Love & Poison (4)
“Sir Philip, you like His Highness Edwin as well, do you not?”
Why was the third prince being brought up again all of a sudden?
Philip frowned for a moment before offering a short reply.
“Among the princes, he is the one I favor. He is intelligent and possesses true perseverance.”
“Then please lend me your aid.”
“What exactly are you asking me to help with?”
“Help His Highness so that he may attend Lady Crown’s birthday banquet.”
“No—how could you possibly know about that, my lady…”
Philip let out a soft exclamation of understanding at her words.
He had suspected as much. It seemed Edwin’s gaze toward Brigitte had been quite sincere after all.
Especially since the boy had gone so far as to send a message through a maid.
“…Lady Crown’s birthday banquet is an event hosted by Her Majesty the Empress. Without an official invitation, attendance is impossible.”
“I am aware. However, would it not be acceptable if the protagonist of the banquet were to extend the invitation herself?”
Philip recalled Brigitte, the daughter of his lord.
Though still young, she was stubborn, resolute, and her pride soared to the heavens. She was extraordinarily selective in her relationships, allowing only those she had personally chosen to remain at her side.
Would such a girl personally invite Edwin? Could that truly be possible?
“Is His Highness Edwin acquainted with the Duke of Crown’s daughter?”
“No.”
“Then it cannot be done. Lady Crown has exceptionally clear preferences. She would not invite someone she barely knows to her own birthday banquet.”
“Even so, should we not at least make the attempt?”
Catherine gazed at Philip with eyes brimming with desperate earnestness.
“Sir Philip, I wish to protect His Highness Edwin’s pure first love. Before he is a prince, he is simply a twelve-year-old boy.”
Who could fail to understand the heart of a young man longing to attend the birthday banquet of the girl who had stolen his affections for the first time?
“……”
Philip fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
“How exactly would I do so?”
“You simply need to help, Sir Philip.”
“…Me?”
“Yes!”
At Catherine’s confident reply, Philip’s brow furrowed deeply.
“How in the world am I supposed to help with something like that?”
“Before the birthday banquet begins, you could help the two of them grow closer.”
“So how exactly am I supposed to—”
“I heard it from the knights. Until Sir Jerome returns, Lady Crown will be staying at the Empress’s palace, correct?”
He really lost all sense of reason the moment he saw a woman. Philip pressed a hand to his forehead, recalling the faces of his foolish yet pure-hearted subordinates.
“Haa… and?”
“Please tell me about Lady Crown’s daily movements. Her personal preferences as well.”
“Are you truly asking me to disclose the itinerary of an honored guest?”
Philip’s eyebrows shot upward. He shook his head with firm resolve.
“That is impossible. Who knows what danger Lady Crown might encounter if—”
“Aish, just help me a little!”
Yet the woman named Catherine proved a far stronger opponent than he had anticipated.
She thrust her upper body toward him as though she might bump him with her shoulder at any moment and raised her voice.
“To speak plainly, what could our innocent His Highness Edwin possibly do? He is not cunning enough to scheme anything wicked, nor does he possess the political influence to orchestrate behind-the-scenes maneuvers. Until recently he was being scorned as the Shabby Prince. What catastrophe could possibly occur from sharing a few harmless details with him!”
To think she would not hesitate to speak ill of her own lord for the sake of her goal.
Philip’s eyes shook violently in utter bewilderment.
“I am merely trying to help a children’s first love bloom successfully. Is that truly such a grave offense?”
“Th-that…”
Philip retreated a step at a time.
The woman’s relentless invasion of his personal space left him thoroughly flustered. Never in his life had a woman pressed him so boldly.
“F-fine! I understand, so please step back!”
In the end, Philip unconsciously yielded to Catherine’s pressure and accepted her request.
“Oh my, truly? What a relief! I shall never forget this kindness!”
The moment she received the answer she desired, Catherine’s face lit up. Without warning, she threw her arms around him in a fierce embrace.
“Then I shall count on you, Sir Philip!”
It had all happened in an instant. Philip stood frozen in place, stunned into silence.
By the time he regained his senses, Catherine had already fled far into the distance.
“…Hah.”
Philip Meyer, Vice Commander of the Gloria Knights—who was always rational and composed—stared blankly at the spot where she had vanished, as if his soul had left his body.
“Ah—hello!”
Edwin summoned his courage once more and offered a greeting.
To the red-haired girl, Brigitte Crown.
Brigitte, who had been leaving the knights’ quarters, nodded the moment she saw him, as though she had expected the encounter.
“I bid you good day, Your Highness. We meet often, it seems.”
Edwin, who had been waiting in advance at the central garden where Brigitte always passed through, encountered her yet again.
Moreover, today Brigitte spoke to him first.
“What brings you here, Your Highness?”
“Ah, I was looking at that flower.”
“Which flower?”
“Th-that one. The marigold.”
Brigitte gazed steadily at the flower Edwin pointed out.
“This flower is called a marigold?”
“Yes.”
“Then what of that one over there?”
“Ah, that is a geranium…”
“And the one over there?”
“That is simply a rose…”
Brigitte squatted down beside Edwin and continued to ask for the names of the flowers without pause.
It seemed she intended to learn the name of every bloom in the central garden.
“How fascinating.”
“What is?”
“Men usually show no interest in flowers. Yet how is it that Your Highness is so well-versed in them?”
Ordinary young boys would not even notice the existence of flowers, much less their names.
Brigitte looked at him with genuine surprise.
“…The nanny I had before was fond of flowers.”
Edwin offered a bittersweet smile at her question.
“So I naturally came to memorize their names as well.”
“I see.”
Brigitte studied his expression for a moment before turning her gaze away.
She looked at the brilliantly blooming flowers throughout the garden and spoke.
“I heard that my mother was also very fond of flowers.”
Though she struggled to keep her face expressionless, sorrow lingered in Brigitte’s eyes.
Edwin found himself unable to offer any words. He knew well that the seat of the Duchess of Crown had remained empty for a very long time.
“Yet there is not a single flower in the mansion where I reside. My father said the sight of them reminded him of Mother and filled him with grief, so he had the entire flower garden removed.”
Some people wish to forget their sadness, while others wish to cherish it within their memories.
Sometimes sadness is all that remains of the memories left behind.
For Brigitte, that was the mother she had lost the moment she drew her first breath.
“I apologize. I have spoken of something heavy, unlike myself. Please do not take it to heart…”
What should he say at a time like this?
Edwin’s eyes darted about before he unconsciously blurted out in haste.
“I-it’s all right! I don’t have a mother either!”
Only after the words left his mouth did he seem to realize how embarrassing they were.
Edwin’s face flushed bright red.
What do you mean it’s all right, you fool! How rude can you be!
The young prince felt an overwhelming urge to strike his own head repeatedly.
Yet contrary to his fears, Brigitte simply stared at him with wide, surprised eyes.
“You do not have a mother either, Your Highness? I was not aware.”
“Mm… she passed away right after giving birth to my younger sibling.”
The fact that Edwin had no mother was known to the entire imperial family and every noble of the empire. Thanks to that, he had never before needed to explain it himself.
Revealing the absence of his mother to another person was a first for Edwin as well.
He had assumed it would feel miserable to speak of his own flaw aloud, yet it was not as painful as he had imagined.
“But even before she passed, we scarcely ever spoke. So I do not even know what my mother liked.”
Still, the realization that he knew nothing about the woman who had given him life ached in his chest.
Edwin’s voice sank slightly with melancholy. Brigitte gazed at the prince’s profile for a moment before replying in a bright tone.
“That is strange. I believe I might know.”
“What?”
“What your mother liked, Your Highness.”
The duke’s daughter claimed to know something he himself did not?
When Edwin looked at her with startled eyes, Brigitte smiled softly.
“It is you, Your Highness Edwin.”
“…Pardon?”
“They say there is no parent who does not love their child. Surely your mother must have loved you with all her heart, Your Highness.”
Brigitte gently pressed his forearm with her gracefully extended finger.
“Therefore, what your mother loved most was you, Your Highness Edwin.”
“Ah…”
“Now you understand, do you not?”
Edwin stared blankly at Brigitte as she smiled at him.
Honestly, he could not fully agree with her words.
After all, even his father the emperor showed him no interest. Whether his mother had loved him or not remained unknown.
Yet with a single phrase from Brigitte, warmth spread through his heart.
It was the first comfort he had ever received from someone his own age.
“…Yes. I suppose so.”
Unconsciously, Edwin offered a faint smile and lowered his gaze.
Brigitte watched him quietly.
Feeling her persistent stare, Edwin soon felt his face grow hot.
“U-um, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face…”
“Your Highness.”
Brigitte, who had been gazing intently at his face, dropped a single remark.
“Upon closer inspection, Your Highness is exceptionally handsome.”