ter 24 - The Detailed Accounts of Facts and Later Developments
And thus, for a while, I was grounded in my room.
Father and Mother were absolutely reposed so I yielded. Well, the wounds have already healed perfectly thanks to Mother"s healing magic. Because I was unreasonably vigorous, I would like to do a bit of gardening at the garden.
Thanks to the kidnapping incident, no, due to the kidnapping incident? Both of my parents became overprotective again.Or rather, ever since before, they"ve always been increasingly overprotective. As I had been close to death, it was as though they had to endure parting with me which made them more concerned.
To be honest, it was at an irritating level. I also understood their feelings. It was I who desired for their attention in the first place ..... But this is a little bit different from what I wanted. Being restricted to such a degree is bothersome.
Ah, that"s right! The details of the kidnapping incident.
The kidnapping organization was destroyed. Yup, destroyed. Just as I expected from Father"s personality.
Hearing that I was close to death filled Father with rage (Off topic but people said that in that situation, his rage was manageable), together with Gilles, they marched in full force ..... Or rather, cindered parts of it (physically).
Gilles, please do stop.
I heard that the chivalric order could do nothing but stop and watch attentively, which I apologise for my Father"s behavior.
As kidnappers were the extremities of humanity, Father also tor--- Ahem, interrogated them and got a confession from the upper echelons about the boss"s whereabouts. It"s better not to hear how he did it, it would just make you sick.
With those feelings, Father located their headquarters and a.s.saulted it with great vigour. Isn"t Father wonderful?
However, this only proceeded smoothly because it seemed that His Majesty, the King, spearheaded it. In His Majesty"s lifetime, it was time to begin the roundup and expunge the infection. From the seized customer list, a number of n.o.bles — ranked no less than viscount — were noted. It also seems that they would be punished at any given time.
Looking at it this way, it"s amazing to be part of the world and high society, right? But if you"re unable to come forth, then I can"t understand that.
And then, there were the children that ran away with me.
They also suffered serious injuries, but Mother completely healed them with healing magic; Klaus-kun and Lily-san were delighted to be escorted back home. That"s nice, to be able to return back to one"s life.
And as for the demi-human, Maria-san.
「Hou ..... Fluffy~」
Now, she"s within my arms, sitting meekly.
Being a demi-human, Maria-san was caught for the purpose of being sold as a slave but as her parents had already pa.s.sed away, it seems that she was living alone. Even so, the outside world is hazardous.
Since she didn"t even have a place to return to, if she were to be thrown out on the streets, she would also be persecuted. As such, she was to be given protection by my household. Nah, it"s a good thing since I"m able to touch this fluffiness.
「Ha~~Fuuu~~」
Basically, since I wasn"t allowed to head outside, just touching fluffy Maria-san was soothing. Her tail was bushy, fluffy, and glossy whereas her triangular ears were just fluffy and glossy. It was comfortable to touch and was fascinating as well.
Though I said Maria-san"s protected, it was more like she has been employed as a maid and is being given wages. Cat-eared maid ..... That has an amazing ring to it.
「Is this ..... Fun ..... ?」
「Yup!」
「Then, it is, OK」
Furthermore, her haltering speech is just adorable. Haaa ..... If such a younger sister existed, how pleasant would it be?
No, this is reality.
My brother"s body wasn"t that resilient, so I couldn"t meet with him frequently. Mother was always constantly supervising him. Just looking at the boy, one could tell that he resembled Father with his redhead and red eyes. He was named「Ruby」because his colouring was similar to the mineral,ruby.
「..... Liz-sama, your face is slipping」
「But .....」
She"s just too adorable, nee?
「Hou~~.....」
「..... This feels complicated, huh」
On the next day.
「Liz, are you alright!」
And thus, the equilibrium was intruded upon by His Highness.
「I"m fine. As you can see, I"m lively」
「I ..... I was worried, ya know. I heard that you were close to dying!」
「It"s not like I"ve died, I"m all right」
「But you were crying shamelessly if I might say」
「Gilles!」
Why are you uttering unnecessary things? If the matter of me sobbing and crying was revealed, it would be embarra.s.sing. In this lifetime, this was the first time I"ve cried. That and loudly wailing with Gilles comforting me, that was something I wish to forget.
As it was obviously an unnecessary remark, I narrowed my eyes and, acting as though it was none of his business, Gilles began making the tea preparations. It might have been my imagination but Gilles has been handling me roughly of late.
His Highness being His Highness never imagined that I would burst out into tears; he looked dumbfounded.
「Liz, you cried ..... ?」
「..... It was after I"d been saved」
Though it wasn"t exactly a lie, why does His Highness look so surprised? Perhaps he couldn"t imagine the child with a scolding mannerism to ever cry.
However, I am — first and foremost — a human, and a woman. It was neither the fear of the near-death experience nor the sense of security I felt from the tight embrace that made me let my guard down. As for crying against Gilles"s chest ..... I had been, very calmly, enveloped by Gilles and had accepted his comfort to the point where I left large tear-stains on him.
「..... It was painful, wasn"t it」
Holding my silence, His Highness patted the top of my head with his palm.
..... Something"s different. Rather, His Highness is a bit rough? ..... Yup, there"s no feeling of embrace from it. Though I"m being patted, it was definitely a rough, tousling feeling.
Though, I feel grateful as it was proof of maturity that His Highness was able to sympathise with another person. He has already learned how to handle girls.
Hmm, and groaning with that delicate face, His Highness pulled me into his embrace.
「Next time, it would be good if you fawned over me」
You’re even asking me to depend on you.
..... But it was a delightful feeling ..... Your Highness, even if, for a moment, could you please hug me gently? Although I don’t dislike it, it"s rather undeserving, your Highness.
Somehow, Gilles had a smiling face ..... but his eyes told a different story. And whose fault do you think this was? The clingy prince or me, who did not reject His Highness? Or both parties?
Or rather, why are you even mad, Gilles? When this is merely children playing around. Well, having his master taken away from him might have caused mixed feelings; it was certainly not jealousy though, I"m a child after all.
This was troubling towards I, who was worrying within his arms. Then, something occurred to His Highness and he released me from his embrace.
..... What is he scheming, with that smile?
「Your Highness, what are---」
「You"re sounding much more energized」
a.s.serting with such confidence from His Highness, he firmly grasped both my shoulders.
Chuuu.
A tender sensation could be felt on a part of my face.
「Huh? Eh?」
「Mother said doing this to Father would always cheer him up」
The source was the Queen? His Highness was excellent in his manners, as well as sorcery and swordsmans.h.i.+p studies, but he seems to be lacking in sensitivity and common sense. Of course, when I was younger, Father used to kiss me on my cheeks, but that was where the line was drawn.
..... No no no, why am I getting embarra.s.sed from this? It"s only a kiss, just a little contact. It"s not a particularly embarra.s.sing matter for a child to do.
..... Towards His Highness, who was laughing pleasantly, my heart unconsciously throbbed. Looking at that beautiful visage that was anyhow attractive….. that was sneaky.
「Julis-sama, Liz-sama"s health will be further affected if this carries on」
「Oh? Ahh, apologies, Liz. I"ll swing by again next time」
Somehow, Gilles, who had became conversely calm, was frightening. And His Highness moved towards Gilles with a triumphant glee; it was as though he was provoking him.
Let"s just say, you actually understood the meaning of the kiss, didn"t you, Your Highness?
Gilles just kept on smiling. Uh oh, Gilles"s eyes returned to a cold expression. I wonder if His Highness" expression and voice was irritating Gilles" nerves. It was unusually rare for Gilles to be angry. Ever since the earlier incident, the two of them have never gotten along, huh?
After Gilles sent His Highness out of the room, I held my knees whilst on the bed and sighed.
Touching the corners of my lip gently, I began to shyly throb again.
..... From Gilles" point of view, he must have thought it was the lips, but it wasn"t. It was to the side of my lips. I guess His Highness had s.h.i.+fted to the side on purpose.
Nevertheless, it didn"t change the fact that I was kissed.
「..... Why is everyone becoming so cajoling?」
Wondering what is being requested from a six year old child, I let out a deep sigh and pulled the bed sheets over me.
For the time being, there were no signs of my blushed cheeks stopping.