He Lifted His Chin And Saw Something

“Not that I have any lingering feelings!”

Crown Prince Arios said indignantly, but— from the outside, it really did look that way.

“Hey, hey, Lady Shitoen.”

Mail, who had been standing at the very edge, let go of Crown Prince Arios’s arm and came trotting over.

She rather forcefully wedged herself between Shitoen and Crown Prince Arios.

“You and Prince Saryu are reeeally, reeeally close, aren’t you?”

She spoke with a bright smile.

“Yes… we are, I suppose.”

Shitoen flicked a glance toward me, so I nodded, telling her to say it clearly, and opened my mouth too.

“Shitoen and I are very close.”

“Hm,” Mail said, raising her index finger and pressing the tip of it to her lips.

“You were engaged to Crown Prince Arios only about half a year ago, weren’t you? It’s amazing how quickly you can change who you love, one after another.”

Mail narrowed her large russet eyes and looked back and forth between me and Shitoen.

“Maybe before long, you’ll fall in love with someone other than Prince Saryu too.”

The moment I heard that,

I— recoiled.

I seriously recoiled.

What is with this nasty woman?

Is it really okay to make this thing the future Crown Princess?

No, there are men like this too.

And people like that always end up alone.

Outwardly, everyone gets along with them well enough because basic social ties exist, after all.

But no one ever forms a deep relationship with them…

So they’re always alone, but they never realize they’re alone. Because everyone acts like an adult in front of them.

So they go on misunderstanding, convinced they’re getting along with everyone just fine.

Stuff like, “I have lots of friends,” or “Oh, I go way back with that person.”

They say it with a smug look, but everyone knows the real story.

But no one bothers correcting them. They just brush it off with a “Really?” or something.

So the misunderstanding goes on forever.

Well, if it’s some powerless nobody— someone with no authority at all, that’s one thing.

But this woman is trying to become Crown Princess, right? This is going to be a disaster.

Society will absolutely be thrown into chaos, and the court will become a complete mess.

“I did hold affection for Crown Prince Arios.”

Shitoen spoke quietly. I wanted to tell her she didn’t need to indulge this. Just ignore it. But Shitoen glanced past Mail toward Crown Prince Arios.

“Though it was something decided between our countries, I believed I had shown Crown Prince Arios sincerity in my own way. But perhaps it was my own lack of virtue. My feelings did not reach him, the distance between us never closed, and so it ended like this.”

“You make it sound as though you loved me.”

Crown Prince Arios snorted. I was dumbfounded.

No, no. Not a chance.

You rank even lower than Atsuhito.

In fact, Shitoen had a smile on the edge of her lips that defied description.

“I tried to be sincere toward Crown Prince Arios. But it was Your Highness who rejected that. Is not this the result of hearing only what you wished to hear, and seeing only what you wished to see?”

As though struck right where it hurt, Crown Prince Arios grimaced.

“Still, I am grateful that in the end you let me go. Thanks to that, I was able to meet a wonderful prince in Prince Saryu… and…”

Shitoen trailed off there, so I lowered my gaze, wondering what it was.

Even in the darkness, I could tell her face had turned bright red.

“Because I was able to meet the person I love.”

She looked me in the eye and said it plainly, and somehow my face grew hot too.

“Well… um, truly. I can only thank Crown Prince Arios.”

When I laughed and said that, he glared at me with a terrible expression, but I didn’t care at all.

If anything, I even felt a sense of superiority.

I’m loved, after all!!!!

“Prince Saryu, Prince Saryu.”

Before I knew it, Mail had scampered over and grabbed my arm, tugging on it.

“Wh-what?”

I mean, sorry to say it, but you don’t do this to royalty.

Especially not now, when Shitoen is on my left. Why are you trying to hang off my other side?

“Lady Shitoen’s skin is covered all over in scales. Don’t be surprised, okay?”

Mail said it in a conspiratorial whisper.

At that point, I was sure of it.

It was her.

She was the one who had fed Crown Prince Arios that false information.

The reason he ended up saying, “Someone like you…”

“Listen here, little lady.”

I smiled brightly, then leaned my face right up to the little brat.

“People who lie will see the hell they deserve sooner or later.”

I growled it at her in a low voice, close enough for our noses to touch.

That educational guidance seemed to work.

Mail hurried back to Crown Prince Arios and clung to his left arm. She was desperately saying something to him, but I didn’t care. The rude one had been her, and even Crown Prince Arios ought to understand that much. He seemed to be trying to calm her down, but Mail would not accept it. I could only catch fragments, but she was apparently saying things like, “Scold him.”

Huh!? Who exactly is saying what to whom, that girl!!

I stopped in place without thinking, and Crown Prince Arios ran a hand through his bangs with a sigh.

“My apologies. I think Mail has grown a little tired.”

“That’s not it! Listen, Crown Prince Arios!”

Pointing at me irritably, she declared it clearly this time.

“He’s a bad person! He scared me!”

…………You really are something else.

I don’t even have words anymore.

“I’ll go back into the hall and get us some drinks. Could you wait here? …Come, Mail.”

Crown Prince Arios clicked his tongue and grabbed Mail’s arm, starting back the way they had come.

But Mail’s dissatisfaction had not been resolved at all, and she was in a state of intense agitation.

Shrieking noisily, she was dragged along toward the mansion by Crown Prince Arios.

“…Is that really going to be okay?”

I muttered while looking at Crown Prince Arios’s back.

He was walking slowly along the little path beyond the azalea hedge, soothing Mail as he went.

“The House of Luminous has many excellent instructors. I am sure it will be all right.”

Shitoen answered, but the end of her sentence faded into a sigh.

Well, it’s another house’s problem, after all—

Just as I was about to shift my gaze toward her,

at the edge of my vision,

I saw Crown Prince Arios’s face move.

Hm?

I stopped moving.

Crown Prince Arios was already facing forward again, with Mail trudging along while clinging to his arm, just about to pass through the double doors.

But— just a moment ago, he had lifted his chin and looked at something.

Judging by the direction, it was west.

Beyond the hedge.

I turned my head.

The garden had been opened tonight so that people could enjoy it.

At the same time, security had been stationed around it.

Braziers had been set up all over, but because the gardener got angry if it was made too bright and the atmosphere ruined, it was dim enough to still be dim.

Even so, I could see several knights standing at a distance where voices still would not carry.

Blended into the darkness, I knew Raul was watching what was happening over here too.

…Though in his case, he might simply be keeping watch to make sure I didn’t make a move on Shitoen. He kept insisting over and over, “Don’t do anything until you’ve gone into the bedroom.”

“What is it?”

When I started checking the state of the garden, Shitoen asked me.

I lowered my gaze and looked at her, holding on to my left arm.

That puzzled expression on her face.

It was unbearably adorable.

In an instant, my lips loosened into a smile.

“No, it’s nothing—”

Just as I was about to answer, “Nothing at all.”