A Cold-Hearted Prince Who Has Had 23 Engagements Broken off Is Manipulated by a Useless Young Lady From the Countryside - Chapter 8

“No! The Chassels are counts and the Dovers are viscounts. You loser!”

Adonis’ merciless insults fly.

Ophelia was currently memorizing the list of the main nobles of the royal capital.

“What should I do… I don’t think I can remember it.”

“You can say something so carefree because you don’t know how scary the noble society is. Try getting the title wrong, you’ll get into trouble.”

Adonis was planning to attend a garden party at a certain count’s house tomorrow.

His mother had sent a response to his attendance without his permission.

He was going to bring Ophelia to the party.

It was Ophelia’s social debut.

It was a daytime garden party, so it was mainly finger food.

There was no dancing.

Even the inexperienced Ophelia might be able to handle this.

It was a party carefully selected by Madame Nicola from a mountain of invitations.

There was a mountain of things she had to remember. But she couldn’t bring shame on the Bahnhof family. So Ophelia did her best. But… no matter how hard she studied late into the night, she just couldn’t remember the names of the nobles. And it was finally the day before the performance, and she still couldn’t remember them.

Adonis’s teaching method was Spartan.

He was a genius, so he couldn’t understand the feelings of people who couldn’t do it.

“Even Adonis said he couldn’t remember his fiance’s name.”

“Don’t put me in the same category as you. He didn’t remember it because he didn’t want to.”

“…You have a good personality. I’m a bit put off.”

Adonis’ attitude towards Ophelia had become much more casual recently.

Ophelia was a little happy about that. Even if he called her useless.

“Would you like to take a break? I’ll go make some tea.”

With that, Ophelia went to the dining room to make some tea.

Soon after, a pot of tea was brought on a cart along with some delicious sweets made by the head chef.

“Today’s sweets are! A custard cream mille-feuille topped with blackcurrant sauce!”

Ophelia explained enthusiastically.

“I don’t need it. I’m not particularly hungry.”

“I don’t eat because I’m hungry, I eat because it’s delicious and I enjoy the taste!”

“…?”

Adonis had no interest in eating at all.

“So what kind of food do you think is delicious, Lord Adonis?”

“…I don’t know. Nothing in particular.”

“Wow! I can’t believe it. The food here is so good!”

This had been normal since he was born, so he never thought about whether it was delicious or not.

Maybe the concept of food taste is determined by relative evaluation… While thinking vaguely to himself, Adonis drank the tea from the teacup…

“Ugh! Hey! What is this! Are you trying to kill me?”

It was tea made by Ophelia.

It was extremely bad.

“Ugh… How on earth could you make such disgusting tea!?”

“It’s an original blend. I added herbs and spices to the tea leaves.”

“You, you, you’re not allowed to make originals! Don’t do anything other than pour hot water into existing tea leaves!”

Adonis was furious.

The head chef couldn’t stand to watch and brought him a new cup of tea.

“…! …It’s delicious.”

Adonis, who was on the verge of death from the torture-like violence of the tea made by Ophelia, was moved.

She never knew the pleasant aroma of tea could heal someone so much.

‘Ahh… it’s delicious!’

“You’re a great chef! It smells so good!”

“I’ve been detoxified and I’m back to life…” said Adonis.

“That’s terrible!”

Adonis decided to eat the cake, which he hadn’t planned on eating.

That’s how strong the taste of Ophelia’s tea was. So much so that he couldn’t help but neutralize his mouth with another taste.

“…!”

‘Delicious.’ Adonis was surprised.

Butter-scented pie crust and mellow custard cream.

The slightly tangy cassis sauce added a nice accent.

It went perfectly with the bitter straight tea.

‘Ah, thank goodness.’

He was worried that the taste of Ophelia’s tea would traumatize him.

‘Thanks to this cake, I think I’ll be able to forget it completely.’

The chef, who was watching this from the corner of the room, was on the verge of tears.

Even without words, you can tell by the expressions of the people eating.

Up until now, Adonis’s expression when eating food has always been “blank.”

It’s not delicious or bad, just “blank.”

This made the head chef sad.

He had refused to even taste it.

If he had at least said it was bad, he would have tried harder to improve it. And now Adonis was tasting the cake he had made right in front of him, with a very happy look on his face.

It was a chef’s greatest joy.

The head chef’s nose tingled, and he hurried back to the kitchen, pretending to go to add more hot water to the teapot.

“Hehe. When you eat something delicious, you feel happy, don’t you?”

“…I suppose so.”

“It’s all thanks to me.”

“Huh?”

“It was because you drank my tea that the head chef’s tea was so good.”

“You… you’re the perpetrator, but you’re so brazen as to try to act indebted to me! I’ll never drink that bad tea again!”

After the break, it was time to start memorizing again. But Ophelia had a hard time remembering.

“Yes, you failed. You have to try again!”

“Waah!”

Adonis was annoyed.

How many times had they gone over the same conversation?

(Why does he have such a bad memory?)

Adonis had been called a prodigy since he was young.

He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t remember. But even so,

‘She’s trying really hard. I want to help him remember somehow.’

So he tried various ways to teach her.

How about linking it to the characters’ characteristics and episodes? Even so, it was not easy to hammer the complex relationships and factions of the aristocrats into his head.

He repeated it over and over again.

Then, when the sun had completely set and the moon began to shine outside the window,

“Okay, last thing. Who are the core members of the faction hostile to the Duke of Ludwig?”

“Um… the Count of Grasse, who are related by marriage, have three sons and two daughters, the Viscount of Luvronic, who share the profits from the mining business, have two sons and one daughter, and the Count of Drouet has four daughters… and the Count of Ritz, who is expected to marry into the family, have two sons and three daughters…?”

“Okay! I got all the answers right!”

‘Yees! I finally did it!’

Adonis pumped his fist in his heart.

“Ah! We did it!”

The two hugged each other in joy.

Adonis was so excited that he lifted Ophelia up while still holding her in his arms.

Then he started to spin around.

“Ah! Ah, Adonis-sama?”

It was the first time he had ever felt so excited.

Adonis was moved.

He never knew accomplishing something after so much hard work could be so satisfying!

‘I finally did it! I feel so refreshed! This is the best!’

He was intoxicated by the sense of accomplishment he had never felt before.

…Then he suddenly came to his senses and realized he was still holding Ophelia in his arms.

“…Ah”

For some reason, Ophelia’s face was bright red.

“S-S-Sorry. I just…um, well…well, you did a good job, you idiot.”

He hurriedly put Ophelia down on the floor to cover it up, but needless to say, a strange atmosphere flowed between the two of them.

“…So that’s why”

“Oh my! We were hugging each other!?”

When dinner time came and the two still hadn’t arrived, Madame Nicola sent for them and was delighted to hear the maids’ report.

‘Th-this is…maybe, just maybe?’

She couldn’t stop grinning.

Madame Nicola was a big fan of romance novels and love stories. And when the main characters were two people who are very important to her, she couldn’t help but root for them.

She has a new thing to look forward to.

“Mia and Demi, I have a favor to ask of you two.”

Madame Nicola called Ophelia’s two maids.

Mia and Demi were very proud of themselves.

They had received a secret order directly from Marquise Bahnhof.

‘From now on, secretly observe the relationship between the two of them every day and report back to me. And don’t forget to keep detailed records…’

“Leave it to us, Madame.”

The two nodded solemnly. And so, the “Society to Match Adonis and Ophelia” was secretly formed within the Marquise Bahnhof family.