My Childhood Friend Is An Archmage Chapter 55
Translated by d6y (ko-fi)
Chapter 55
* * *
The Crown Prince works faster than I thought. It’s been less than a day since I returned to the Kaerun Duchy. So of course, I didn’t expect His Highness himself to give me the news.
After sleeping in for the first time in a while, I let myself soak in a bath of fragrant flowers and herbs. As I’m soaking and relaxing my stiff muscles from the hardships of the past few days, I hear an intense knock on the door from outside the bathroom. "My lady, I'm sorry to interrupt your bath, but I have urgent news!"
"What is it?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince is coming to see you!"
The three words 'the Crown Prince' jolt me awake, even more so than the six words ‘Lancer’.
"Is His Highness expecting me now?"
"No, he has yet to arrive. A servant from the imperial court informed me in advance that His Highness will be showing up soon."
Wasn't it basic manners to give at least a day's notice before arriving? What on earth could his sudden arrival be for?
I hurry out of the bathroom to see five of my mother's maids. I recognise some familiar faces from the last time I went to an imperial ball and some new ones. Each of them is carrying a different beauty tool with an alarming expression.
"Are you ready?"
Uh… what?
The question almost escapes my throat, but I nod nervously in front of the maids’ fiery gaze. They’re burning like they’re on a battlefield.
Then they grab my arms from either side. "My lady, His Highness the Crown Prince will be arriving in an hour."
"We will help you finish dressing as soon as possible."
The maids take hold of me and lead me to the dressing room that the Duchess usually uses. As we walk there, one of the maids dries my damp hair from behind, a physical reminder that the time is limited. Another smooths a generous amount of cream over my face.
When I reach the dressing room, I see my mother and father waiting for me.
"Skyla, my precious daughter! The Crown Prince is coming to the Duchy to see you!"
"I know. I heard about it earlier." I reply calmly to my father while sitting down in front of the mirror.
My mother stomps her foot. "For heaven's sake, your wardrobe is in one colour!"
"It's not just one, it's two: white and black."
"That's not the point now! His Highness is coming to visit, how can you wear such plain clothes…!” My mother stammers, unable to finish her sentence, and storms out of the room. I can hear her searching for Phoebe outside the door.
My father starts to run after her before stopping to glance at me.
"What's wrong?" I ask, looking at his reflection in the mirror.
"Nothing." That's what he says, but what Duke Kaerun is thinking is this, ‘Why is the crown prince looking for Skyla, when he can simply order her to enter the palace… if it’s not for some sort of emergency, then what else?’
That’s what I’m wondering about as well. A prince like him could easily sit in his office, cough out, and have his secretaries fetch someone by sending a messenger.
Last time, the crown prince asked me to come to the palace to discuss the fraudulent engagement. So why would he come directly to the Kaerun Duchy now?
"I'm not sure why the Crown Prince is suddenly visiting unannounced," I say to my father first.
To be honest, I have an idea as to why. Perhaps he's here to update me on Lancer's punishment, or maybe he's here to give the Duke and Duchess their approval to proceed with our fraudulent engagement.
As I'm organising my thoughts, my father speaks. "The Crown Prince seems to care a lot about you."
"...He cares a lot about me?"
"Yes, he does. Whenever I went to the palace to see you before you woke up, His Highness was always by your side."
"That's… because he's worried that if something happens to me, Lancer will go on another rampage."
My father shakes his head. "I don't think that's it. When I was there, the Crown Prince had summoned an imperial mage skilled in healing magic to cast recovery spells on you."
A mage skilled in healing magic?
"When the mage said he wore himself out, the Crown Prince gave him a sack of magic stones. He took them for energy and continued to cast healing spells until he was so exhausted from it he collapsed with a nosebleed."
The mage collapsed from exhaustion? Isn't that the same as saying the cook starved to death? As I listen to my father, a face pops into my head.
A man with grey hair and golden eyes.
"...What was the mage's name?"
"I don't quite remember… Katniff? I think it was something like that."
"Not Ketniff?"
"Oh, I guess that's his name."
"...."
Ah… Viscount Artisina… I'm so sorry….
I pity him, who went as far as to transform into a purring cat to win my favour. Should I ever meet him again, I vow to at least be polite, even if I could not promise him kindness.
The five maids are excellent, they deserve to be dedicated to the Duchess of Kaerun with how my makeover finished in exactly one hour. Though, there are a few bumps along the way.
"Skyla, please, please, put this on!" The door to the dressing room burst open, revealing my mother and Phoebe.
Phoebe blankly holds a blue dress in her hands. It was a dress of thin fabric, with a gaping hole in the centre of the chest, making it reveal more surface area than it covers.
'My lady, please wear this dress just once! Even though you said you don't like dresses like this, deep down you actually like these sensual dresses!'
Wait, since when did I have such a taste?
'Oh, wait, you never did… I've been so delusional about wanting you to wear this dress that I can no longer tell what's real and what's fake in my head anymore….'
I have no idea what she's saying, so I'll just ignore her.
"I'll just wear the usual dress." I reject their attempts to put me in strange dresses once and for all. They don't back down easily but are eventually defeated by my stubbornness.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived. Shall I show him to the parlour?"
After slipping out of my nightgown to change into a plain light green dress (I still had a few dresses in my wardrobe that weren't black and white), Austin approaches me.
"No, I'll show him myself."
"I've arranged for a seat in the garden." My father informs me.
Leaving my residence, I see the crown prince's carriage, embellished with the imperial seal. He stands in front of it, waiting for me.
"Prince Ryan."
"I apologise for the unexpected visit. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
I guide the crown prince into the garden with expertise. It became second nature to me to take Lancer to the garden whenever he dropped by.
"Do you like tea?" The crown prince asks as we sit down at the prepared tea table.
"I do."
"I see. Which tea do you like best?"
"I don't have a favourite, I like them all" I reply nonchalantly, staring at the tea the maid poured into my teacup. I feel bad, but I'm not in the mood to talk about tea right now. I want to know why he came to see me.
He seems to notice what I'm thinking, seeing how he changes the topic. "I apologise for coming unannounced. I hope you will forgive my rudeness."
"It's all right. You must've come here with an important agenda that can't be communicated by letter." I raise my teacup with as much dignity as I can muster. The crown prince then responds, "Actually, it's something that could've been said in a letter."
"...?"
I resist the urge to retort, "Then why are you here?" Instead, I stare at him, waiting for an explanation.
"There's no particular reason, I just wanted to get some fresh air. There's been a lot of dust in the palace since Lord Lancer tore down the walls. Besides, I don't have much to do today."
"Ah, yes." While listening to the crown prince's rather long-winded exposition, his thoughts can suddenly be heard.
'Actually, I'm here because I miss you, Kayla.'
Tak. My teacup slams to the saucer plate with a loud clatter. I failed to control my strength unwittingly.
…Why did you want to see me?
Does this guy actually like me?
Feeling a little embarrassed, I clear my throat abruptly. "So, what brings you here?"
"I relayed to His Majesty what you said to me yesterday." The crown prince leans back in his chair and huffs, "The Emperor graciously accepted your request."
'I probably spent three hours trying to persuade him. His Majesty was very angry. He told me how on earth he could trust Princess Kaerun to drop Lord Lancer's banishment, but… at least I got his permission for now.'
"...Thank you." I sincerely express my gratitude, knowing what happened from his thoughts.
I knew it was an unreasonable request, but he still had gone out of his way for me. It makes me feel touched.
"As such, the banishment of Lord Lancer will soon be withdrawn. Now, I have one favour to ask you."
"What is it?"
Whatever the crown prince asks, I'm willing to agree unconditionally. He confronted the Emperor for me, so it was the least I could do to help him with whatever he needed.
What will he ask for? Will he ask for an immediate engagement? Or for the Kaerun Duchy's full support for his coronation in the future?
Various ideas crossed my mind. However, the favour he asks for is smaller than I thought.
"I would like you to have tea with me once a week.”
