The Problematic Prince

Erna made an effort to send replies of refusal to every pathetic letter.
This was the reason why her master, who would always go to bed early unless she was dragged to attend a party, was often awake until late at night these past days.

“I will write a new one.”

Erna removed the stained letter and set it down on the reading table.
Lisa, who watched the young lady write a sincere reply of refusal again and again, let out another deep sigh.

“Aren’t these prodigal sons illiterate? Why are they so tenacious and persistent even after being rejected?” Lisa openly grumbled with an upset mood.
Erna, on the other hand, carefully pressed down the written letter using a blotter paper with a small smile on her face.

It seemed that Lady Erna was the only woman under the sky of Lechen who would make such an effort to carefully write a rejection letter.
She tried to persuade her that it was not necessary, but the young lady stubbornly insisted. 

‘Even if you rejected their courtship, a proper lady still needs to do so with dignity and courtesy befitting a true noble.’  Erna spoke such words like an old woman who was from the last century.
Lisa found such Lady Erna quite lovely at these times, but she couldn’t help but also find her stubbornness frustrating; which further made her poor self upset.

“That is the last one for today!” When Erna picked up a new set of stationery, Lisa finally declared with a smirk.

“Is it going to be a big deal if those stubborn fools got the replies a bit late? It is already the time for you to take a rest, Miss.” While her lady hesitated, Lisa quickly put away the stationery and inkwell.

Erna, who decided to accept the will of her maid, got up and headed to the bathroom.
After meticulously washing her ink-stained hands, she returned to her room as Lisa approached her with a comb in her hands.
It was still awkward and uncomfortable to entrust these matters to others, but Erna meekly sat in front of the dressing table.

Lisa removed the shawl the young lady was wearing over her pajamas and began to comb her hair carefully.
The maid then looked through the mirror with a proud smile on her face, the grim expression on her face whenever she was rejected for what she was trying to do was nowhere to be seen.
Erna’s shyness in this unfamiliar situation disappeared and was replaced with the relief her maid gave her.

“Starting tomorrow, please leave the bath towels to me.”

“No way!” At Lisa’s words that she said with a hum, Erna exclaimed with apprehension.

“You don’t trust me? Even though it’s my first time handling such duties, I believe that I can still do it properly.
Please believe in me, Miss.”

“It’s not like that, Lisa.
It’s not that I don’t trust you… … .” Erna looked at Lisa reflected in the mirror with perplexed eyes.

“It’s that…I’m ashamed.”

“All the girls from other noble families are taken care of this way by their maids.
The same applies to the house of Viscount Hardy of course.”

Lisa’s eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe her lady’s concern.
Erna, a little embarrassed, gently lowered her eyes and avoided her maid’s gaze while stroking the back of her hand.
Lisa, on the other hand, started brushing her hair once again.

“Please let me make your life here a bit more comfortable, my Lady.”

The sound of her hair sliding through the dense tooth of the comb and Lisa’s friendly voice permeated her silent bedroom.

“Besides, what is there to be ashamed of? If I had been as pretty as my Lady, I would have been able to dance naked on Tara Boulevard!”

Lisa, who threw a mischievous joke, burst into laughter.
Erna, however, let out a startled yelp and held the front of her pajamas tightly as if protecting her body.
The jokes of the young people in the big city were so provocative that they sometimes made her dizzy from shame.

“U-uhm… Lisa?” Erna, who had barely regained her composure, carefully raised her head to meet her maid’s eyes in the mirror.

“Did you have any other letters?”

“Other letters? Oh, you mean from Mr.
Pavel Lore?” Lisa, who had been listening to the same question for several days, understood Erna’s meaning at once.

“I’m afraid there’s still nothing, Miss.
Seeing you waiting like this, it must be a very important letter, right?”

“Not really… It’s not like that.” Erna smiled awkwardly and shook her head.
Fortunately, Lisa didn’t ask any further questions.

Lisa finally left after she finished all her work, and now, only her lone self and various flowers were left in the bedroom.

‘It’s already been four days.
Did something happen to Pavel?’

Erna, who had been anxiously wandering around the room, did not get in bed until midnight.
As she gazed at the curtains swaying in the night breeze that blew through the slightly opened window accompanied by the strong scent of flowers, she finally gradually felt sleepy.

She fell asleep while stroking the back of her hand, as if trying to soothe her troubled heart.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

A lively bachelor party at a noble’s club ended naturally, as the participants lost their consciousness one by one due to too much alcohol.
Even the main character of the party, who was struggling to keep himself upright, ended up collapsing on the table.
In the end, only Bjorn was left.

“Hey, Groom!”

With the hand that just put down a glass of wine, Bjorn hit the forehead of the groom who had fallen down in a very funny way.
The force of his hit rang out quite loudly, but the victim still showed no sign of waking up.

“I won.
Yes?”

“… … I don’t know.
Just take it.”

Raising his eyelids with difficulty, the drunk groom mumbled in an indistinct voice.

Bjorn groaned and got up.
He wasn’t in good shape because he was also quite drunk, but it wasn’t enough for him to join the ugly crowd that was scattered around.
With his dry mouth moistened with cold water, he picked up his loot lying in the center of the table and turned around.

It was the tradition at every bachelor party called ‘Stag Night’; the last conscious survivor would receive a golden trophy in the shape of an antler.
Bjorn couldn’t remember how many stag antlers he now had in his home.

The funny thing was that he even got the trophy at his own bachelor party.
He wanted to throw it away because it was a very unfortunate trophy, but it was a piece meticulously made by a skilled craftsman from the same workshop, so it was such a waste to throw it away.
Thanks to that, the antlers that survived till this day must have been buried somewhere as a decoration in the Schuber Palace.

He staggered across Tara Boulevard as he left the club full of ugly guests that were either weeping out of the blue or toppling down over and over again.
He could have ordered a carriage to bring him home, but it was still too early for the coachman to drive the carriage when dawn hadn’t even arrived yet.

Checking the clock tower standing in the square, Bjorn sat down on the edge of the fountain as if his tired body finally collapsed from intoxication.

The starlight twinkling beyond the fading darkness was clearly reflected in his muddy eyes.

It was the last memory left in his mind before he finally lost his consciousness.