My Engagement was Cancelled so I will stop Pretending to be a Fool

The members of the Royal Family usually have their own reserved seats but today, Cyrus is not heading to his. Instead, he’s spending his time with Olivia in the party hall.

Since Alan and Tiana are most likely at the reserved seats, he is probably being considerate to Olivia to not make her feel uncomfortable from being near them.

In the first place, after the first dance led by Alan and Tiana, followed by Prince Edward and his fiancee, Elizabeth, they would go their separate ways to enjoy the party on their own.

For aristocrats, a party like this is a place where they are expected to socialize but as Cyrus said, he wanted Olivia to enjoy the party without having to worry about anything.

Her father, Duke Atoir is also attending the party but it appears that she doesn’t need to accompany him to greet the other guests today. Although this is supposed to be a big welcome party for Prince Edward, this is the easiest party Olivia has ever attended.

After Cyrus invited her to the dance floor, they danced to a couple of songs and headed to the balcony together to get away from the people’s eyes.

It was a little cold on the balcony but since she drank a glass of champagne before the dance she still felt a pleasant heat on her cheeks.

Together with Cyrus, they look down on the moonlit garden from the balcony. Then while she was enjoying a light conversation with him, she was called from behind.

When she turned to look, she found Tiana standing there together with Alan.

As though it was natural, Cyrus stepped up as if to shield Olivia. When she looked at Alan from behind Cyrus, Alan has an unamused expression on his face for some reason.

“Olivia-sama, I have been looking for you!”

Tiana said with a big smile.

Olivia was suspicious of her attitude. At least in Tiana’s mind, Olivia should have been her enemy. Why would she go out of her way to look for her?”

“Olivia-sama, His Highness Edward said that he wanted to meet you. Now, let’s go to him!”

Hearing that, Olivia instinctively looked at Cyrus. She is certainly acquainted with Prince Edward but they are by no means close. Why would he want to see Olivia here?

“Aniue, do you know what kind of business Prince Edward has with Olivia?”

“I don’t know. I was chatting with the Marquises until just now. It was Tiana who told me that Prince Edward wanted to see Olivia.”

Even though she previously asked Alan not to call like that anymore, it seems that he still intends to continue calling her by her name. It’s a pain to correct him now so Olivia turned to Cyrus and told him that if Prince Edward is looking for her then it can’t be helped. Thus, they head to where Prince Edward is.

Prince Edward was chatting with the King and the Queen together with his fiancee Elizabeth.

As Olivia’s group approached, Prince Edward smiled at them.

“It’s been a long time Miss Atoir.”

“Yes, it’s been a long time, Your Highnesses.

Next to Edward, Elizabeth also greeted her with a smile. They both should have been aware that Olivia’s engagement with Alan was annulled but it seems that they have no intention to touch on the subject so Olivia is a little relieved. After all, if they asked her about the circumstances behind it, she wouldn’t be able to answer.

Then, while entwining her arm around Alan’s, Tiana starts a conversation with them.

“Your Highness, do you remember the thing we talked about earlier? If It’s Olivia-sama then I’m sure that she can come up with a good idea to solve your problem!”

“Ahh, right.”

When Tiana brought that up, Prince Edward nodded.

After that Prince Edward asked Olivia’s group to change location. It appears that the [Thing they talked about earlier] is not something that can easily be mentioned around other people.

Parting ways with the King and the Queen, Olivia and the others move to the break room reserved for the royalty on the second floor.

After Alan had a waiter serve some light meals and drinks, Prince Edward started talking while bringing a glass of white wine to his mouth.

“Actually, this is about a town near our border that’s connected with Brior. In recent years, the tax we collected from there has lowered significantly. People in the town told the lord there that they were having a streak of bad harvest. The count who is governing that town is the prime example of an aristocrat. He tried to collect the taxes at the rate that’s supposed to match his territory’s productivity but he could only bring in around one-third of the usual amount even after he squeezed up everything. I can’t afford to hurt a Count house that has such a long history but I can’t seem to find why the harvest in his territory is so poor in recent years either.”

“That’s truly a shame!”

Said Tiana with a lively voice that it doesn’t feel like anything but lip service.

While being amazed at Tiana’s attitude, Olivia took a bite of a cracker with marmalade jam and asked the prince more about his problem.

“If you can not find the cause of the poor harvest then does that mean there was no change in the weather or any factor that might affect it at all? For example, there was no sudden hail or outbreak of grasshoppers?”

“No, I haven’t heard about anything along that line at all.”

“How about the soil? Was there any sudden change in its quality?”

“Come on, Olivia-sama! His Highness Edward should have done that much investigation already right!”

“As Miss Tiana said, I’ve investigated the area but there were no particular changes there too.”

Prince Edward answers with a gentle tone.

Hearing that Olivia put her hand on her narrow chin and lowered her gaze.

There are two points that are on her mind. One is the reason why the prince couldn’t identify the [cause of the poor harvest] and another is—–

(Why did he bother to tell us about this? He should have no reason to bring this up to either His Highness Alan or Tiana. This problem should have nothing to do with Brior after all…….wait.)

After glancing at Alan and Tiana, Olivia deliberately asked Prince Edward a question in Philarush, his local language instead of Brior’s common one.

[[Is the same thing also happening on Brior’s side of the border?]]

Perhaps surprised that Olivia suddenly spoke in a foreign language, Alan and Tiana were startled.

Next to Olivia, Cyrus, who apparently understands Philarush as well, also has a surprised expression on his face. However, perhaps he noticed the meaning behind her question, his surprise did not come from the fact that Olivia speaks a foreign language but the content of her words.

Putting down his wine glass, Prince Edward gives her a brief reply.

[[I heard that they have been enjoying quite a good harvest lately.]]

[[……….thank you very much]]

Olivia turned silent and her expression became severe.

“Ahh! Why are you being all secretive now Olivia-sam!?”

Unamused for being completely ignored, Tiana raised her voice.

(……I wish I can be carefree like you Tiana.)

Olivia wanted to sigh. Next to her, Cyrus also has a severe expression.

“So, could you tell the cause, Olivia?”

Alan asked with a probing expression.

However, Olivia couldn’t answer. Right now, the only thing that crossed her mind was only a possibility. At the very least, it’s not something that she wants to say in front of Prince Edward.

“Yes, Olivia-sama, please don’t keep it to yourself. You already know the answer right? Fufufu, even I can see it after all.”

Tiana said that with no care to the heavy atmosphere.

“You know what’s causing the poor harvest?”

When Alan asked Tiana with a surprised expression, she proudly answered.

“Of course! It is simple! The people of that town are hiding their harvested crops so that they can have everything to themselves!”

Olivia did not say anything to Tiana’s answer.

On the other hand, Prince Edward made a small smile and said [I see, I guess that is also possible] with a nod.

While listening to Tiana’s joyful laughter, an unpleasant premonition formed in Olivia’s mind.