As the Villainess Who Was Dumped, I Am Saved by My Childhood Friend from a Noble Family and Spoiled in the Frontier - Chapter 4

A few days later.

“Thank you for today, Nina. You were a great help.”

I had come to town to assist Lord Franz with his work. By the time we finished, it was already dusk.

“Not at all. As someone staying under your roof, I’m glad I could be of some use.”

Diplomatic envoys from the neighboring Wolfsburg’s Fortress Empire had visited the Margrave’s territory to discuss trade issues, but their interpreter had fallen ill, so I served as a substitute. All the language studies I’d done to become the future empress came in handy.

It had been a while since I’d properly worn a dress to go out. This pink dress was one he prepared for me. I wonder if it suits me.

“Your Wolfsburg’s Fortress language was quite fluent. The envoys were impressed.”

“Being forced to study probably helped.”

I was relatively good at studying in general, but languages were my strongest suit. My teachers often praised me.

In languages alone, I might even be better than Lord Franz.

“Oh, how about we get some dinner? There’s a place I frequent nearby.”

“But Maria is waiting.”

“It’s fine. Maria said, ‘You two should have dinner together. You need to properly thank her!'”

“Well then, I’ll take you up on that offer.”

We dined at a lovely restaurant.

This is just like a date!!

I mustn’t misunderstand.

This is just his way of thanking me, after all.

“I come here often because it’s casual. As nobles, we only need to be formal during official events,” he said, smoothly preparing the chair for me to sit in.

“It’s a wonderful restaurant.”

“Right? And Nina, you’re eighteen now, so you can drink wine, correct? Let’s order some affordable, delicious, easy-to-drink wine!”

In this country, adulthood begins at eighteen. I had occasionally drunk wine as part of my court etiquette training.

“Yes, but I’m not very strong, so please don’t let me drink too much.”

“Understood. Then let’s order Wolfsburg’s Fortress Noble Rot wine. It’s sweet and easy to drink.”

I’m glad. I was worried it might be bitter and heavy. I appreciate his consideration. The Crown Prince would just order whatever he wanted to drink in situations like this.

I took a sip of the poured wine. It was very sweet and easy to drink, almost like grape juice. It paired well with the cheese appetizer too.

“Apparently, the Crown Prince is in quite a predicament,” he said suddenly after we’d had some wine.

“Huh?”

“I heard from the Wolfsburg’s Fortress diplomatic envoys. The Crown Prince and his accompanying lady—I think you’d rather not hear her name, but I believe it’s Baroness Mary were in charge of hosting the diplomatic mission, and it was apparently a complete mess.”

“A mess how?”

“Baroness Mary was acting outrageously selfish, and the Crown Prince just let it slide. The two of them got drunk and turned the diplomatic welcome party into a wild banquet. I heard the young lady hurled slang-filled insults at the envoys.”

“Is that acceptable? The Wolfsburg’s Fortress Empire is one of the continent’s foremost military powers, isn’t it?”

“I heard it was on the verge of becoming an international incident.”

“…”

Just hearing about it makes me break out in a cold sweat.

“The head of the envoy even said, ‘Why did the Crown Prince break off his engagement with a talented lady like Miss Nina and start associating with that harlot? Is this empire going to be alright?’ He seemed genuinely concerned.”

It’s a story that makes me both happy and sad.

“Whoops, I brought up a troublesome topic. It’s almost time for the main course. I asked for your favorite beef stew. The beef stew here is exquisite!”

The enjoyable meal resumed.

Thinking about this country’s future makes me anxious, but for today, I’ll forget about it. I’ll lose myself in the delicious food and wine.

That’s all for today’s update!

The continuation will be updated tomorrow.

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