Chapter 34
An uncomfortable silence ensued, but Thierry remained in the doorway, seemingly hesitant to leave.
His long eyes, which should have been sharply upturned, seemed to have settled into a slant, like those of a big dog watching you.
‘Oh, come to think of it, Rudd used to look at me like that when he wanted something…’
I don’t know if this is an optical illusion or why Thierry has the same expression as Rudd.
I’m getting really nervous about asking someone to leave when they’re not going anywhere. I remembered how he’d barged into the room before and left with tea, so I asked cautiously.
“Is it okay if I do, but you look tired?”
Thierry’s face faltered for a moment, as if I’d guessed correctly. I smiled awkwardly, rubbing one cheek gently with my hand, unable to resist his intense gaze as it scanned my face.
“Actually… Yeah, I’m a little tired.”
“Really, then you should go to bed.”
“Thank you for being so understanding.”
I was surprised, but I was grateful, so I thanked him happily. But instead of leaving, Thierry gestured at the bed as if to say, “Get back in bed.”
“Are you… Not going out?”
“Well, the nights seem to be getting nasty lately… So I thought I’d just watch Princess sleep…”
Suddenly? You’re the only one who’s been nasty around here.
I narrowed my eyes like I’d just heard some kind of nonsense.
“Your Majesty must be tired too, how dare I fall asleep, and the knights are standing guard, it’s fine!”
“Ah, the guards have decided to concentrate their patrols outside for the time being.”
“What? No, they were clearly outside earlier?”
“… Not when I came in.”
A brief pause was followed by his slower tone.
I think he just subtly hesitated…
I narrowed my eyes slightly, glanced at him, then back at the back of his head, and then casually, he shifted to the side, blocking my view.
“I’ll be back in a bit, and I’ll be here for you until then.”
With such insistence, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out and check for the knights right away. He could be wrong, or he could be right. There was no benefit to me in finding out if the Emperor was lying…
“Would you like some tea, then, until the knights arrive?”
Not knowing what else to say, I stepped back and offered another option. But he cut me off without the slightest pause.
“It’s time for everyone to rest, even you, Princess. You said you were tired.”
… I’m being a little too controlling right now.
Of course I am, I’m just trying to please the Emperor more than I’m pleasing myself, so I keep changing my mind!
I rolled my eyes and smiled awkwardly at the eye contact.
“I don’t need to be bothered. Lie back.”
As if he’d been waiting for me, Thierry picked up the comforter and shook it gently. After a couple of rejections, I finally made a perfect straight line that didn’t seem to work.
‘… Uh, I don’t know.’
There were no more excuses.
I didn’t have the energy left to break his stubbornness, so I just gave up and headed for bed. Of course, I didn’t stop watching him, because I didn’t know what he was thinking.
He stood in the same position and glared at me, refusing to lower his hand until I was on the bed.
“Yeah, lie down. Don’t even recline. Just lay with your head on the pillow.”
I moved with a dazed expression, as if I had become his avatar. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he snuggled down into the blankets.
‘You must be really satisfied. You didn’t laugh at me for the first time!’
I finally grabbed the end of the comforter where he’d let go and pulled it up to under my nose. Then I looked up at him with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment.
“Close your eyes.”
“Okay.”
I don’t know how he’s going to grow out of this. I rolled my eyes back and forth, thinking that maybe it wasn’t the right night. Then I heard something being placed next to the bed and the sound of him moving.
I think he pulled up a chair and sat down, and at the same time, I heard him blow out the candle on the bedside table.
There was silence. I could hear him breathing, just a little bit.
I listened to the wind whistle and the leaves sway, as if his breathing was somehow distracting me. The scent of early summer wafted in through the slightly open window.
‘… Why are my eyes really closed?’
The sounds of nature seemed to be lulling me to sleep. A sleepy aura spread across my body, making me feel languid.
‘I shouldn’t be sleeping…’
Then, almost inevitably, I wheezed, my breathing evened out, and I was about to drift off into unconsciousness.
“… You’re asleep.”
I heard a tiny whisper.
I felt a hand gently brush the back of my hand as I slipped out of the covers. I could feel the rough flesh and the heat, but the deep sleep prevented me from thinking about what exactly was happening.
“Slowly… I shouldn’t be so impatient…”
His voice was a repressed one. What was I impatient about? The question briefly flashed through my dwindling consciousness.
But it was only a fleeting moment, and my consciousness was soon overtaken by a black tide. All I remember is that the warmth of his hand seemed to linger for a long time.
***
When I woke up in the morning, there was no sign of Thierry.
I couldn’t believe I fell asleep with Thierry next to me… I even got a good night’s sleep. I slept so well that when I woke up in the morning, my face was glowing, and I wondered if I had become immune to fear.
‘… Is it my good taste? Or am I just a better cook today?’
I thought about it, but how much can a dish that comes out the same every day change?
However, instead of thinking the former, I decided to think that the chef’s skill was incredible and give her credit.
‘She’s always been a good cook. I used to admire her when she would sneak food to me, but, um… Why don’t we go there again today?’
I remember my coworkers used to think she was pretty cute, but now, whether it was her boss’s fate or her changed personality, she was being talked about behind her back, and it bothered me.
“Are you going to the training grounds?”
I was leaving the room when I realized that I should probably go visit her today, since I’d been aiming to get closer to her anyway. Oscar followed quietly behind me as I headed downstairs, and as soon as we reached the ground floor, his eyes lit up.
“Oh…”
That’s right. I suddenly remembered how Oscar had insisted on showing me the training grounds yesterday.
‘… Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stop by the kitchen as an excuse to go to the training center. It’ll be more suspicious if you’re always hanging around the kitchen.’
I blinked once, then nodded slowly.
“Right, but I’d like to go down the hallway we went yesterday, is that okay?”
“Oh, there’s a way out that way too, do you like that way?”
“Yeah… It’s a little less prying.”
Both Oscar and Marie would agree, since servants rarely venture out into the hallways that lead to the hall, working in their assigned quarters, and they’re unlikely to run into any nobles.
I walked down the corridor on the prowl with them at my heels. I’m bumping into things, but I’m stuck, because I need to make contact with the mods.
“So many plans, so little progress,” I thought.
Why did they kill me, why did my death turn into an escapade, and why do I keep getting possessed.
‘I need to make some money,’ I said, ‘and soon… I need to claim this abandoned mine before someone finds it!’
I felt like I should just grab Maud and shout, ‘I’m Lari!’
“Princess?”
“Maud!”
As I got closer and closer to the end of the hallway, I sighed, wondering if I was going to have a bad day. Just in time to make sure the heavens hadn’t deserted me yet, Maud appeared in front of me.
“… Ah, yeah. Seeing you again?”
I was instantly overwhelmed with joy. At the sight of my flushed face, Maud hesitantly took a step back and greeted me with a wary glance.
“I see,” she said, “here we are again.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be off to…”
“Are you busy?”
“Yeah…”
“A lot?”
“… You have something to say?”
I was a sunny Princess anyway, so I didn’t have to think about it.
With that rationalization, I quickly closed the distance between us.
“Hehehe, I just want to get a little closer to you, I just have a feeling that you and I would be a good match for some reason.”
… Ah, I hope I don’t come across as too much of a flower girl, I thought to myself, and the awkward sounding laughter in my ears became a little mournful.
“You think you’d be a good fit…? Oh, come to think of it, I had something to tell you and almost let it slip by.”
“To me?”
“Yes. Did you happen to tell the maids to apologize?”
“Oh…”
I rolled my eyes and hesitated to answer.
“You did.”
“… I’m sorry if that was intrusive.”
“No, it was nice to have a real conversation with you, in fact, I’m grateful for it.”
“Well, that’s great, then, but how did you know?”
Surely the maids hadn’t told her that Princess had told them to apologize again? I felt a little uneasy.
Maud, who had been looking at me for some reason, burst out laughing and waved her hand.
“The maids just apologized to me, but it’s not the first time this has happened, and no one has ever apologized to me before, except for those maids who spoke to the Princess.”
“Oh, is that so? They’re all so mean…”
Maud’s nonchalant attitude about how people talked about her behind her back weighed heavily on me.
“Princess seems to think very highly of me, you raved about me when we first met…”
“That’s because you are a good person!”
“And you’ve only seen me twice now?”
“Yes!”
Was it the overly confident answer? The smile slowly wiped off Maud’s face.
