I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 15 - Searching for Lea – 5

The next morning, Rose was having breakfast at the restaurant with only Mira.

Raphael had apparently gone out early for some business.

Rose felt shocked and wondered if he was angry with her for dragging him to an opera he didn’t like. But early in the morning, a letter and a single rose were delivered to her as an apology for not being able to join breakfast. That helped her feel a little better. It seemed she wasn’t hated after all.

“Roses on a ship are very expensive. His Highness must really care about you, Lady Rose,”

Mira had said with a soft laugh. Her words still echoed in Rose’s ears.

The Princess Lea ship had a small greenhouse, and they grew flowers to cheer up the passengers. Some of the flowers were sold, but because they were rare, they were very expensive—more than ten times the cost compared to land. Roses, in particular, were said to cost even more than that.

Mira offered to pin the rose to Rose’s dress to make use of it, but Rose politely declined. She wanted to enjoy it as long as possible. Instead, she borrowed a single flower vase from the service staff and placed the rose on the table.

After all, expensive or not, it didn’t matter—this was the first time anyone had ever given her a flower.

There were plenty of flowers in the castle halls, and Mira often brought flowers from somewhere to decorate Rose’s room, but receiving one directly from someone felt entirely different. She didn’t realize it would make her this happy.

“This is my first time in the restaurant. It’s quite nice, isn’t it?”

Because Rose usually ate in her room, Mira always ate there too.

But since Raphael wasn’t around this morning, Rose brought Mira to the restaurant so she could enjoy a proper meal for once. The menu was different from room service, and more than that, the bright atmosphere made the experience more exciting.

There was only one breakfast set menu. Once seated, they were only asked about drinks, and then food was brought right away.

Scrambled eggs with tomato sauce, soup, bread, and mashed potatoes were served. For the bread, you could choose as much as you liked from three types. Mira said she’d eat all of them and had all three placed on her plate. Rose didn’t think she could eat that much, so she chose two kinds.

Since Mira insisted on tasting everything first to check for poison, Rose waited and then began drinking the soup.

In the castle, the food was always cold, so having something warm made her happy.

As they leisurely enjoyed breakfast, Rose noticed someone familiar sitting at a distant table.

It was the opera actor from yesterday—Paul Lawson.

The restaurant also separated first-class and second-class passengers, and Paul was sitting on the second-class side. Even from a distance, the tall, black-haired actor stood out. She was pretty sure it was him.

“Hey, Mira. Paul Lawson is sitting over there.”

“What!? Where?!”

Mira quickly turned her head with excitement. She was a bit of a fan, and seeing a famous opera actor up close was a big deal to her.

“See? That seat in the back.”

“Wow, really! Do you think we could ask for an autograph…?”

“Hmm… He’s with someone, so maybe we shouldn’t bother him.”

Sitting with Paul was a woman with black hair like his. Mira looked disappointed and shrugged.

“You’re right… I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.”

“Don’t be so down. But… that woman with him… I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before. Do you think she’s an actress too?”

Rose tried to remember if the woman had appeared in the opera yesterday, but she couldn’t recall.

Mira giggled.

“No way. I don’t think so. She’s not very pretty.”

“Mira, that’s rude.”

“But it’s true. Opera actors and actresses depend on their looks too. Even from here, her skin isn’t very clear, and her face is kind of plain… Though her hair is very beautiful.”

Just as Mira said, the woman’s hair was shiny and lovely, but the rest of her face was quite ordinary.

(Still, I’m sure I’ve seen her somewhere before… But where?)

She couldn’t remember, so maybe it was just her imagination.

Still, something about it bothered her. Rose looked away, thinking it was impolite to stare too long, but the thought stayed stuck in the back of her mind.

While Rose was thinking, Duke Roper and Marquess Endran, Raphael’s friends, entered the restaurant.

They were here for breakfast too.

“Good morning, ladies. Mind if we sit here? How’s the food today?”

Duke Roper asked cheerfully. Rose smiled and replied, “It’s delicious.”

“Haha, you really smile so purely,”

“No wonder His Highness calls her a red-list lady.”

Marquess Endran laughed too, ordering breakfast with two cups of coffee. Once their food was brought, he seemed to remember something.

“By the way, His Highness said he’s free from noon onward, so he asked that you wait in your room after breakfast. Seems like he’s really worried about you wandering off on your own.”

“That Raphael, huh…”

Duke Roper chuckled quietly in his throat.

“He’ll never live this down.”

“For sure.”

Rose blinked, confused why the two of them seemed to be having so much fun.