For Romantic Superpowers - Chapter 8 -Great Commute
#8. Great Commute
It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. Lia couldn’t contain herself and eventually stood up from her seat.
“Mr. Perth! Surely there’s nothing wrong with this cookie, right?”
But even during the bewildering situation, Perth remained composed.
“As I’ve said, there’s nothing wrong with this cookie.”
“Then why is the First Prince acting like this?”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
Alfonse still wore a shocked expression. Perth glanced down at him with what seemed like disdain. As if sensing Perth’s cold gaze, Alfonse began to move again, albeit awkwardly.
“Anyway, my aide has no sense of humor. Everything went wrong because of you.”
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
Lia found it difficult to assess the situation. Perth added an explanation, sensing her confusion.
“He always plays jokes like this. Serving food made by a skilled person and pretending it’s poisoned to the lady.”
“Hahaha! It’s all to avoid the awkwardness of our first meeting. Are you surprised?”
She was not only surprised but also incredulous. Poisoning food meant for royalty was an offense punishable by immediate execution. To joke about such a thing? The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Lia wanted to smash the table in front of her right now, but she was dealing with royalty, the First Prince, the one most likely to become the next king. She had to endure. She had to. Yet, she couldn’t suppress the anger boiling inside her.
“Prince Alfonse.”
“Yes, what is it, Lady Penelope?”
“Are you sure none of these pastries are poisoned?”
“Of course. Didn’t I prove it by eating them?”
“In that case, enjoy your meal! If you don’t need me for anything, may I leave for work now?”
In her heart, she wanted to scream, ‘Enjoy it yourself!’ But Lia managed to politely express her sentiment. However, the response she received was a refusal.
“You needn’t worry about work. If you’ve met with me, Lady Penelope, no one will dare to question your actions.”
She wasn’t thankful at all. Lia wanted to leave for work right away. Alfonse had perfectly ruined the good mood she had until this morning. Why women fell for such princes was beyond her comprehension. Perth, on the other hand, completely understood Lia’s feelings. The one who couldn’t understand such behavior from a prince was Alfonse himself. Watching Lia clutching her skirts tightly, Perth couldn’t help but inwardly smirk.
“Consideration… Thank you, but… may I be excused now?”
Perth wanted to commend her patience. She was boiling with anger, yet she maintained a smiling face. It was evident she was allowing for his royal status. Meanwhile, Alfonse shamelessly continued to laugh, seemingly oblivious to her state of mind.
“I haven’t finished my business yet.”
“May I ask what that business is?”
Fortunately, this time Alfonse didn’t joke around or stall for time. If he had done it again, Lia wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
“Well, since you seem to be quite busy, I’ll get straight to the point. I’d like to get close to Lady Penelope. Of course, in a way that benefits both of us.”
Ah, that was it. Lia finally understood why Alfonse had been bothering her since morning. Many people approached Lia deliberately to get closer to Count Penelope. It was clear that Alfonse also needed Count Penelope’s influence.
Even though Lia wasn’t particularly interested in politics, she knew that her father could become influential to someone. That’s why most people who wanted to befriend Lia were interested only in Count Penelope, not Lia herself.
Lia wanted to be recognized for what she was, and she thought she had been accepted into the palace because of her abilities, but it wasn’t based solely on her abilities, and that made her feel very sad, but it was also very natural.
Now, Alfonse’s attitude was perfectly understandable. Lia wasn’t the possessor of some captivating ability, nor was she powerful. It was natural for Alfonse not to be interested in her abilities.
“Wow. It’s more of an honor for me to get close to the First Prince.”
“Thank you. Then shall we meet more often than what Perth asked for?”
“…Yes, let’s do that. I heard you have an important schedule today, so I hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.”
“It’s alright. I can make time for Lady Penelope anytime. Well then, I shall take my leave.”
Alfonse stood up and politely bid farewell to Lia. Lia quickly stood up and bowed her head.
“Please escort Lady Penelope to her workplace.”
“Yes, understood.”
“I’m fine on my own.”
“Don’t refuse. Until next time, then.”
Alfonse didn’t even give Lia a chance to refuse. Watching Alfonse leave without looking back, Lia sighed unknowingly. Only now did she notice the cold tea and pastries. Deciding she might as well, she quickly drank the cold tea in one gulp.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Since we’ve kept our promise to meet once a week, does that mean this week is done?”
Lia glared at Perth. The encounter with Alfonse had left her in a very bad mood. Perth shrugged his shoulders once again in response.
“Didn’t you just say you were getting close to the prince? You’ll probably meet more often than once a week.”
“Mr. Perth, why does it feel like it’s always you, not the First Prince, who creates these situations?”
From the outset, it was suspicious that Perth personally came to fetch Lia. The inability to affect plants, Alfonse’s attitude of not expecting Lia’s abilities… Everything was evidence. But Perth had a quick response.
“Among the palace greenhouse managers, the ability to directly influence plant growth is extremely rare. Most individuals with climate-related abilities who are appointed as greenhouse managers tend to have relatively weak abilities.”
However, she couldn’t control her rare ability properly. So she knew very well that she hadn’t received any summons from the palace until now.
“But even the miracle of the desert doesn’t work with that ability, does it?”
“I thought the strength of telekinesis might vary from person to person. In any case, you were able to work at the palace as you had hoped, aren’t you glad?”
“I was very pleased.”
“Past tense.”
“Yes, until this morning.”
Perth feigned ignorance. Approaching him quietly, Lia lowered her voice and asked.
“Wasn’t the tea time this morning also part of your plan?”
“You misunderstand.”
“Mr. Perth, don’t you understand women well?”
Perth frowned at Lia’s sudden remark.
“Me?”
“No, isn’t it odd to try to win over someone with a more expensive superpower cookie than a jewel? Usually, people shy away from receiving such burdensome things from strangers, right? Moreover, poison… You thought that was a joke? It could have been a situation where I could have been executed for treason due to poisoning royalty.”
“Most of them liked it.”
His words were true. Women liked both expensive gifts from Alfonse and unknown jokes. Alfonse was objectively a perfect man, possessing power, wealth, and looks. Lia found it even stranger that she was uncomfortable with Alfonse.
“People have different ideal conditions even if they roughly understand what they want.”
“Then what would be Lady Lia’s ideal type?”
At Perth’s sudden question, Lia stopped in her tracks. Perth’s expression was incredibly serious when he asked. After thinking for a while about how to respond, Lia hesitated whether to speak or not. She had never properly thought about her ideal type. As she had no significant interest in dating apart from getting a job at the palace, she had never thought about specific criteria.
“I’m not sure. How about you? I wanted to check the part where you were confident that you could talk to my father.”
“…I don’t think I was that confident.”
“Since this introduction wasn’t very successful, I’ll look forward to the next one!”
Lia politely declined Perth’s first introduction with a smile. But being a stickler for principles, Perth reiterated the terms of the contract once again.
“But you still have to meet at least for a month.”
“Yes, yes.”
“You don’t know about people. Lady Lia still doesn’t know much about Prince Alfonse. People need to experience things to understand, don’t they?”
Lia was taken aback by Perth’s words. He was the last person she expected to hear such words from. From Perth, who seemed to be only rational about people, asking her to see Alfonse again was unexpected. Lia couldn’t help but stay silent.
However, Perth’s words weren’t entirely wrong. Lia did have a sense of aversion towards Alfonse based solely on rumors. While the recent incident had made her angry, she hadn’t realized that her aversion might stem from not knowing much about him.
“…I understand. I’ll try my best to discard any prejudices and see Prince Alfonse in a new light, as you suggested. But you know better than anyone that marriage is out of the question, being the aide, right?”
“Of course. I’m glad you’re thinking positively about this meeting. My superior seems to want to maintain a good relationship with you, after all.”
As they conversed, they had arrived at the entrance of the greenhouse. Perth opened the door and waited for Lia to enter. Then, he slightly bowed and bid farewell.
“Congratulations on your official first day at work.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
* * *
And what became of Lia on her official first day at work?
“Th-this is all for me?”
“We agreed you’d handle some menial tasks too. You can handle this much, right?”
Lia stared blankly at the pile of fertilizer bags in front of her. They looked quite heavy, and even picking up one or two seemed daunting. Judging from Kevin’s attitude and tone, who was standing with arms crossed in front of her, she could tell he was testing her. Irritated, Lia wanted to immediately say she could do it, but she doubted if she really could.
“If you use telekinesis…”
“Telekinetics are mostly deployed in the Knights for battle. Unfortunately, they don’t usually assign telekinetics just for the greenhouse.”
A telekinetic immediately came to mind. However, Lia shook her head. This was her job. She couldn’t ask for help from May, who was already busy with her own tasks. With a firm resolve, Lia stooped to lift one of the fertilizer bags. It was heavy, but not impossible to lift. Trembling, she asked.
“Where… should I take this?”