Chapter 2
It was quite difficult to tell the emperor that Wise was really not interested in political marriages and refused to attend royal banquets. He was a prince after all, it was necessary to keep up appearances for the royal family even though he was fed up with it. The large hall was filled with colorfully dressed nobles, the strong smell of perfume with different scents mixed together, the exchanging words and fake smiling faces. That was enough to make Wise feel uncomfortable but he still kept a calm face and smiled slightly while interacting with the high-ranking nobles.
Belle was always with him, she wore a beautiful, graceful, puffy dress that accentuated her pure, innocent beauty.
If Belle heard that comment, she would have cursed silently in her heart. If she was naive, she would have become prey in the mouths of greedy noble wolves.
Both she and Wise had been well-educated since they were young and had long known the greed and evil of the scoundrel nobles. Just like him, she could see clearly the true face behind the flashy appearance and fake polite tone of the nobles who wanted to be close to the royal family for their own benefit.
Chatting with the nobles was really tiring, especially when those greedy people started to introduce how talented, smart, and beautiful their children were. Wise knew that no matter how their children were, they would not be as beautiful as Harumasa. He was not exaggerating when he used Harumasa as the standard for measuring beauty.
White skin that was a bit pale, yellow eyes, mischievous and smart but also somewhat sharp and attractive, soft and plump lips, a slim body but not too weak. It could be said to be perfect.
Wise secretly thought that if Harumasa were a noble, he would definitely be secretly admired by many girls.
During the party, Wise didn't pay any attention to the main character of the party. After all, he was too tired to deal with another person who was after his sister. That person had been pursuing Belle and constantly giving her gifts. Wise knew the fate of those gifts, they definitely wouldn't be used by Belle. She often commented on that person as an elegant pretender, always smelling of perfume so strong that it was unpleasant. It might be a famous scent that women liked, but that didn't mean Belle liked it. She was smart in choosing and wearing which perfume to suit her purpose.
This time, Harumasa didn't accompany Wise to the party, but only Lycaon, Rina, and a few other servants. Although they were just servants, they had a professional, elegant demeanor and always looked a bit better than the servants of nobles. Even when standing together with the servants of other nobles, they still had something that stood out and was easily distinguishable. Perhaps it was because the royal servants were trained differently that there was such a difference.
The party ended near midnight, and as a close butler, Harumasa had to stay up to wait for Wise to return to his room. He stood with his back against the wall, right next to Wise's door, and almost fell asleep while standing. He only woke up when Wise approached.
"Oh um... You're back, prince? Was the party fun?", Harumasa yawned while asking. Staying up this late was almost torture for someone who loved to sleep like him. Ellen patted his shoulder to comfort him, as well as giving him some candies to encourage him as if she was sending off a comrade of hers on a dangerous mission. Perhaps it was true in a way. Anyway, he would have eaten a few of those candies if they weren't too sweet, and the rest would be given to Corin as a way to encourage her.
"You know the answer."
"I guess it wasn't fun."
Harumasa and Wise went to the prince's bedroom. Harumasa helped Wise change his clothes. After Wise got into bed, he helped him cover himself with a blanket, then blew out the candles so he could sleep. Harumasa took the responsibility of checking if Wise's room was completely safe, then he returned to his own bedroom. As a high-ranking butler, Harumasa naturally had his own room, although it wasn't as big as Lycaon's, but at least it was comfortable and quiet enough to sleep in.
Harumasa was sure that he would wake up late tomorrow and forget breakfast. But Lycaon would definitely understand. After all, he had stayed up late to wait for the prince to return and finish his work at the latest.
.
As Harumasa had expected, he had indeed woken up quite late. According to the clock on the bedside table, it was almost ten in the morning. He didn't want to leave his beloved bed at all, but he had no other choice. Harumasa fixed himself up, put on his butler clothes, and put on his brooch. He yawned as he put on his gloves.
After getting ready and making sure he looked as neat as possible, Harumasa went to find Lycaon to report and receive today's mission. It wasn't hard to find the head butler, just asking around would tell him where he was. Harumasa wandered around for a while, and finally found Lycaon directing the chef arranged today's menu as well as checked the quality of the purchased food.
"Good morning, Mr. Lycaon."
"You're up already? I was just about to ask someone to wake you up, but it seems that it's no longer necessary.", Lycaon turned to look at Harumasa, secretly examining his clothes to see if they met the neatness standard, "Here's your mission for today. It's best to finish it before the servants' lunch break. After you finish, I'll give you another mission."
Harumasa received a folded piece of paper from Lycaon. Normally, if it was a butler's job, Lycaon would tell him directly. But if he used this kind of paper, it would only be 'hunting'.
"Oh? Do I need to go with someone?"
"By His Majesty's orders, it's just you. I've checked the necessary information, it's not complicated enough to require two people to participate."
Harumasa nodded and quickly left. He changed into less conspicuous clothes, and burned the piece of paper to avoid anyone reading it.
He went to a mountain, found a safe spot, and started taking out his bow. He muttered an incantation, his right eye turned bright blue, a magic circle appeared under his feet, and quickly disappeared.
"Ultimate magic."
Harumasa finished his incantation, then released his finger that was pulling the bow and held the arrow tightly. The arrow seemed to have increased its speed, flying straight towards the target in the forest below the cliff. And when it collided with the target, there was an explosion. After making sure he killed the prey, he dispelled the magic he had used and erased the traces of magic power.
One of the reasons Harumasa was nominated by Lycaon to be the senior butler was because he had an abundant source of magic power, which was very useful during hunting times like this. It would be a waste if his magical power was not used properly.
Harumasa returned before lunch as Lycaon had instructed and reported the results of the hunt. Lycaon trusted Harumasa's abilities so he just nodded and gave some simple instructions for the afternoon's missions. Harumasa would not participate in the cleaning missions, instead he would go and organize the books and some documents. But before starting the cleaning, Harumasa had to bring tea and snacks to Wise and Belle.
Finding the prince and princess was not difficult, so after finishing lunch, Harumasa brought a tray with a teapot, two teacups, a large plate of covered cakes, two small plates, and cutlery. In short, it was enough for a small tea party. Both of them were in the royal library so it was not difficult to find them sitting at the hidden table.
Harumasa brought the tea, took on the role of cutting the cake, dividing it between the two, and pouring the tea into two teacups. In order not to disturb their studies, he immediately bowed and asked permission to leave. He went to the front of the archive, took out the only key to this room, and opened the door. There were a lot of documents scattered around. He sighed, this was going to take a long time.
Perhaps he would reward himself with a few hours of skipping work with Ellen after he finished sorting all this out.