Chapter 23
The Enemy of My Enemy
The king’s study boasted perfect soundproofing.
That was why there was no way for anyone outside the room to know what was happening inside.
And at that moment, an odd tension hung in the corridor.
Two knights who had been stationed in front of the door from the start, Arthur who had come with Sienna, and Harry and Zeon, who were waiting for Pierre.
Being surrounded by these awkward, taciturn knights made Zeon feel like he was sitting on needles.
What do I do? Did he recognize me? It feels like he did.
Arthur had been staring at him for quite some time now.
Zeon tried to slip behind Harry to hide, but since he was so tall, he didn’t manage to conceal himself at all.
“Um…”
“Eek!”
Just as Arthur called out to Zeon—and Zeon startled and let out a strange sound—the door opened.
With a burst of bright laughter, Sienna appeared and immediately grabbed Arthur.
“Arthur. Run!”
“Yes?”
“I said, run!”
“Princess!”
Without understanding a thing, Arthur began running as Sienna pulled him along.
Soon after, Pierre came out of the room as well.
He looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Has she finally lost her mind?”
“Great!”
“Princess!”
“Running really makes you feel good!”
After sprinting down the long corridor, Sienna said that—and not long after, she collapsed onto the floor.
“…Huff, huff. I feel like my heart’s going to burst.”
She had momentarily forgotten that her basic stamina was terrible.
After almost lying flat on the floor, she ended up being carried in Arthur’s arms.
A true princess carry.
“Am I heavy?”
“It’s fine. You’re small, Princess. Even with one arm—”
Arthur stopped mid-sentence.
Through experience, he had learned that he always needed to watch his words around Sienna.
“With one arm?”
“I believe I misspoke. Please forget it.”
“That’s a shame.”
Even though they had run the same distance, Arthur’s breathing wasn’t even disturbed.
“Arthur, what’s your secret to stamina?”
“I train almost every day.”
“Every day?”
“I train at dawn.”
“That’s impressive.”
As Sienna admired him, Shushu cut in.
─See? I told you earlier how important dawn training is—
─Shushu. Be quiet, or do you want to terminate the contract?
─I’ll be quiet.
As soon as Sienna returned to her room, she began searching for a suitable “body.”
Her stamina was poor, and her mana reserves were even worse, so she needed to find Shushu a body as quickly as possible.
“Is there anything you like?”
─Hmm. Let’s see.
“Anything works, right?”
─Anything is possible, but it would be nice if it could contain at least one percent of Shushu’s greatness.
“That one looks good.”
What caught Sienna’s eye was her beloved stuffed rabbit doll. It was fluffy pink, with a neatly tied red ribbon around its neck—utterly adorable.
“Toto would be perfect. Oh, that one’s name is Toto. Wow, Toto Shushu. Even the names are destined.”
─You want me to go into that ugly rabbit?
“Ugly? That’s harsh. Our Toto is so cute.”
─No! It doesn’t suit Shushu at all!
“Then we’ll terminate the contr—”
─Toto, you said? The more I look at it, the cuter it seems.
“Right?”
At Shushu’s quick change of heart, Sienna smiled in satisfaction.
“Alright, get in already. I think I’m about to collapse.”
─…Yes.
Shushu emitted a flashy light and entered Toto, and Sienna closed her eyes for a moment because it was so bright.
“…Did it work?”
Toto was still lying on the bed.
It didn’t seem any different.
She carefully approached and lightly tapped Toto’s ear.
“Shushu?”
─Yes! It’s Shushu.
“How’s your new body?”
─Well, it’s not bad.
“Can you move?”
─A little.
Shushu twitched one of the rabbit’s ears slightly.
Kind of cute.
It was definitely more comfortable than being a ball of light.
The little ear twitching was adorable.
Sienna was particularly weak when it came to cute things.
After gazing at Toto-turned-Shushu with satisfaction, she gave a warning in advance.
“When other people are around, don’t move.”
─Okay.
“But when it’s just me, you can move.”
Sienna put on a wide-brimmed hat and held Shushu in one arm.
─Master?
“Let’s go out.”
─We just came in, though?
“The weather’s nice.”
─That answer makes no sense.
“I hear that a lot.”
Sienna laughed cheerfully and stepped outside.
Anna and Arthur were waiting.
In Anna’s hands was a basket filled with food for the day.
“Let’s go. To the Second Garden.”
“Yes, Princess.”
Stern Castle had three enormous gardens.
The First Garden, the oldest, lay in front of the main palace.
The recently completed Third Garden had been built right next to it.
The Second Garden, also known as Marianne’s Garden, was a vast lakeside garden created behind the castle for Queen Marianne, the former queen.
It was built to soothe the homesickness of the queen, who had come from the countryside, and its tranquil scenery was beautiful.
It was said that Queen Marianne enjoyed boating here every spring.
When Sienna was young, she often crossed the lake with her mother, Ilina.
This was her first time coming here since Ilina’s death.
That was why, when Sienna said she wanted to go boating, Anna and the other maids were slightly surprised, wondering if she missed her mother—not so much worry as gentle concern.
Of course, Sienna simply wanted to enjoy the spring.
When she arrived at the lakeside, she exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow!”
It was exactly as she remembered.
“It’s like a painting.”
It felt as though she were looking at a beautiful oil painting.
The lake’s surface shimmered silver under the sunlight, and lush trees encircled it.
It was quiet, like another world, with a soft, fluffy feeling—like freshly baked bread.
She quickly boarded the boat.
She was excited to see what the view would be like from the middle of the lake.
Anna and Arthur got on, and the boat set off.
Though it looked like an ordinary wooden boat, there was no need to row.
Magic stones attached to it split the water and propelled it forward on their own.
“What a convenient world.”
Sienna closed her eyes and felt the cool breeze brushing her cheeks.
She planned to enjoy a leisurely lunch aboard the gently drifting boat.
“Anna, what’s on the menu?”
“I prepared coq au vin.”
Chicken was good.
Sienna slightly opened the basket and took a sniff.
“I’m getting hungry.”
“Shall I set the food out?”
“No, a little later. There’s someone I want to invite.”
“Invite?”
“Yes. Arthur, turn the boat around.”
“Yes?”
Arthur asked again, but still rowed to change direction.
Magic stones were great, but they only moved straight ahead.
So turning required manual control.
Sienna leaned back against the end of the boat.
A refreshing scent of grass drifted in on the breeze.
This is happiness.
After hesitating for a moment, Anna asked carefully.
“Um, Princess.”
“Yes?”
“Why the sudden boating…?”
“Hmm.”
Sienna answered without much thought.
“It’s spring.”
“Is that all?”
“It’s such a wonderful season. We should enjoy it.”
Lying on the calm lake and letting the breeze carry her along—it was an indescribable feeling.
Ah, it’s so nice, I can’t even explain it.
As she gazed lazily at the sky, Sienna suddenly grew curious about how it would look at night.
“I might even do fireworks here in the summer.”
“Wow! That would be amazing!”
“Right?”
Imagining dazzling fireworks, she poured a light sparkling wine as an aperitif.
She also ate grapefruit drizzled with honey.
“Cheers!”
She clinked glasses with Anna, forgetting all her worries as she enjoyed the gentle breeze.
Before long, the boat returned to the dock.
“Arthur, bring our guest.”
“Princess, you don’t mean—”
“He must not have eaten properly while watching me all day. Tell him to come and eat with us.”
“No matter what, that’s still—”
“He’s behind the biggest tree over there.”
“What? How do you know that?”
She had guessed he would come today, and Shushu had told her his exact location.
But since there was no way to explain that, she simply smiled it off.
“Tell him I have something I want to say to him.”
“…Understood.”
Arthur reluctantly got off the boat.
A moment later, with a rustling sound, a large man approached hesitantly.
Still wavering, he finally boarded the boat after Arthur poked him in the side with his sword.
“Set sail again!”
At her cheerful voice, the boat began moving forward at a steady pace.
Sienna stared intently at the sloppy spy, whose entire body was trembling.
Arthur must have frightened him quite thoroughly.
“What’s your name?”
“I-I’m Zeon Howard.”
“Nice to meet you, Sir Howard.”
“The honor is mine, Princess Sienna.”
“How long have you been by Brother Pierre’s side?”
“It’s b-been one year.”
“You don’t have to shake like that. I won’t tell my brother anything.”
“Really?”
Color returned to Zeon’s face.
“Yes. Well, for now.”
“…For now?”
He tensed up again.
He was so harmless it made one wonder how he ever became a knight.
Sienna smoothly changed the subject.
“Do you like chicken?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“Let’s eat together.”
“Thank you.”
She served Zeon some coq au vin.
Perhaps he was very hungry—despite being cautious, he hurriedly stuffed it into his mouth.
Looking at his innocent eyes, he reminded her of a deer trembling before a predator.
It felt like their positions were reversed.
Wasn’t I the one being watched?
“You must work hard, watching me every day.”
“Khk!”
“Oh my! Are you okay?”
Sienna calmly handed him her handkerchief.
First the sting, then the kindness.
The faint-hearted Zeon Howard’s heart swung wildly like a pendulum at even the princess’s light teasing.
Arthur, having seen this many times, struggled to hold back his laughter from behind.
She shot Arthur a look, then turned back to the fragile deer.
Seeing him tremble so much was almost pitiful.
With an angelic face, Sienna asked gently,
“How much have you told my brother?”
In the middle of the lake, with the shimmering water adding to the scene, the view was breathtakingly beautiful.
Zeon stared blankly, as if bewitched.
“Sir Howard?”
“Ah! Th-that is…”
“Hm. What do you think will happen if my brother finds out you were caught by me?”
Clutching Shushu, Sienna asked innocently.
“Brother Pierre doesn’t tolerate mistakes. If he finds out you were caught by someone like me… well, perhaps a finger or two…”
She frowned as if the thought alone were horrifying, glancing at her own delicate, knight-unlike white hand.
Zeon yelped loudly and hid his hands behind his back.
“P-please spare me, Princess!”
“I like you, Sir.”
“…What?”
“What’s the enemy of your enemy?”
Though the conversation was taking a strange turn, he instinctively blurted out the answer.
“…A friend?”
“Correct!”
“P-Princess, what does this mean…?”
Without giving Zeon a chance to speak, Sienna moved on to the next question.
“Then who is your enemy—the one who would kill you?”
“…That would be His Highness Pierre.”
Satisfied, her lips curved gently.
Resting her chin on her hand, Sienna met Zeon’s eyes.
“So tell me—
am I still your enemy?”
