Khalid was sitting astride his horse.
The long procession had left the ducal estate and was on its way to the Imperial Palace.
People who read the crest on the carriage each paid their respects, bowing their heads or prostrating themselves on the ground. Some openly showed curiosity about the princess who must be riding inside.
Khal guarded the surroundings with all his senses on edge, in case there was anyone dangerous.
“Ugh, it’s starting to get chilly.”
The senior knight right beside him muttered briefly, as if talking to himself. Khal tugged down his collar once, looking stifled.
Chilly, my ass. I’m burning up.
His face was still hot.
Ruby.......
Just a little while ago.
The sight of Rubian lightly stepping down the second-floor stairs of the ducal estate was still vivid in his memory.
With her face slightly flushed, she had leaned close to him and whispered.
With only a little exaggeration, he had almost climbed straight into a coffin and shut the lid.
“Hey. Listen. This really was the potion, you know? Dad and I mixed a tiny bit of hair, and it wouldn’t mix.”
He had not heard a word she said.
She was too pretty.
Because no other thought had come to him besides that.
The blue dress flowed like water, and her fine silver hair was half pinned up and half left loose. Her skin looked especially smooth and luminous, and the sapphire-like eyes gazing softly up at him made his mind go distant.
Was that dress always that pretty?
Khalid rubbed his cheek with his fist while holding the reins.
The dress Rubian was going to wear for her coming-of-age ceremony had been prepared long ago, so he had seen it in passing.
It had not left much of an impression.
He had simply thought it was a little fancier than everyday clothes.
But now that Rubian was wearing it today......
It’s a masterpiece.
He did not know who the dress designer was, but they must have created the once-in-a-lifetime masterwork of their career.
Because it was perfection itself.
Khal glanced back at the ornate carriage behind him. The window was large, so the round silver crown of Rubian’s head kept briefly appearing and disappearing.
I wish she wouldn’t have the coming-of-age ceremony.......
Khal knew very well.
What looked nice and pretty to him would look much the same to others.
In that sense, a day like today was dangerous. All sorts of bastards like mud-caked magical beasts from the capital would be swarming in.
How many confession letters was it again?
Just thinking about it made his stomach twinge.
Rubian was weak to sincere words.
What if one among all those countless letters had moved her heart......?
I’m depressed.
For some reason, Khalid rode on feeling a little gloomy.
When he glanced back at the carriage again, his eyes happened to meet Rubian’s as she peeked her head out. Rubian smiled, her eyes gently curving.
[ Look ahead! ]
Rubian opened the communication circuit, rare for her, and whispered.
“.......”
Khalid slowly turned his head forward and toyed with the corners of his mouth.
[ What’s this? Are you hearing me and ignoring me again? Hey! Yoo-hoo! ]
If I answer, you’ll stop talking.
He thought it to himself.
Still, this voice is mine.
His mood improved all at once, as though he had never been depressed.
*****
“Mm, they’re not mixing.”
The potion did not mix.
It was the result I had roughly expected, so it was not especially surprising.
“Did that satisfy your curiosity? Hurry up and go get your hair redone. You look a little scary right now.”
“Grr!”
Dad clicked his tongue, asking whether I really needed to undo all my hair just to pluck out one strand.
Still, it feels good to have checked!
I had half done it for fun anyway.
......But why did Sebelena send that kind of letter?
I gazed out the window with a puzzled look. The carriage was rolling smoothly past the Imperial Palace gates toward the banquet hall.
The truth was, before we departed, I had received one letter. It looked as if it had been scrawled in an enormous hurry.
< Princess, it’s Sebele. Don’t use the potion yet pleese. >
Whether she was still clumsy at writing Imperial language or had simply been in such a rush, even her name was wrong and the whole thing was a mess.
Had there been some kind of mistake?
There wasn’t any problem with it, though.
In any case, I had not used it on the mage as originally planned, so I did not think much of it.
I was going to meet Sebelena at the banquet hall anyway. The truth would come out then.
“We’re finally here!”
The carriage stopped, and the door opened. Khalid took my hand and escorted me down.
The adults were summoned by His Majesty the Emperor as soon as we arrived, so I decided to head to the banquet hall building with Khalid and a few guards.
“But, Ruby. Did you have a nightmare yesterday?”
I flinched.
“Are my under-eyes dark? That can’t be.”
“Not that. Just a feeling.”
That ghost.
I glared at Khalid, then bit my lip.
But why is he dressed up like that?
No, was it his coming-of-age ceremony? He had even swept his hair up all handsomely. Was there any need to make himself look that good?
Of course, I calmly swallowed all of those words and answered.
“I was a little nervous about dancing, so I had a bad dream.”
At the word dream, Khalid’s voice, like grating metal, came back to me.
“Rotting corpses smell fucking awful.”
A wild beastlike version of you showed up. He seemed like he had a really nasty temper.
As expected, Khal from Part Two was definitely a grown-up with a wrecked personality.
Of course, that was not something I could say.
“Hey. Do you say things like ‘fucking awful’?”
At that, Khalid frowned.
“Why would I say that? How crude.”
“Heh, I knew it.”
“There are plenty of insults in the world that are far more refined and infuriating than that.......”
“Got it. You’re better.”
I shook my head and walked ahead. Just then, Khalid overtook me and stopped.
“Now what?”
“But you don’t have a fever, right? Your face looks a little pale. You’re not going to get another nosebleed or anything.”
“I don’t have a fever. I’m completely nor.......”
I tried to touch my own forehead, then froze.
“Let me see.”
Because a hand {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} reached out from in front of me and settled over my forehead as if wrapping around it.
“You’re hot.”
Heat rushed into my face in an instant. As though cooling it down, a faint flow of magic pleasantly seeped into me.
“Uh...... That’s just, bo, body tem.......”
One corner of his mouth rose in a careless curve.
“It’s my normal body temperature.”
“.......”
“I know.”
Khal looked around, then whispered low beside my ear.
“You seemed a little nervous. I said that because I wanted to give you magic. It looked natural, right?”
His low voice pooled thickly in the shell of my ear.
“There’s no way I wouldn’t know your body temperature.”
My mind went completely hazy for a moment. Khal’s scent was so, so, so strong.
As, as expected, I really do.......
“Ruby! Aren’t you coming?”
Just then, Boyd and Liam, who were walking far ahead, whipped around.
“Y-Yeah, coming!”
I grabbed the hem of my dress and quickly ran off as if fleeing. Khal watched me with a puzzled look, then rejoined the surrounding guard formation.
“Fairy. Why is your face so red?”
“Body tempeeee! Body temp! Body temperature!”
“......Are you trying to say it’s an emergency?”
As I listened to Liam’s puzzled voice, I covered my mouth with both hands.
I really do like him after all......!
“Rub, wait for us! How can you run like that in a dress?”
I don’t know! Seriously, what am I going to do?
*****
The birthday banquet was tremendously enjoyable.
The scale was large, but invitations had not been thrown around carelessly, so there were no completely unfamiliar nobles in attendance.
Even so, there were a great many people.
I cut an enormous five-tier cake and received a tremendous number of congratulations.
I met my Academy friend Sortie for the first time in a while, and I also met Jerdin and Olivia, and we burst out laughing together. I was happy!
Delicious food kept coming in endlessly. Lively music flowed through the hall, and every so often the celebratory crackers Asha had specially made exploded with a bang, adding to the excitement.
“Princess, happy eighteenth birthday.”
When the atmosphere had ripened for quite some time,
His Majesty the Emperor approached me.
I glanced around a little and bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I’m glad you came!”
About the letter I sent at dawn.
Would the Emperor bring it up?
The Emperor’s gaze deepened kindly.
“Yes, the princess is finally an adult too. I first met you when you were only this peanut-sized.”
He gestured somewhere near his waist.
“I wasn’t quite that much of a peanut.......”
“Ah, right. You were a little runt, weren’t you? Of course.”
Ugh.
I whipped my head around and gave Grandpa a slight glare. Grandpa, who had been enjoying a pale pink drink, cleared his throat and avoided my eyes.
The Emperor whispered softly to me.
“In any case, we still have something to discuss, don’t we? Let’s meet after the party for now. I have to give a congratulatory speech at the moment.”
I froze stiffly. Everything had been fine, but that last sentence was like a bolt from the blue.
“A...... speech?”
“Yes. I prepared one because this is a special occasion. Why?”
“Oh...... No. Oh. It’s an honor! A speech from His Majesty the Emperor! Oh! Waaah!”
Excuse me.
Was this agreed upon with the hosting side?
This time, I shot a glare at Dad, who was standing far away. Dad was too busy happily spending time with Mom to even glance at me.
In the end, I gestured toward a nearby table with my eyes and whispered softly to Hazel.
“Hazel, please get me fifteen cushions.”
How long would today’s speech be?
“Shall I draw eyes on your eyelids?”
“Hah, I should’ve brought the artist.”
“What a shame.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll try to stop him today.”
Just then, a low laugh flowed from beside us.
A tall man was approaching with a gentle smile.
It was the Fourth Prince. Around us, there were sounds of people sharply sucking in breaths. His looks were insane. It was a face that drew admiration equally from men and women alike.
“It’s your precious day. I can’t let Father waste your time with his speech.”
“Lichtttt—”
“......What’s wrong?”
“I almost spoke casually out of habit.”
Licht bent slightly at the waist with a smile in his eyes.
“I already did, though. What should I do, Princess?”
Then he naturally drew my hand toward him and pressed his lips to the back of it.
“Allow me to apologize for my discourtesy.”
At that moment, a small commotion broke out far away. Clang! Thud!
Please calm down! Sir Boyd! Shh!
Ruuuuub! Olivia, air, I can’t brea......!
An assassination......?
Probably not.
