Kiz was startled by her and nearly tumbled over.
“You—you were faking sleep!”
“I wasn’t faking, I was just closing my eyes to rest…” Elia sat up straight and offered her a smile. “On the other hand, what were you trying to do, sneaking around like that?”
“I wasn’t trying to do anything!”
“Is that so? Then what was that hand reaching out for just now?”
“…I just saw something on your face and wanted to help you take it off!”
“Oh? What kind of thing?”
“…Dust!”
“Is it still there now?”
“It’s gone…”
“Really?”
“Really!”
Kiz blushed with shame and indignation. Elia, once again, couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“What are you laughing at!”
“Laughing at how cute you are. You can’t even tell a lie properly.”
“Who are you calling a liar!”
“You.” Elia gently poked Kiz’s cheek with her finger. “You clearly wanted to touch me just now, yet you won’t admit it.”
“I did not!”
“Well, I’ll let you touch me now.” Elia leaned her face closer. “Come on, where do you want to touch? My face? Hair? Or…”
Her finger slid from Kiz’s cheek to her chin, then gently tilted it upward.
“Or my lips?”
Kiz’s mind went completely blank. She looked at this adorable face so close at hand… she wanted to kiss her. When that thought surfaced, Kiz even startled herself. She abruptly pushed Elia away and took several steps back.
“Don’t—don’t get so close to me!”
“Why? Don’t you like it?” the Saint asked, tilting her head.
“I don’t like it at all!”
“Then why were you staring at me earlier?”
“I… I was just…”
“Just what?”
Kiz found herself speechless. She gave Elia a fierce glare, then turned and ran.
“I’m going to take a shower first!”
The door slammed shut once again with a loud bang. As it did, the smile on Elia’s face slowly faded. She touched her own lips. Just now… the look in Kiz’s eyes really seemed like she wanted to kiss her, and that realization made Elia’s heart skip a beat.
However, she quickly calmed down. ‘It must… just be a delusion. How could Kiz want to kiss me? The No-Bargaining Little Princess didn’t drink that much wine this time.’
That evening, in the sleeping palace.
When Kiz emerged from the bathhouse after her shower, she found Elia already lying in bed. The girl even patted the spot beside her and said, “Come here.”
Kiz looked at her warily and asked, “What for?”
“To sleep. What else would I let you on the bed for? To bite you?”
“…You aren’t going to tickle me again, are you?”
“I won’t today; I’m tired,” Elia said.
Kiz hesitated for a moment but eventually sat down on the edge of the bed. She dried her hair with her back turned to Elia. Suddenly, Elia reached out and hugged her waist from behind.
“What—what are you doing…” Kiz trembled all over from the shock.
“A hug.” Elia pressed her face against Kiz’s back. “Accompanying you to work today exhausted me. I need to charge.”
“…What is ‘charging’?”
“It means replenishing energy… Anyway, just let me hold you for a while.”
Following that, Kiz let Elia hold her. Her movements in drying her hair slowly came to a stop… Well, of course they did; her hair was already dry. What else was she supposed to do, pull her scalp off?
After a long time, Kiz asked in a small voice, “Elia… were the things you said today true?”
“Hmm? Which things?”
“About… not being a simple master-servant relationship anymore…”
At that, Elia’s hand stiffened for a moment. Then she asked with a smile, “What do you think?”
“…I—I don’t know.”
“Then do you wish for it to be true or false?”
The Princess was silenced by the question. ‘Did she wish for it to be true or false?’ Even she didn’t know the answer to that. She only knew that when she heard Elia say those things, her heart beat very fast. So fast… as if it were about to jump out of her chest.
“Kiz, if I said it was true, what would you do?”
“I don’t know…”
“Then what if I said it was false?”
Kiz’s heart sank. She bit her lip and said nothing.
“Never mind, I won’t ask anymore. Let’s get some sleep.”
Elia let go and lay back down on the bed. Kiz turned her head to see that the little Saint had already closed her eyes, her expression looking calm as if she had said nothing at all. Kiz watched her sleeping face for a long time. Then, she lay down and burrowed into the covers, her back toward Elia.
The two of them lay back-to-back, neither speaking. Outside the window, the full moon slowly rose to the highest point of the night sky. Kiz stared at the shadows on the wall, her mind an even greater mess. She didn’t know what she was thinking, nor did she know what she should do. She only knew that Elia’s influence on her… was truly becoming greater and greater.
On the other side, Elia’s mind was in even more of a mess than Kiz’s. She had… originally only intended to tease Kiz. By acting like a yandere, she wanted to make Kiz fear her, thereby gaining the upper hand to survive in this foreign land.
But now… things seemed to be spiraling out of control. She found herself liking to bully the Princess more and more… and liking the way Kiz looked when she was shy, angry, or crying. Of course, she was also becoming more concerned about Kiz’s opinion of her. ‘This… isn’t right.’
‘But is it… really not right?’
Then Elia hugged Kiz from behind. Kiz’s body stiffened as she asked, “…What are you doing?”
“It’s cold. I’m hugging you for warmth.”
“But it’s summer right now…”
“I have a cold constitution.”
Kiz stopped speaking and simply felt the body heat coming from behind her. It was… very warm, so warm it almost made her want to cry. She didn’t know why she was crying. She just… suddenly felt like it. Tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the pillow.
At that moment, Elia felt her trembling and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…”
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m not crying.”
“You clearly are.”
Elia forced her to turn around. Seeing her teary-eyed look, Elia sighed and asked, “I didn’t even bully you, so why are you crying?”
“I don’t know… I just felt like it,” Kiz whispered.
Elia reached out to wipe the tears from Kiz’s face. “Stop crying.”
“Mhm…”
“Go to sleep like a good girl.”
“…Mhm.”
Kiz obediently closed her eyes and huddled closer into Elia’s embrace. Holding her, Elia gently patted her back, just like a tender mother coaxing a child to sleep.
The next day, when Kiz woke up, she found that Elia was no longer in bed. ‘Wait? Where is she?’ She sat up quickly and looked around, only breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Elia sitting at the vanity combing her hair.
A fresh black rose had already been placed by the little Saint’s ear.
“Are you awake? Go wash up quickly; we have guests coming again today.”
“Who is it this time?”
“Messengers from the Dwarf Clan. They say they’re here to discuss a trade agreement.”
Kiz let out a heavy sigh. ‘More work… annoying work… sigh.’
Elia had already changed her clothes… It was still a white Lolita dress, but today’s style was a bit different. The hem was shorter, the neckline was lower, and a black ribbon was tied around it.
“What are you doing dressed like that?” Kiz asked with a frown.
“Does it not look good?” Elia even performed a little twirl.
“It’s too revealing.”
“Is it?” Elia looked down at herself. “I think it’s fine.”
Kiz glared at her with a fierce gaze. This made the Saint’s smile grow even more radiant. “Are you jealous again?”
“Who are you calling jealous!”
“Then why do you care what I wear?”
“Because… because dressing like that will make me lose face!”
“Oh, then shall I go change into something else?”
“…Go change, quickly!”
Elia walked into the side room with a smile. When she emerged, she had changed into a more conservative dress. Only then did Kiz nod with satisfaction. “That’s more like it.”
“Are you satisfied now?”
“…Mhm.”
“Then let us go, Princess.”
Though Elia was smiling, she didn’t feel like laughing at all on the inside… That outfit earlier had been a deliberate test for Kiz, and as it turned out, the Princess really did react to it. Coupled with how Kiz seemed to want to kiss her earlier…
In other words, from the look of things, it was very likely that Kiz actually did have those kinds of feelings for her, and she was simply a tsundere who refused to admit it. Of course, it was also possible that, just as Kiz said, she was merely afraid of losing face as a Blood Princess…
If it were the latter, that would be fine, but if it were the former… how on earth should she respond to those feelings? She truly did not know.