Please Don’t Remember Me - Chapter 12. Let’s Go See Clara

Kingdom of Corafran.

There was a knock at the door of the Crown Prince’s office.

After Julio confirmed the visitor and opened the door, Auguste slowly entered the room and sat down on the sofa without greeting him. Ernesto left his seat and sat down on the sofa across from Auguste. And Julio stood behind him.

“I’m sorry, but can you stay outside? It’s okay, Julio’s here.”

Auguste called out to his two escort knights who were standing behind him. They bowed and left the office. After confirming this, Ernesto turned back to Julio.

“Julio, I need to talk to you too. I want you to sit down.”

“What’s ……?”

For a moment he had a strange look on his face, but quickly returned to normal and Julio walked around to the front of the sofa. After a few moments of hesitation, he sat down next to Ernesto.  Auguste was sitting in the middle of the sofa and slumped over the backrest with his hands outstretched.

“Julio. Next month, Auguste will be going to Bajona for an inspection. I’d like you to be his escort.”

“Me? Doesn’t His Highness have his own personal bodyguard?”

“Well, yes, but for once I think you are the right person for the job.”

“We’ve lost track of Clara.” Auguste replied.

Julio was dumbfounded when he heard the words.

“It will be one year next month, but we haven’t received any notice of Clara’s wedding, so we contacted the Bajoran government, but they didn’t seem to be interested. So I’m sending Auguste to find out.”

Ernesto spoke.

“When I had the Duke of Kiega’s residence searched, there was no sign of Clara. It seems that she was living in a separate mansion at first, but it doesn’t look like she moved into the main house. As you can imagine, it’s not that easy to enter a duke’s mansion in another country. I haven’t had a chance to go any further, but I heard that the Duke is walking around with a shady woman. The three mistresses are supposed to be the elegant type, so I wonder if it’s a new mistress? What do you think, Julio?”

Auguste had a serious look on his face and crossed his arms. Julio, slightly pale, did not respond. He just stared at Auguste as if to urge him to continue the conversation.

“I was trying not to interfere too much because Clara was married to another country, but it’s getting suspicious. She didn’t reply to any letters that the Queen wrote to her. Clara may ignore mine and Auguste’s letters, but she will never ignore the Queen’s.”

“Oh, it’s terrible.”

Auguste was holding his chest as if he was in pain, but Julio didn’t even look at him, he had his hand on his chin, and seemed to be thinking about something.

“She might not be feeling well…Perhaps she’s pregnant and has morning sickness.”

Julio gulped at Auguste’s light words.

“Anyway, it’s strange that she didn’t contact home at all.”

Ernesto took a slow sip of his tea and gave a small sigh.

“And so, I arranged a sudden visit to Bajona, but something came up and I can’t go. Auguste will go but he can’t move around in the open, so you, who are also an excellent secret agent, will be his escort…”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Oh, so will you go?”

“Of course. Your Highness has given me an order.”

“You really come alive when it comes to Clara, don’t you, Julio?”

“I’ll make sure that Prince Auguste and Princess Clara are protected.”

“Thank you, I’m counting on you.”

“I feel like I’m on a mission.”

“Well, Julio, take care of them.”

Ernesto looked down at his hands, feeling worried.

***

“Give it at the evening party? Eh? The letter?”

“Yeah, because I can only see him there.”

In Mia’s room.

Clara was checking the love letter that Mia had written to make sure they were correct, imitating her own example.

“Have you made your social debut yet, Miss Mia?”

“Not yet, because I haven’t learned any manners yet. I heard that children who have not yet made their debut are allowed to attend the upcoming soirée if they are accompanied by their parents.”

“I see. I see. It’s like a meeting of the children before they make their debut.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a common practice. What kind of child does the family have, is it a legitimate son or the eldest daughter of a family with no heir? Do they seem to have a promising future? You can’t tell the beauty, ugliness, and personality of a person until you see them in person. Then the men will find someone they like, and propose to her at her first debutante.”

“Huh? What? Propose? Already?”

“There are children who will have arranged marriage from the moment they were born.”

“A baby?”

“Marriage in the aristocracy is also a game between the families.”

Mia paled in disbelief.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that most nobles have political marriages.There are many couples who start out that way, but end up being good friends.”

“But you tried to marry your lover, didn’t you, Lara?”

“What? Oh, yes, I did, didn’t I?

Clara forgot about her own story that she made up about her identity for a moment, that she was abandoned by her lover.

“Miss Mia, don’t ask her like that. Please think about Lara’s feelings.”

Diethard, who was standing by, called out to Mia.

“Oh, I’m sorry I reminded you.”

“Yes, you shouldn’t talk about such sensitive matters out loud.”

“I’m sorry, Lara. I’m sorry I reminded you about the person who dumped you.”

“So you’ve gone off on another tangent. She wasn’t dumped, she was cheated on.”

“Mr. Diethardt, …… the wound has grown deeper……”

Clara sipped the sweet, apple-scented tea that Diethart had made for her to calm down.

“I’ve never heard of handing out a letter of your thoughts in person at an evening party……. Well, maybe I’m just not very familiar with such things, but is it possible?”

Clara wondered if that’s the norm in Bajona. It’s true that she had only attended official events in the Kingdom of Corafran, but weren’t men and women supposed to ask each other to dance or play sweet nothings with each other on the spot? She only saw it from a distance because no one would do that to a sickly princess in a sickly setting. Or were they all exchanging love letters where she couldn’t see them?

“Nowadays, ‘love letters for show’ are very popular in Bajona.”

Diethard said with a wry smile.

“Show love letters?”

“Yes, well, as it turns out, a certain merchant company made a little long and narrow envelope and sold it. A woman would write her feelings and hand it to a man, who would put the letter in his pocket. Young noblemen would compete with each other to see how many letters they could find in their pockets, and men who couldn’t get a letter would secretly prepare one themselves and put it in their pocket. The sons of high-ranking aristocrats with good eyesight would fill their pockets with letters.”  (*T/n: I don’t understand this explanation. I find it silly lol)*

“I don’t know what to say, but it’s a new feeling.”

The high class clothes with pockets were made into fashion.

“It’s a fad that will soon go out of fashion, and sales of envelopes are slowly declining.”

“I see. A certain business association?”

“Yes, our business association. The size of the envelopes, which fit easily in the pocket but stick out just right, sold explosively. Things that sell in a flash like that also sell out quickly. We made quite a bit of money, and we are now developing new products using the profits to create new trends.”

“You really are a man of business, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I think I’m the best in the country when it comes to making money.”

Diethardt laughed heartily.

“Hey, Diethardt, why don’t you ask Lara to write a letter for you, too?”

“It’s not something you can just ask someone to write for you…..Miss Mia, what a sad thing to say so smoothly!”

“I’ll write you a recipe for stewed potatoes.”

“Yes, Lara!”

As she sipped the hot tea that Diethart had re-brewed for her, Clara wished she could see Mia safely hand over the love letter.

***