“You have a beautiful heart. That’s why I like you.”
Things got a bit out of hand because princess-unnie found out about it, but so what?
“Then we’ll have to move to Kun’s territory, since we’ll need to have frequent meetings to deal with Fata-Morgana.”
“Hmm, I think that would be a good idea.”
“Let’s proceed tomorrow.”
Princess-unnie swept her hair back and laughed mischievously. Then she suddenly leaned over to me and whispered in my ear.
“By the way, you two seem to enjoy each other’s company so much, I’m getting jealous.”
“… …!”
“You won’t even meet me when I come to visit… Isn’t that too much?”
Ahh! Why are you teasing me!
With all my might, I stopped the corner of my mouth from twitching. Princess-unnie looked at my face and even raised her eyebrows as if she were really disappointed.
‘She’s enjoying it. I’m sure she enjoys seeing me embarrassed!’
Wicked. I couldn’t fathom why she enjoyed teasing people so much. Of course, it was better than always showing her dignified front.
“Now then, shall we have tea until Lacius comes? I received something nice from the Ram clan yesterday.”
Still, the teasing didn’t last long. The deep blue eyes that had been looking at me with an unreadable emotion quickly moved on to another topic. It was a natural progression, but I tilted my head for a moment.
‘Huh?’
I just don’t know what that means.
Confident in my ability to read people’s emotions, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the weight of time reflected in the depths of the princess’ eyes whenever she looked at me with that inscrutable gaze.
I often find myself unable to dig deeper. The abyss is too deep for me to peer into, and I don’t dare to reach out and try to draw up water.
“Pomegranate tea or ginger mixed with figs. Which one do you like?”
“I prefer pomegranate. I hate ginger.”
“I see. Pomegranates are called red jewels. Have you ever eaten one?”
Of course I have. But not here so I have to answer no.
I put my elbows on the table and rested my chin. With a simple wave of her hand, she summoned a maid, and soon she was sitting next to me, not across from me.
“Actually, I also got a pomegranate. Since it is a precious fruit, I wondered if it would taste better if eaten with someone. I guess you’re the only one I can eat it with, Titania.”
No, unnie, why do you sound so sweet and seductive?
In the past, of course, the pomegranate would have belonged to Peridot. But now it’s me who she wants to share them with. That’s quite a change.
I coyly asked a question as I watched princess-unnie split the pomegranate with the force of her grip.
“If it’s such a precious fruit, it would be nice for Lady Peridot to eat it too. What a shame.”
“So? Peridot has been busy lately, and I haven’t seen her much. The goal of this visit, after all, is to create a forest near the oasis.”
“Oh, so you’re trying to do the impossible?”
“Sort of.”
That is something that would be easy to create with painting magic, but since that wasn’t an option, Peridot would have to create plants that can live in the desert.
What would the Terrans gain by giving the desert an oasis forest, and how much more would the Duke of Crisiona gain in power? With things as they were, the project had to succeed.
‘The pressure must be great.’
I chuckled to myself and popped a pomegranate into my mouth. Soon, the taste that burst with sourness covered my tongue. Although there are many seeds, I’m willing to put up with that for a few brief moments of juiciness.
“You’re like a baby. It suits you, though.”
Princess-unnie, who was watching my lips carefully, wiped off the juice with her thumb. Although it was a very intimate gesture, it was not awkward or repulsive at all because it was done by princess-unnie.
I didn’t miss this opportunity to get closer to princess-unnie, and brought out something I’d been curious about all this time. It was a question regarding the ‘one archduchy and two duchy’ situation in Terran.
“By the way, Your Highness.”
“Hmm?”
“Why isn’t Duke Yulpe more prominently involved?”
Not that I was trying to do anything political, but I was just curious. The Duke of Yulpe has never appeared in the original story and hasn’t made any appearance until now. He wasn’t even invited to this big event called Lakurum. Not even a single member of his family.
‘Surely, at least one of them must be included to keep an eye on the situation.’
I looked at princess-unnie with curious eyes.
“Hmm, well. For starters, the Yulpe family are quite the eccentrics.”
“They seem to have a lot of unique personalities.”
“Yes, and the patriarchs don’t want to come out into the central political arena. Other members want to, but all the previous dukes found it bothersome. The same goes for the current duke. So to see them go all the way to the desert and attend various events is a long way off.”
Wow, I don’t know who they are, but they sure do sound like people I’d like to get to know.
As I thought that to myself, I nodded my head.
Ah, things like power are just bothersome. As long as there’s money, that’s enough; power, honour—it’s all superficial.
In that sense, I found the people from the Yulpe Duchy whom I haven’t even met yet quite appealing. Princess-unnie continued her words with a coy smile, as if she knew what I was thinking.
“And they have a more important task.”
“What is it?”
“They are searching all over the world to find a missing dragon.”
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