Until The Real One Shows Up​

“Ah…”

Anastasia also faced Wilhelm in front of her with a startled look.

She stood still on the spot with a look of helplessness for a moment, and then she bowed her head in front of him.

“The Sun of the Empire, His Majesty the Emperor…”

But the greetings did not end.

“Ah…”

Because Wilhelm grabbed Anastasia’s chin and lifted it up to see her as she was.

Anastasia’s eyes, unwillingly looking straight at Wilhelm, fluttered like a candle in the wind.

Wilhelm’s expression grew darker and darker.

It was obvious what he was going to ask her. Anastasia unknowingly turned her eyes away.

“Look at me.”

But even that was stopped.

“Anastasia.”

“…”

“What’s going on?”

He came here angry at first.

At least at that time, if she agreed to get along well, shouldn’t she not avoid him if she didn’t approach him first?

He was thinking of taking it from there. But…

“What the hell is this face?”

Unexpectedly, the blushing face he saw was that of someone who had been crying for a long time.

Her cheeks were rough, her eyes were wide, and she seemed to have lost more weight. It was clear that something had happened when he didn’t see it.

At that moment, all the displeasure, sorrow, and absurdity that had been before flew away. 

Instead, worry and embarrassment filled its place.

“Did you cry?”

“…”

Anastasia didn’t know how to respond, so she just rolled her eyes.

“Anastasia.”

“… just.”

Anastasia struggled to open her mouth at his request.

“In the midst of prayer, I was overwhelmed with emotion…”

“…”

“So I just cried.”

“Now, look at me and…”

“Really. Please believe me.”

Not to be mistaken, Anastasia was now proudly looking into his eyes.

Wilhelm was confused by her actions.

Was it really true? if not… … Maybe it’s for some other reason he doesn’t know?

Whatever the case, what was certain was that she wouldn’t tell the truth.

He was sure of it in her firm eyes.

“… Okay, fine.”

Above all, it was not uncommon to shed tears while praying, and for now, it was a retreat.

However, the fact that the lucky person was Anastasia was quite embarrassing.

“It’s amazing to see you here. You were far from religious.”

“… I know, right.”

Anastasia replied self-assuredly.

“I didn’t think I’d find my way here either.”

“Is there something you want to ask the Goddess?”

Wilhelm said in a voice like he did not understand.

“It’s unlikely. Besides, how many hours have you spent praying here over the past few days?”

“That, how…”

“I heard from your maid.”

Wilhelm added without taking his eyes off of Anastasia.

“I went to the Empress’ Palace to see you.”

“…”

“Did you come here to avoid me?”

“… of all the many, many places, do I have to come all the way here to avoid Your Majesty?”

Anastasia smiled helplessly and shook her head. Wilhelm’s mind was a little relaxed, as she didn’t seem to lie.

“The coincidence seems to have overlapped too much. You could have misunderstood.”

“You’re the one who didn’t come to resolve the misunderstanding.”

Wilhelm pointed out in a sharp voice.

“I’m sure you heard about my visit from the maid, but you never came to the Central Palace.”

“…”

“This isn’t avoiding me?”

“…it is.”

Anastasia couldn’t answer, and that alone was enough.

Wilhelm showed a blatant disappointment.

“Weren’t we going to continue to get along?”

“…”

“Who was the one who told me to do it if I wanted to? If you said so, at least…”

“… Your Majesty.”

Then, Anastasia finally opened her mouth and interrupted Wilhelm. 

Wilhelm looked at her with a tone of asking her to make an excuse.

“I have something to tell you.”

At that, Wilhelm was unwittingly nervous.

‘Let’s assume that the answer she gave back then was not supposed to be, I don’t mean to say anything like that.’

However, what followed was a bit absurd.

“It will soon be the foundation of the kingdom.”

What followed was even more unexpected.

“On Foundation Day, would you like to go out with me?”

“… What?”

He asked, knowing he had heard something wrong, but Anastasia repeated with a smile as if he had heard it right.

“I asked if you would like to go on a street outing with me on Foundation Day.”

“…”

“If it’s okay with you.”

He suddenly nodded his head.

~~~~

Almost mesmerized by the unexpected offer, Wilhelm returned to the Central Palace.

‘… Oh, I had more to ask.’

He had to ask what the hell she had been praying to the Goddess for so many days and long hours in her prayer room. So, why the hell didn’t he come back?

However, as soon as he was asked if he would like go out together on Foundation Day, all the questions he had been thinking about disappeared into thin air.

‘If you were really trying to avoid me, you wouldn’t have made such an offer in the first place.’

With that thought in mind, Wilhelm began to envision in his head how to spend Foundation Day in the next few days.

‘Of course, I should go out in a disguise… What should I wear?’

Of course, there were a lot of clothes. It was because his hobby was to go on inspections in secret.

However, going out in a few days was not for the purpose of inspection. As a result, Wilhelm suddenly began to worry.

“Colton, I need to call the designer.”

“…? Suddenly?”

“I need new clothes.”

Wilhelm asked seriously.

“Can they make it in a few days?”

“It would be possible to change the designer.”

Colton replied, seemingly simple.

“Then why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“Because I need clothes to wear for Foundation Day.”

“But you have already decided on the clothes you will wear at that time, haven’t you?”

“I’m going to get changed and go outside.”

“Yes? But there are a lot of clothes to wear when changing clothes…”

Colton, who still did not understand, frowned, clapped his hand as if he had realized it at some point.

“Oh, I see! Oh my, I didn’t notice.”

“I’m glad you realized it now.”

“But it’s surprising. Are you going out together on Foundation Day? Did Your Majesty suggest it?”

“No.”

He denied it with a somewhat proud voice.

“The Empress said let’s go first.”

“Her Majesty? I’m surprised. I was worried that she might be avoiding you because you hadn’t seen her in the past few days.”

“No way. Then she wouldn’t have made such an offer.”

“That’s true. Okay. I will say something special to the designer.”

Colton added with a smirk as if not to worry.

“Please make a very nice costume that could win the heart of Her Majesty.”

“Great. I am looking forward to it.”

Wilhelm smiled the same with a confident face.

~~~~

A few days later, the day of the founding of the nation came. 

The Foundation Festival was the grandest event of the Rosenberg Empire, which lasted for three days from the date of the founding of Rosenberg, with the help of the first Rosenberg emperor.

Therefore, all the nobles from all over the kingdom came to the capital and attended banquets at the Imperial Palace, and the imperial people also had a good time on the streets.

“I see His Majesty, the sun of the Empire. It’s an honor to meet your majesty with a humble body.”

“Greetings to Rosenberg’s one and only owner. May the Goddess’s protection reach your majesty.”

Wilhelm was busy dealing with numerous nobles at a banquet held that afternoon.

As he greeted the aristocrats who were pouring in without a break, considerable fatigue weighed on him.

But apart from his tired condition, his expression seemed somewhat bright.

“Do you feel good?”

The Marchioness of Nervion, who greeted him, asked this.

“You haven’t been smiling since a while ago.”

Wilhelm unconsciously stiffened the corners of his mouth and asked.

“…I haven’t?”

“Yes, I was surprised considering how rare it is.” 

Then, the Marchioness of Nervion lowered her voice and asked, like a secret speaker.

“As expected, it’s because of the person I think it is, right?”

Colton’s wit seemed to have been inherited from his mother. 

Wilhelm asked with an awkward face.

“How did you know?”

“I can’t help but know.”

The Marchioness of Nervion made a small laugh with a face like she also knew it would be the case.

“You’ve been greeted by the nobles since a while ago, but you’ve been looking elsewhere.”

At the same time, the Marchioness of Nervion winked at the place where Anastasia was.

At the end of the naturally moved gaze, Anastasia, surrounded by other ladies, smiled gracefully, caught his eyes.

“Look at this. You’re smiling again.”

Wilhelm coughed and lowered the corners of his mouth again at the words of the Marchioness of Nervion. The Marchioness gave a pleased smile.

“You seem to have gotten along with Her Majesty recently. Well, you’ve been through a lot.”

“Not to that extent yet.”

“It sounds like you’re moving towards that direction.”

The Marchioness of Nervion smiled silently and added.

“Go to Her Majesty now. In fact, Her Majesty has been staring at you since a while ago.”

When he heard that, he couldn’t wait any longer. 

When the Marchioness of Nervion left, Wilhelm tried to go straight to Anastasia.

“… Huh?”

But, Anastasia was going out of the banquet hall.

~~~~

“Oh my! You’re so beautiful!”

Empress’ Palace. In Anastasia’s room, Selene applauded in admiration when she saw the changed owner.

“I’ve dressed you as a commoner, but you don’t look like a commoner at all. It’s a tough job.”

It was clearly a lament, but pride and pride flowed from her voice. 

“As expected, I guess I can’t get rid of the cuteness flowing through your majesty no matter how hard I try. Even if you wear a hoe, you’ll definitely shine from afar!”

“That’s enough, Selene. It’s embarrassing.”

Anastasia stood up from her seat after smiling.

“You’re sure you didn’t send a message to the Central Palace, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. He’ll probably be surprised if you go like this.”

“Um… too plain?”

“No, you’re so pretty.”

“Oh, my. I told you to stop.”

Anastasia burst out laughing as if she couldn’t stop her and went out of the room. And the moment she was about to leave the Empress’ Palace around a big pillar- 

“Oh my god!”

Someone grabbed Anastasia’s arm and pulled her behind the pillar. 

“Ah…”

Anastasia, naturally in someone’s arms, lifted her embarrassed face, and a laugh burst from her mouth.

“Anastasia.”

Wilhelm was looking at her with a playful smile around his mouth.

“It’s me.”

“…”

“I’m here to pick you up.”