I suddenly pushed back from my chair, shrugging my shoulders as Dominic opened the door. I had thought there might be someone outside, but it seemed to be true.
'Is it a child visiting my stationery store?'
However, the person at the door was hard to see from my vantage point, overshadowed by Dominic's large frame.
"I thought the Red Cult Pirates had invaded," I mumbled, rubbing my still-sleepy eyes.
The man's identity was quickly revealed. Shion, who was beside me, smiled brightly and exclaimed, "My brother! You said you would come, and you did!"
"Hmm..." Carat, looking as if he'd just encountered something truly intriguing for the second time in his life, peered towards the door. "I see, our Shion has a brother, doesn't he?"
If Shion has a brother, I should charm him! I jumped to my feet, ready to wave my hands enthusiastically. A cute teenager is about to appear! I need to greet him charmingly. I'll feed them lots of delicious food, play castanets to the beat, and win their hearts with rhythm!
I stood up, watching Dominic turn and move aside, and raised my hands in a sparkling gesture. "Oh, our Shion is here... Me?"
However, the man who appeared from behind Dominic was burly. His fine, soft silver hair, like a precious gift, covered his eyebrows. Soon, my eyes met his bluish, sea-like gaze, and I was taken aback. He was by no means a teenager.
'What? I was expecting a teenager at most, but a sturdy man has arrived.'
If I try to shake his hand like this, it's going to be very, very, very embarrassing, isn't it?
He spoke in a deep bass voice, clearly past adolescence and quite mature. "…It's been a while, Princess Meldenique."
I hastily lowered my hand and stared at the man who had just entered. Did we know each other? He seems familiar... I squinted, scrutinizing his face.
"Please, have a seat."
I had prepared to welcome a child, so the arrival of a strong young man left me feeling awkward. I coughed briefly to ease the sudden tension in the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Shion ran towards the unknown man and hugged him. "Brother! Do you know Mel? After all, are you two destined?" The boy's sparkling black eyes made the situation quite awkward.
Dominic sat next to me, glaring at the newcomer. It was as if he was looking at something jarring that had intruded upon his territory.
Amidst all the commotion, the man looked directly at me and sat down in a chair. He settled between an overly excited Shion and a calmly observing Carat. A strange confrontation began at the round table in the narrow stationery store.
This man, with his elegant, upright posture, refined demeanor, and beautiful clothes... He was definitely an unusual man.
'Where did I see him?' I calmly searched through Meldenique's memories. That's right, I've seen him often. At the onboard party hosted by Duke Hessmann, and at the gardening party organized by Sheria...
'Wait.'
After a moment's thought, I carefully examined his face and my mouth fell open.
'That's Prince Cassian, isn't he?'
No, even more so... There was something more important than him being Prince Cassian.
"Sh-Shion..."
Prince Cassian's younger brother, Shion.
'Axion?'
'He's Prince Axion? The one rumored to be sick and recuperating in a villa instead of the capital? And now his physical condition has recovered, with rumors circulating that he's decided to become a knight? He's the youngest prince, rumored to be pampered by the Emperor?'
So much so that people jokingly say the imperial palace revolves around... Prince Axion?
"Huh?"
"...I'm truly curious. Do you have a message about Prince Axion?"
...If he was Prince Cassian's brother, then he was the one I had spoken to so casually and treated so roughly...
"That's right! I'm the prince! Oh, you didn't tell me?"
'I didn't! I never did!'
The Emperor loved Axion very much. There were a total of eight imperial children in this generation, but only two remained after deaths in battle or mysterious circumstances. Among the two, the one who grew up beloved was Prince Axion.
And I had just spoken so carelessly to Prince Axion!
'Am I going to be arrested for blasphemy against the imperial family? I already have so many enemies!'
To calm myself, I hastily drank from the slushie I had placed on the round table. The cold drink ran down my esophagus, helping me regain some composure. I could feel Dominic standing beside me, arms crossed, looking around disapprovingly. He must have sensed the unstable atmosphere. But I winked at him. It wasn't time for Dominic to step up yet. Prince Cassian was not an easy opponent, and even in the original timeline, he didn't yet hate me. So there was no need to provoke him and make an enemy.
The boy, who couldn't grasp the tense atmosphere, said with a smile, "Wow, I didn't know Mel was a princess!"
"...I didn't know that Shion was Axion."
"I'm so happy! I can really get married! With my brother! Your status is perfect!"
Crack!
There was a snapping sound from the armrest of the wooden chair Dominic was leaning on. I glanced at him. Dominic muttered quietly, gritting his teeth, "It's just a mistake."
I see. Apparently, he couldn't control his power.
I nodded and looked at Axion again. I looked at Axion, who was smiling, and tried to raise the corners of my mouth in return.
"I like His Highness Axion more, don't I?"
"Gasp!... Oh no, everyone likes me, but Mel too..."
Wondering what he was thinking, Axion blushed and buried his face in his hands. I could tell just by looking at him that the corners of his mouth were smiling, that cute prince.
"...It seems you've become friends with Axion, Princess Meldenique."
"Yes, by chance."
Interrupting me, Axion laughed and shouted, "You saved me by accident, Mel!"
Huh? That sounds suspicious. It's as if I saved him to win the prince's favor. Prince Cassian seemed to think so. He looked at me with a piercing gaze.
I smiled as harmlessly as I could. I already had many enemies. I couldn't turn this man into one. I recalled some information about him.
'Prince Cassian was a capable supporting character in the original story. And he's been friends with Lennox since childhood.'
A prince born into an era when imperial power was too weak. A childhood friend of Lennox, he became Crown Prince with the help of the Duke of Hessmann's family and was eventually crowned Emperor.
'I wasn't very close with Lennox. He didn't even consider me his own in the first place. That's why he later had a crush on his mistress, Sheria.'
I remembered that many readers felt sorry for his heartache over Sheria. As such, he was loved by quite a few readers. He graduated from the Imperial Academy at the top of his class, and if he had been born an aristocrat, he would have been hailed as the greatest treasurer of all time, but in the end, he was not truly loved.
But the person in front of me right now was not yet Prince Cassian, the sub-male lead. Prince Cassian was wary of me.
Cassian spoke to me, his seemingly harmless words delivered with a hidden sharpness. "...Princess Meldenique of Babyloa."
"Yes."
"May I ask why you are saving Axion and running a stationery store?"
A piercing gaze began to scrutinize me. I finished organizing my thoughts. The sub-male lead, who has a crush on Sheria in the novel, a perfectly neutral and scheming character, and the next emperor.
'I don't want to get involved unnecessarily, and I don't want to be suspected.'
He would become a powerful person, so it would be good to maintain a good relationship with him. However, he had the characteristic of being close to Lennox. In many ways, it could have been a poisoned chalice.
I stared at him, pondering. 'I hope he neither hates nor likes me.'
I grinned, hiding my thoughts from his searching eyes. "Would you like to take a sip of the slushie first?"
"...Yes?"
"It's an ambitious invention." I pointed to the cup in front of him. A friendly prince who often showed his face in high society and was popular among the aristocracy. This man was a human billboard who could promote a stationery store before he became a dangerous person.
You see...
"I will serve you well, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Alright, my billboard. No, my esteemed guest!