Episode 105
At my reply, his smile deepened.
“But there aren’t many people I can’t control.”
“…Now you know.”
I retorted and tried to wiggle out of his embrace.
My back would start to hurt if I stayed like this any longer. And the position was uncomfortable.
The hand supporting my head gently moved away. I thought he was finally going to let me go, but his hand, after caressing my face, landed somewhere unexpected.
I flinched and said,
“Aren’t you going to remove your shameless… hand?”
“What’s so shameless about this? I don’t understand.”
‘You know exactly what you’re doing! You’re pretending not to know!’
And I could feel him deliberately teasing me!
My face burned bright red. I chose to flee.
“Oh dear.”
His hand grasped empty air where my waist had been. I wriggled out of his grasp, fluttered up, and perched on the windowsill.
“Chirp.”
‘Who told you not to move your hand when I told you to?’
As I turned my head away haughtily and wagged my tail feathers, I heard a gentle voice,
“Come here.”
“Beep?”
‘Who are you calling? Me?’
“I was wrong. So stop being angry, Lily.”
“Beep…”
‘Hmm… what should I do?’
My head feather swayed. I thought for a moment and then hopped down and approached him.
“Beep. Chirp?”
‘Are you reflecting on your actions?’
A hand carefully reached out and stroked my head.
“I was worried you would fly away.”
I saw a hint of anxiety in his eyes as I looked at him.
I should probably stop being angry now. If I continued, Cesar might misunderstand.
“Promise?”
“Yes. I’ll take you to the hunting competition.”
I finally felt relieved, having secured his promise.
I leaned against him, and I saw my hair flowing through his fingers. My wavy, pink hair faded to white at the tips.
‘It’s a good thing I changed my hair color when I met the Second Prince.’
My current hair color was so unusual that I would stand out even from a distance.
“It’s a shame Cesar can’t tamper with the Second Prince’s memories.”
If I appeared at the hunting competition, looking exactly the same, the Second Prince, who thought I was hiding under the Tower Master’s protection, would assume I had sided with the Crown Prince.
“How about attending as a bird?”
“I did consider that…”
I felt uneasy. The hunting competition was, after all, about hunting animals.
I might accidentally get hit by an arrow aimed at a flying bird.
“I don’t want to be hunted.”
The memory of dodging arrows was terrifying. And the pain of the arrow grazing my left wing was excruciating.
Cesar knew about that, so I didn’t elaborate.
There was another reason I wanted to stay in my human form.
People from the Holy Kingdom would also be attending, and I didn’t want them to see me as a bird. I had a feeling they would recognize me as a bird, but not as a human.
“I can’t hide forever. I’ll attend as a human.”
It was an expected problem, considering I had agreed to help the Crown Prince.
Cesar was silent for a moment and then spoke,
“That day, I wanted to ignore your promise and keep you at the Dukedom, but I knew you would come to me anyway.”
His hand, as if soothing a stubborn child, stroked my head.
“You never listen to me.”
He took my hand, and I felt his warm touch.
“Try not to do anything dangerous. The Crown Prince is officially hosting the hunting competition this time, but they’ve decided to hold it at the location chosen by the Empress, to respect her involvement.”
“Where is it?”
“Near the Vetran Mountains, connected to the Estero Mountains in the north. I’ve already taken care of the monsters in that area, but I’m still a bit uneasy.”
“Why?”
“The monsters have been too quiet lately.”
They did become unusually quiet around this time. Was this following the original story?
Cesar seemed to be lost in thought.
“Whatever it is, it means the Second Prince’s faction is planning something. Didn’t His Highness find anything?”
“He said he found out that the Second Prince has been increasing contact with noble families and recruiting their private soldiers.”
“Is he planning to assassinate the Crown Prince during the hunting competition?”
“Perhaps. But the real threat isn’t the Second Prince, but the Empress. She’s quite meticulous. All we know about her is that she’s been spending even more money on her appearance lately.”
“Is she being cautious?”
“Probably. Even the Emperor, who was on her side, is acting strangely, so she’s probably being more careful. I also heard that she’s not even showing the Crown Prince the list of items entering the Empress’s Palace.”
She probably suspected that the Crown Prince had discovered the poison by examining those items.
“This is complicated. What’s going to happen?”
“You can still stay at the Dukedom if you’ve changed your mind, Lily.”
“There’s no way I would change my mind. You’re going to such a dangerous place, Cesar. Did you forget that I worry about you, too?”
He smiled at my sullen reply. I saw his gently crinkling eyes and his warm purple gaze, as if capturing a piece of the sun.
“No, I remember.”
His voice, close to my ear, was sweet, like melted sugar.
“How could I forget? I was happy that someone was genuinely worried about me, and that it was you.”
My hand reached out involuntarily. I cupped his cheek, and he leaned into my touch.
‘A lonely person.’
That was the thought that kept coming to mind, the more I got to know Cesar.
He had always been alone as a child. Having missed the opportunity to learn how to love properly, he tried to possess what he loved and ended up hurting himself.
“…I’ll stay by your side, so you won’t be lonely. I won’t run away. I like being by your side, Cesar, and… I like you.”
“Lily.”
His bright smile and his warmth were incredibly comforting. So much so that I almost forgot I was being deceived again.
Less than a month later, I frowned and asked,
“Where did you say you were going?”
“I said I’m attending a banquet before the hunting competition.”
That was news to me. I had been so focused on the hunting competition that I hadn’t even considered a banquet being held beforehand.
‘I was so preoccupied with the hunting competition, and the servants didn’t mention it, so I didn’t think about it. And it wasn’t mentioned in the original story!’
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You already know about the hunting competition, so I told the servants to keep quiet about the banquet beforehand.”
“…You broke your promise.”
“I didn’t. I never promised to take you to the banquet before the hunting competition.”
And he smiled brightly.
Seriously. He was so… so annoying. How could someone be this annoying?
“Won’t you see me off?”
And he was casually asking me to see him off? Is he kidding me?
“No.”
I turned my head away. The maids around us nervously glanced at Cesar, but I ignored them. They were all accomplices in his deception.
I would have continued ignoring him if it weren’t for his words,
“Didn’t you say you would stay by my side so I wouldn’t be lonely?”
He quoted the words I had said when we were alone.
“W-why are you bringing that up now?”
My hands trembled from embarrassment. But he continued, his eyes downcast, his voice filled with longing,
“I’m lonely, Lily.”
At his words, the maids averted their gazes and lowered their heads. The waiting knights froze in shock.
“Fine! I’ll do it! I’ll see you off!”
Why was he saying such embarrassing things in front of everyone?! He was so nonchalant, while I…
I was afraid of what he might say if I refused.
I suppressed my annoyance, approached him, and hugged him tightly. He was much taller than me, so it looked more like I was being hugged.
“Have a safe trip, Cesar.”
I whispered against his chest, and he gently stroked my cheek with his finger.
“That tickles. What are you…”
As I blinked, his face filled my vision. His lips brushed against mine, a fleeting touch, and I wondered, half-annoyed, why he was doing this in front of everyone, and half-tempted to hold him back.
“I’ll be back. And one more thing.”
“What is it now?”
As I covered my mouth with my hand, wary, Cesar replied in a casual tone,
“After the hunting competition, when the situation in the Empire has settled, would you consider formally entering into an engagement with the Clovis Dukedom?”
“…What are you talking about?”
As if that was the reason he brought me here in the first place, Cesar whispered, just loud enough for me to hear,
“Why do you think I adopted you into the Witten Viscount family?”
“…Because I would attract attention as a commoner.”
“Then why do you think I brought you here and made you endure all those lessons?”
“I thought you wanted me as your… lover?”
“A lover? In other words, a mistress? I have no such intentions.”
Cesar firmly denied it and offered me a position he had never considered before.
“So, please wait a little longer. I’ll give you the confession you’ve been waiting for then.”
My Lily.