An Unexpected Gift (1)
“…Your Highness Emilia?”
“Nanny! Naaaaanny!”
With a soft poof, a weight that was no longer quite so light wrapped around my skirt.
Emilia clung tightly to my legs, burying her face against them and rubbing vigorously.
“Naaaaanny!”
“Your Highness? What’s the matter?”
Emilia gave no answer.
She simply kept pressing her face between my knees.
“Your Highness, why all of a sudden…”
“Huff, huff, Miss Nanny!”
Catherine, who had finally caught up to Emilia, grabbed my shoulder while gasping for breath.
“Catherine, what happened? Why is Her Highness acting like this all of a sudden…”
“Miss Nanny, what in the world happened to you today?”
“…Pardon?”
“You came back to your room earlier with a face as white as a sheet.”
Catherine looked back and forth between me and Emilia with worried eyes.
“Do you have any idea how much Her Highness Emilia worried about you? She refused to eat dinner without you, and after we argued about it, she ended up running all the way here.”
Now that she mentioned it, this was around the time the princess should have been finishing her evening meal.
“Your Highness, did you skip your dinner?”
Emilia still didn’t answer.
Gurgle.
Instead, someone’s stomach let out a loud rumble.
Emilia flinched, then mumbled in a small voice.
“It wasn’t Lia.”
The young princess showed no intention of letting go of my legs.
I gazed down at her golden crown for a moment before lifting her into my arms with both hands.
Emilia immediately wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder.
“Your Highness Emilia.”
I placed a hand on the silent princess’s back and asked gently.
“Were you worried about me?”
Emilia nodded without a word.
The spot near my collarbone where she had pressed her face tickled.
“I’m fine.”
“…Liar.”
Emilia grumbled in a tiny voice.
“Nanny, you’re not fine at all.”
“I really am fine.”
“No you’re not! After you met that weird uncle, your face suddenly looked so, so sad!”
Emilia jerked her head up and accused me with a sharp glare.
Below her large blue eyes, fat tears like chicken droppings welled up.
“Was it because Lia didn’t listen to Nanny? Was it because Lia ran off and bumped into that uncle?”
“Pardon?”
What kind of misunderstanding was this?
I stared at Emilia in blank amazement.
Her lips were pursed as if she might burst into tears at any second.
Her little nose had turned as red as a strawberry.
“Your Highness, that wasn’t your fault at all…”
“Huuuueeeeng, Lia will listen better! Lia will be good! So please don’t leave Naaaaanny―!”
I couldn’t keep up with the princess’s train of thought at all.
While soothing the bitterly weeping Emilia, I glanced at Catherine.
“It seems she remembered what happened with Madam Conrad from before.”
“Why Madam Conrad?”
“Well… she once heard that Madam Conrad died after covering for His Highness the Prince’s mistake. I thought she had completely forgotten about it, but apparently she still remembers.”
So she had been afraid I might disappear somewhere, just like Madam Conrad.
“Huuueeeeng!”
I stared blankly at Emilia as she sobbed her heart out.
It felt strangely wondrous that there was someone who would tremble all over and cry so fiercely just because of one small action of mine.
“Your Highness.”
I wiped away Emilia’s tears and patted her back.
“I’m fine. Truly.”
Emilia studied my face for a long moment before finally stopping her tears.
“Hng… really?”
“Yes, really.”
In truth I hadn’t been fine, but now I truly was.
Yes. I’m fine.
I hugged Emilia tightly and quietly clenched my teeth.
So I will make sure…
Ian’s face, half-hidden in shadow, floated before my eyes.
…that you never get your hands on anything you want.
Taking a life wasn’t the only form of revenge.
Sometimes, stealing what a person desperately longed for was the cruelest revenge of all.
Ian Miller.
As the chilly wind brushed my face, I made the vow once more.
I would never again hand over anything to the lover who had betrayed me.
“Hmm?”
After I had barely managed to calm Emilia down and returned to my room, a faint silver glow greeted me.
It was coming from the communication orb that the King of Adamant had left behind.
What? So suddenly? It’s not time for contact yet.
I quickly drew the curtains and pulled out the box from under the bed.
The communication orb inside the box was shining brightly.
[It’s been a while, Lady Brown.]
It was still an obnoxiously pleasant voice.
And it was still a face so handsome it was almost frightening.
On the other side of the screen, Kaiden wore a bright smile, clearly in a good mood.
“I greet Your Majesty the King.”
[You don’t look very happy to see me after so long.]
Of course I wasn’t happy.
After running into the lover who had killed me right in the middle of the imperial palace and feeling completely rattled, who would be pleased to receive a call from the king of an enemy nation?
“…I was simply startled by the sudden contact.”
[You don’t look well. Did something happen?]
This guy really was sharp.
I shook my head slightly, pretending nothing was wrong.
“No, nothing at all.”
[That’s not the face of someone who had nothing happen.]
“If anything happened, it’s only that I was flustered because Your Majesty contacted me so suddenly.”
[Hmm.]
Kaiden rested his chin on one hand and raised an eyebrow.
[That’s not a flustered face. That’s a sad face.]
The moment I flinched and touched my face—
Kaiden’s expression turned serious.
[So something really did happen.]
Lies didn’t work on him at all.
I let out a quiet internal sigh and slowly began to speak.
“To be honest, there is something Your Majesty should know about.”
[Something I should know?]
Kaiden crossed his arms and leaned back against his chair.
True to his quick wits, he immediately guessed the answer.
[Does it have to do with the Holy Kingdom or Angel’s Breath?]
I nodded and continued.
“Didn’t I once relay a conversation I overheard between mercenaries hiding in the temple?”
[You did.]
“Today, in the imperial palace, I ran into the man they called Viscount Miller.”
[Viscount Miller?]
Kaiden seemed to ponder something for a moment before tilting his head.
[I’ve never heard that surname before. Is he a well-known noble in the empire?]
“No, he appears to be a newly titled noble.”
[What is his exact name?]
I hesitated for a moment before quietly speaking his name.
“Ian. Viscount Ian Miller.”
For a moment, silence filled the room.
I had simply spoken Ian’s name, yet Kaiden’s expression on the other side of the orb grew unusually dark.
“Your Majesty?”
[…It’s the same.]
The same as what?
Kaiden muttered something incomprehensible to himself.
After sinking deep into thought, he asked me.
[Do you know anything else about this Ian Miller?]
“As you could tell from the information I gave you before, he is a noble of the Second Prince’s faction who follows Marquis Redcliffe, and…”
I took a breath before continuing.
“He is the one who killed the person I cherished most in my life.”
At that moment, Kaiden’s expression hardened noticeably.
I had thought he was someone who could hide his emotions as well as I could.
Apparently he could make that kind of face in front of others after all.
[I wondered where he had disappeared to, only to find him sitting comfortably in a noble’s seat and living large.]
An intangible killing intent seemed to emanate from beyond the communication orb.
After sinking into thought for a long time, Kaiden suddenly smiled brightly again.
The murderous atmosphere from moments ago had vanished without a trace.
[How coincidental.]
It was an obviously fake, formal smile.
[I never imagined that the target of both Lady Brown’s and my revenge would be the exact same bastard.]
Instead of answering, I simply stared at Kaiden.
I still didn’t know the reason, but it seemed he too had been chasing Angel’s Breath.
So his goal wasn’t Angel’s Breath itself, but Ian all along.
That made sense. He had been following my old traces.
It was possible he had wanted to find the man who killed me rather than the guild itself.
Even so, I still don’t understand why.
I had no memory of ever meeting someone like him during my time as Kayla.
Yet I had no way of knowing when, where, or how Kaiden had met me to become so obsessed.
“Also, Viscount Miller will be participating in the upcoming subjugation as the Second Prince’s attendant.”
[As an attendant?]
“Yes.”
[Specific details about the subjugation haven’t even been announced yet, but he’s already volunteered to attend?]
“It seems he already has a firm grasp of the information regarding the subjugation.”
I looked straight at the King of Adamant visible through the communication orb.
“By any chance, does Your Majesty have no information about the subjugation? I recall you mentioning before that the Adamant Kingdom would also be participating this time.”
A strange glint flashed in Kaiden’s eyes.
[And?]
“If you know anything, I was hoping you might give me a heads-up in advance.”
I spoke in a confident tone.
“Aren’t we allies?”
[Ah, I see.]
Kaiden gave a sly smile.
[That’s quite a difficult request, Lady Brown.]
“Was it a difficult request?”
[It is. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the empire earnestly asked me not to leak any information regarding the subjugation to anyone.]
Since when had he been someone who kept promises to the emperor so faithfully?
Everyone else was busy looking after their own imperial candidates.
I was just thinking I might have to make another unreasonable request of Somnia when—
[However, I can’t disappoint my ally.]
Kaiden continued with his arms still crossed.
His forearms, thick as a baby’s head, strained against his shirt sleeves in a rather painful-looking way.
[I sent a gift to you instead of an apology. Please consider it a return gift for the present Her Highness the Princess gave me.]