The Emperor Is My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 80

"Truly?! Gloria of Tristan?!"

Anne shrieked as Rose soothed her with both hands, preventing anyone outside of the room from listening in.

"Anne! Shh! Shh!!!"

"Why?! Why are you trying to keep your participation a secret? This is something to be proud of, my lady."

"Then what would I do if I didn't make it to the end and became Tristan's Gloria?"

"What are you worried about? If our young lady takes part, then of course it would be."

That's quite a bit of blind confidence in your mistress, Anne.

Rose's shoulders drooped.

"I think you are overestimating me."

"It's not an overestimation. Apologies, Lady Rose, but there is no one more beautiful than you in this empire."

"Thank you for the kind words, but... Tristan's Gloria doesn't seem to be chosen based on looks alone."

"Then what else do we need?"

"That's something that even my older brother doesn't know about. We will find out when I go to the temple."

Rose sighed deeply.

"Will I be able to do well even if I go?"

Last week, the Imperial Palace received applications from those who would participate in Tristan's Gloria.

After Wells and Russell carefully reviewed the applications sent to the Imperial Palace, five women were finally nominated, and Rose was also included in the nominations.

"But there was a name included in that list that made us a little uncomfortable."

The list of nominees was given by Wells.

There were people Rose knew and people she didn't know. Among them, the name she was surprised to hear was 'Nina West.'

She remembered Nina, whom she had met at the Imperial Palace, where the coming-of-age ceremony was held.

The woman who asked her to become Tristan's Gloria in order to know of Ilya's whereabouts.

I don't know why, but the woman was in a foul mood before she spoke to me.

Although she hadn't heard of Nina since, Rose was quite surprised that she had been selected as a candidate.

"When are you going to the temple, Lady Rose?"

"I think it's around May."

"May? At that time, it was Lady Rose's birth month..."

Anne can't hide her disappointment.

"It is. I can spend my birthday here and then leave after."

Anne's expression brightened instantly.

"Thank God, Lady Rose! Are you going to have a birthday banquet this time?"

"Ugh, no. I'm not going to throw a banquet."

"Why!"

Looking at Anne's face changing with the speed of the wind, Rose thought it was fun to see her change expressions at every comment.

She comforted Anne.

"That day, I just went out to eat with my older brother. It's before going to the temple, but it's a little bit like having a fancy birthday banquet, so I won't really need to celebrate again."

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"Hmm, I think I know what you mean, my lady. As a candidate for Gloria of Tristan, there is an image the ideal candidate needs to uphold, especially after you go to the temple. You have to be frugal."

She didn't really think that far ahead, but Rose nodded at Anne's words and agreed.

"That's right."

But more so, the reason I didn't want to have a banquet was because I'd feel very burdened.

For her, who still had to socialize even if she didn't quite enjoy the attention, it was more comfortable to be invited as a guest than to greet guests.

She looked at the invitations stacked on the table.

Rose, who had no intention of participating in social gatherings, received the invitations that had been filtered from Wells' side in her room.

She did not know there would be so many invitations, as her brother hadn't spoken a word of it to her, so she spent a while reading the family name written on the invitations one by one.

Among them, the name of one family caught her attention.

West.

Rose singled it out from the rest of the bunch.

Perhaps it was Lady Nina's taste, but the invitation envelope as well as the letter paper inside it were gorgeous.

The piece of paper also had a strong scent resembling that of the Countess of West.

However, it seemed that it was not Countess West who actually sent the invitation.

She guessed that the neat and tidy handwriting on the letter paper seemed to belong to a young girl.

[Dear Young Lady Honeywell.

Congratulations on being nominated for Tristan's Gloria.

I was lucky enough to be nominated as well. How about having tea time before going to the temple in May?

If you agree, we will invite other candidates as well.

Nina West.]

I knew it.

Nina's name was signed off at the end, causing Rose to stare at it for some time.

Should I accept this invitation? It's not like we're meeting alone, so I don't think it'll be dangerous.

Rose touched her throbbing forehead.

Even when meeting a person, you have to think about this and that before you meet. They could be a hidden danger.

"Anne, could you bring me some letter paper and an envelope?"

"Yes, my lady, I'll get it right away."

At Rose's request, Anne brought the required items.

While she picked up her pen and wrote her reply, Anne began heating up the seal's wax to seal the envelope.

Rose simply stated that she would accept the invitation to the tea party, put it in an envelope, and seal it with the Honeywell family seal.

"Shall I send it for you, Lady Rose?"

"Yes, but wait a moment."

I wrote a reply, but when I want to send it to Nina West, I find myself hesitating.

...Should I discuss this with my brother right now?

Rose hurriedly shook her head.

...No,

Rose. You're always coddled in your brother's arms. I came back because I wanted to protect my older brother. I--- I need to find Ilya before she can put my brother in harm's way.

Rose held the envelope lightly in her hand, built up her conviction before she handed it to Anne.

"Send it to Count West's family."

"Yes, my lady. I'll bring it to the staff in charge of the postal service immediately."

Anne trotted out of the room with light steps.

The ball was now completely out of Rose's hands.

Today, or tomorrow at the latest, Wells would find out that I had sent back an invitation to the Count of West.

"How will you react to the decision made without your brother's consultation?"

Like a child who committed a big mistake without their parents' knowledge, Rose waited in restlessness.

After wandering around the room, she calmed herself down and sat back in her chair.

"It's not a big deal, just... It will be just a light tea party... Nothing's going to happen."

Rose seemed exhausted, already starting to regret her actions.

---

"Rose, I heard that you replied to the invitation sent by Countess West."

During dinner with the Honeywell family, Wells brought up his unexpected findings that happened that day.

Rose's hand hesitated for a moment as she took a piece of thinly sliced meat with her fork.

"Oh, ahh... I sent it."

"May I ask why the West family?"

Wells looked dissatisfied.

He was hyperattentive to Rose's safety, and try as he might, he wasn't very happy that she accepted an invitation from any family that might put her at risk.

Rose brought up the story of Nina.

"At the coming-of-age celebration the other day, do you remember when I stopped by the break room before we went to see His Majesty?"

"Yes, you stopped by because the ribbon was untied."

"At that time, the person who helped me tie the ribbon was Lady Nina West. Originally, I should have invited her out as thanks, but she first suggested that the Gloria candidates of Tristan gather and have a tea party, so I agreed."

Wells's hands, which were cutting the meat with a knife and fork, stopped. He frowned slightly and met her gaze.

"Nina West was in the break room?"

"Yes, she was. Why do you ask?"

"I saw a list of rest room users when I went back to the Imperial Palace, but I've never seen the name Nina West listed."

"But brother, I, too, had not listed my name."

"Still, Rose, I saw you stop by the break room, so you were still recorded."

When using the resting room of the Imperial Family, a list of those who used it was recorded in case the list was required for something later.

It was not something nobles would record personally. Instead, it was written by handmaids and attendants waiting to help them in the break room.

Rose sighed.

"...Perhaps it was only natural that Lady Nina West's name wasn't there."

"What do you mean?"

"At that time, when I went to the break room, there was no one inside. Aren't there three or four attendants waiting inside? I thought they might have been in the motion of switching shifts or resting."

Rose paused and tried to recall what Nina had said about the attendants, and she nodded as she recalled.

"That's right, I'm sure of it. Lady Nina West was the one who tied my ribbon, so no wonder her name isn't on the list. It was the female attendants' job to write it, but they weren't there at the time."

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Rose looked at Wells. His expression was quite grave.

It feels like it has something to do with Wells being called to Russell again on the day of the coming-of-age celebrations.

It was decided that only the knights in charge of the incident, Russell and Wells, knew about the incident that had occurred in the Imperial Palace.

Unaware of the alarming story behind the immediate call for the knights and Wells after the banquet, Rose thought lightly that their conversation was an extension of Wells' work during that time.

Meanwhile, after hearing about Nina West from Rose, Wells didn't lift his fork again.

Although the paperwork has been processed. Still, I didn't expect the number of suspects to increase so suddenly.

Well, even if the number of candidates increased, it was difficult to conclude that Nina committed the crime. After all, it wasn't something any random person could do.

My appetite drops as I recall the strange corpse I saw that day.

Wells put down his fork and knife and turned his attention to his drink, peeping to see if his sister still chewed her food like an adorable chipmunk.

Despite turning 20, Rose was still a little sister in his eyes. She would never change.

This was the first time Rose has taken the initiative to accept an invitation from another family by herself.

So, of course, Wells was very worried.

"Rose, will you be able to visit the West family alone?"

"Huh? Don't worry, brother."

"Alright, I will at least send a letter to Countess West asking her to look after you so you don't get into an accident."

"Yes, brother, I won't stop you from looking out for me."

"Hahah, thank you, sister."

Wells burst out laughing in joy.

As he spun the glass of water in his hand, a thought occurred to him.

"Yes, indeed."

"Yes?"

"I'll probably have to leave the Manor for a while next week."

"What? To where? Is it time for you to go to the mine?"

"No, I decided to receive a report about the Tuga Mine from the Viscount there before the foundation festival. It's no different though; I think I'll have to go to the port instead."

"The port?"

"There are many items ordered from other continents for the founding festival this time. I had to go and check the items myself before moving them to the Imperial Palace. I decided to go and come back early."

Wells put on an apologetic look that carried two different meanings.

One was about leaving the manor even though he was worried about Rose, and the other was about going to the port alone, leaving Rose, who had never seen the sea before, behind.

When Wells took a vacation and tried to go to the sea with her before, Rose got sick, and when she was healthy, he was busy, so the two of them never went to the sea together.

Unfortunately, as she was not the type to play alone with the attendants, she had never gone out by herself and actually seen the sea since she was born.

"Would you like me to bring you a souvenir?"

"Hmm, yes, bring me a postcard with the sea drawn on it."

When Wells occasionally went to the sea or port, Rose always wanted a postcard of the sea.

Perhaps, the album in the corner of her bookshelf was full of postcards she received that way.

"Alright, when spring passes, let's go to the sea together. I'll make time for our trip, definitely."

"Great! I'll look forward to it."

Rose smiled and brought the salad fork to her waiting lips, thinking of the promise made with the blue-haired boy as she quietly chewed on the salad.

"Then I'll definitely take you to the sea someday and show you around."

Rose hid a self-deprecating smile so Wells wouldn't notice.

I feel sorry for myself for still holding that promise in my heart.