Chapter 53…
Clears even came to visit Ellie while she was lying down and couldn’t get up, and ended up crying beside her.
It wasn’t that he was happy that the enemy’s child had died.
If he was crying because he was worried about Ellie… then this definitely meant they were close!
Ellie’s chest swelled with excitement.
“I’m… close friends with Duke Berndt!”
“? Yes, you do seem close. I wonder when you got that close?”
“Uh… just, gradually?”
Ellie found it hard to pinpoint exactly when they had become close.
They had never declared, ‘Let’s be close from now on!’, so she couldn’t say when it happened.
We are… close, right?
Ellie suddenly began to doubt herself.
Even though others said they looked close, could it be possible they weren’t really?
But since they hadn’t explicitly said they were close, maybe they weren’t…
“Lady Laval and I are close, right?”
“Of course! I’m the closest to our princess! Aren’t you close to me, Princess?”
“Yes! The closest! The closest in the world!”
At this point, Lady Laval was indeed the person she was closest to.
She had to be careful not to act too spoiled, but when anything happened, she would be the first person Ellie called to talk to.
“I’m glad, Princess—no, Your Majesty—said so…”
Lady Laval covered her mouth, moved by the moment.
But she was the only one moved.
Thunk.
At the sound from the doorway, Ellie turned her head.
“Ah, Duke Berndt!”
Duke Berndt, whom she thought had gone home, was standing in the doorway.
With an expression of utter shock.
A bouquet lay at his feet. It was hastily put together with flowers plucked from the garden.
The flowers were mismatched and somewhat clumsy, but the sheer effort was clear in the large handful he had gathered.
“Your Majesty…”
“You didn’t go home!”
“By the time I came to my senses, I realized I hadn’t even prepared flowers… I wanted to get some properly, but it would take time… so I used flowers from the garden…”
Clears fumbled over his words, then seemed to gather himself, picked up the bouquet, and approached Ellie.
“Thank you!”
Ellie took the clumsily arranged bouquet with joy and exclaimed.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever received a bouquet!”
Her older brother never understood why one would pick and tie flowers instead of just admiring the wild ones.
When she envied the princess in books who decorated her room with flowers, he had made her a garden around the house instead.
Still, a flowerbed and a bouquet were different.
“Your… first time?”
“Yes!”
Ellie held the clumsy bouquet like a precious treasure.
Clears’ pale complexion returned slightly.
“Then, may I be the second closest to you in the world?”
“…Huh?”
“The first is Lady Laval, right?”
“Oh?”
Ellie wondered what he was talking about.
Apparently, Clears was shocked to hear that she was closest to Lady Laval.
Hearing that Clears was shocked at her statement was itself a new shock to Ellie.
“Uh… so, Duke Berndt… are we close?”
“We are.”
Clears affirmed firmly.
There was no need to doubt whether they were close.
“Um…”
Clears hesitated and continued.
“Hmm?”
“I… um…”
Unlike his usual decisive self, his words dragged on.
Ellie waited with her eyes full of question marks.
Clears mumbled without making eye contact.
“Could it be… the reason I asked you not to call me by my name at first… does that make me the second?”
“Huh?”
Ellie’s eyes widened at the unexpected question.
Why bring up the first meeting now? They had talked about secrets later, and when alone, they agreed she could call him by his name.
He seemed to be referring to the time he had firmly pushed her away.
But that was shortly after they first met… and with the status of princess and duke…
Besides, he had said she could call him Clears when they were alone.
“No, that was… understandable at the time!”
“No, I kept my distance. I didn’t know what kind of person Your Majesty was back then…”
“What kind of person?”
Ellie was curious about how Clears saw her.
Clears’ face was turning redder and redder.
“Um…”
The more time he took, the more focused Ellie became.
Even the other adults watching quietly fell silent, all eyes on Clears.
The atmosphere was tense, like announcing the first-place winner in a competition.
Amid it all, Clears, who had to confess his feelings for Ellie, suffered the most.
“What kind of person? How do I seem?”
“Uh, well…”
If he gave up here, the princess would be disappointed.
The atmosphere was frightening, but… despite the embarrassment…
Clears shut his eyes tightly and shouted.
“You’re a cute and kind person!”
“…!”
The warmth that had risen in Clears’ face transferred instantly to Ellie’s.
“Oh my…”
“Oh dear…”
“Oh-ho…”
This was a direct display of affection from the Berndt house toward royalty.
It was a monumental event, but the sight before them was simply adorable.
I shouldn’t take it so simply…
But what I see…
Is too, too cute!
Before coming to the palace, Kirian, a pediatrician, surprisingly didn’t know the feeling of finding a child cute.
Even Princess Elia’s first impression had only been, “She’s pretty?” He believed she would be the cutest in the world.
But seeing the unexpectedly cute Princess Elia alongside the not-so-cute Duke Berndt, it became incredibly cute.
Cute + cute = even cuter. That’s natural.
But how can cute + not cute = extremely cute?
Kirian had overlooked the synergy effect.
There was a cuteness that emerged only from their behavior, speech, and expressions when they were together.
“Kyaa!”
Out of joy and embarrassment, Ellie hid her face.
Clears felt the same, but didn’t dare, thinking it wouldn’t look dignified.
“Then, now is it different from back then?”
“It’s different!”
Clears’ frustration surfaced.
How could one compare now to their first meeting when things had become so special?
He even knew Ellie’s secrets that no one else did.
Yet he was still told he was second after Lady Laval.
I want to be first.
Clears’ competitive spirit ignited.
He wanted to be Ellie’s first closest person.
To do that, he needed something special, different from others.
“B-because it’s different… you can call me by my n-name in front of others too.”
What if she refused? What if she rejected him?
He was trembling.
More than when he first held a sword.
More than being scared of getting hurt, he was afraid of being truly rejected.
More than bruising from a wooden sword.
Getting hurt emotionally was far more painful.
“Really?!”
But Clears’ worry was needless.
Ellie’s face bloomed with joy.
“So, I can call you Clears in front of everyone?”
“Yes, please do!”
“Good!”
Ellie was overjoyed.
“It really feels like we’re close now!”
Her anxiousness about having no proof or clear statement of closeness disappeared.
“So, am I Your Majesty’s closest friend?”
Clears asked eagerly, giving no chance for hesitation.
“Uh…?”
Ellie glanced at Lady Laval.
She felt a little self-conscious in front of her…?
“That’s… something for the future!”
“You mean I’ll get the chance to be first?”
“Y-yes…”
When Ellie got older, she wouldn’t need Lady Laval’s care. By then, Lady Laval could make other friends or meet someone more important than Ellie.
…With that in mind, Ellie nodded timidly.
That alone was enough for Clears.
“Understood. From now on, please always call me Clears.”
“Yes…!”
But she wasn’t confident in her answer.
Could she really do it? Would it be okay?
At first, she had called him by his name out of naivety.
After getting used to life as a princess, she realized how significant that was.
Lady Laval, Marquis Simon, and others called her by her title.
Only Clears had shifted to calling her by her name first.
“Absolutely.”
“Ah, okay…”
“Call me once right now.”
Clears wanted to confirm in front of the adults so Ellie couldn’t change her mind later.
“Cl…ears.”
“Once more.”
“Cl-clears!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At Ellie’s call, Clears’ face finally brightened.
Ellie mirrored his smile, beaming brightly as well.
