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That evening.
I woke up after a long nap and wrote a letter of apology to Russphe as soon as I ate dinner.
At dinner, I asked Uncle subtly if it would be okay to go out with Russphe, yet I was ruthlessly refused.
We reconciled, but if he said no, then I couldn’t. I was sad.
Instead, he said it was okay for him to come over, so I wrote in the letter asking if Russphe could come over to see me.
“Do you want to come to my house to play? Playing with handkerchiefs like before… Gasp, you can’t look at it!”
“I’m not looking, though? I only heard what you said.”
“Gasp.”
“I’ll pretend I don’t know that too, Miss.”
Zenda covered her ears.
“…No. Zenda can look at it all.”
“Should I talk to Sophie to make a cake that day?”
“Can we do something like that?”
“Of course. A little bit of cream would be fine.”
“Do it! I should write that down too.”
And the repetition of being cold and hot really disappeared after sleeping just like Uncle said.
Even so, Serpens hadn’t shown up yet.
It would be great if Serpens would come out soon and I stop seeing the future all of a sudden.
Still, since the pain got better, I decided to wait a little longer.
“It’s done! Zenda, put this in an envelope!”
“Yes, Miss.”
I put the sealed envelope on the tray Zenda held out and waited for the day Russphe would come to play.
#6. I Found Out My Friend’s Secret!
A few days passed.
Finally, the day that I had been waiting for Russphe to come to play.
However…
“Russphe?”
“Hello, Aika. Thank you for your invitation. This is a gift.”
Russphe held out another gift to me.
“Actually, it’s the first time I’ve been invited by my friend, so I brought cookies.”
I looked at Russphe’s hair as I took the wrapped cookie.
“Thanks. But your hair…”
His hair, which was soft and fluffy like cotton candy, was parted in a 2:8 ratio.
And around his neck was a large yellow bow tie.
As I stared blankly at him, Russphe blushed at him.
“Is my hair wei…”
“It’s very pretty!”
“Ah… thanks.”
Russphe’s face grew redder.
I pulled Russphe’s hand.
“Today, let’s do something fun. We will write letters, grab handkerchiefs, and make cakes. And we’re going to play in my room too! There are so many dolls, so we can play a lot.”
“Yeah, let’s do it all.”
“Miss, shall I bring refreshments to your room?”
“Yeah, a lot! Thanks, Zenda.”
“No problem.”
“Let’s go.”
I smiled broadly and took Russphe up to my room.
“This is Uncle’s room. That’s my room. And after Uncle’s room, there is a room with lots of clothes, and I wear clothes every day there!”
I wanted to tell my first-time friend about the places I like.
Soon we arrived at my room.
“This is my room!”
“Aika’s room is pretty.”
“Hehe, Zenda decorated it beautifully. Let’s go in quickly.”
I weakly pushed Russphe’s back with both hands and said.
Russphe entered first, followed by something cold, running down my neck from behind.
“Hiiiik.”
I felt itchy and goosebumps at the same time and stopped.
“Aika, what’s wrong?”
After entering the room, Russphe turned around.
I was startled and shook my head.
“N-Nothing.”
Lepus said that only special eyes could see them, but just in case, nobody knows.
I reassured Russphe and reached out behind my back.
Nothing was caught on my back, but I knew this feeling.
Serpens!
Why did you suddenly move behind my back after pretending not to know?
I almost screamed in front of Russphe.
I have so many questions to ask, but when on earth will it show up?
I tell it every night that it can come out now, yet it doesn’t even pretend to listen!
Three days ago, I didn’t deliberately call, find, or ask it to come out.
I was also fuming.
It clearly was trying to annoy me.
Touching my back as if brushing off dust, I guided Russphe to the chair as if I had always done that, and I also sat across from him.
“I brought refreshments for the Princess and the Prince.”
I waited with my legs dangling, and soon Zenda came with a bunch of delicious food.
The moment I got excited and tried to grab a fork.
Sssssㅡ
Again, the feeling of a cold snake passed behind my back.
I was so appalled that I jumped up from the spot.
At the same time, Zenda and Russphe’s eyes were fixed on me.
“…”
Agh, how frustrating!
“…Nope.”
But even if I told them, no one would know.
I pouted, sat down again, and grabbed my fork.
Today, I absolutely must see the appearance of Serpens, I must!
With that in mind, I picked up the cookie with one hand and bit it.
At that moment, my eyes widened without realizing it.
Anger flew away.
“It’s delicious! Hurry up, Russphe, eat it too!”
I put it down, picked up a new cookie and handed it to Russphe.
Then, Russphe’s face turned red.
“Thanks.”
After receiving the cookie I offered, Russphe took a bite as well, and his eyes widened.
“It’s so delicious!”
Nod, nod.
Russphe’s reaction made me more proud.
Everything Grandma Sophie makes is delicious!
We ate snacks and lay on the carpet, drawing and folding origami using the paper and crayons Zenda brought.
Russphe was also good at drawing.
It was amazing that there was even a separate art teacher for him.
I thought I could draw whatever I wanted, but that wasn’t all.
For the tree Russphe drew, he used four colors of green and two colors of brown.
On the other hand, I ended up with one green and one brown.
Also, after drawing and folding origami, we made a dessert cake to eat with Grandma Sophie.
That was the most fun
“Russphe, look at this!”
After applying the white cream, I called Russphe.
“Huh? Aika, your face…”
As soon as Russphe turned his head towards me, he burst out laughing, pfft.
“Try it too!”
I applied the cream directly to his nose and cheeks, smiling broadly.
As I dabbed the cream on Russphe’s nose, his eyes widened and he dabbed the cream with his finger.
It was a war then.
We put down the spatula we used to apply the cream on and were busy putting the cream on our palms and smearing it on each other’s faces.
We already lost interest in the cake.
My hair was damp and the sweet scent of cream vibrated in my nose.
“My goodness!”
At the shrill cry, both I and Russphe froze.
Turning my head around, Grandma Sophie, who had brought fruit for the cake, was staring at us in amazement.
“Hee.”
As I ate half of the sweet cream and spread the other half on my face, Grandma Sophie smiled and burst into laughter.
Russphe’s hair was just as damp as mine.
“Phew, I can’t do this. You’re covered in cream. Our princess and prince are troublemakers!”
“Grandma Sophie, try it too! It’s fun!”
“Oh my!”
Even Zenda, who arrived late, was surprised to see us.
For a moment, I thought, ah, I’m gonna get scolded.
“Gasp, we’re in trouble.”
Just as expected. Zenda made a stern expression.
“Miiiss!”
In the end, we were caught by Zenda and had to clean the cream off our bodies.
“What about Russphe?”
“He’s washing in the next room. A servant is helping him. This should be erased… Miss, you need to close your eyes.”
“Won’t it come off?”
I closed my eyes tightly and asked Zenda, who lathered the cream off my hair.
“It will come off, but I’m worried that the smell of the cream will remain.”
“I love the smell of cream!”
After spraying water and squinting, Zenda glared.
I laughed bashfully at Zenda.
Then Zenda looked at me and smiled as if she had given up.
“My tomboy Miss. If your eyes are sore, you have to tell me.”
“Hihi, yes. I’ll do a little bit next time.”
I closed my eyes again and quietly entrusted my body to Zenda.
Russphe had also returned clean.
When I came back from washing, Russphe said that he would have been in trouble if he hadn’t brought his own clothes.
In the end, though, Kamaye also laughed at the two of us who were washed clean.
I was bored playing outside alone, so I always played inside, but when Russphe came, I wanted to play in the garden too.
Perhaps because of the warm water, my energy was up and my body was itching.
“Shall we play outside now?”