“…Yesterday?”
I tried to recall what I did yesterday for two hours and who I met. Instinctively trying to trace back my memory, I became puzzled. No, wait a minute. Why do I need to inform Redian about this?
“Do I need to report to you about my personal activities outside of work hours?”
“…”
“Besides, as an educator, I don’t have set working hours or times to return home, do I?”
The skill of drawing a line between professional and personal life, a specialty of mine from my time as an aide to the emperor, unexpectedly came out. No matter how close we were personally at one time, it’s essential to make things clear from now on.
“…”
Redian then silently looked at me for a long while, to the point that the knight, unsure of what to do, was noticeably glancing around.
It was during this strange silence.
“I’m always curious about Master.” Redian slowly spoke. “Now, I can’t know where you are, who you’re meeting, anything at all.”
There seemed to be a hint of sadness in his calm voice as if he was trying to suppress the emotions he was feeling.
“You may leave now.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.” At Redian’s sudden command, the knight left the room.
That’s some strict discipline. I thought as I watched the knight move like a robot.
You can tell what kind of superior someone is by the attitude of their subordinates. Redian must be quite a harsh and strict leader. Well, his nature from the original story hasn’t gone anywhere.
“Do you still personally oversee the training of Norma…?”
But then,
“Is the office still the same?”
Redian’s voice brought my attention back.
“I’m always wondering what you’re doing in places my eyes can’t reach.”
“…”
Redian had gotten up and was now standing next to me.
“Sometimes.”
“…”
“Even knowing the Master might dislike it, I feel like behaving as I wish.”
I couldn’t respond, facing this unfamiliar version of Redian. Was it because of the atmosphere, completely different from the one he showed in the underground castle, or the overwhelming presence of the grand crown prince’s palace…?
“Please tell me directly.”
His gaze on me seemed to change peculiarly. If it used to be a request, now it felt like a plea disguised as a command or somewhere in between.
Certainly, the status of the crown prince suits him better than that of a Norma. But that aspect was inevitable, given the reversal of our positions.
How much turmoil did the character of Redian Hyu Rixon, who hated needless talk to the extreme, cause in the original story? His opponents were simply eliminated if they opposed him, so this was a significant improvement.
“Your Highness.”
“…”
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to say since you passed the ritual.”
I straightened the insignia on the uniform he was wearing. It suited him well when he simply wore a robe, but nothing could compare to him dressed in the crown prince’s uniform. Indeed, people should wear clothes that suit them. He still doesn’t like being called as Your Highness.
Then, Redian, who had been carefully gauging my mood, seemed to slightly furrow his brows. He particularly disliked being called ‘Your Highness’ by me, especially when we were alone, to the point where his expression would visibly harden. It felt like it created distance between us.
“Redian, no, Rere.”
“Yes, Master.” Finally, Redian responded as if he had been waiting for it.
“From now on, you can’t call me ‘Master’. Especially not when you’re with your subordinates, as before.”
“…” Redian looked at me as if asking why.
“It only highlights the fact that you’re from Norma.”
Norma origin, meaning born a slave.
“The nobles and ministers will try to hold this over you continuously, so we can’t give them even the slightest reason.”
Even if that narrative had turned Redian into a hero, things were different now. He had to become the sole heir of the Rixon family, a monarch with strong legitimacy granted by the goddess. He no longer needed to evoke sympathy.
“What you need now is an untouchable nobility. Our past relationship shouldn’t be revealed to them.”
“Who dares…”
Then, Redian’s hand gently arranged my hair. The ring finger, where the emblem of the imperial family should have been, still bore the restraint I had given him.
“Who would dare to deny the relationship between me and Master.”
His voice was soft, almost a whisper to himself.
“And since it’s a nickname only granted to me, I wouldn’t want to take it back.”
“If that’s the case, call me that only when we’re alone, like how I call you ‘Rere’ only when it’s just the two of us.”
“…When we’re alone, then.” Redian mulled over my words in his mouth.
In truth, there wasn’t much opportunity for Redian and me to be alone. Ever since he became the crown prince, he was constantly surrounded by attendants or advisors, so our meetings were rare and often disguised as coincidences.
“We’ll have to find a way to be alone. Somehow.” His murmured words were so low they were barely audible.
“Then, what would you like me to call you, Master?”
“Well, what about…”
I pondered for a moment. The most straightforward option was, of course…
“Princess?”
“…”
“Right, you can call me Princess Felicite.”
“Doesn’t everyone call Master like that?” But Redian answered as if he didn’t like the idea of an ordinary nickname.
“It has to be a nickname that only I can use.”
From his expression, it seemed like he was discussing something very serious and unpleasant.
“Master is the only one who can call me ‘Rere.’”
But to ask for a nickname exclusively for himself with such a face.
“…What could it be?”
Watching him, I felt a sudden urge to tease. No matter how much things had changed, it seemed like our relationship hadn’t changed at all.
“Noona? How about Noona? Technically, I’m older than you.”
“Ah, Noona…”
As soon as I finished speaking, Redian raised one of his eyebrows. When I first made this joke, he had looked at me with open rejection, but today, his reaction was somehow different.
“Did you know?”
“Hm? What?”
“My aide, Lisfeld…” His dark blue eyes glanced towards the door and then back to me. “He married a woman he used to call ‘Noona.’” He said it in a dry tone as if it was a passing remark.
Noona? Marriage?
“He still calls her ‘Noona’ sometimes.”
But perhaps because of the lazy smile on his lips, it sounded especially ticklish.
“If you wish, I can call you that around that time too.”
Around that time? What time? I wanted to ask more, but sometimes Redian could be surprisingly direct.
“Hmm, if it’s uncomfortable to call me Princess, how about calling me by my first name?”
Therefore, in times like this, it was better to subtly change the subject.
“There are very few people who can call me by my first name except you anyway.”
Other than the duke or the emperor, no one else can call me by my name, so this should satisfy him.
“Ash Benio also calls Master as Siani, doesn’t he?”
Oh, does he? I had completely forgotten since I didn’t care much, but Redian remembered. He’s really picky.
When I suggested using a nickname, he seemed to reluctantly accept it, but now he was sincere. Moreover, this wasn’t the kind of conversation a crown prince and his educator should be having.
“Then think of one yourself, Your Royal Highness.”
“Hmm…”
Redian, sitting on the office table, looked at me quietly. In the silence, his gaze felt somehow serious.
“Nia.”
“It is said that the name of the holy goddess is widely known, so it’s not to be spoken carelessly. So, I would like a name that is allowed only for me.”
“It seems like you’ve already decided before asking for my permission. What is it?”
“…Nia.”
“Nia?”
“I made it myself. Only you and I will know its meaning.”
“What does it mean?”
“Nia?”
For a fleeting moment, a memory of whose origin I didn’t know flashed through my mind. Why does it feel so familiar? Perhaps it was a name from a past life I had lived.
“Since I made it myself, only Master and I will know its meaning.”
“What does it mean?”
It was at that moment.
“My light.”
An afterimage once again passed over Redian’s slightly smiling face as if the pieces of a memory buried in countless hours were coming together. Maybe that’s why.
“Because Master is my own light.”
“Because you will be my only light.”
Suddenly, I had such a thought. Had we met before, once upon a time? It seemed like Redian remembered something about my identity that I didn’t even know.
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