/
Tatiana also offered madeleine to the other two men, to be fair to them, and to prevent them from complaining.
“And here’s Siegfried, and Cesar, too.”
“Thank you.”
” I will eat well.”
The two men smiled broadly and accepted the madeleine.
As they did so, they sneaked a glance at Kirios…….
‘Kirios, you’re not the only one being favored.’
‘Miss Tatiana likes everyone equally, do you understand?’
As if they were saying that.
‘Ha, I’m tired, really…….’
Tatiana looked at the three heroes alternately with cold eyes. Of course, she didn’t forget to smile all the while, her lips twitching at the edges.
Then.
“Um, the Imperial family has sent a message.”
The servant, who approached cautiously, inclined his head politely.
“They want to apologize for what happened at the victory party, so they’ve asked for your presence.”
Again?
The faces of the three warriors, as well as Tatiana’s, who had been beaming the entire time, fell into a deep scowl.
* * *
The day had come for our imperial audience.
I looked at the three warriors with the eyes of a hawk.
‘Hmm, since I fed Kirios the madeleine first last time…….’
I passed over Kirios.
‘Should I go with Cesar then?’
I thought for a moment and shook my head.
‘No, Cesar was my escort at the victory party a while back.’
Then the answer is Siegfried!
I rushed over and grabbed him by the sleeve.
“Siegfried.”
“What?”
Siegfried glanced down at me.
I reflexively smiled broadly as our gazes met.
“So, am I taking a carriage ride with Siegfried today?”
“…….”
Huh?
I tilted my head.
Why was he taking such deep breaths all of a sudden? Was he out of breath?
At the same time, Siegfried gave me a big hug.
“Sure, why not.”
His tone was blunt, but his touch was soothing.
Besides…….
‘What, the tips of your ears are red?’
Feeling unnecessarily playful, I resisted the urge to poke my finger into his auricle.
There was no need to embarrass him.
Siegfried carefully helped me into the carriage chair and sat down next to me.
Kirios and Cesar were quick to protest.
“What, why are you sitting next to the little kid?”
“That’s right, sneaking in to sit next to Miss Tati……!”
“Enough.”
I interrupted the conversation coldly.
“Last time, I gave Kirios the Madeleine first, and before that, Cesar escorted Tati.”
I pointed my finger at them, one by one, and Kirios and Cesar fell silent, if only in displeasure.
‘Eh, warriors… they’re so hard to mediate.’
I shook my head inwardly.
I’ve noticed lately that they’re surprisingly childish.
If you leave them alone, they’ll argue endlessly.
So, if I wanted to get things done quickly, I’d rather clear the road.
But–
‘No, you’re telling me that the person who needs to apologize wants me to come to him?’
I pouted disgruntledly.
The reason why I had been invited by the Imperial Household to visit with the three warriors in the first place, was to get an apology for the incident between that brat Rudolph and myself.
Well, to be more precise, I’m an excuse.
The three were extremely pissed, so I assume that’s why they’re here.
‘The emperor himself sent a letter of apology, and you ignored it, didn’t you?’
I was really surprised at the time, to be honest.
But that’s the thing.
It’s true that people in the imperial family tend to be bad, right?
‘Seriously, what kind of people are they?’
I clicked my tongue and suddenly remembered Lakius.
By the way, I hope Lakius is doing well.
I’m sure he’s having a hard time, maybe even crying because of the queen’s restrictions.
How much trouble did he have to go through to visit me?
Actually, I was worried about this, and I had asked Lakius about it before.
‘It’s okay.’
Lakius had answered at once.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘You don’t look like it’s okay.’
After a few moments of silence, Lakius broke into his habitual smile. It was a tired, dry smile, not at all the smile of an eight-year-old boy.
‘Well, the Empress was a little upset, but…… there was no one else to visit Miss Tatiana but me.’
Though Lakius put it rather bluntly.
‘It hurts the pride of the emperor, queen and Rudolph to come to apologize to a child who doesn’t even know the basics.’
I think that’s roughly what he meant.
‘So, since Rudolph refused to come and visit me, it provided Lakius with an excuse to visit me.’
‘I can only apologize to Miss Tatiana.’
Lakius bowed to me once more.
I was at a loss for words.
No, he was just a victim.
The victim bows to me instead of the perpetrator, while the real perpetrator stays behind.
What an absurd situation.
‘Oh, I feel like I’ve eaten a hundred sweet potatoes!’
( T/N : Idiom: it’s increasingly used as an adjective or a noun to express the speaker’s frustrated or impatient feeling about a situation or a person.)
I grumbled but pulled myself together.
‘It’s okay, at least I get to see Lakius today.’
If the imperial family is treating Lakius so badly, I should be treating him well!
If I keep racking up the points like this, maybe our male lead will warm up to me and the death flag will disappear?
I clenched my fists, determined.
* * *
……I had definitely decided that.
I looked in the other direction, despairing.
Why was there no sign of Lakius, and only that stupid emperor, the queen and Rudolph greeting us?
‘Not again.’
I pulled my lips into a grim line.
They’re deliberately excluding Lakius, pretending to be a harmonious family of their own, hahahahaha. Isn’t that just a little too pretentious?
“Welcome, everyone.”
The emperor smiled and greeted us.
“So, is the child’s body all right?”
Even as he asked the question, the emperor’s gaze was only on the three heroes.
‘What, am I invisible?’
I rolled my eyes.
At the same time, Siegfried’s eyebrows furrowed.
“It seems as though she’s suffered a lot and is still slightly under the weather,” Siegfried spat out.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
For a moment, there was a frightening silence.
The members of the imperial family glanced at each other warily.
I blinked, dumbfounded.
‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘Siegfried’s got a backbone, too.’
I mean, that’s what it is, right?
I’m not even fully recovered, and you’re asking me to visit you, so you can apologize to me.
Isn’t that what you’re asking about?
Then Kirios and Cesar spoke up, one by one, almost like they needed to be listened to.
“Our little one, I mean Tatiana, has had a hard time getting here.”
“Apparently, her body has not fully recovered, and she found the long carriage ride difficult.”
The Emperor and Empress looked grim, and Rudolph looked like he’d been sitting on a thorny cushion.
‘Ugh…….’
I rolled my eyes.
Well, to be honest, I’ve already healed up.
If this is the mood we’re in…….
“Cough, cough!”
I coughed a couple of times, pretending to still be sick.
The three warriors looked down at me with a concerned look on their faces.
“Tatiana, are you all right?” Siegfried asked, and I batted my eyelashes pitifully.
“No, I’m fine, but…… Siegfried.”
Then, pretending to be a little intimidated, I gently grabbed him by the collar.
“How long does Tati have to stay with the Second Prince?”
I sneaked a glance in the direction of the queen and Rudolph, hoping to be seen by them.
“I’m a little scared…….”
At that, Siegfried’s face hardened into a murderous grimace.
Rudolph stiffened his shoulders.
“He got mad at me for lying to him and tried to hit me.”
“……Tatiana.”
“And told me that I was a lowly thing in front of the First Prince…….” I muttered in a low voice, and, as if on cue, the queen interrupted the conversation.
“Even if he did say so, he was going to apologize to Miss Tatiana, isn’t that right, Rudolph?”
The queen’s eyes lit up as she pressed her son.
Rudolph blushed bright red and apologized.
” I-I’m sorry.”
I looked at Rudolph through wet eyes.
“Second Prince, are you apologizing to Tati?”
“Yes, I was wrong. Eh?”
Rudolph apologized again.
I looked at the imperial family with a blank stare.
“‘Alright, but why isn’t the First Prince here?”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence descended once more.
The emperor looked somewhat perplexed, and dark irritation flashed across the faces of the Queen and Rudolph.
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