[A few weeks ago...]
"WHAT IS it?" Lewis asked Lady Hanna awkwardly. "You're not the type to stare at other people, Lady Hanna."
"I want to say something, but I'm afraid it might offend you."
He avoided the young lady's gaze, and then he stared into the pond in front of him.
Right now, the two of them were in Princess Neoma's favorite pavilion by the pond. The Imperial Princess granted Lady Hanna access to that place.
[Only a few are allowed here.]
"Can I say it, Lewis?"
"Go ahead, ma'am."
"You don't need to speak so formally to me, you know?"
"I have to get used to talking formally to the future Duchess Hanna Quinzel."
"You don't have to do that," Lady Hanna said while shaking her head. "Of course, you must talk to me formally in front of an audience. But if it's only the two of us, or if we're just with our friends, then you may talk to me casually."
"My informal speech is quite crude," Lewis said bluntly. "I learned from Princess Neoma, after all."
The young future duchess laughed softly.
Lewis couldn't help but compare the difference between how Princess Neoma and Lady Hanna laughed.
Princess Neoma often laughed like a villainess.
However, Lady Hanna's laugh always sounded expensive and elegant.
[It's nice to hear.]
Of course, Princess Neoma's laugh was also music to his ears.
"You may even call me by my first name without honorifics, Lewis," Lady Hanna said cheerfully. "Isn't it about time for us to be on a first-name basis? You call your "siblings" by their first names."
Hmm.
Lewis tilted his head to one side while reminiscing a memory that he would never ever forget in his entire life. "This reminds me of the time Princess Neoma asked me to always call her by her title. Princess Neoma didn't give me permission to call her by her first name."
"Why?"
"Because, back then, Princess Neoma was a neglected princess. Princess Neoma told me to always call her by her title so she wouldn't forget that she was the empire's one and only Imperial Princess."
"I see. But Neoma isn't a neglected princess anymore. If you ask, I'm sure she'll grant you the permission to call her by her first name."
"Huh?"
"You make me want to protect you..."
Lewis wasn't offended, but he frowned.
[Do I look weak?]
"You said you won't get mad."
"I'm not mad, though?"
"You're frowning."
"I just don't know how to react."
"It's not a bad thing, you know?"
Lewis let out a sigh. "Give me one benefit of "looking pretty" when I cry, Lady Hanna."
"You can melt Neoma's heart with just one cry, Lewis," Lady Hanna said, obviously teasing him. "Neoma likes pretty faces— so, I'm sure a crying pretty boy is one of her weaknesses."
***
[Present...]
"ARE YOU SMILING, COMMANDER?"
"I'm not," Lewis said indifferently in response to Juri's question. "I just remembered something amusing."
Talks with Lady Hanna were always amusing to him.
[Lady Hanna makes me talk a lot.]
"Whatever, Commander," Juri said, rolling her eyes. "So, what is this trick you're talking about?"
Lewis just walked towards the mirage of Princess Neoma instead of talking.
Fortunately, the mirage neither attacked nor avoided him.
He then stopped in front of the fake Imperial Princess, leaving a decent space between them.
"Please help us beat the fake Commander Ruto," Lewis said, looking straight into the fake Princess Neoma's eyes. And then a single tear rolled down his left eye. "Please protect us... Mother."
***
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