Chapter 22

“Asha,” Hadel whispered into my ear. Giggling to myself at the sound of his sweet voice, which I hadn’t heard in so long, I replied drowsily.

“Yes?”

“I want to get closer to you.”

Um… Okay.

That’s what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t respond right away.

Because we were already extremely close to each other.

Hadel was sitting next to me, leaving absolutely no space between us, hugging me to him.

“How can we get even closer than this?”

“…Come up here.”

The place Hadel was pointing to was his lap.

Seeing how he was blushing as he said that, I couldn’t help but think of old times.

“Gosh, my Hadel, you’re still as cute as ever.”

Ruffling Hadel’s hair, I naturally climbed into his lap.

He must’ve been satisfied, for he chuckled while burying his face into my hair.

“Asha. I’m so happy.”

“Yeah, me too… But I think we have to go back soon.”

“…Can’t we just go back to my palace like this?”

“Whaaat? I came out secretly. The people at Lily Palace will probably get surprised and make a huge fuss tomorrow morning.”

And then it would be reported to Duke Valkirino right away.

Then they would question me, asking what had happened, and the quick and sneaky Duke might even find out.

That I was Ashella de Ach.

“So what? Asha, you should come into your role now. I can’t let you be in the position of a mere queen. I want to announce that you’re alive immediately tomorrow, and proclaim you Empress.”

“Did you not hear what I said earlier? My parents, Ari, and Eru are all being held in the South. If we just act recklessly…”

“Should we head to the South right now?”

“What?”

“We can go to the South immediately and I’ll protect them. I really got stronger, Asha. I can now protect everything.”

“Wait, what…”

How could he say that so easily?

And how would we go there in one day?

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of chaos Duke Valkirino would cause if he found out that we’d left the palace.

“If Duke Valkirino hears that you and I disappeared, he’ll hide my family immediately.”

“…As expected, I should’ve killed that guy earlier.”

“Huh? Who? Wait, do you mean Duke Valkirino?”

“…Anyway. Does that mean that we just have to get rid of Duke Valkirino to solve everything?”

“Well… yes…?”

Even as I responded, I was filled with strange anxiety and felt myself begin to sweat.

Hadel looked at me and smiled his signature soft smile.

I couldn’t take this. I had to definitely hammer in the nail.

I grabbed each of Hadel’s cheeks and looked into his eyes.

“Hadel. There’s still a lot I haven’t been able to tell you yet. And a lot I want to ask. Although I won’t be able to say it all now, because we don’t have that much time…”

I could see my reflection in Hadel’s pink eyes. Unlike before, his pink eyes had a clear focus in them, which made my chest ache.

“I definitely want to get revenge. And I don’t want you to be called a tyrant in that process.”

“…Asha. The fastest method is to just get rid of them all.”

“You—Really! Why have you been saying such bad words like you’ll ‘get rid of’ or ‘kill’ them since earlier!”

I smacked Hadel’s forehead with my own.

As I did so, like a deflated bean sprout, Hadel’s eyebrows went down in unison.

“Okay. I did wrong. Don’t get mad, Asha.”

He said this, and I felt the arms holding me tighten.

Ah, gosh. If he showed me such a pitiful appearance, I couldn’t even say anything to him.

And with such a pretty face, at that.

This was really cheating.

“…I’m not getting angry. It’s just because you keep saying such ill-fitting things. How can someone as weak-hearted as you ever kill someone?”

Although many people said that the Emperor was a tyrant, one who would go into a frenzy and kill anyone who got on his bad side, the Hadel I knew was definitely not a person who could do that.

It was impossible with Hadel’s tender personality. To easily hurt someone, that was.

Of course, it did seem like his words had gotten a little harsher during the ten years he’d suffered without me.

“You can’t continue saying such bad things, Hadel!”

“…Okay. Sorry.”

“Huhu. Good boy.”

Even though I’d only done it weakly, I felt bad for hitting his forehead, so I gently patted it.

As if listening to what I’d said, Hadel closed his eyes and remained silent.

“Anyway! I want to deal with things through the law. I want to let everyone know that the de Ach family has been wrongfully accused. I want to be with you while receiving everyone’s congratulations.”

“…If we want that, we need evidence.”

“Yes. So that’s why…”

I paused my words and briefly hesitated, because it felt like no matter what I said, Hadel would get angry.

No. Hadel had never gotten angry at me before.

So, he wouldn’t get angry, but… he would probably just get very sulky.

Who knew, he might even cry again.

Was this really the best method?

Was this the only path to take?

“Asha?”

Lost in my thoughts, Hadel took my hair in his hands and repeatedly called my name.

His pink eyes were filled with concern.

“Asha, you’re frowning.”

“…For now, let’s go back to the palace. Come get me again tomorrow night, Hadel.”

After thinking and thinking for that brief moment, in the end, I decided to put off the discussion until later.

“No. I don’t want to be apart from you any longer, Asha.”

Hadel looked down forlornly, his eyelashes lowering with each blink of his eyes.

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Ah. My resolve was getting weaker.

Hardening my squishy, melting heart, I grabbed Hadel’s cheeks and pulled on them.

“You can’t look at me like that either. We can just see each other again tomorrow night. Got it? Let’s talk in more detail then.”

“But…”

Okay.

I needed to use a stronger method.

“Hadel. Look at that tree over there.”

I pointed at a tall tree to our right. As Hadel’s face turned naturally, I aimed my lips toward the white cheek that approached me.

Peck!

With a nimble sound, my lips briefly touched and then receded.

At the same moment, Hadel’s body froze stiffly.

His gaze was still aimed toward the tree on the right.

Confused at his lack of reaction, I called his name.

“Hadel?”

As I watched him, still like a stone, I saw his ears slowly becoming redder and redder.

Then, like a kettle that had water boiling inside, his whole face started reddening.

What the—He was frozen because he was too embarrassed?

“Look at me, Hadel.”

“U-Uh… Huh?”

I grabbed Hadel’s cheeks and forcefully turned him to look into my eyes.

As soon as his eyes met mine, he flinched in surprise and shifted his gaze elsewhere.

“Pfft. Why are you acting like that, Hadel? Even though you kissed me first earlier.”

“Huh? No, no. N-No, huh? Huhhhh? No, so… I-It’s just been so long… A-And a cheek kiss feels, um, different… A-And Asha doing it first is also…”

Nice. Success.

Since he was so out of it, I could say anything and he’d okay it.

“You’ll come again tomorrow night, right?”

“Huh, huh? Yeah! Yeah! Of course!”

“Then take me back to the Lily Palace quickly. If it’s any later, we might get caught.”

“R-Right now? Can’t… we stay for a bit longer?”

“Then I won’t kiss you tomorrow!”

“…Okay. Let’s hurry and go.”

After he spoke, my body felt like it was floating, catching me by surprise.

We were going so fast that I couldn’t tell what anything was, other than the sensation that we were parting the wind.

Wow, what did this child eat for him to be this fast?

* * *

“Miss Silver Lily. Wake up.”

“Mm… Just a bit longer.”

“Miss Silver Lily. It’s time to wake up.”

Arghh. I was exhausted.

My eyes felt so heavy, but the Head Maid kept waking me up.

Not to mention how her trademark dry and hard voice, repeating the same words, made me feel neurotic.

“Ahhh! Okay! I’m getting up! I’ll get up, okay?”

When my closed eyelashes finally lifted, I could see the Head Maid looking down at me with an expressionless face.

“…What time is it for you to be waking me up like this?”

Looking out the window, the birds were flying and the sun was still low in the sky.

It didn’t seem to be that late.

“It’s seven in the morning, Miss Silver Lily. Waking up past seven in the morning in the Imperial Palace is something that cannot happen, and…”

While staring at me frankly, the Head Maid went on with her criticisms. However, I had no intention of listening to her.

“Madame Chunet. I simply asked what time it was. I never asked you to nag me.”

I cut off her words firmly. The Head Maid looked at me with her signature blank face before bowing her head.

“I understand.”

Even as the Head Maid said she understood, she didn’t look apologetic or repentant at all. Seeing how her features almost never changed, it was as if she wasn’t a normal person.

Argh. What good was thinking about Duke Valkirino’s people? Every one of his people was weird anyway.

Shaking these thoughts aside, I cleared my throat.

“Anyway, Madame Chunet. Don’t you think the air is a bit dry today?”

“I’m not sure, I can’t tell.”

“Is that so? Can you open the window?”

At my request, the Head Maid wordlessly opened the window. I could feel a refreshing and cool breeze waft in. The blue sky was perfect for putting out laundry.

Although, since I was no longer a maid for Count Tremain, there would be no reason for me to do laundry with my own hands again. But since I’d worked as a maid for ten years, when I saw a bright day like this, I was reminded of laundry.

“Huuuu.”

Closing my eyes, I breathed in deeply. The early spring morning wind was cold, but at the same time refreshing.

I could smell the scent of morning dew and grass tickling the ends of my nose.

After I breathed in deeper, my nose started itching.

“…Achoo!”

In the end, I sneezed. After sneezing once, I sneezed again several times.

“Achoo! A-A-Achoo!”

Argh, what was with me?

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

To make things worse, I started coughing.

The fact that my throat had felt dry turned out to be because of an oncoming cold.

It might have been because I had been outside for such a long time last night wearing thin clothes.

Since neither he nor I could bear to be apart from each other at the time.

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“Achoo! O-Oh no. Madame Chunet, close the win… Achoo! Sniff!”

Madame Chunet stared at me with a distasteful face before slowly closing the window.

Why did this woman keep looking down on me, when she was my Head Maid?

I considered saying something to her but held it in. Now was not the time.

Not to mention, I couldn’t stop thinking of Hadel since yesterday. So no matter what kind of bad things I heard right now, it couldn’t ruin my mood.