Lucious glanced at Rogan who was beside me for a second, I turned to look at Rogan to see him wearing a small smile, but I could tell he was amused.

I returned my beautiful and innocent eyes to Lucious.

“Lucious… hi.”

“Hello, Estelia…” he glanced at my book. “Is it a bad time?”

“... Um, no. This is merely a casual read.”

“Quite a thick one.”

“Well, it is the history of the kingdom.”

“I see.”

He awkwardly looked away as though thinking what he should say next. Haaaaah, do I need to help you with this?

“What brought you here, Lucious? I’m surprised my brother let you go. Oh, and, you can sit down.”

He nodded his head and slowly sat down at the chair in front of me.

“Well, we managed to finish all important tasks yesterday, so it’s fine to take it slow for today.”

“That’s great! Best to have a rest once in a while. I’m sure you must be stressed out by the amount of work you two have to do.”

I laid my elbow on the table and positioned my hand on my cheek, squishing them a little as I stared straight into his eyes with a child-like smile.

“It’s not that big of a problem really. In fact, I am more concerned about you.”

My eyes widened for a moment.

“.... W-What do you mean?”

“I heard you have been working hard. And I believe it now even more seeing you read this thousand pages book.”

“... I did this of my own volition to pass the time, so… it’s not that troublesome.”

“Are you doing alright though? You’re not feeling too much pressure, yes?”

I lowered my hand and sadly raised my eyes towards him.

“I know you have already heard everything that happened, Lucious....” I smiled with sadness. “So, do you think I would not feel any pressure at all?”

“... I’m sorry I asked. That was foolish of me.”

I glanced around me and realized that Rogan had already moved off a bit away from me, his smile no longer around his face. He must have heard. The same worried expressions were also evident on Mera and Vernon’s faces.

“But it’s alright, I’m sure everyone is working hard. I believe in them. So this is not something to be so distressed about.”

I showed a forced smile, as though trying to say and express that everything would be alright. That there was nothing to worry about. I have faith in everyone.

Lucious stared at me with a pained expression, opening and closing his mouth, hesitating to speak.

“... Estelia, do you have time for a leisure walk?” he asked.

“I think so…”

“Then…” he swiftly stood up and gracefully extended a hand before me, like a gentleman asking for a fair maiden’s hand. “May I take you out for a walk, milady?”

How bold.

My cheeks flushed red as I stared with shock at the hand presented to me. I seemingly became frantic, looking confused, but he didn’t budge at all, he remained steadfast. No hesitating now, huh. It’s like him making the conviction to not let me go this time.

As there was no other choice, I slowly reached out for his hand. He had a smooth hand with only a little roughness, not the hand of a fighter. He gently helped me stand up, and we now stood right before each other, face to face with only a couple of inches apart.

I immediately took a step back with embarrassment. He smiled a little, seemingly expecting this. Well, I made it blatantly apparent that I’m embarrassed.

“... U-Um, w-where are we going, Lucious?”

“I have one place in mind, it should be peaceful and memorable.”

“...”

I have no idea what he's talking about.

“Have you forgotten?”

“I can’t tell what you’re talking about.”

“The tree.”

“Oh.”

That one, huh.

“Let’s go?”

“...Okay.”

I followed a bit behind him with meekness. My servants followed behind me, keeping their fair distance. Helloooo? A bit of privacy? The flowers of youth are blooming here. Don’t be a killjoy. Don’t be the bees that suck the sweetness out.

We walked down the corridor quietly. Um, no conversation? No nothing? Come on Lucious. Rogan way surpassed you in any type of conversation initiation. You’ll be left behind. It’s awkward here.

Oh yeah I need to watch out for any family members seeing me. But they seemed to have forgotten about it, hehehe I’m just a so behaved daughter that they weren’t so strict when it comes to punishments.

But, I guess there’s nothing I need to worry about, everyone was busy anyway… And we barely talk anymore.

We reached the stairs and Lucious stopped in place.

“Hold my hand.”

Um, what?

“I learned of what happened, and I don’t want it happening again on my watch.”

Yeah, Mr. Stairs was so cruel that time. Piece of shit, I almost died… no wait, I did technically die… maybe?

“... O-Oh…”

I hesitantly received his hand, then he slowly led me down the stairs. Truth be told, this wasn’t necessary, but of course as he only arrived and recently heard about it, the information was still fresh in his mind.

“By the way, your request, it’s coming tomorrow.”

“T-That’s great! Thank you…”

There the conversation ended. Booooo…!

That aside, it’s tomorrow already?! Shit, I haven’t made any designs yet. Guess I’ll do some work later.

Now then, what to do with this awkward atmosphere.

“Um, Lucious, you said you would tell me about your adventure to Myra, right? How is it outside?”

Yeah, I’m gonna initiate a conversation. I gave him a bit of sympathy and empathy since it’s not that easy to come up with a good conversation with someone you like. I understand that, and no need to be afraid when I’m the accompanying party, I’m a generous girl. But if this happens again, I’m not gonna do anything anymore.

I timidly glanced his way, seeing him with a restrained smile.

“Oh yeah, I did mention that. That was my first time going beyond the kingdom. And I should say, the journey was not easy.”

I quietly waited for him to continue, my eyes hinting at anticipation for his story. I am actually quite expecting what the outside would entail.

Then as we made our way to our destination, he told me his story of his adventure to Myra. He shared to me his experience in encountering types of monsters for the first time, ones that wouldn’t be found around here in the capital.

So, could this mean certain monsters have their own habitats or something? If that’s the case, they’re like animals? Damn, now I’m concerned if I encounter what seems like a normal wolf, but turns out to be a monster or something.

Lucious mentioned what he heard from the knights that the monsters they encountered were easier to deal with than the monsters found in our nearby dangerous forest. I still don’t have any measurement on what that means.

He then shared that it was pretty much his first time camping out in the wilderness, but it was fun. Good for you, would be hard for a lady like me. If I’m gonna go outside, I think I’ll just stay around the kingdom where I have a proper place to stay. That being said, it all depends on my mood, hehehe. Also if I can find a good motel or hotel, that would be great.

Lucious continued on his arrival to the kingdom of knights. He mentioned how he enjoyed the dances the commoners did on the town square along with the soldiers and knights. He tried participating but he did not know their dance at all.

He described the sceneries around that nation and how they were almost similar to Wisteria. But the most noteworthy of all was the mineral called Kaleidronite, the same material as my necklace gifted to me. He still couldn’t forget the moment during the night where a path was filled with Kaleidronite smashed into tiny pieces, almost powder.

The casters of magic would cast their mana unto the stones scattered on the ground, then they would light up with countless colors, more colorful than the stars in the night sky.

I stared up at him, he was full of enthusiasm as he described everything, his face colored and bright with a wide smile. Someone might even be charmed by his joy alone.

Oh well.

Shortly we arrived at our destination. A lone tree stood in the middle of the yard, a few colorful flowers scattered around, and the soil covered completely by lush greenery. I remember this place very well.

This was the place we hung out with my brothers when we were young and had nothing else to worry about. Well, when I say hung out, I mean dragged. They say I should at least get under the sun once in a while, and they would force me out of the palace because I didn’t want to get out.

Needless to say, I stayed under the shade of this tree all of the time, no way I’m getting under the sun, so bright and the heat was bothersome. Here we would just casually sit around with my brothers, Estevan, and Eleden, then there’s Lucious, and rarely our female cousin.

So, yeah, most of the time when I was dragged here, I was one of the boys basically. Whenever they play around though, I’m just under the shade watching them. And I was quite satisfied with that.

I smiled at seeing this scenery from my memory. When we got older, we of course couldn’t come here anymore, so it was bizarre to see this place personally.

We sat down on the grass, I leaned my back on the tree trunk, savoring the fresh air and cold wind. My servants were nowhere to be seen, they must be around here somewhere.

“Got some weight off your shoulders?”

Lucious asked me softly.

“... Yes.”

“When was the last time we’re here? Five? Or Six years ago?”

“I think around those… and my brothers were with us.”

“Yeah…”

“Why did you bring me here? Wouldn’t it be more fun with Eleden and Estevan here?”

I glanced at him and met his eyes.

“It’s not about having fun, Estelia.”

He smiled softly, telling me only just that.

“... Is that so…”

Then there was silence, leaving only the sounds of the grass blades waving in the wind.

“Estelia…”

“... Hm?”

“Um… will you be going out to the festival?”

He must be talking about the festival happening in a few months.

“.... Why do you ask?”

I shifted my eyes towards him, but he avoided my eyes, feeling shy it seems.

“Well… I’m just, I’m just wondering if it would be alright to… to bring you out and go to the festival with me.”

My eyes widened a little at his proposal.

“... Y-Yes, I suppose I am planning to… but I’m not so sure.”

“Then, if you do, would you consider going out with me?”

I retracted a little.

“W-What are you… Why are you asking me?”

“Why not?”

“But…”

“Of course, if you have others you plan on coming with, it’s fine I won’t interfere.”

He looked past me, towards someone perhaps.

“N-No, I don’t…”

“Then, at least for a day, let me be your escort.”

He suddenly reached out for my hand and held them gently. My cheeks flushed red and my eyes turned frantic, looking around just not his eyes.

“Why are you… a-asking me? I’m, I’m not a g-good company. There are others that are better than me.”

“There are no others, I want you, Estelia.”

“!”

The pressure of this moment was evident on my face as the edges of my eyes moistened.

“N-No… y-you couldn’t possibly—”

“I mean it, I want no one else but you, Estelia. I want to be with you.”

“...”

As though an involuntary action, I pulled my hand away from his hand as my body shook, confused by everything.

“Estelia—”

“T-This i-is… I-I…”

With trembling lips I stood up, stepping back a couple of times, breathing a bit heavily, as if shocked.

“L-Lucious, I… E-Excuse me!”

I turned around and walked away with hasty steps, my cheeks to my ears were beet red. My head lowered and only focused on the path in front of me, avoiding anyone’s eyes.

“W-Wait, Estelia…”

I heard Lucious’s voice trailing off behind me, but I kept facing forward. On the way, I came across my servants.

“Princess.”

Rogan called out to me, but I ignored him and went straight ahead. Their footsteps loudly followed behind me — no, there were only two pairs of footsteps.

Doesn’t matter, I’m certain it was Rogan and Mera anyway.

Eventually, I arrived at my room and locked myself inside.