From the ti when Joy had begun to grow more mature, she had steadily appeared in social circles.
It wasn’t because she found the atmosphere of the social circles enjoyable.
If she had to be honest, she found the typical vibe of high society quite burdenso.
The constant power struggles. The uncomfortable, yet unavoidable, gossip that couldn't be ignored. The overwhelming obsession with the influence of noble families that was almost bordering on obsession.
Despite the few positive aspects, like delicious food, good music, and the occasional conversation with famous people, Joy thought the social circles were ultimately more harmful than beneficial. This was precisely what drove her obsession with romance novels.
Nevertheless, the reason Joy still attended these events was to fulfill the responsibilities of being a noblewoman.
Thus, Joy did her best to gain sothing every ti she attended a social gathering.
She’d feel truly resentful if she returned without gaining anything after all the hard work.
"I did my best to beco the noblewoman I was supposed to be. Balancing the relationships between noblewon and reigning over them wasn’t easy," Joy said, proudly recounting her efforts to be like the forr duchess.
She had studied the relationships between families, kept up with both past and recent events, and intervened preemptively when it seed soone might get offended.
She told these tales in the hope of receiving complints, but the response she received was completely different from what she expected.
"Can a fool like you do that?"
"Joy, even bragging needs to be done appropriately for it to be believable."
"I’m telling the truth! Why would I lie about sothing like this? Do you think I’m soone who’s splitting the noble families into factions just for fun?!"
"Maybe you’re just a figurehead, and you’re fooling yourself into thinking you’re in control?"
"Soone who can’t even manage their own emotions, how would they manage all of this?"
"Argh! Enough! Anyway, let’s get back on track!"
It was no surprise that Joy, who had tried to grasp every detail of the situation, had seen the First Prince and Lucy having a conversation.
Despite Lucy’s reputation being at rock bottom at that ti, she was the only daughter of the continent’s strongest warrior, Alrn, and the other person was the First Prince, whose talents were widely recognized.
"At first, it wasn’t smooth sailing. The First Prince was said to have gotten very angry, and that was quite the topic of discussion."
The news that the First Prince, who treated even the children of insignificant families with politeness, had raised his voice loudly enough to fill the ballroom, was certainly enough to beco a hot topic.
"I rember not long after the uproar, Duke Alrn ca running, looking completely flustered. It was tough for him, but I’m so glad to see things are better now," Joy said with a bright smile, rembering Benedict.
Lucy’s pupils trembled at Joy’s words.
Ah, I made a mistake! This wasn’t sothing to say casually! Seeing Arthur glare at her, Joy coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, after Duke Alrn took the two of them away, it seed like they had worked things out. The First Prince later smiled and explained that it was just a misunderstanding."
Though many were curious about what had happened, the First Prince brushed off all the questions.
Not only that, but he even stopped any gossip about Lucy Alrn.
At the ti, it was assud that the First Prince was doing so out of respect for Duke Alrn’s honor, but perhaps sothing more had happened back then.
"A month later, when they t again at another social gathering, they seed indifferent to each other, but later, I heard from a noblewoman whose family hosted the event that they had rented a private room to talk."
"Why were you asking about that? Fool? Do you have so interest in the gloomy prince?"
"No."
If she had even a small inkling of interest, she would have been embarrassed, but Joy responded with a dry voice.
Although Joy thought the First Prince was impressive in many ways, strangely, she didn’t feel any attraction. Maybe it was because her older brother had always told her to be friendly with him but not get too close.
"I didn’t ask about it. That noblewoman brought it up herself."
The words that co with saying sothing 'special' just for you are quite common in social circles, especially among noblewon who prioritize their groups over anything else.
"Later, I heard from several other noblewon that they continued to talk, but that eting eventually stopped. I wondered if I was wrong, so I checked, but no, it wasn’t like that."
Sothing clearly happened, but no one knows exactly what.
The relationship between the two had never once spilled into the outside world.
"Can you guess when that might have happened?"
At Arthur’s question, Joy nodded readily.
"Do you rember when the First Prince entered an A-rank dungeon alone and achieved success? My guess is that’s when they beca close."
"Oh, I rember that. There was quite an uproar then."
"That was the day the First Prince proved he was a genius."
"From the outside, it seed that way?"
"Was it different inside the palace?"
"It was cold. That dungeon raid was sothing my brother did on his own, disobeying Queen 1st’s orders."
Arthur mumbled, wondering if that was the first and last ti the Queen had gotten that serious. When he suddenly saw Joy stand up, he flinched.
"That’s it! The First Prince was definitely stopped by the Queen! Back then, Lucy was a troublemaker!"
"That makes sense. If it was back then, she might have been told to stay away. No, wait. That doesn’t make sense. Why would my brother feel betrayed?"
"Maybe Lucy, thinking she would ruin herself, intentionally pushed the First Prince away?"
"Well, even if she was a troublemaker, Lucy Alrn is Lucy Alrn. She might have cared for soone she liked."
The conversation, which was inappropriate to have in front of the actual troublemaker, continued as neither of the two realized the situation.
Normally, Lucy would have chid in with a comnt, but today she remained silent.
After parting ways with the two, I ignored Benedict’s fuss about what had happened and collapsed onto my bed.
Still oblivious to the situation, the dazed fool fox who had co close to , claiming it needed to erase the perverted sll, was tightly embraced by . I pressed my chin against its head, letting the mories of the scene flash through my mind.
"Lu... Lucy, I like that you like , but isn’t this a bit too close?"
Rene, who had been happily bragging about his achievents, and Lucy, who had been scowling as usual.
The rising voices at so point, the guilt that followed after parting.
As Joy had guessed, there was a ti when Lucy and Rene were quite close.
Although I don’t know how they beca friends, it was certainly a relationship that deserved to be called friendship.
And this relationship had been shattered by a single fight.
"Well, why don’t you just sit down like a cushion? Heh. Hehehe."
Even though I hadn’t gone anywhere, the emotions I felt were more vivid now than when I thought about Lucy’s mother.
Feeling the complicated emotions of sothing that is mine yet not mine, I let out a long sigh.
Ugh. Damn it. If my mories were going to return, they should have done so from the start. Why just one scene, making my head ache? At this rate, I’ll beco the bad guy.
So that’s how it is. Fine. Originally, I was planning to enjoy this quest alone, but given the circumstances, I’ll compromise.
I can take my friends with . I don’t need to explain the situation to anyone, and honestly, there’s no one more reliable than them.
Not fully understanding what was going on, Garad’s laughter rang out as Grandpa’s voice filled with desperation tried to stop . But that wasn’t going to change my decision.
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