[CHAPTER 56]
It was the third day since Dianu had suspended her classes and begun reporting to the Imperial Palace.
Elpenlira burst into the secretariat.
Sir Marek Loisen, who had been waiting outside the door, hurried after her.
“I’m bored!”
At that deeply fundamental and primal complaint, Dianu, who had been dusting off the shelves, nearly fell off the ladder.
Elpenlira alternated her gaze between the apron tied around Dianu’s waist, the cloth covering her nose and mouth, and the duster in her hand, then frowned.
“What’s all that?”
“Hello, Lady Elpenlira.”
“Um… I’m cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
“Yes, cleaning.”
Originally, under Neyron’s supervision, the maids had dusted and mopped while avoiding the documents scattered and piled everywhere.
But that was never going to be enough.
Since her constant sneezing felt worrying, Dianu decided to take all the materials off the shelves and do a thorough cleaning herself.
Of course, Dianu had never cleaned before.
Still, she had watched the maids dust and wipe shelves, and it did not seem particularly difficult.
So instead of calling the maids, she only had cleaning tools brought in.
It was something she could do thanks to Rision and Neyron being away in meetings all day.
The Empire’s only princess was clearly seeing the act of “cleaning” happen before her eyes for the first time.
Elpenlira stared for a long while at the precarious ladder Dianu stood on and the duster in her hand, then met Dianu’s gaze.
Her green eyes sparkled.
“Can I try that?”
“Pardon…?”
“It looks fun.”
“I want to do it.”
Dianu’s eyes shifted past Elpenlira’s shoulder toward Sir Marek Loisen.
He was already shaking his head, one hand covering his eyes, as if exhausted beyond words.
* * *
“Is there really no way to shorten the social season?”
“They’re all clinging to the capital to the point it’s tiresome.”
At Rision’s outburst as they left the conference hall, Neyron looked at him with deep sympathy.
He was right.
Once winter came and the high nobles returned to their territories, it was impossible to know what they might do behind the scenes, let alone stop them immediately.
No matter how many administrators, inspectors, and informants were dispatched, it was impossible to control the vast Catalos entirely from the Imperial Palace.
If not for the importance of social ties and marriage alliances, and if they did not have to watch the imperial family’s mood, the southern nobles would have shut their estate gates and never come to the capital at all.
Even knowing all that, spending an entire day arguing while looking at the shameless face of the Duke of Belua was pure agony.
“I need exercise.”
Neyron hurried after Rision as he strode down the corridor.
“Shall we go to the training grounds?”
“Didn’t Marek come to the East Wing with Dianu today?”
“I should ask him for a spar.”
There were few people skilled enough to cross blades with Rision, even with training swords, while never injuring him.
Marek was one of them.
That was why, after the palace swordmaster retired, Marek became his fixed sparring partner.
“Y-Your Majesty.”
Neyron cautiously stopped Rision, who was walking at a frightening speed fueled by irritation.
The secretary’s gaze was still fixed on the crown Rision wore on his head.
“Ah, I forgot.”
The chief attendant, unable to keep up, appeared belatedly, panting.
Rision handed the crown to him, then gestured to the attendants standing by the doors.
The massive mahogany doors opened without a sound.
I am curious how Dianu would react if she saw me wearing the crown.
Dianu seemed to know better than anyone that Rision was the Emperor of Catalos, yet at times acted as though she wanted to forget it entirely.
Rision himself was not sure whether indulging that was the right thing to do.
Still, for now, he simply wanted to see her smile in comfort.
* * *
What greeted Rision and Neyron when they arrived at the secretariat was a scene straight out of an absurd play.
“Lady Elpenlira, there’s still dust left here.”
“Huh?”
“I’m sure I dusted there too.”
“You have to go from top to bottom, or the dust just falls again.”
“And for curved parts, you’re supposed to use this brush.”
Dianu, wearing an apron over her simple dress, was scolding Elpenlira on the ladder.
Grumbling, Elpenlira still gently dusted the spots Dianu pointed out.
“Sir Marek!”
“You have to hold the ledgers tightly so they don’t open while you dust them.”
“Otherwise dust gets between the pages.”
And the most skilled knight of the current Imperial Guard was squatting on the floor, brushing dust off books and ledgers.
The sight of his large hands holding a tiny feathered brush was almost comical.
Rision’s sister, his lover, and his guard knight were cleaning together.
It was clearly that sort of scene, yet he had to ask again.
“What exactly is going on here?”
All three turned toward him at once.
Elpenlira spoke first.
“Brother, have you ever tried something called ‘cleaning’?”
“…What?”
“This is what I’m doing right now.”
“You’ve never tried it, have you?”
With dust smudged across her nose, Elpenlira proudly flicked the duster.
“I think I’m pretty talented.”
“Look.”
“It’s already clean from over there to here.”
Rision had seen that expression on her face before.
When she first hit the center of a target with a bow.
When she earned the right to stand on the Grand Temple’s stage at fourteen.
When she ran up to him to brag about the ring she received from Edric.
But even the last of those had not been this absurd.
As Rision stood there opening and closing his mouth soundlessly, Dianu approached him.
She was holding a book titled Head Maid’s Guide to Managing a Grand Estate.
“I really did try to stop her.”
“Lady Elpenlira insisted she wanted to try…”
Her hesitant excuse was unbearably cute, but Rision could not bring himself to hug her.
“It’s not dangerous, and no one is watching.”
“Wouldn’t it be alright for just one day?”
“Not just one day.”
“I want to keep doing it.”
Elpenlira cut in while diligently dusting the shelves.
Dianu carefully added,
“And it really is helpful.”
“Once we’re done cleaning, I was thinking maybe Lady Elpenlira and Sir Marek could help organize the documents too…”
“……”
“Lady Elpenlira doesn’t have any official engagements right now.”
“And Sir Marek has to stay here anyway to guard me…”
“……”
“…Would that be alright?”
Rision looked to Marek, but as always, he was no help.
“It is true that the workload is quite heavy for just Lady Ortensa and Sir Verdian,”
“Your Majesty.”
Elpenlira chimed in cheerfully.
“If you say no, I’ll sneak out and do it anyway.”
She glanced at Rision with demure eyes, then returned to dusting.
She looked… happy.
The unfamiliar sight filled Rision with a deep sadness.
This was who Elpenlira originally was.
She flared up with anger, joy, and love alike.
She overflowed with curiosity and interest in the world.
Even after reconciling with Rision thanks to Dianu, she never fully returned to who she had been before Edric’s death.
Rision had vaguely believed it was simply the growth that followed tragedy.
It seemed his judgment had been wrong.
If his beloved sister could still rejoice and enjoy things so honestly, how could he deny her, no matter what it was.
“…Alright.”
“If you like this so much, then from now on, you may take charge of cleaning here.”
Elpenlira’s eyes widened in surprise, as though she never expected him to agree so easily.
“Really?”
“Mm.”
“If you do it, Neyron won’t need to monitor the place separately.”
“Once in a while…”
“Great!”
Elpenlira leapt down from the ladder in one bound and wrapped her arms around Rision’s neck.
A stale scent of dust, utterly unsuited to a princess, wafted over him.
Clinging to the flustered Rision, Elpenlira chattered on.
“After dusting, you’re supposed to polish the shelves.”
“Did you know?”
“Why do only maids get to do something this fun?”
“Can I clean the library at Oak Palace too?”
“No!”
“Absolutely not!”
As if she had expected that answer, Elpenlira shrugged and climbed back up the ladder.
Watching her hum as she resumed cleaning, Rision gestured to Dianu.
“Dianu.”
“Shall we talk inside for a moment?”
Thinking she was about to be scolded, Dianu followed him into the office with a tense expression.
As soon as the door closed behind them, she began to explain herself.
“Your Majesty, I truly didn’t mean to make Lady Elpenlira work—”
“Thank you.”
“…Pardon?”
Rision gently pulled Dianu, who looked as though she doubted her own ears, into his arms.
He heard her gasp softly.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Rira enjoy herself like that.”
“…Lady Elpenlira does love new and interesting things.”
“Still, she might grow tired of it soon.”
“Even if it’s just for today,”
“I’m glad I could see her like that.”
Something suddenly felt lodged in his throat.
Rision leaned a little more deeply into the warmth in his arms.
“This was some time ago,”
“but Rira said she would seriously consider marrying Labellan Arasath.”
Dianu jerked her head up.
Rision gently smoothed her slightly disheveled brown hair.
“It was something I had long hoped for.”
“Yet when I think she may soon leave for a distant land…”
“It makes me sad.”
A slender hand quietly wrapped around his back.
“Then you should make many memories before that.”
“So that even when you’re apart, you can remember and miss them for a long time.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Though having ‘cleaning’ among those memories might be a bit awkward…”
Her gentle comfort carried strength.
The kind of strength that made one believe it truly would turn out that way.
Rision slowly closed his eyes.
He could no longer remember what his life had been like before meeting the person in his arms.
