“Madam Freya… It was my mistake… I should not have peeked into His Majesty’s bedroom… so, can you please come out and eat something…?”
“Stay away from me!”
Freya shouted from inside the room. She appeared to be just as angry after an entire day had gone by. She hadn’t left her room once all day and not eaten anything. Freya buried her head underneath her pillow while the sense of shame made her want to rage.
It was the first time she did that, yet to her surprise, her bodyguard discovered her doing it… She hugged her brother’s pillow and sniffed it…
‘Isn’t that just creepy…? Why…? Why…? Why did the moron have to catch me in the act? Even if the moron wouldn’t say anything, it was so shameful!’
Gerald let out a heavy sigh then placed the tray on the ground. He scratched his head
“Is it not reasonable… for a sister to like her brother…?”
“What do you know?!!”
“You are family, after all! Is it not normal for a sister to like her brother…? I will not spread it, either… nor will I feel that you are childish or anything…”
Freya sat up from her bed and scrubbed her hair in a frustrated manner. She then hopped off her bed and went to pull the door open. She looked at Gerald’s face and let out a sigh. She then exclaimed, “Do not tell anybody about it, especially Onii-sama. If word of this gets out, I swear, I will kill you, and then kill myself!”
It looked as though being wilful was pointless with the block of wood. If Freya didn’t explain it properly, he would probably tell her brother.
Gerald looked at Freya with astonishment, and then awkwardly scratched his head as he responded, “There is no need to do that, is there…? His Majesty would not say anything, even if he did find out… He is your brother, after all…”
“You can’t tell him!! You absolutely cannot tell anyone about this!!”
Freya’s serious expression frightened Gerald. Freya grabbed Gerald’s chest violently then looked at him and in a vicious tone warned, “All right, let me just be upfront with you. I like Onii-sama! Not the sister brother type of like! I like Onii-sama! How could I not fall for him after being by his side for so long?!! So you can’t tell Onii-sama about this! The Princesses is very sensitive about this sort of stuff! If they found out, I won’t be able to stay by Onii-sama’s side anymore! If you tell Onii-sama and he makes me leave, I won’t have anything to live for anymore! If that happens, I will make sure I kill you before killing myself!”
“I-Is it that serious?!”
Gerald looked at Freya with shock. Freya’s eyes started to brim with tears. She tightly gripped Gerald’s chest with her small hands. The young girl mustered up so much courage to tell him about the love that she couldn’t let anyone know of. Gerald looked at the young girl, who was crying, with a blank look. He hesitated for a moment before gently pressing his hand on Freya’s head.
“I understand now, Madam Freya. I understand your situation now.”
Gerald exchanged eye contact with her, and then earnestly went on, “I will protect your love. As your bodyguard, protecting your love is one of my duties. As long as I am by your side, I will definitely protect your love!”
Freya looked at him and hesitated for a moment before revealing a smile. She hammer fisted Gerald hard on his chest then softly said, “Is that right…? That’s the first time you’ve said something so nice after crossing me so many times…”
===================
Mom’s expression looked very normal on the way back. She seemed as though everything that happened was a dream. In reality, nothing happened. I scanned the side of mom’s face, but didn’t know what to say.
What, am I supposed to go up to her and ask, “Hey, Mom, did you just kiss with me…?”
‘How could I ask that?!’
‘Furthermore, the situation was very chaotic back there, so not even I know who I kissed. I don’t know if it was Elizabeth or Nier that I kissed… I have no idea who it was… but…. but… but based on what Nier said in response, it sounds as though the one I kissed was Mommy Elizabeth!’
‘What did that “I love you” prove…? No, no, no, that’s not what’s happening. I’m confident it’s not! Mom stills misses Inard. She’s always thinking of him, so there’s no way she would’ve said that to me. It’s got to be her motherly love for her son. Yeah, I’m certain of that!’
‘Uhm, I’m sure of it… That must be it…’
They removed their masks, and I paused to look at Mom’s cheek for a while. She noticed my gaze, so she looked back at me with her head titled and a smile, “What’s wrong, Son? Is there something on Mommy’s face?”
“No…”
I shook my head. I dawdled as I looked at Mom’s ample and glossy lips under the light.
‘Did I kiss her lips just now…?’
I looked at Mom and hesitated for a bit before saying, “I wanted to know if you had fun today, Mom.”
She paused for a bit. Maybe she was pondering the question. The corner of her mouth then crept up into a weird smile that carried the vibe of her teasing me. She touched her lips and with a smile, replied, “Of course I was happy. I got to have fun with my son, after all. Plus, I also got to taste something very nice.”
“Yeah! Yeah!” Lucia nodded with excitement, “I must admit that humanity has some really nice food. I never thought that berries could be used that way. It was, indeed, very tasty.”
“Yeah. The fireworks at the end were very pretty, too. That was my first time seeing such bright fireworks.”
‘By the sounds of it, Nier can’t forget the fireworks.’
I thought they were really nice, too. I don’t know how Freya accomplished that. I’m guessing that she used the elves’ magic. Otherwise, humans couldn’t have made such a big leap in their technology on their own… However, my attention wasn’t focused on the fireworks, because at the time I was…
Lucia nodded affirmatively in agreement and responded, “The fireworks were, indeed, so pretty! I watched the fireworks in the sky the entire time and didn’t focus on my surroundings, causing me to almost let go of you.”
Elizabeth giggled as she looked at the two of them. She shook her head and with a smile, said, “Really? Were they that pretty…? How unfortunate. I did something else not long after they started, so… I missed the ending.”
Nier looked at mom with curiosity and asked, “What were you doing at the time, Your Majesty?”
Mom looked at me, who was pale as a sheet. She giggled as if she was pulling a prank, “Obviously it was… mm… something that made me even happier than watching fireworks!”
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