The Villainess Is Being Doted on by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Country 73 - A New Festival Celebration
Pheles and Liliarge regained their stability. And so Tiararose and the others left the Sealed Room of the King and returned to the royal castle. Outside, the sun had already begun to set, and it was dark.
"…Prince Aqua. The stars have returned."
Tiararose said as she ran to the window and gazed up at the sky.
They seemed more beautiful than any starry sky she had seen before. She said as much to the others as she smiled. Aquasteed and Olivia soon reached her and also looked up.
"I"m glad. But Tiararose, there is one other thing I need you to do."
Aquasteed said in a voice that showed he was worried about her. Tiararose nodded to show she was fine.
"Yes. I will prepare right away."
"I"m sorry."
"I will help you, Princess Tiararose."
"Thank you, Lady Olivia."
As Tiararose started to leave in order to get changed, Olivia offered to help her. Tiara was thankful for this, and they both rushed to her room. Levi, the butler, tried to go with them, but Olivia told him to wait.
"I will go and prepare. Prince Aquasteed, you must also hurry and get dressed."
"Yes, I know. You do what you have to."
They would perform the prayer for fertility, which centered around Tiararose. Just like the speech earlier today, it was all very sudden. But there was also no reason to delay it.
While word had been sent to the people, it was unlikely that many would attend.
Now, to get changed—Aquasteed thought as he began to move. But then he caught sight of Pheles, who was looking around as if searching for something.
As his power was now stable, he and Liliarge had come out of the sealed room. As nearly 1,500 years had pa.s.sed since his reign, it must all look very interesting to him.
No one else could see him, as he was a ghost. Still, Aquasteed could not leave him like this. He was just about to ask Pheles to come with him, when he realized something was strange.
"…Hmm?"
Levi was staring at Pheles. But he shouldn"t be able to see him.
What did this mean? Aquasteed tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Levi. What are you looking at?"
"King Pheles. The first king seems a lot more care-free than what I would have expected."
"You can see him?"
"Yes. Very clearly."
Aquasteed had a.s.sumed that it was only him and those who touched a Fairy King that could see the king. Still, there were no portraits of the first king. So no one would recognize him.
But then again, he did look awfully similar to Aquasteed.
"Ah, so you can see me. Well, my power is stable now. And Lilia is here. I have never felt better."
Pheles laughed light-heartedly. His personality was usually cheerful. He held Liliarge in his arms and exclaimed that the castle had changed greatly.
"Well, so much time has pa.s.sed since we lived here. And the food and sweets are so delicious now! You must eat them too, Pheles."
"Food? Yes. I look forward to that!"
Aquasteed watched them talk excitedly and wondered if ghosts could even eat food.
Philiane helped Tiararose and Olivia bathe and then get dressed.
It was not the usual cute dress, but a formal dress with a low waist silhouette.
It was made of exquisite, white fabric with gold embroidery on it. It was simple, but that only added to Tiararose"s presence.
They would go to the same place that Aquasteed had given his speech. They had thought that the people might have to wait longer. But thankfully, it seemed that things were going to end very quickly. Tiararose was relieved.
"Tiara."
"Prince Aqua!"
Aquasteed was also dressed in formal clothing. He quickly grabbed Tiararose"s hand and escorted her away.
The king was also there. Pheles and Liliarge were in Aquasteed"s room.
"You two did very well. I had no idea that my son had become so great. I am a little sad that I couldn"t do it myself, but more than that, I am happy. So happy that I feel like I could fly."
"Father…"
"Now, the people await. You must go both go out and see them."
Sotiris said as he pushed their backs.
"Thank you."
Sotiris said with a very satisfied smile. He watched his two precious children walk out to the cheering of the people.
When they stepped onto the balcony, the crowd erupted into cheers and gasps. In spite of it being close to nighttime, there were more people than there had been during the day.
They had fully trusted Tiararose and Aquasteed and had been ready to rush here at a moment"s notice.
But it could have been days or even months before things were resolved. And now their worries were blown away. Because the two of them had returned much earlier than they could have hoped for.
Tiarose and Aquasteed waved their hands. The voices grew so loud that the air shook.
"I thank you for gathering here at this late hour."
Aquasteed used the ring of the Fairy King of the Sky when he spoke.
The crowd fell quiet. No one wanted to miss a word he was saying. And they were all excited to know what the report would be.
Of course, they had all seen that the stars had returned. So they a.s.sumed that it would be about that.
However, the answer was even more miraculous.