“Haha…”
Ash covered his mouth in amazement.
“Tired? You’re tired of me now?”
It seemed that my reaction had taken a toll on him. What if he was already staggering this much?
“I’ve never seen anything like this before, Siani.”
That was what I thought.
“It looks better compared to sitting like a dead doll. You’re much livelier.”
But I was wrong.
“You should be like this from the beginning. I wouldn’t have felt like you were boring then.”
Ash, who changed his expression in an instant, smiled. His eyes bent through his radiant blond hair.
“Moreover, you look especially beautiful today. The more I see you, the more regretful it is. If only you had shown me this side of you earlier.”
Alas, my head was throbbing. As expected from the novel, where everyone went crazy, even the sub-male lead wasn’t easy to deal with…
The writer’s taste is unique. I couldn’t help but feel resentful again.
“I guess you must have believed in something.”
“…”
“I should have recognized it when the letters you had been sending tirelessly stopped suddenly.”
Ash was being sarcastic. He complained he was tired of it but seemed meticulously examining the letters one by one.
“Tell me. Did you really earn His Majesty’s trust? Or did some insane person promise you an engagement or something?”
I was getting tired of dealing with him. I got an invitation anyway.
“Believed in something?”
I widened my eyes as if I didn’t understand.
“Didn’t Irik tell the Grand Prince? That I took the wrong medicine.”
“…What?”
“It’s a medicine that makes your fears disappear, but it’s so effective that it makes me sick.”
“Siani.”
He didn’t seem to believe it, but he looked bewildered.
Whether he believed it or not, I continued to speak. “I’ll participate in the welcoming party, so you don’t have to worry.”
As long as it was certain that the emperor would come, I had no intention of missing this welcoming party. It was also an opportunity to change the image of Siani Felicite, which was ruined externally.
“Instead, be sensible if you want to have a safe welcoming party.”
Ash’s mouth, which had been smiling all the time, hardened.
“If I feel bad.”
“…”
“You might end up experiencing the same situation at your welcoming party, right?”
Knowing how much Ash cared about his image, it was a threat I could make.
“I don’t know how much stronger the effect of the medicine will be, Grand Prince.”
“…You’re really.”
It was then. Standing with his back to the stairs, Ash didn’t know, but I could see it. Luna and Irik, who had rushed here, were looking up at this place.
“Oh my god.”
“Why is the grand prince over there?”
The servants who followed them were also surprised by the sight. They wouldn’t have known that the ‘noble’ grand prince would come all the way here to meet me.
“Now that you’ve returned safely let’s not make things uncomfortable.”
Ash noticed the sudden change in my tone and turned around.
“Grand Prince, why are you—”
“He’s here because I heard he wanted to explore the gallery alone.”
“Ah, damn it.” After confirming the people around, Ash muttered a curse.
“I apologize. I happened to meet the princess while looking for the gallery.”
But his voice that actually came out was surprisingly calm. I guess he already made an excuse that he met me by chance when the situation got twisted like this…
“And I won’t forget the sincerity of the Grand Prince who came all the way here to give me an invitation.”
I didn’t mean to overlook the obvious trick. Who did he think he could deceive?
“However, seeing such uncharacteristic consideration from the Grand Prince is unfortunate.”
I looked down at Irik and Luna, speaking as if expressing my regret. “If you had told me properly that you wanted to meet me, Luna and Irik wouldn’t have gone to unnecessary trouble.”
“Princess.”
“Next time, I want you to make an appointment with me.”
“…Siani.” Ash bit his lower lips and glared at me.
“This kind of rudeness is unwelcome, as we’re no longer in the relationship like the old days.” Lowering my voice, I whispered so only Ash could hear it.
“Then once again, congratulations on your return, Grand Prince.”
“…”
“From now on, please make an appointment before.”
To commemorate the perfect scenario, I said my goodbye while holding the hem of my dress. Then I turned around. Since people’s eyes were focused on him, Ash couldn’t stop me.
* * *
I entered the dressing room and maintained an upright posture until the door was closed. Because I knew there were many eyes behind my back.
Fyuuh. But as I entered the room, blood seemed to be drained all over my body. My heart beat at an unpleasant rate. I didn’t know if it was the feelings toward Ash left by the owner of this body or the aftermath of what had just happened.
“I can’t believe my heart is beating so fast just from this.”
I pressed my throbbing temple forcefully. What kind of worst villainess she was supposed to be… How fragile she must be that her heart couldn’t even stand this kind of work?
“Huh? You’re here, Princess.”
The tailor walked out, perhaps in the middle of finishing the work.
“Why are you like that? Your complexion… What happened?”
“No. It’s no big deal.”
The tailor asked as if my face did not look good.
“Have you chosen the fabric?”
“Yes. I picked out a few and put them together. After looking at it, please contact me, and I will prepare it right away.” As he said, neatly arranged fabrics were spread out on the shelf.
“Well done. You can go back now.”
“I understand. Ah, by the way, Princess.”
At that time, the tailor hesitated for a moment to see if there was anything he wanted to say. There seemed to be something on his mind.
“The one who was going to be the escort knight.”
“Ah…”
I guess the impression of Redian was very impressive. It would be surprising from the tailor’s POV.
“It’s because he hasn’t received a proper education yet, so you don’t have to worry too much. He’s quite a bit—”
Nice? Cute? I tried to gloss over my words but couldn’t because my conscience was stabbed.
“He’s really shy.”
“Rather than that…”
However, the tailor seemed to have a completely different problem from what he was saying. What else is there?
“I-it’s nothing. No matter how much I think about it, I think I was mistaken.”
“What did you see?”
I couldn’t believe he brought it up like that. I was curious about the latter part. Was the tailor frozen because he was afraid of Redian? Not because Redian was shy?
“Haha, I will just let it slip. I just remembered the story my grandfather told me when I was young.”
“So what is it?”
“Well, it’s like a legend.”
His voice became more comfortable, as if to tell about it for fun.
“Princess must be aware of the founding myth of our empire.”
If it’s a founding myth…
<Theia, the goddess who founded the empire ‘Meteora,’ seals the king of the devil army, Peidion, and disappears. Following Theia, the three spirits share the power of the Meteora Empire with each weapon they receive from her. The Rixon family, which meant the golden sword, the Benio family of the shield, and the Felicite family of arrows. The three families unite while hiding their ambitions to unify the divided power one day. Time passed like that…>
Right. It was at the very beginning of the novel.
“Of course, I know. But?”
“It is said that those who actually saw the devil named Peidion mistook him for an angel leading the army of God.”
“…Angel?”
“Yes. It was said he had fair skin and black eyes that seemed to suck you in.”
Peidion was it? Why did it sound familiar in my ears? I’ve heard of it somewhere other than in the novel.
“He was so handsome that you couldn’t help but believe he was an angel even though he was the king of the devil’s legion.”
I remembered the original novel while listening to the tailor. Even in the original, he didn’t appear except for the beginning. But I couldn’t think of any special memory about Peidion.
“Because of that myth, black eyes are considered unlucky in our empire. It’s a symbol of a curse.”
“Since the king of the devil is sealed, there’s nothing to actually worry about.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Also, no characters were described as having black eyes in the original novel. It seemed to be a special setting of the devil in the worldview.
“But the moment I approached the knight earlier… Why does his eyes look black?”
“What?”
My hand, which was sweeping the fabric on the shelf, suddenly stopped in the air.
“Because I’ve been doing this work for a long time, I’m very sensitive when it comes to color. That’s why I was so surprised.”
“That knight has blue eyes. How could I, standing next to you, not know that?” I wondered what it was, but I answered as calmly as I could.
Redian had dazzling silver hair and blue eyes in the novel. That’s what I saw myself too.
“Yes. Besides, I must have been mistaken because he’s wearing a robe.”
The tailor, who opened his eyes as if he were stuttering his thoughts, soon nodded.
“In addition, I overworked my eyes because I had a lot of work recently. I’ll have to change these glasses as soon as I leave.”
He greeted me in preparation for his return. The tailor seemed to believe that he had been mistaken.
“Then please find me again, Princess.”
“Okay… you’ve worked hard.”
I stood there for a long time after he went back.
Black eyes? Redian? No, it couldn’t have been. Although his eyes were darker than normal blue eyes, it wasn’t to the point of being mistaken for black eyes. It must have looked like that at first glance because of the strong chandelier light. That’s right. He was wearing a robe too, so it must have looked darker.
“So many things are happening.”
Since the morning, I’ve been preoccupied with the emperor’s letter. As if it wasn’t enough to deal with the duke and his vassals, I also had to run into Irik and Ash. I finally came to my senses but felt like I was hit again. Can you come to me one by one?
Why am I so anxious even though I know it can’t be?
While I was leaning against the shelf, catching my breath.
“Who…”
A voice came from behind.
“Bothered Princess?”
This time, it was Redian.
