“T, thank you.”

“You’re welcome….”

I just smiled happily, cheering for the two of them to get close.

“I think I’ve got to go back now.”

Ad, who was standing timidly, opened his mouth.

“Do you have to attend the banquet again today?”

“Yes.”

The emperor’s birthday party is held for a total of three days.

Me and Cardin attended the first day, so we don’t need to attend the rest of the party. 

As expected, the absolute power of the empire was the best. As an aristocrat of the Empire, Cardin only kept the minimum courtesy to the emperor. On the contrary, as a prince, Ad had to attend all three banquets. Now, when he goes back to the palace, he’ll dress up and go to the banquet hall.

“It must be troublesome.….”

Today, I am also worried about how many raw flies would stick to Ad.

“Well, it’s all right. I can just ignore them, it’s okay.”

Ad left the duchy with a quick pace, saying, “I really have to go now.” Before he stepped forward, he left an awkward greeting to Fay, saying, “Let’s see each other again.”

Fay nodded his head and said goodbye. After seeing Ad off, Fay and I went to Cardin’s office together.

But there was only an empty chair where Cardin was supposed to be. When I asked the nanny, Cardin told her that something urgent came up so he went out for a while.

I took Fay to my room.

“It’s your first time in my room, isn’t it? This is my room.”

“Excuse me, then.”

Fay entered my room carefully.

[Liel! Huuuuuhh?]

[…….]

When I entered the room, Sudar and Johnny’s voices were the first to welcome me.

“These are the Merkets I’m raising. Their names are Sudar and Johnny.”

I showed the Merkets by the window and introduced them to Fay. Sudar, who is normally noisy, was somehow dead quiet.

“They’re cute.”

“Yeah, they’re so cute.”

Fay looked at Sudar and Johnny once and praised them. At this point, I think they should be talking about who’s cuter. Seeing Sudar and Johnny waving their flower buds quietly, I thought they were playing a silent game today.

They were funny guys anyway.

“Princess, I brought you some snacks.”

Just in time, the nanny came in with some snacks. He assigned three cookies per person, saying that eating too much sweets is not good for your body.

I’ll just make a lot of cookies and eat it!

I haven’t been to the kitchen to make cookies because I’m busy these days, but I thought I should stop by soon.

“Liel, eat more of this.”

“Ack. No, it’s okay. You eat it.”

Do I look disappointed? Fay handed me two cookies of his share.

I refused, waving my hands, but he said he was full so I had no choice but to accept it. 

“T, thank you. I’ll make cookies and give them to you next time.”

“Do you know how to make cookies?”

“Yes!”

Fay’s eyes glistened and said ‘that’s great’.

I made up her mind to give this good friend a gift I made by myself.

knock, knock.

“Princess.”

Nanny, who had been out for a while, came into the room in her outdoor clothes.

“Where is nanny going?”

I asked, looking at her outdoor clothes.

“I’m going to post a letter to the square for a while. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Yes! Go ahead.”

Nanny told me to ask the servant waiting outside if we needed anything.

“And I’ll be back soon, so don’t go far away. Okay?”

Lastly, nanny warned me that it was dangerous to walk alone outside the duchy.

I watched Nanny from the window as she stepped out of the duchy.

“If you tell me not to go out, I would want to go outside even more…….”

I hung from the window and murmured softly.

“Should we go out if you want to?”

I turned my head to the cool voice coming from behind. Fay was smiling refreshingly with his eyes folded in the shape of a half-moon.

The model child who said yes to the nanny’s words just now was nowhere to be seen. I looked at Fay, who gave sweet words of temptation.

Pay wasn’t the type to be obedient either. I did not notice it because of his innocent face and way of speaking.

“Liel, how do you feel?”

No, I’m good at listening to my nanny.….

“Can’t we go out for a while and come back soon?” 

“S, shall we?”

I gave in to temptation. Fay was not just a child, but a great genius wizard, so I wouldn’t be in danger.

“Let’s go and come back soon.”

Fay reached out to me.

“Oh, wait a minute.”

I found a paper and a pen in the room.

[Playing with Fay!] 

If I get caught going out like this, they will know that I’m with Fay, they won’t be worried that much. The best thing is to play for a while until nanny comes back and then I will destroy this evidence.

“Okay, let’s go!”

I took Fay’s hand and left the note. The surrounding landscape had changed in an instant with the feeling of my body being sucked somewhere.

“Oh, your outfit stands out too much.”

As soon as Fay finished speaking, a normal robe appeared over my body in an instant.

“Oh.”

I didn’t know magic had this function. The more I knew, the more useful it was.

“This reminds me of the first time I came out to play with Liel.”

Fay’s lips, seen under the robe, were beautifully curved.

“Yes, it was really fun back then.”

The vividness of the square I saw for the first time that day was still an unforgettable memory.

“It’s going to be fun today!”

“Yes.”

I took Fay’s hand and entered the crowd in the square. Perhaps because it was the emperor’s birthday, there were many places that were cleaned and renovated. He seemed to be conscious of the fact that the status of the imperial family had fallen a lot due to the last incident.

After almost a month since I came here, the square was so clean that it was hard to believe that an explosion had occurred here. In particular, the fountain, which could be said to be a symbol of the square, stood tall in the same shape as before and showed off its majesty.

After walking around for quite some time with Fay, my legs hurt, so I sat in the fountain and rested for a while.

“Have you heard the rumor?”

“What rumors?”

Then I heard the men sitting next to me. As I was about to get back up, I heard something that stopped me.

“This is a secret. A relative of mine who lives on the Pardo estate told me.”

“Oh! I don’t know. What is it?”

“Keep your voice down, man! Dead ballroom bodies were found in a mountain range near the Pardo estate.”

“Does that make sense? Pardo estate is far from the northern mountain range where the ballroom lives.”

“It doesn’t make sense, so it’s a secret! That’s why the land turned upside down.”

Another man who was listening to the man took a small breath.

“If that’s really true…… Isn’t it dangerous?”

“I don’t know. If it’s true, it’s not just the northern part of the country that is in danger now.”

“Oh, This guy! You are making people scared with these strange rumors.”

“No, I’m serious.”

“Forget it, let’s go to work!”

Even after the men left the fountain, I sat still like a stone. As I ponder over the conversations the men had.

Ballrooms, which have only appeared in the north for the past few hundred years, have appeared in other areas?

What if this ridiculous rumor is true?

“Well, that can’t be true…….”

The unwritten rule, which has not been broken for the past few hundred years, will not break now.

“Fay. Shall we get up now?”

“Oh, yes.”

I asked Fay, who was staring blankly at the water flowing in the fountain. The weather was nice, so it was easy to fall into other thoughts.

“Shall we go back now?”

“Ah, yes.”

It hasn’t been long since I came to the square, but somehow, I felt like I wanted to go back to the duchy quickly.

It seems to be true that people will be stabbed if they are not honest.

“Argh!”

Then a scream echoed in the square. Soon after, people began to gather on one side of the square.

“What’s going on?”

I approached the place where people were gathered with Fay. The murmur was heard more and more clearly.

“A person was run over by a carriage!”

“Oh no. She’s bleeding so much…….”

“I think we should go to a wizard or a priest.”

I could see the hands of the fallen person on the floor in the midst of the uproar.

“……Wait a minute.”

I moved closer, ignoring the goose bumps over my body for a moment.

It was such a familiar hand.

“That can’t be…….”

I continued to deny the suspicion in my head and reached the scene of the accident.

“N, Nanny.”

Her whole body seemed to be bleeding out.

Nanny’s neat outdoor clothes, which I saw just a few minutes ago, were losing their color with blood.

“Nanny!”

I ran to my nanny pushing people. Except for the dark red liquid spreading on the floor, she seemed to be just sleeping comfortably.

“Oh, no! It was an accident. I thought about something else for a second…….”

The square guard immediately arrived at the scene of the accident.

The man who hit my nanny with a carriage was begging the guards, apologizing again and again.

The person who should actually receive an apology is in critical condition now.

“Den! Hurry up and check her belongings.”

“Yes!”

One of the guards approached the fallen nanny.

The guards took two small sticks out of their arms and carried them over the nanny’s body.

“She is a possessor of holy power!”

Seeing one of the sticks flashing vermilion yellow, we knew that the nurse was the holder of holy power.

“Oh, no. There’s no temple nearby. What should we do?”

Each large city had several wizards and priests.

It was to solve this urgent situation.

However, listening to the guards, it seemed that there were no priests that could be called right away.

“I think it’s dangerous to transfer her to a general doctor right now.”

The guards looked down at my nanny and murmured with a grave look.

“N, na, nanny……. Somebody please hurry up…….”

I was panicking and looking around talking nonsense.

The tinnitus I’ve been hearing in my ears is getting worse since a while ago, making it difficult to properly think.

“Liel, calm. Liel!”

At that time, I was able to come to my senses a little bit by the touch of someone shaking me.

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