Chapter 50
“Killian!”
Startled by my sudden voice, Killian flinched! Then, as if by instinct, he stepped a pace away from Shuberry—I’ll never call her Bianca.
“P-Princess Tia?”
“What are you doing here? Were you waiting for me?”
Wink, wink, wink.
I was twitching my eyes like I had some spasm in my cheek, forgetting for a moment that my favorite boy here tends to be a little slow on the uptake in situations like this. Why is he just smiling?
“Oh! You mean waiting for you? Yeah. I figured you’d say that. Sorry I’m late.”
Wow. I didn’t know he was such a master of talking to himself.
Blocking Shuberry’s view, I gave Killian one more “trust me!” wink, then spun around sharply to face her.
“And you are? Who?”
“I-I greet Your Highness the Crown Princess. I am Bianca of the Ducal House of Shuberry.”
“Ah. Shu-berry?”
“Yes?”
“Mm? Shu-berry.”
Maybe she noticed the weird emphasis in my tone, because a frown creased her brow.
“So then, Lady Shuberry, what exactly are you doing here? This is right in front of my private lounge.”
“I-I only wished to exchange some words with Lord Marchen…”
“Killian? Did you have something to talk about with her?”
“No, Your Highness.”
“Killian says no.”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”
“That’s strange. This is an area you can’t enter without my permission…. Barging in carelessly could turn into something serious.”
“M-my apologies.”
“Entering the Crown Princess’s private quarters without authorization—that’s treason, you know. You’re aware of that, right? Attempted regicide… And if that happens, forget about marriage engagements.”
Because it’d mean execution.
I half-lidded my eyes and spoke in a chilling voice.
“Eek!” Shuberry gasped, clapping both hands over her mouth, then bolted without even remembering to bow.
As she scurried away, I called loudly after her:
“Let’s never meet again, Shuberry! Farewell, Shuberry!”
Ta-da!
I spun back toward Killian, and my skirts swirled out like a bell before settling.
“Killian, you okay? I did good, right?”
“Y-yeah. Tia.”
“Let’s go inside first. Where’s Adel? Is he coming separately?”
“Yeah. I think so? Hahaha.”
I took Killian’s hand and led him into the Crown Princess’s private lounge.
First things first—a sip of water!
I soothed my weary body with cold water, then had Killian sit while I launched into a careful little lecture.
Please understand me, my dearest.
“Killian, you know, I think the best kind of man is one who’s faithful and unwavering. You get what I mean? The kind who carries the same feelings he had since childhood all the way through.”
“Ah… yeah.”
“And I once heard something: Fate isn’t found far away, but right close by. And there’s another saying—‘an old official is a good official.’”
“Close by… an old official is a good official?”
Killian’s face started turning red.
What? Why?
Does he feel embarrassed because he doesn’t get it? If that’s it, then big sister here will explain in detail.
“For example, it means someone who’s been your close friend since childhood is better than someone you just met, that sort of thing.”
#FromFriendToLover, you know. The brother becomes the husband, the husband becomes the father, all that kind of thing.
“You don’t have to seek out new bonds. The comfort of what’s familiar can be even better. Not just comfort—there’s excitement too…. Anyway!”
I hurriedly bit back the rest of what was about to tumble out. Whew, close one.
For reasons I couldn’t guess, Killian’s ears had gone scarlet as he buried his face in both hands with a muffled whump.
I could only hope Killian had picked up on the context as we waited together for Adel, our closest “old official.”
“Adel’s taking a while, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. Think something happened?”
“Should we go look for him?”
I suddenly started to worry—this was Adel’s first time at such a big banquet.
“Ah… I kinda want to stay here a bit longer.”
“No one’s ignoring Adel, right? Or bullying him? Hmm?”
Ugh!
I was too fired up to hear properly what Killian was saying.
“It’s not like Adel’s the type to just sit there and take it, Tia….”
True, but still….
“No, I can’t just sit here. Let’s go check!”
Just as I was about to throw open the lounge doors, Killian stopped me.
“Tia, you should stay here. I’ll go. You can’t risk getting caught up in trouble right after becoming Crown Princess.”
Oh… not bad. Look at him coming up with reasonable excuses. Our Killian really has grown.
Big sis sees right through you, sweetie. You just want to go rescue Adel on your own, huh?
Understanding his heart, I nodded.
“Very admirable, Killian. Fine. I’ll wait here. Go on.”
Honestly, I wanted to tag along and dive straight into the ultimate cliché—“the male lead appears just in time to save the heroine in distress.” But I held myself back.
“Make sure you bring Adel back.”
After sending him off with that reminder, I crunched down on some sweet almond chocolates in the lounge and let my imagination soar.
“Wasn’t it supposed to be around here?”
The time Tia had set for meeting.
Adel was heading toward the lounge where Tia had said to meet, led by Liz.
He’d only asked, “Where’s Killian?” when Killian wasn’t in sight, and Liz had flitted off with, “Oh my! You’re right, where could the young lord be?”
Adel had meant to wait quietly, but then suddenly thought, What if Tia’s already waiting? and started walking alone.
At the mouth of a wide corridor,
This must be the way, he thought, striding forward without hesitation—
“Ugh, so annoying! They say the Empire might collapse! That infamous Celestia princess becoming Crown Princess? They called her a complete delinquent, lunatic, and psycho! I only tried to save Lord Marchen from being wasted as her attendant. A house like ours—the Shuberry dukedom—is a far better match for him.”
“B-Bianca, m-maybe you should lower your voice. What if someone hears?”
“There’s no one around, who would hear us?”
But Adel did hear—the stream of venom Bianca was spitting about Celestia.
“Everyone here would agree Lady Bianca Shuberry is a hundred, a thousand times better than that so-called princess with nothing but royal blood. Not that she even is royal—just look at her hair and eye color! She must’ve been jealous and wanted me gone. Well, makes sense—she’s so utterly lacking in charm she must’ve feared I’d snatch Lord Marchen away from her.”
So… she’d chased after Killian, only to be chased off by Tia.
Adel rolled up his sleeves.
“What’s the word for this… inspiration? Expiration? No… preposterous! Yeah, that’s it. From Tia’s point of view, that’s exactly how it looks.”
Killian Marchen.
His blunt way of talking—annoying.
His swordsmanship being better than Adel’s—annoying.
His fake “nice guy” act in front of Tia—super annoying.
Kind-hearted Tia looked at Killian in a good light, so of course Adel couldn’t stand letting some bratty lady snatch him away.
“But this isn’t right!”
Since the “restricted area” incident, both of them had been trying to rein in their tempers. But this time, he couldn’t let it go.
Talking trash about Tia—just because of Killian?!
Adel clenched his fists.
He’d scold Killian later about behaving properly. But right now, Lady Bianca Shuberry’s head was his first target.
“Hey! You Shibell—kid!”
He was so worked up his words came out all broken.
“Sh-Shibell? It’s Shuberry! Who dares… Wait, are you Lady Adelaide Luwendif?”
“That’s right! I’m Adelaide Luwendif! You’ve been badmouthing Tia, haven’t you? I heard it all. You’re dead, come here!!!”
Before Bianca could even respond, Adel lunged and grabbed her hair.
“Ahh! Aaaaagh! Let go! I said let go!”
“No way! Why would I let go? I’m meant to pull so it hurts! How dare you insult Tia? Listen! Tia is not some delinquent lunatic psycho! Our Tia overflows with charm! What do you know! Don’t you dare speak so carelessly!”
“Yaaaaaagh! Adelaide Luwendif!!! You’ll pay for this! Let go already! I am Bianca Shuberry! How dare you, a mere marquis’s daughter, lay a hand on me? Hey! What are you doing? Go call a servant! Aaagh! It hurts! I said it hurts! Let go!”
“Y-yes, Bianca.”
“Go where! You come here too! Birds of a feather flock together! Or was it… shrimps? No—crayfish stick together! You’re on her side too, aren’t you?”
Even in the middle of the scuffle, Adel swelled with pride at correctly using a phrase Tia had once taught him. He yanked the hair of the young lady who had tried to run off for help.
“Eeek! Help! I didn’t do anything! I didn’t insult her! Only she did! Only Bianca did!”
“I knew it! You wicked Shibell girl!”
“It’s Shuberry, not Shibell! Ack! Aaagh! Damn you! You come here too!!!”
Bianca swiped at Adel, missing his hair but scratching his bare arm.
“Ow, stings! Oh, you attacked me? Fine. You wanna fight for real?”
Bianca couldn’t have known about Adel’s competitiveness. Nor that he hid a natural talent for dirty fighting—even in front of Tia.
“You—go kneel over there!”
Adel released Bianca’s innocent friend, grinning viciously as he tightened his grip on Bianca’s hair—
“Adelaide Luwendif!!!”
A desperate voice suddenly called out her name.
