EWOWMAIBTYPF Chapter 172

Chapter 172

 

“Clara, you want to go?”

“Yeah! You’re not familiar with the layout of the Imperial Palace, and, um, meeting His Majesty the Emperor is a big deal! Wouldn’t it feel more comfortable with two people instead of one?”

Clara gave an awkward laugh, seeming to realize herself that her logic didn’t really make sense.

The attendant, too, looked like he was wondering what on earth she was talking about.

But…

“Are you serious, Clara?”

With a brightened face, I grabbed Clara’s hand.

Clara blinked in surprise, wide-eyed, and the attendant looked clearly flustered.

But no one could stop the smile that bloomed on my face.

‘I found it—my shield!’

Honestly, Clara’s true intentions probably weren’t all that pure.

She had likely judged that accompanying me to the palace would benefit her.

It could soften the tension between her mother and mine, and it was a golden opportunity to show off her connection to me.

‘And if she plays her cards right, maybe even get noticed by the Emperor…’

Still, regardless of her motive, the fact was that she’d just saved me from a tricky situation.

With Clara at my side, the attention tying me to Nicholas would be diluted.

‘Plus, knowing Clara, she’d make sure the gossip circles focused more on her afterward anyway.’

It was a perfect offer for me.

“Y-Your Highness? What do you mean by that? This is a meeting with His Majesty! You can’t just decide to bring someone along like that… no, more importantly, who even is this young lady?”

No sooner had I said Clara would accompany me than the attendant leapt up in alarm.

Clara, who had been smiling with satisfaction, suddenly wore a chilly expression.

“I’m Clara Amber of the Amber County. The Grand Princess’ only cousin.”

She slightly tilted her chin, confidently emphasizing ‘only cousin,’ and the attendant turned to me with a troubled expression.

“However, Your Highness…”

“His Majesty told me to treat the palace as my own home and visit freely whenever I liked. Can’t I even bring my cousin with me?”

“Eh? W-Well, that is…”

“In that case, just take the tiara and go. I’ll be seeing His Majesty at the swordsmanship tournament finals anyway, and I’ll make sure to clarify everything then so he doesn’t misunderstand.”

As I pressed firmly, the color drained from the attendant’s face.

Of course it did—his mission had surely been to either make me accept the tiara or ensure I went to the palace, and he had failed on both fronts.

“…Understood. Then, tomorrow, we shall send the royal carriage for you.”

Perhaps he figured that achieving at least half the mission was better than nothing, and he bowed as he spoke.

I gave a nod to the attendant as he prepared to leave, then glanced to my side.

Clara, standing next to me, looked quite pleased watching the attendant bow respectfully.

And when she felt my gaze, she turned to me and gave a sweet smile.

With the eyes of someone looking at a juicy prey they can toy with however they want.

‘You’re going to regret that later.’

I shook my head inwardly.

She’d asked for this herself, so I had no right to stop her, but I couldn’t help but wonder if going to the palace with me tomorrow would really be as beneficial as she imagined.

‘Well, as long as she knows her limits and behaves, she won’t destroy herself.’

Shortly after the attendant left, Clara said she wouldn’t be able to join us for dinner and rushed back to the Amber estate.

Apparently, she wanted to prepare in advance for tomorrow’s visit to the palace.

‘I wanted to make Grandpa happy tonight, though.’

I felt a twinge of regret, but in any case, I thought I had handled the unexpected situation thrown at me today fairly well.

…Or so I believed.

 

***

 

The next morning.

As I dressed to go to the palace, my mother let out a deep sigh as she watched me.

“Do you really have to go, Adriana? Just say you’re sick. I’ll send the carriage away.”

“Mom.”

“I know, I know. It’s ridiculous.”

Even as she said that, she muttered, “If only it weren’t for the swordsmanship finals…”

Because she knew how much I wanted to attend the finals, especially after boasting several times that Jack would win.

“You should’ve called me yesterday. I would’ve kicked him out and asked where he got the nerve to send such a thing.”

That would’ve just caused more trouble, but I didn’t bother pointing it out.

Last night, it had taken quite a bit of effort to calm down the family after they heard the Emperor had sent me a tiara.

Especially my father, who looked about ready to storm the palace himself.

And then there was Grandpa, who had also reacted… intensely.

⟨That bloodsucking tick of an Emperor! I thought he’d finally gotten off my daughter’s back, now he’s after my granddaughter?!⟩

I’d wondered where he went during the day—turns out he had visited the Amber estate.

He happened to run into Clara arriving home, and upon learning that the two granddaughters would be going to the palace the next day, he had rushed straight over to our estate.

And then he’d fumed, calling the Emperor a ‘tick’ and spewing furious rants.

After calming my riled-up family, I’d told them to trust me, I would confront the Emperor myself and settle this.

“I really should go with you!”

But Mom clearly still didn’t trust me.

“Mom, I told you, you absolutely can’t come.”

If she went with me to the palace today, the Emperor would surely turn it into a grand event and make the rumors even worse.

“I’ll make it very clear that I’m refusing. Don’t worry.”

When I said that firmly, Mom finally sighed in resignation.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside.

I gave a glance, wondering if Clara had already arrived, and Jane went out to check.

A moment later—

With loud crashing noises, someone burst into the room…

It was none other than Diana.

 

***

 

“Huuuu… Sisterrrr…”

As soon as Diana saw Lia, she burst into tears.

“I’m sorry, sister… You were sick, and I couldn’t even be there for you…”

Last night, Diana had been out with Aiden until late and only heard that Lia had collapsed after returning home.

Although she was told Lia was now awake and fine, not seeing it with her own eyes left her feeling uneasy.

She wanted to rush over to the marquisate immediately, but it was already too late.

What made it worse was finding out that Lia had collapsed in the Spleesia greenhouse, Diana felt like her heart stopped.

In truth, Diana had always felt a strange sensation whenever she saw the Spleesia.

Sometimes she felt like sitting on the ground and crying her heart out, or like her chest was being torn apart.

Until now, she had dismissed it as being reminded of Lia by the softly swaying pink petals in the wind, and that she simply missed and longed for her sister…

But she suddenly wondered if that was really all it was.

‘And the necklace Lia’s wearing…’

Though she had been happy to see Lia again and had initially let it slide, Diana couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

She had vaguely heard that the necklace was a conduit for illusion magic—so why was Lia still wearing it?

Diana wanted to ask her about it, but somehow couldn’t bring herself to.

‘…She might get flustered.’

She tried to justify it that way, but deep down, she knew the truth.

She was scared.

Of the Spleesia, the necklace… and of awakening as a Saint.

When she was younger, Diana used to wonder why there were so many terrifying monsters in the world.

It was only after meeting Raizel that she learned the reason—but it didn’t make her feel any better.

Sure, it was fortunate that her ability to see the purity of souls allowed her to recognize Lia’s true self, but beautiful, radiant souls like that were rare.

It was terrifying to know that people who looked like horrifying monsters were walking around like normal.

‘If I weren’t the reincarnation of the Saint, I wouldn’t have had to spend so much time apart from my sister…’

Even though she knew it was meaningless whining, Diana couldn’t stop thinking that way.

And when she heard that Lia had collapsed, for some reason, it all felt like her fault.

“I should’ve protected you… Hic…”

As Diana’s crying grew louder, Lia quickly signaled with her eyes.

Understanding that they wanted to be alone, the Grand Duchess led the maids out of the room, and Lia gently spoke.

“Diana, stop crying.”

“Hic… sniff…”

“Oh my, our little crybaby. I thought you’d grown up, but you’re still a baby.”

Lia’s teasing comfort made Diana want to cry even more, but she managed to hold it in. Sniffling, she asked,

“Are you really okay, sister?”

“Of course I’m okay. I was just a little tired yesterday. I’m perfectly fine now.”

“Really?”

“Of course! Well, maybe my heart hurts a little. Seeing you cry like this.”

When Lia gently wiped her tears and told her not to cry, Diana quickly nodded.

“Aww, good girl.”

Touched by how Diana immediately stopped crying because she said it hurt her, Lia softly patted her head. Then, changing the subject naturally, she asked:

“Did you have fun with Aiden yesterday?”

“Huh? Ah!”

Diana suddenly shot up like she’d been struck by lightning.

“Diana?”

Lia looked at her in surprise as Diana dropped to one knee and pulled a small case from her pocket.

“This! Aiden and I spent the whole day picking this out for you!”

“A necklace? Thank you. But… why all of a sudden?”

As Lia examined the necklace—simple yet elegant, something you could wear every day—she tilted her head in confusion. Diana blushed and asked,

“Sis, big brother confessed to you, right?”

“Yeah, huh? What?”

“If you and my brother get married, that means we’ll be real family!”

“Um…”

Before Lia could even ask what in the world she was talking about, utterly baffled,

Diana shouted with excitement,

“So become my sister-in-law!”