eyes began gathering more. Fortunately, no one tried to talk to Delkian as I stood beside him.

Delkian played the game first. The cheers seemed to be twice as loud as the others. Everyone looked at him curiously. In his hand, the top spun around and began to roll on the board. Unfortunately, the top, swaying to the right and swaying to the left, fell between the middle and the left grove. The game host sighted. The organizers were also smiling while drinking champagne.

“Ah, what a shame, Your Highness! It seems that the goddess of fortune didn’t come to your side today! It’s such a shame that no one has succeeded yet! Is no one would become the owner of Arisuke’s ice statue?”

The Arisuke’s ice statue seemed to refer to the transparent statue trapped in the largest glass dome.

What’s so special about that?

“It’s not made from a gem but from mana stone.”

Delkian whispered quietly as if he had noticed my curiosity.

“Now, beautiful Lady! Do you want to start the game? I think it’s my first time seeing you. Do you know how to play the game?”

“I just saw it, so I know.”

“Oh, I see, that’s good. I wish you all the best!”

It’s finally my turn. I tried to spin the top and asked,

“Mana stone?”

“Yes, it can be used in some pretty strange places.”

Is Mana stone distributed in the Empire? I thought it was blocked because it was precious and, at the same time dangerous, but wasn’t it? At first, I wasn’t interested in this at all.

Still, it’s a mana stone. Suddenly, I got greedy. I heard it costs a lot of money because the processing is very complicated depending on how you use it. I unconsciously focused on the top, and the tension permeated into the hand that held the top.

Suddenly, Delkian burst out laughing. I was just about to spin the top, but my concentration was disturbed, so I stopped frowning.

“Why are you… laughing?”

“No, you were so focused that your brows frowned. Did you like mana stone that much?”

“…It’s not like that.”

Delkian still smiled, but I ignored it and focused on the top. The host urged me, “Lady?”

Fingling.

The top left my hand. For some reason, it was quiet as if someone had poured cold water. When I wondered why everyone was busy looking at the top.

I’ve already lost interest. This is because my top was leaning poorly in one direction without swaying left and right like Delkian’s top.

“Huh?”

“Huh? Huh?”

It was then that my top was ridiculously swaying in the opposite direction. The top was spinning at its fullest! With a light sound, it fell into the middle groove.

It was then that the top was ridiculously facing the other way. The spinning top is a barrel! With a light sound, it slipped into the middle groove.

Clack.

…It went in?