Chapter 55…
It was Babianne and Juruna.
Both had huge royal ribbons—pwang pwang—perched proudly on their heads.
Seeing the “royal ribbon pwang,” Lilkia and the chief attendant both gasped.
How could anyone not notice those things, no matter how small?
“Miss Babianne, Miss Juruna.”
Lilkia already knew their names from previous encounters.
At her greeting, the two brave little visitors—who had held their ground even under the Nilites’ scolding—brightened visibly.
“Um, we just got permission to go out for today… Could you please give these flowers to Her Majesty for us?”
“Yes! I was really worried about Her Majesty… I even wrote a letter!”
Having just seen other guests turned away, the two girls hesitated.
But after all the effort they’d put into preparing the flowers and letter, they couldn’t just go home with them.
“I’ll ask Her Majesty.”
Simply informing the Queen that they were here shouldn’t disturb her rest.
The chief attendant bowed politely and entered the room.
“Your Majesty, outside there are…”
Through the small crack of the door, a slightly taller “bean” of a girl poked her head in, trying to sneak a peek inside.
Technically, Lilkia should’ve stopped her—etiquette and all—but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Oh! Juruna! Babianne!”
But at that very moment, Ellie was already peeking out through the door from the other side.
She spotted them first and called their names with joy.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majestyyyy!”
The two girls, about to rush in, froze right at the doorway and looked up at Lilkia.
When the Queen herself calls your name, what else can you do? Lilkia just shrugged in resignation.
Still, the young guests, having seen others kicked out earlier, were stiff with nervousness.
“C-can we come in?”
“Of course! Come on in!”
“Kyaa!”
With a shriek of delight, the girls bolted into the room.
Ellie’s gaze went straight to the royal ribbons on their heads.
“Oh! Ribbons!”
“Yes! They were so pretty, we wanted to copy Your Majesty!”
“Wow! They’re beautiful!”
“Thank you!”
Lady Laval quietly bowed her head.
So the day had finally come when this would become a trend…
But since it was their princess who had started the royal ribbon fashion—well, she’d just have to get used to it. If she looked at them long enough, even those big ribbons might start to look cute.
“Then, I’ll leave you to talk.”
No matter how young they were, they were still the Queen’s guests.
Lady Laval and Marquis Simon bowed lightly and left the room.
“Thank you for yielding your seats.”
“Thank you.”
Babianne and Juruna replied politely, proper young ladies that they were.
One little “bean” was cute enough—but two of them together were utterly adorable.
Lady Laval left the room with an involuntary, motherly smile on her face.
“Are you feeling better now, Your Majesty? We heard you were asleep for a whole week!”
“We were so worried, we thought you might never wake up!”
Though they’d only met Ellie once before, the two girls spoke with genuine concern.
Ellie smiled brightly and clasped their hands.
“I’m all better now! They said if I eat well and exercise, I’ll be fine!”
“E-exercise…?”
Babianne suddenly looked pale.
“G-good luck, Your Majesty…”
“U-uh, thanks…”
“I can exercise with you!”
Juruna raised her hand energetically.
But then she noticed Babianne’s pale face.
If exercise made people look like that… it must be horribly hard and painful.
Ellie remembered Cleas coming back from training—soaked in sweat and exhausted, sometimes even injured.
‘How do I even find a fitness teacher?’
Exercise wasn’t exactly a royal subject.
She had tutors for aesthetics and music, but none for physical training. Scholars said “exercise” was studied more as theory and body mechanics than something nobles actually did.
“Juruna, do you have an exercise teacher?”
“Uh… no?”
“Then how do other people exercise?”
Both girls shook their heads.
“We don’t exercise… unless you’re training to be a knight, why would you?”
“They said exercise makes you healthy!”
“Oh, then Your Majesty should do it—but how?”
Ordinary people didn’t really exercise.
Especially noble ladies—it was practically impossible in dresses. Even sitting, eating, drinking, and talking was tiring enough.
“If it’s about knights… maybe I should ask Cleas?”
“Cleas?”
At the unfamiliar name, Babianne tilted her head.
She had memorized most noble families already, but “Cleas” didn’t ring a bell.
“Yeah! Cleas—Duke Bernd!”
“Ah! You call the Duke by his name?”
“Yup! We decided to!”
Babianne instantly understood what that meant.
She’s that close with him?!
She had wanted to be Ellie’s closest friend herself—but somehow the Duke had beaten her to it!
Babianne looked devastated.
“W-when? Since when?”
“Uh… a little while ago, when he came to visit me…”
Babianne felt deeply wronged.
She had been late only because she needed parental permission to leave the house! Meanwhile, the Duke, as a nobleman, could come and go freely—so he’d gotten there first!
“I wanted to visit sooner! But I had to get my parents’ permission, so I could only come today!”
“Me too!”
Juruna, still not fully following the situation, jumped in as well.
“Uh, um… Babianne and Juruna can be first right after Cleas!”
“But that’s still not really first, is it?”
“Huh?”
Ellie blinked, not understanding.
Then Babianne suddenly burst into tears.
“I wanted to be first too!”
“Waaah! Me too!”
“Juruna, you’re second! I’m first!”
“Can’t we be first together?”
Now Juruna started crying beside her.
Ellie panicked at the sight of the two sobbing girls.
She was about to cry herself.
“Uh, um… the first one is…”
Actually, the real “first” was still Lady Laval…
But there was no time to explain that now.
And anyway, whether you were first or second didn’t seem to matter much, right?
If everyone shared “first after Lady Laval,” that could work…
Just as Ellie was trying to sort it all out, the door suddenly slammed open.
“I’m first!”
“Ah—Your Grace! You can’t just barge in like that!”
Lilkia tried to stop Cleas from entering.
But Cleas resisted fiercely, shouting all the while:
“I was first! Don’t cut in line! The first spot is mine! Hyaah!”
“L-Lilkia, it’s okay! Let him go!”
At Ellie’s urgent command, Lilkia released her hold on Cleas.
“Ah, yes.”
She even let go a little too dramatically—it was obvious even to Ellie.
“Eek! Watch out—!”
But instead of crashing to the floor, Cleas twisted gracefully midair and landed neatly on his feet.
“W-wow…”
Babianne and Juruna forgot all about crying, their eyes wide with awe.
Cleas strode toward them confidently.
“I’ve been working so hard to secure my place as first after Lady Laval!”
“Oh? Lady Laval is first?”
Babianne blinked.
“…For now, yes.”
“Oh my.”
A spark lit in Babianne’s eyes.
She had nearly been overwhelmed by Cleas’s grand entrance—but now she was fired up again.
First or third—what matters is moving up the ranks!
If Cleas was in the same race, there was no reason to wait politely in line.
She even had a secret weapon ready.
“When I grow up, I’ll become a mage and create a royal mage corps with Her Majesty!”
“!”
Cleas’s eyes widened.
He knew Ellie’s brother was a genius archmage. He also knew Ellie could use magic—powerful magic even mages from the Tower coveted. So that hit hard.
“I-I’ll learn magic too!”
But he couldn’t lose here.
For the first time in his life, Cleas declared he would study magic.
“Oh my? The Bernd Dukedom has led the knight order for generations. Will you abandon your family to join the Magic Tower?”
Babianne struck mercilessly.
But Cleas was ready for that one.
“Her Majesty won’t go to the Tower either. I’ll learn beside her—and become a magic knight.”
“…Is that true, Your Majesty?”
Ellie scratched her cheek awkwardly.
Nilite had agreed to stay in the palace for now, but had never said anything about teaching her magic.
“I… don’t know yet.”
“Liar!”
Babianne pointed a finger straight at Cleas, shouting loudly.
It was the first time in history that anyone had dared to point at the Duke of Bernd like that.
“T-then are you going to the Magic Tower?”
But Cleas didn’t even flinch at the finger.
His face had gone pale as he asked.
