Chapter 96

On the final day of the Flower Festival, there is no opening of the noble gardens. This means that Cain’s part-time job ended yesterday, and today is his day off.

Even on the final day, it seems that the street stalls are still open.

At the largest four-way intersection, it seems that the royal orchestra, dispatched from the palace, is performing. In other four-way intersections throughout the city, there are amateur orchestras made up of citizens, groups of music-loving nobles, and students from the music department who are still in the capital, all performing because they want to stand out and play music, making the atmosphere very lively.

It is said that people go out with close friends, family, fiancés, or lovers, enjoying food and dancing to the music. However, Cain didn’t have that many close friends yet.

His classmates were all kind and friendly, and they conversed and had lunch together, but they weren’t close enough to go dancing on a day off.

His senior coworker, Maddy, was apparently helping out at some stall today, of course, for pay. Cain had heard that he was the son of a viscount, but he seemed to be saving money for some reason.

Well, since it was quiet in the dorm today, Cain was about to take a textbook from his desk, which was propped up with bookends, to study when—

“Cain! I’ll introduce you to a good part-time job!”

Julian burst in, shouting loudly as he opened the door. Cain frowned and observed Julian’s face, but the lecherous grin only gave him a bad feeling.

“I have a bad feeling, so I’d rather decline.”

“It’s good to be in the good graces of the royal family. I’ll give you three gold coins for the whole day, until evening!”

Three gold coins would cover the carriage fare and accommodation for a one-way trip to the capital of Rimuto Break. With that much, he could visit his hometown during the next long break and significantly shorten the path to renting a flying dragon.

The more he was offered, the more his bad feeling grew. Cain honestly wanted the money, but he was hesitant due to the fear of what unreasonable tasks he might be asked to do.

“What do you want me to do for such a large sum?”

“Nothing much. Just walk around the city with me and enjoy the final day of the Flower Festival.”

“...Don’t you have any friends, Julian?”

“Don’t be rude.”

“Why don’t you invite Silrirea? She said she would go with her brother. Since they are family, it wouldn’t be a problem if the plans changed on the day. And she is your fiancée, after all.”

“I can’t back down. If I invite Silrirea now, I’ll have to say ‘I love you’ a hundred times in front of the entire Mitichurian family. I can’t do that!”

“What a troublesome pride... It’s fine, just say ‘I love you’ a hundred times.”

“If I put my pride aside, the royal family would fall apart.”

Determined not to invite Silrirea himself, Julian stubbornly insisted. Cain, who had been hesitating, finally gave in and nodded to accept the part-time job. Walking around the city for three gold coins was an exceptional offer, and he thought that if he happened to meet Silrirea in the city, he could force them to get together and return home.

★★★★

“Haha, how about some meat dumpling skewers? There are also sweet potato dumpling skewers. They’re delicious with sauce.”

“No, thank you.”

“Don’t be shy, I’m paying for everything. Karin.”

“Tch.”

“Haha, a young lady shouldn’t be making such sounds.”

Amidst the paper flowers fluttering in the air, Julian walked cheerfully. The beautiful girl with long, golden hair and deep blue eyes like the summer sky, who was being escorted by him, had a forced smile, but her eyes didn’t match.

Wearing a long, sky-blue dress and low-heeled boots, she stood close to Julian, looking very delicate. Passersby turned to look at the girl called Karin, and when they realized she was with Julian, they sighed.

“Should I hold a grudge?”

“I don’t understand what kind of spell you’re casting, Karin, but I can tell you’re complaining. This is a legitimate part-time job, so play your role properly.”

“Tch.”

“Haha, I said, a young lady shouldn’t be making such sounds.”

Despite Cain’s bad mood, Julian was inexplicably cheerful. He tried to make Cain eat, give her gifts, and even invite her to dance, but Cain refused every time. He had thought about eating enough to go bankrupt, but the dress’s waist was tighter than expected, so he stopped.

“After all, weren’t you in high demand among many young ladies? You could have gone with one of them. Or, you could have brought several young ladies at once.”

After all, he had boasted that it wasn’t considered cheating until he had three more. He could have walked around with his three favorite girls.

“It’s bad because I don’t have a fiancée other than Silrirea. If I walk around with a specific girl on the final day of the Flower Festival, people will think it’s the decision of the first concubine! And the girl will get the wrong idea. I don’t want that, I just want to taste it a little.”

“I see. I didn’t realize the final day of the Flower Festival was so important... But, couldn’t you have gone with male friends? It’s a day to walk with family and friends, right?”

Looking around, Cain saw schoolmates walking together, mothers watching jesters with their young children, and fathers carrying their daughters on their shoulders to catch the falling flower petals.

“If I walk around with Cain or Jean-Luc, girls will come up to us saying, ‘Your Highness, I came alone, can I join you?’ I can’t refuse when a woman invites me.”

“No, you should.”

“Besides, if Silrirea sees me walking with another girl, she’ll get angry. She’ll be quiet, but she’ll be angry.”

It didn’t seem like the words of someone who said it wasn’t cheating until he had three more. In fact, Cain almost sighed, thinking that he should have invited Silrirea from the beginning. On one hand, he tried to bring a girl with big breasts into his room, but on the other, he didn’t want Silrirea to know. He boasted about getting many invitations from girls during the Flower Festival but didn’t want Silrirea to see him walking with a girl.

Julian’s interest in the opposite sex and his love for Silrirea seemed to be mixed up, leading to contradictory actions.

“Why me? Wouldn’t a close relative from the castle be better? Someone who can explain to Silrirea later?”

For example, a relative like a nursemaid’s daughter or a niece, or a young maid or governess. Any woman with a low enough profile that the girls who target Julian wouldn’t know.

“A girl as beautiful as Karin, no one would think, ‘I’m better than her and can cut in.’”

“Is there such a person?”

“The world is stranger than you think, Karin.”

Cain’s head hurt at the thought of such a person. The idea of someone thinking they were more suitable than the first prince and cutting in was absurd. Cain and Julian arrived at the largest four-way intersection in front of the castle. The royal orchestra, dispatched from the palace, was playing bright music, facing the castle.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music, but no one was dancing yet.

“Julian, this is perfect.”

A man from the orchestra, holding a violin, approached. He nodded slightly at Cain and said he was the leader of the orchestra for the day.

“Even though we’re playing dance music, everyone is too polite to dance because it’s the royal orchestra. If the first couple starts dancing, everyone else will follow. Julian, can you do the first dance?”

Cain furrowed his brow deeply. If Julian was to dance, the only partner here was Cain.

“Haha, good idea. Dancing at the Flower Festival would be boring if we didn’t. Let’s lead everyone! Can you dance, Karin?”

“Of course, I can dance.”

In the picture book of the girl knight Nina, there was a scene where a boy who refused to dance made a crying girl stand up, and Nina danced with her. Naturally, Dianah wanted to play the male part when she read it. And since Dianah wanted to do it, Cain couldn’t refuse. Therefore, Cain, Dianah, and Ilvareno could all dance both male and female parts.

Switching from the escort style where the hand is placed on the arm to the style where the hand is placed on the offered hand, Cain and Julian walked elegantly to the center of the intersection. They took the dance hold and waited for the music.

The violin leader raised his hand and signaled the orchestra, tapping his foot on the cobblestones to count.

Tap, tap, tap-tap-tap!

Music filled the air. Cain and Julian started dancing. At first, they danced gracefully, but when Julian deliberately took large steps, Cain forcefully pulled his arm to make a turn. Although they were in the male and female dance positions, they were both boys. Not wanting to lose, the turns became more exaggerated, and the steps became as fast as a sprint. They even pretended to step on each other’s feet and kicked, jumping to avoid, making it unclear whether they were waltzing, tangoing, quickstepping, or even doing Latin dance.

“Julian, since no one is joining us despite our efforts, let’s split up and forcibly drag the spectators into dancing.”

“It sounds fun, but it will only make one couple into two.”

“After dancing a bit with the person you invite, suggest the same to them and split up again.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea. But...”

“Then, see you later... Oh!”

Ignoring Julian, who was still trying to say something, Cain grabbed Julian’s arm, forcefully spun him, and threw him towards a person standing among the spectators.

Julian, spinning like a girl whose sash was being untied by a corrupt official, reached the front of the spectators, where Silrirea was standing, holding her brother’s arm.