CH 263

「From now on, you must not separate from me, alright?」

After that, I was brought by Prince Ray back to the assembly hall where I have been severely scolded by Oniisama.

… S, so embarrassing…

I hope rumors about the「Duke’s daughter that got lost in the royal palace」won’t be spreading after today.

The surrounding young ladies are also surely gossiping things like「Does she not feel ashamed by getting lost at that age?」, aren’t they…

Feeling uneasy about what the young ladies were talking about, I did my best to listen carefully and what I heard was…

「How nice… I also want to be worried about by Norman-sama…」

… Huh? That’s quite different from what I was imagining? … Isn’t that last young lady a bit dangerous!??

「Come now, she’s safe, isn’t it fine already? It seems Leo has taken her along」

Yes! That’s right! Prince Ray understands~!

「No, it’s not fine. Mainly because I told Cristea to stay here in the first place」

I was told that, but it’s not like it’s possible to go against a physiological phenomenon…

「Even if she had to unavoidably leave, she should have at least left a verbal message with the royal guardsman at the door, right? I didn’t know what to do when I didn’t see her anywhere. The presence of that person is also too strong, so I couldn’t tell that Cristea was by his side…」

Ah, I see. Oniisama was searching for my location. However, the presence of Sacred Beast-sama’s magical power was just too powerful, so he couldn’t find me… he must have been quite worried… I did something inexcusable then…

「Are you listening to me? Cristea」

「Y, yes!?」

「… His Majesty and Liliana-sama are going to come here to give us some congratulatory words soon. You must not leave the hall, okay?」

「Yes… eh?」

The royal couple are coming here?

「Everyone, quiet! His Majesty is going to arrive in a short time, so make sure not to be impolite!」

Before I could mentally prepare myself, Otousama arrived and warned everyone in a loud voice. When everyone knelt in just a short while, we followed.

「Oh, no need to be this formal. Everyone, relax」

His Majesty’s voice resounded around the hall immediately after he entered, so everyone raised their heads and stood up.

「I am very happy to see that you are entering the New Year in a good health. This goes for each and every one of the citizens…」

Although not loud, he started giving congratulatory words with a clear voice that carried around the hall.

… Hee… so that person is His Majesty.

Lily-sama has been cheerfully smiling next to him.

… Oh, he resembles Prince Ray… that’s not it, Prince Ray takes after his father, huh… will Prince Ray turn out like that when he grows up? Heee… hooo…

Standing behind him was Otousama… with wrinkles on his glabella increasing… what’s the matter?

Ah, Otousama noticed us.

…? What is that, why did he sigh…? What meaning did that have?

… I can only have a bad feeling though!?