Chapter 7: The thing that the Princess wants, please don"t let it be "Conquer the world"!Updated 2nd June 2017"What does a 9 year old girl desire?"
The morning after Princess Seira gave me a "homeworka.s.signment", I paced in frustration along the corridors of the palace.
-- If you can guess what I desire, I will not tell anyoneelse that Glinda is an website ripper.
Thus the Princess had demanded, but nothing came to my mind.
For a normal girl, having her website visited without getting it"s content ripped off would probably be sufficient, but the Princess most likely did not lack in any of those things.
Besides, she looked nothing like a normal 9 year old girl.
I thought back to the amethyst eyes that seemed to perceivethrough me and her cold expression. Shouldn"t 9 year old girls be moreinnocent?
If I could not guess what she "desired", she might evencoldly say.
"Then, I could only announce to everyone that you areactually a website-ripping pervert."
Uwwwaaaah! If she did that, I would be captured as a copyright infringing pervert and be dragged off by DMCA to be executed.
While I was worried about such, His Highness Prince Ryuujuwalked towards me.
"G-Glinda!"
"Has your foot recuperated?"
I forced a smile in a hurry, and His Highness blushedprofusely when he looked at me.
"Y-y-yeeessssss!"
"You must have obediently listened to the advice of thedoctors to rest well?"
"I-I did not rest because you told me to! Since I am thePrince, I have the duty to make sure everyone visit my site so as not to make everyone worry!"
"That"s right. You have grown mature."
Prince Ryuuju widened his eyes.
Then he shyly shifted his line of sight, saying.
"T-that… Do you know what day next Monday is?"
"Next Monday? Hoho, that has to be Lana"s Day, right?"
On my reply, the Prince"s face turned a deeper shade of red.
"Right, that"s the day dedicated to the G.o.ddess of loveLana. I-I heard that in the , visitors would get to view updated and exclusive content, but in the ripped sites, males would forced to cross-dress and do a headstand while females get force fed lard to gain over 1000 pounds."
"Oh? Is that so? Prevention of ripping of content seems to be so different in each website. How interesting."
"Tha…. That"s right."
His Highness" eyesight kept darting around.
"Oh, right. Speaking of websites..."
"What!"
"It"s nothing, really. I just wanted to ask, do you happento know where the real chapter 7 is?"
Prince Ryuuju had an obviously displeased expression on hisface, tightening his lips and stiffening his cheeks.
"You can find the real Chapter 7 just below!"
"What does a 9 year old girl desire?"
The morning after Princess Seira gave me a "homeworka.s.signment", I paced in frustration along the corridors of the palace.
-- If you can guess what I desire, I will not tell anyoneelse that Glinda is an imposter.
Thus the Princess had demanded, but nothing came to my mind.
For a normal girl, jewel accessories and clothes wouldprobably be sufficient, but the Princess most likely did not lack in either ofthose things.
Besides, she looked nothing like a normal 9 year old girl.
I thought back to the amethyst eyes that seemed to perceivethrough me and her cold expression. Shouldn"t 9 year old girls be moreinnocent?
If I could not guess what she "desired", she might evencoldly say.
"Then, I could only announce to everyone that you areactually a cross-dressing pervert."
Uwwwaaaah! If she did that, I would be captured as an enemyof the state and be dragged off to be executed.
While I was worried about such, His Highness Prince Ryuujuwalked towards me.
"G-Glinda!"
"Has your foot recuperated?"
I forced a smile in a hurry, and His Highness blushedprofusely when he looked at me.
"Y-y-yeeessssss!"
"You must have obediently listened to the advice of thedoctors to rest well?"
"I-I did not rest because you told me to! Since I am thePrince, I have the duty to recover quickly so as not to make everyone worry!"
"That"s right. You have grown mature."
Prince Ryuuju widened his eyes.
Then he shyly shifted his line of sight, saying.
"T-that… Do you know what day next Monday is?"
"Next Monday? Hoho, that has to be Lana"s Day, right?"
On my reply, the Prince"s face turned a deeper shade of red.
"Right, that"s the day dedicated to the G.o.ddess of loveLana. I-I heard that in the Winstoria Empire, couples would compose and playmusic dedicated to each other, but in the Eren Kingdom, males would propose tofemales they like by giving them precious stones."
"Oh? Is that so? The custom of exchanging gifts seems to bedifferent in each country. How interesting."
"Tha…. That"s right."
His Highness" eyesight kept darting around.
"Oh, right. Speaking of gifts..."
"What!"
"It"s nothing, really. I just wanted to ask, do you happento know what Her Highness Princess Seira desire?"
Prince Ryuuju had an obviously displeased expression on hisface, tightening his lips and stiffening his cheeks.
"Why would you want to know what Seira wants?"
He asked unhappily.
"Huh?... That"s because, I have been indebted to her oftenthese few days, so I wanted to give her something as thanks."
"When has Seria taken care of you?"
He puffed up his checks and became more suspicious.
"That… For example, during the race…"
His Highness" face turned red again. Why did this boy blushso easily?
Ah well, I could understand his issues; the proud Prince beingpiggy-backed by a "woman".
"I-i-i-i-i-is that so? The race, huh… I did cause you muchembarra.s.sment that day …"
"Please don"t mind that, and forget about it already!"
I said in a hurry. If we kept up this topic, even I wouldfeel embarra.s.sed.
"Those things aside, about what Princess Seira desires…"
"Uh… She seemed to enjoy reading ancient books about legendsof heroes."
"Legends of Heroes?"
How quaint. She did not look like the type who would lovesuch romantic fictions.
I continued to ask:
"From the point of an elder brother, what would YourHighness think about Princess Seira as a person?"
"You sure are mindful of Seira. I have no idea when the twoof you got so close."
He glared at me again.
"No! That"s the complete opposite in fact! Because when comparedwith Princesses Sarasa and Orie, Princess Seira almost never talks with me atall, so I am just looking for an opportunity to…"
I struggled to find an excuse.
"Is that so. Wow, you sure take your job seriously. From mypoint of view, Seira is a commendable little sister. She is both intelligentand calm, but more importantly possesses the character members of royaltyshould have. I really wish that Sarasa and Orie would take a page off Seira."
Any ordinary folk that had a younger sister as outstandingas Seira would probably have felt inferior and ashamed, but not His HighnessPrince Ryuuju, who cheerfully discussed his little sister"s good points. Thatwas his strength, with his upright, simple and strong-willed character.
I smiled appreciatively.
"What? What"s so funny? D-don"t misunderstand! I just camehere to make some small-talk, not because I have any interest in you! My noseonly bled too because you ran too fast, making my blood pressure raise… andabsolutely not because of your b-b-b-b-b-b-breaaa.s.ss…" (T/N: SKP of GirlyboysAlliance: "B-baka...")
I also turned red in embarra.s.sment.
"Sorry, sorry, please don"t bring that up…"
"S-sorry! I just carelessly…"
Prince Ryuuju covered his nostrils and backed away.
"Anyway! I have absolutely no interest in you. I have nointerest in Lana"s day either!"
He ran off after saying such.
Why mention Lana"s day then?
I confusedly watched his retreating footsteps.
The twins Princesses Sarasa and Ories were also excitedlydiscussing Lana"s day.
"I heard that couples who swear to spend their livestogether on Lana"s day would be happily married forever!"
"How many couples would be born in the capital again thisyear?"
The two of them were discussing topics too mature for theirages.
"Justin of the Finance department seemed to be secretly inlove with lady officer Selina, and Selina doesn"t seem to mind it much either."
"Claude of the Domestic Affairs is deeply in love with widowCathia, but he probably has got many rivals, right?"
"Aren"t Count Badis, Sir Erin, and Secretary Julian all inlove with Cathia?"
"The love affair between Milther the stable-hand and Ritathe maid is also frustrating~~"
"I know right! Milther is so shy that he definitely can"tpluck up the courage to confess to Rita. Bystanders at the side are fuming withimpatience already!"
"Lana"s Day"s obviously a good day to confess."
The girls seemed to enjoy gossiping about other people"sromantic escapades… though a man like me just found that to be busybody.
"That… About what Princess Seira would like…"
I jumped in at the gap in the conversation, carefullyasking.
"I want an accessory with a ruby in it! Its edge must alsobe decorated with pink stones like the patterns of flowers!"
Princess Sarasa happily said like a spoiled girl to herboyfriend.
"I want an emerald hair accessary! The stone has to be asbig as pigeon egg too!"
Princess Orie"s eyes also shined with desire.
"I was not asking about the two of you, but about PrincessSeria…"
"Huh~~~~Big Sis Seira has everything already. She"s sointelligent, has already read every single ancient book in the library, and shealso looks as beautiful as Lord Father."
"That"s right~ I really want to have silver hair like BigSister Seira"s! Blond is everywhere in Eren."
"I will dye my hair silver when I grow up!"
"Me too! And purple amethyst eyes are also lovely."
"Yeah, if only hair and eye colours can be freely chosen."
"Is it not said that the tribe living in the Meredith forestholds a mysterious power? Maybe they can even change the colour of their eyes."
"Why not just ask Glinda here to invent a drug that canchange the colour of eyes, the bridge of the nose and the shape of the chin!After all, Glinda is a genius!" (T/N: SKP of GirlyboysAlliance: "Ever heard of contact-lens and facial-surgery, geniuses? but ya, invent a pill for that and i"d worship you too.")
"That"s good idea! Please, Glinda! This kind of drug wouldfetch millions!"
As usual, the topic of conversation flew off in a distance.
For Anneth who had become used to visiting me at my roomafter work, interest in Lana"s day took on another direction.
"Wow! What should I do? Satchel and Luke may move on to thethird, or even the fourth base upon confessing to each other on Lana"s day! Lyonand Alec, those two old couple, must definitely be having a sweet romanticevening, whispering sweet nothings such as "My emerald eyes are the preciousstones for your Lana"s day gifts", so exciting~ Right, right, Glinda, wouldLord Helmut come back to Eren on Lana"s Day? What precious stone would LordHelmut give to His Majesty? Or would he say, "No precious stone can compare tothe bright glitter you give off", kyaaaa! So romatic!~"
"Uhh, I heard that in Eren, males give precious stones "tofemales" as gifts to propose on Lana"s Day."
"Love is beyond gender! Just the mere act of declaring loveto someone you like is the n.o.blest form of action!"
Her speech of such unyielding determination managed toconvince me as well, how scary.
"Besides, even if it"s not to propose, you can also givegifts to thank other women that had been nice to you before. Since Eren Kingdomis a source of precious stones, you can easily find plenty of raw unprocessedminerals in the hills or along river beds. You can just bring those to thecraftsman, and might even be able to haggle for a good price to process thestones."
"Oh, that"s great."
"Girls exchanging gifts among each other are common enough,so men should be able to gift other men too! No, it should be made a law!"
It felt cute for girls to exchange gifts with each other,but somewhat disgusting for men to do the same, not to mention the gifts inquestion were precious stones.
"Ahaha… Anneth, when you were 9 years old, what did youwished for?"
I tried asking, and she beamed back with me as she replied.
"Western dolls! The Ulysses 1st generationboyfriend dolls and 2nd generation boyfriend Eugene from Flora girldolls series - elegant prince and wild wilful knight pairing is really toolovely!"
She was already like this since 9 years old?!?
I tried to imagine Anneth with her angelic and adorableappearance when she was young, and dared not pursue the subject.
Until now, I still had no clue about what Princess Seira"most desired".
No, that must definitely be because I had been asking thewrong people.
The afternoon on the next day, I came to Her Majesty"s room.
To learn about the child, It was best to ask the mother.
"Ara, welcome, Teacher Glinda."
The Queen welcomed me with a cheerful smile in her maiduniform.
"The blueberry pie is almost ready."
Her Majesty personally cut the blueberry pie, and served mewith hot tea.
Was it really fine to let the Queen of a country do suchthings? I worried over that every single time, but Her Majesty seemed to be thehappiest and most satisfied while doing such housework.
Ohhhh, if only someone like Her would be my girlfriend.
Her stature was both slim and pet.i.te, looking no older thanmyself, but was in fact the mother of six children. How against the rules!
I found myself fantasizing about unrelated things again, andstopped immediately.
No, now was no time to be idling, but to find out more aboutPrincess Seira!
I pretended to talk about the lessons, and steered the topicgently towards Princess Seira, saying something like "even though Her Highnessis just 9, she"s so capable!"
But Her Majesty"s expression suddenly fell.
"That"s right. That child learned how to walk and talkearlier than anyone else… and even stopped needing me to nurse her after a fewyears. I truly wish that she would rely on me and let me spoil her more."
The Queen seemed quite worried over the overly-serious,overly-capable Princess Seira.
"That child"s interests are very broad, having extremelyhigh standards in clothing, food, and even home appliances. She is so similarto His Majesty in this regard, even when it comes to playing the violin…"
Violin?
I remembered the notes I listened to in the palacecourtyard; a crystal clear sound that felt nothing like it came from the handsof a child.
"His Majesty used to play the violin like this in the pasttoo, but He didn"t feel very happy back then either. The feeling when He playedback then felt so lonely."
Her Majesty lowered Her eyes.
"When Seira played the violin she seems so lonely too. Evenwhen she is wearing clothes that she liked, owning everything around her, Istill feel that, that child does not seem to have anything she really wanted."
My heart tightened when I listened to this.
To have such a gentle Mother, was it not enough to be happyabout?
"I worry much about Seira… wondering if she had seen throughthings ."--You .I could almost hear that cold voice, and jumped a little infright.
In the eyes of Princess Seira, what kind of landscapeexisted? What could she perceive?
Princess Suzuna who had been sleeping in a nearby cribsuddenly woke up, crying for her Mother.
Her Majesty quickly cradled her, looking intently at thebaby.
"What is wrong? Mama"s here."
Princess Suzuna heard her Queen Mother"s kiddie-talk voice,and smiled happily.
A warm smile also rose on Her Majesty"s face.
It was a scene that felt sweeter than honey poured upon apound cake.
But soon, a shadow fell on the Queen"s face again.
"I really wish that children would remain this small, andkeep letting me hold them in my hands like this. This is really a mother"sselfish desire."
She murmured.
I did not wish to see Her Majesty looking like this, so Icarelessly said.
"Erm, by my abilities alone, I may not be sufficient toteach Her Highness Princess Seira, but I still want to be a teacher that cancomprehend her, and open the door to her heart. I would definitely try mybest!"
Ohoh, to actually lay down a promise like that when I wasjust imitating the real Glinda, and was even called by PrincessSeira!But Her Majesty was so touched that tears filled Her eyes.
"To care this much for Seira, Teacher Glinda is a reallycaring person."
"Haha… Hahahahaha… Just leave this matter regarding HerHighness to me."
Noooooooo, I was digging my grave even deeper.
But, I definitely could not bring myself to say that "if Icould not figure out what your Princess desires, I might become aninternational criminal."
As I felt cold sweat beginning to form, a calm voice soundedbehind me.
"How reliable."
King Cecello appeared with an elegant smile.
"Your Majesty."
Seeing Her Majesty"s joyful expression, I silently clickedmy tongue in discontent.
The King returned the Queen a sweet smile, then lookedtowards me.
Remembering the manner he forced himself on me just yesterday,my body froze involuntarily. Uwuwuwuwu… Don"t be scared. Don"t be scared… uu…
His Majesty seemed to have seen through my fear, and said asif nothing happened.
"Ms Glinda, I heard you have been trying to find out moreabout Seira."
Wha? He already knew?
King Cecello meaningfully half-closed his eyes.
"Since you want to know what Seira desires, let me give youa hint. Seira is very similar to me, and that is why she hates me so much."
"Your Majesty is truly! I"ve said so many times! There"s nosuch thing!"
Her Majesty puffed her cheeks in protest.
"Is that so? Being hated so by my own daughter makes me feelso lonely. Won"t you comfort me? Yuki-chan?"
"Your Majesty is so spoiled all the time. But does YourMajesty really know what Seira desires? If You really know that just say it,please stop playing around!"
"There would be no fun if I were to just say it."
"Really!"
The Queen"s puffy cheeks became even puffier.
King Cecello seemed to enjoy looking at Her Majesty"sexpression, even pinching her checks, in what felt like an atmosphere of pinkbubbles and feathers right out of some romantic comedy.
Uwuwuwu… I was still recovering from my heartache from mylast breakup…
"I, I would humbly take my leave!"
I left the Queen"s room with my face completely flushed.
"He totally did that on purpose, that s.a.d.i.s.tic pretty-boyKing!" (T/N: SKP of GirlyboysAlliance: "NTR and shame-play")
This kind of man should just be paired with Helmut inAnneth"s Helmu-Llo! I griped unhappily as I walked along the corridor.
King Cecello leisurely gave me a hint, but I could notunderstand half of it. So what if Princess Seira was very similar to Him?
Uwu~~~ That arrogant and elegant smile was so maddening~~~~
The thing that maddened me even more was the fact that HisMajesty knew what Princess Seira desired.
"If that"s the case, I would definitely find out "whatPrincess Seira wants the most", then go boast to both Princess Seira and KingCecello that "Humph! That"s easy!""
Even though my motives were somewhat as such, I pluckedmyself up like that.
Alright, then I would no longer be holding back!
"Oh, today we would have a composition writing a.s.signment.The topic is "My dream"."
The next day, I announced this with a full smile on my face.
Even though this method was a little low, but it wascertainly the most practical way.
Princess Sasara and Orie began to groan "what a pain" again,but I did not let that bother me.
Princess Seira lifted her eyes to look at my icily. Thenimmediately lowered them and began to write.
Good, that way I would be able to know what the Princess "desiredthe most".
Thirty minutes later, I called the children out to read out theirwritings.
First was His Highness Prince Ryuuju.
"My dream is to become a great King!"
He then elaborated in a disturbingly pa.s.sionate voice aboutwhat the ideal King should be.
Next was Princess Sarasa.
"My dream is to date all the handsome men in the world, notto get married too early, maybe at around twenty two years old. Before that, Ishould at least have dated with at least fifty men, and from there marry therichest, handsomest, top ten intelligent, and most obedient one to my wishes."
She read out her piece which almost made the blood-vesselson Prince Ryuuju"s head went pop.
Princess Orie was next.
"My dream was to get married together with Sarasa. Savetrouble thinking that way."
She completed (?) her speech very simply.
Prince Shin was quiet from the beginning to the end.
I eyed his a.s.signment paper, and saw a hippopotamus drawn onit.
"… Your dream is to become a hippo?"
Prince Shin gave a troubled nod.
Muah, forget it, when I was 5, even my dream was to bescarecrow"s face.
For the record, Scarecrow"s Face was the legendary hero ofthe common-folk… No, now was not the time to be chatting about mundane stuff.
It was almost time for the game to begin.
"Then, the last one is Princess Seira. Please begin."
"… Yes."
I quietly sat down to listen as the expressionless PrincessSeira monotonously read her composition writing.
"… My dream is to see ."These completely unexpected words gave me a shock.
E-e-end of the World? What was the meaning of that? … Didshe want to see the world destroyed?
"I want to meet Ophelit there."
Ophelit… Ohoh, right, she did read books written in ancientlanguages and Ophelit"s mathematics theorems.
The First Genius, Omnipotent Human, Man who Composed theWorld - - the man who was given such t.i.tles known as Ophelit was a man of thelegends from two thousand years ago. Gender, age or even anything involvedabout him were all mysteries. Mathematician, prophet, wizard, sage, philosopherand even musician, he conquered the world by playing on his silver flute. But Ophelit disappeared from the world soon after, leavingjust the words "I am going to the World"s End".
It was said the Ophelit still lived today at "The Ends ofthe World".
For Princess Seira to say that she wanted to see "The Endsof the World", did she mean that she wanted to go where Ophelit had gone to? Soit was not to destroy the world.
Oh! But, the meaning of wanting to find Ophelit, was it tolearn from Him?
Or was it to become someone like Ophelit?
"Ophelit was someone who had conquered the world. Is thatpossible in this age?"
Conquer the world?
This speech caused me to jump out of my skin again.
Hahahahaha… Conquer the world… That"s impossible, how coulda 9 year old little girl had such desires…
"If I conquered the world, maybe I could become Ophelit."
Wha! She really wanted to conquer the world? (T/N: SKP of GirlyboysAlliance: "Let"s rule the universe as father and son...")
Cold sweat ran profusely, heartbeats jumped irregularly.
I had just been thinking that it was impossible when sheannounced that that was her intention. How scary.
Right. Glinda was also known as the 2nd Ophelit. PrincessSeira "being so aware of Glinda", was that also because of this?
A-and, King Cecello, despite his obvious "Citizenship in theKingdom of Wife-lovers" before the Queen, was in fact a dangerous usurper whooverthrew the previous king who was His brother of a different mother. SinceKing Cecello said that Princess Seira was "very similar to Him", that couldmean that she was also capable of such actions, ambitions and coldcalculations…
Princess Seira completed her reading.
"Elder Sister Seira really lives in a different dimensionfrom us, or should we call it strange?"
"If it"s just me, I"d rather go visit the handsome king offairyland, wearing lovely clothes decorated with a pile of precious stones,eating the best food and having a party every night!"
"You two are too focused on pleasure! Learn more fromSeira!"
The emotionless Princess Seira was wordless to the commentsof her elder brother and younger sisters.
I ended the lesson with my face twitching in shock.
For to actually be to conquerthe world, so scary~~~~~"Oh~~~ The answer to Princess Seira"s question, is it really?"In the afternoon, I kept pacing about in my room whilealone.
-- Your desire is to be the King of the World!
It was so ludicrous that I was rendered speechless.
For a 9 year old child to have such a frightening ambition,I could no longer have any confidence in teaching her any more.
If the one who said such words was Prince Ryuuju or even thetwin princesses, I might still laugh it away with "what a childish desire", butcoming from Princess Seira, it felt so exceptionally serious and realistic thatI could not laugh.
Oh! Ophelit conquered the world with , right? That must be why Princess Seira was in the courtyardpracticing violin in order to rehea.r.s.e this ?Or perhaps she was researching on the magic of like Ophelit… Waaaah! She might really desire to conquer the world!~~~I could vividly imagine the picture of Princess Seriaplaying her violin in a black cape, while the ma.s.ses knelt in submission beforeher. Just as goose b.u.mps began to rise from my skin from the fear, Helmutshowed up.
"Sher-chan, congratulations on winning the top prize inEren"s marathon race! I knew you could do it. Oh, have you received mycongratulatory card yet?"
Not knowing my mood, he cheerfully said.
"Highest salutations to the little red peas… Is thatsupposed to be congratulations? Isn"t that just humiliation?"
I tiredly said, but Helmut just continued with a look oftriumph.
"How could that be? Aren"t little red peas great? Glinda,the little red peas! Pffft… heheh… I can"t imagine how she would look like whenshe hears about… So amusing… hehe. I even collected all the newspaperclippings."
Helmut unfolded his collection of newspaper clippings thathe brought over just to show me.
"Genius Glinda are little red peas that need to put on 5pairs of breast pads!", "Ms Glinda exposed at the finishing line!", "Ms Glindahas fake b.o.o.bs!", "Genius Ms Glinda currently researching on anti-slip breastpads!" etc. Such headlines filled the collection.
How could he just laugh this happily while reading suchthings!
Even if he did not say it, Helmut must have been reallyfrustrated by Glinda"s disappearance deep within.
"Oh? Your eyes look so empty. Seeing your crossed legssitting on the bed, holding your head, and even your skin has become a littledry. Can it be that something else has occurred? This won"t do, Sher-chan~"
"Stop sighing like a parent who got called to the school!And the dry skin"s because of the make-up!"
I shouted on the bed, but still discussed with him the issuewith Princess Seira.
"Actually, Princess Seira has discovered that Glinda is animposter by a male."
"What! To be uncovered by the most problematic person… muah,but it seems like there isn"t any ruckus raised."
"That"s because Princess Seira currently still allows thissituation to continue, but I have no idea what will happen in the future."
Learning of Princess Seira"s demands, Helmut tilted his headin deep thought.
"What Princess Seira "desires"?"
"I am wondering, can it possibly be, c-conquering theworld…"
I said seriously, but Helmut replied with a smile on hisface.
"What a glorious ambition."
"Hey! Are you taking me for a fool? Princess Seira actuallyadmires Ophelit greatly, writing even in her composition writing that her dreamis to be like Ophelit."
"Ophelit is a person of the legends, there"s no proof such aperson even existed."
"I-I know that, but the Princess even practiced her violinfor the sake of learning Ophelit"s sound magic… Why are you smiling wryly likethis?!? And stop feeling my forehead!"
Even I myself was beginning to wonder whether I had gonecrazy, uwuwu…
Helmut showed his smile of fake kindness, and began tocomfort me who had begun to sulk.
"Oh well, it"s not like I cannot understand why you come tosuch ridiculous conclusions, since that Princess is in fact prettyextraordinary."
"Extraordinary?"
"She is a genius like your sister."
As if it was completely natural, Helmut continued withoutminding.
My heart skipped a beat.
… Similar to Glinda?
A short sentence, but it hurled out feelings deep within me.
Oh, so that was the reason.
Why had I not noticed it sooner? Princess Seira"s eyes wereas expressionless as Glinda"s.
Even if their manners of speaking were different, n.o.bodycould figure out what either of them was thinking.
Helmut continued seriously.
"As a diplomat to Eren Kingdom forming close relationshipwith Eren"s royal family, I have always thought that it was a very fortunatething for both of our countries that the heir-to-the-throne was Prince Ryuujuand not Princess Seira."
I felt unhappy upon hearing such.
"You are saying the His Highness Prince Ryuuju is not asintelligent, so easier to manipulate if he becomes the king? Even though he isstill a child, he is very stubborn, inflexible and sometimes takes thingsover-seriously, but he also has many strengths, is very hardworking and is anextremely serious student who takes notes in cla.s.s."
As someone who also had a girl-genius as his sister, I couldnot help but spoke up for Prince Ryuuju.
"Few princes would take political affairs and governing inthe future as seriously as him!"
Helmut gently smiled with slightly narrowed eyes, saying.
"Please don"t misunderstand. I recognize too the strengthsof Prince Ryuuju. His Highness is very charismatic with his upright nature andwould be able to win the hearts of many with his outright honesty. This is arare quality amongst royalty. Besides, he has many excellent people around himto be his support, so he would definitely become a good king when he grows up."
My heart grew warm as I listened to that.
As Helmut described, even though Prince Ryuuju was still somewhatawkward and immature, everyone in the capital loved him. That was because hewas so hardworking and noticeable, and so adorable that people just wanted tohelp him out.
Prince Ryuuju might not have his father"s divine-likestatus, but he would definitely become a king who would be more loved by thepeople than his king father.
It was certainly a good thing too for the people of thiscountry.
"Then… What if Princess Seira were to become the king?"
"I believe that a country that is ruled by a genius wouldnot possibly be happy because the genius himself is not a happy existence. Thepeople would never be able to understand their king, nor would the king be ableto understand his people. If I were to live with someone I could neverunderstand, I too may feel uncomfortable."
My chest suddenly felt really heavy.
Glinda"s and Princess Seira"s eyes appeared in mind.
Blue eyes that were replicas of my own, as well as purpleamethyst eyes.
Both persons" eyes were frostily calm, and equallyunfathomable.
The two girls who were far beyond my comprehension.
Obviously having everything, but wanted nothing at all…
Such a lonely feeling.
"Luckily I am no genius."
Helmut said with mixed feelings.
"Fortunately I was just intelligent enough to graduate fromthe Imperial College with excellent grades, just a little suave, my familybackground somewhat pa.s.sable, and the second outstanding one amongst mycla.s.smates. Being such an ordinary person feels great." (T/N: SKP of GirlyboysAlliance: "Ohhh, the salt...")
"Get out of here and go find Glinda for me now!"
I screamed while pointing to the door.
"Really, and for me to take time out of my busy schedule tocome see you, you are so fierce towards me every single time. Looks like I haveto bring you some books on etiquette the next time I come here."
Helmut did not forget his parting shot even as he left.
But I remained stumbled after he left.
Just what did Princess Seira desire?
What did that genius princess who worshipped Ophelit, andwas very aware of Glinda who was known as the <2nd ophelit="">want?
Even after discovering the fact that Glinda and PrincessSeira were both similar, I could not understand it.
To me, the person who was the hardest to understand in thewhole wide world was Glinda.
I wanted to cool down my feverish head, and so decided totake a stroll around the courtyard.
I could feel the evening breeze on my face as I slowlywalked.
Just as Glinda was a genius from the moment she was born,Princess Seira had been the eldest princess of this kingdom since her birth,possessing not just wealth and power, but also beauty, ability and love.
And yet, why was it that both Princess Seira and Glindaseemed so completely unconcerned about all of that?
I was feeling a heavy heart, when I heard those lonely notesin the air again.
Was the princess playing her violin again?
I closed in towards the direction of the music.
A sad and calm melody that was obviously being played byPrincess Seira.
She placed the brown wooden violin against her cheek, andsilently pulled the bow across the strings with her eyes closed. Those silverstrands of hair flowed gently in the wind.
Seeing her as such, I could almost see, for an instant,Glinda overlapping with her appearance, and began to have trouble breathing.
Their appearances were nothing alike, but both of them hadthe same untouchable air, like they were warning others not to disrupt, andalso the same ice cold chiselled features… causing my emotions to be completelyfried.
Tear-inducing sad music flowed above the swaying tops of theforest dyed red in sunset.
Disgusting, why did I hurt so much inside? My throat feltbitter, tears threatening to pour out… Had she somehow mix some psychologicaldisrupting magic into her music?
-- I worry much about Seira… wondering if she had seenthrough things .The Queen said so because She was worried about Her daughterbeing nothing like an ordinary girl.
Those pair of amethyst eyes that seemed as pure andtransparent as purple crystals, just what did they see?
Conquer the world?
Become someone like Ophelit?
But Ophelit had
Just like Glinda, he disappeared without a trace, leavingjust a single sentence.
Why did Glinda disappear?
Why abandon everything?
She had never told me anything before.
Even though the one who was pulling at the violin wasPrincess Seira, I could only overlap Glinda"s frame on her body, and felt theimmense pressure of sadness and frustration on my aching heart.
It was as if a great wall had been constructed around them,impenetrable, unapproachable.
The music suddenly stopped, and Princess Seira slowly turnedto look at the me behind those transparent walls with an icy expression.
I…
-- Was your wish to abandon everything?
These words seemed to come out automatically, but a portionwithin me hurt so much that I could not utter a sound.
Princess Seira slightly widened her eyes, maybe because shenoticed my tears. I was so embarra.s.sed that my face burnt, and I turned andfled.
Really, what was I doing!
I felt as if I was an abandoned puppy, and hid crying for along while within my room.