Muyoku no Seijo wa Okane ni Tokimeku

Chapter 10: Leo admires a painting (First Half)

News spread quickly that the charming Prince Albert who held a captivating smile had visited the room of Leonora von Harkenberg. For what reason, they did not know, but various guesses were made.

Such as to apologize for the reckless actions of his sister, for example.

After that day, the times in which the prince seemed to direct a meaningful gaze towards the girl has increased. That was the cause for the rumors.

However, rather than receiving looks of jealous, their surroundings warmly gazed on as the Prince's gaze seem to be captivated by the girl's gentle nature, rather than her beautiful looks. As for the girl, they found it quite cute that she would sneakily peek at the Prince's chest area from time to time.

However, on the other side, there were also people who held quite a restless gaze upon the two.

One was the someone who wanted the common-bred marquis daughter for their faction, Oscar Bernstain. He saw a chance after Bianca had antagonized the girl, however, the wind out of his sails was quickly taken away by the Prince who swiftly moved to apologize, so, for now, he remained still.

And then, one more party was,

「Quite the troublesome thing it is, the disease called love.」

Uttered the young daughter of the duke while in her own room, surrounded by numerous books. Her name, Natalia von Klingbeil.

As she sipped on her soon to be lukewarm black tea, she uttered a soft sigh.

Since she has already retired her servants for the day, the only things around her were a mountain of books and a large bookcase. Rather than the look of a young girl, she held an expression closer to that of a refined scholar or politician. Natalia was deep in thought while staring into space.

「Leonora von Harkenberg. For the prince – no, for this Weiz empire, is she a benefit, or will she be a detriment, I wonder.」

The reason for her contemplation was of course due to the girl who had captured the attention of her dear cousin.

It's been two days since Albert had visited her room to apologize on his sister's behalf. When she met him that day during his work in the student council, he had held the brightest smile that Natalia had ever seen as he rambled on about the girl.

(It's been so long since he talked so much about another person.) Natalia thought.

Because of his excellent features and cool attitude, along with his blessing of the gold coin, her cousin had always been the center of never-ending attention. However, recently he has completely forgotten the real nature of such people, always scheming to curry favor.

The more someone is showered with love, the less value they will receive from that love. As such, gradually it becomes difficult for someone like that to feel empathy. Natalia felt that Albert always wore a calm fake smile, concealing his cold indifferent emotions.

And so, what happened.

Ever since he visited her room, all he does is talk about her with a glitter in his eyes, like a love-struck child. Everywhere she went, his eyes seem to follow as well.

Of course, for the tens of thousands of people who approach Albert for political reasons, they have yet to notice this change in him. But Natalia could tell that there was a budding feeling of love growing inside him.

(Her social status isn't a problem. Weiz's sword and shield, the daughter of the Harkenberg marquis. Needless to say about her beauty, it would hard to believe she was raised in the lower city when looking at her manners. And if the Prince's words are to believed, her disposition is also acceptable.)