* * *
“If you act like this just from a simple kiss, you’ll never manage anything else.”
Hesia’s face turned bright red, as if it were about to burst, at my playfully whispered words.
I hadn’t said anything special, but the way he acted as if he had been harassed was both cute and amusing.
“H-how can you say something like that so casually… Vivi, don’t you have any Siame?!”
I listened quietly to his stammered words, then rested my head on his knee.
The face I looked at, with my head tilted slightly, seemed like it would pop if I just poked it.
I stared at his flustered expression and gave a slight smile.
“So you have thought about it?”
“……”
“Aha.”
‘So you think about those things too, you’ve all grown up now.’
I held back the laughter that was about to erupt and whispered teasingly.
Hesia’s eyes drooped as if he couldn’t take my reaction anymore.
Then, he hid his face between his raised knees.
I couldn’t tell if he thought hiding his face would completely hide everything, or if he was trying to garner sympathy with his cuteness.
If it was the latter, it was quite effective.
“You’re so cute I could die. Do other people know that you’re this adorable, Sia? Hmm?”
I asked with a mischievous smile, even though I knew perfectly well that they wouldn’t.
Hesia, still hiding his face, made a humming sound and then slightly lifted his head just enough for his eyes to be visible.
“Do they know?”
I giggled at his slightly prickly voice, which sounded like he was regressing to his childhood, and leaned my head on Hesia’s shoulder.
Since Hesia was hunched up, I also had to lower my body.
Hesia’s body stiffened at the close distance, where we could feel each other’s warm breath.
I smiled a little at his transparent reaction felt through his clothes, and then closed my eyes.
The corner of the alley, where people didn’t frequently pass, was untouched by the sunlight.
I hummed a tune, feeling the breeze, carrying the hot sun characteristic of the Duchy, brush against my cheek.
Slowly, slowly.
The strength gradually left Hesia’s body as I hummed.
Leaning my face on his shoulder, which was much taller than me even when he was hunched, was a bit uncomfortable.
I instinctively shifted my body, and Hesia, sensing it, lowered his shoulder.
I curved my lips upward at his thoughtfulness and leaned on him a little more comfortably than before.
“Ah, my clothes must be getting dirty.”
Because the alley was quiet from lack of foot traffic, dust had accumulated there.
At my muttered words, realizing this fact belatedly, Hesia’s low voice replied.
“It’s okay. Clothes can just be thrown away.”
“You’ve become a proper Prince.”
“I didn’t treat clothes carefully even when I wasn’t a Prince.”
“Is that a boast?”
“I’m just saying.”
I wondered if he was actually boasting about such a thing.
At my question, asked with my eyebrows furrowed while my eyes were still closed, Hesia added defensively.
Well, the Sia who lived under my protection loved to rummage through the garden the most.
Even if I dressed him in new clothes every morning, he would return to the castle looking as dirty as someone who had slept on the street.
An old memory suddenly came to mind, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
I could feel Hesia, who had been quietly offering his shoulder to me, giving me a questioning look.
I slowly opened my eyes, looked at the dust floating in the air, and answered.
“Just, I was thinking about the past. Even though I dressed you in pretty clothes every morning, you came back a mess when you returned to the castle.”
“Ah, that time.”
Hesia muttered as if he remembered and gave an awkward laugh.
“I was wandering through the garden and searching through places people didn’t often go.”
“I know. You were exploring and roaming the castle. You didn’t even eat properly.”
Hesia widened his eyes at my casual remark.
Considering what I learned while living with him for a while… he was surprised that I remembered even things like that.
“It’s about you, how could I forget?”
“…Was I that pretty?”
A somewhat disjointed remark came back.
I tilted my head, wondering what he meant, then let out a small laugh.
The conclusion I reached after pondering was simple.
He was asking if I treated him so well because he was pretty. It was a very self-loving thing to say.
If a cat that had received love its entire life could talk, wouldn’t it say something like that?
It was a strange question, and I contemplated giving him a strange answer, but decided to just tell him the truth.
“Yes, you were pretty. So, so pretty and precious that I couldn’t possibly treat you carelessly.”
Hesia slowly blinked at my soft whisper.
He looked at me, lost in thought, to see if he had heard correctly, and then, realizing he had indeed heard correctly, Hesia’s face flushed red again.
His pale face, unbelievably white for someone from the sun-drenched Duchy, easily turned red.
Was it because his face was so fair?
I tilted my head, thinking that, and raised my hand.
When I gently lifted the hair covering his forehead, I could see that the heat had spread to his forehead, telling me he was still like a child.
His heavily flushed face was truly amazing.
As I stared, the face that I thought couldn’t get any redder slowly transformed into a deeper color.
“D-don’t look.”
“Why are you stammering?”
“Do I have to say it for you to know?”
“Yes.”
Hesia wore a look of utter exasperation at my easygoing reply.
I barely held back the laugh that wanted to escape at his utterly honest reaction.
When I looked at him with a facade of innocence, Hesia frowned at me and then sighed, muttering.
“It’s because I like you.”
“……”
“It’s because I like you…”
Hesia said, his face redder than a person stripped bare and left on the street.
I quietly took in his face, then slowly curved my eyes into a smile.
“You are truly honest.”
“And? Do you dislike it?”
“No. I just… find it a little scary.”
Hesia looked confused at my trailing remark.
I didn’t bother to answer him and just shrugged my shoulders.
“What? Why don’t you tell me properly?”
“You need to practice figuring things out for yourself, too.”
“What is that supposed to mean!”
Leaving Hesia, who was vehemently protesting as expected, I abruptly stood up.
Hesia, who remained sitting cross-legged on the floor, pouted his lips, regardless of whether I stood up or not.
“Vivi is always doing whatever she wants.”
“And? Do you dislike it?”
I threw Hesia’s own words right back at him.
At my words, Hesia was momentarily unable to reply, then muttered like a sigh.
“How could I? How could I ever dislike you? I can’t do that.”
He said he can’t do it, not that he won’t.
Hesia smiled slightly, speaking with clear articulation as if making sure I heard every word.
“You, Vivi, you understand the difference, right?”
Hesia looked at me with a relieved expression, certain that I would.
I had intended to tease him but was unexpectedly shot down myself.
I looked at Hesia with a conflicted expression, then let out a small laugh.
“Of course I understand. Should we head back to the castle now?”
I naturally changed the subject.
Hesia stared at me from his position on the floor, then nodded his head.
“Let’s go.”
“Are you disappointed?”
Though he readily agreed to go, I couldn’t miss the regret tingeing Hesia’s voice.
Hesia honestly nodded at my casually tossed question.
Watching his small head move up and down, I gently stroked his chin.
“Good boy, right? We can just come out again next time.”
Hesia obediently nodded at my humming whisper.
While doing so, he subtly rubbed his face into my palm.
Feeling his warm breath against my hand, I helped Hesia stand up.
He readily followed my lead and got up.
I’m not sure why.
I approached the knights who were standing a little distance away, staring into the empty air.
“Why are you knights standing around like that? Is there something in the sky?”
At my question, asked with an arched eyebrow, one of the knights mumbled to himself.
“Because the two of you have such a good relationship…”
Simply put, they couldn’t bear to watch their superior’s public display of affection.
I burst into hearty laughter at the honest answer.
Perhaps it was because they were Hesia’s knights.
They completely resembled their superior’s personality.
Hesia held onto me, who couldn’t control my laughter, and wore a puzzled expression.
And the knights were the same.
The knights of the Ducal Territory were all hostile towards me.
After only seeing people like that, I couldn’t help but laugh seeing these gentle knights who resembled their master.
They’re so gentle, how do they even fight the heretics…?
I had seen with my own eyes how well they eliminated the heretics, but I couldn’t help but think that.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I thought you all resembled each other.”
“What?”
“Excuse me?”
Different yet similar reactions burst forth from both sides.
‘They really are similar,’ I thought, and chuckled softly, causing Hesia to look disbelieving.
“How could I possibly be the same as those whose minds are filled with nothing but swords?”
“How could we possibly be the same as Your Highness, who treats us like this?”
“In my view, you’re six of one and half a dozen of the other.”
“Vivi!”
“No!”
I ignored the clamor bursting out all around me with a smile on my face.
They are so similar.
How are they different?
I let out a light laugh watching these people who were clearly a direct superior and his subordinates.
Even so, the knights and Hesia were still bickering over how they couldn’t possibly be the same.
“Ah, it’s a lovely day.”
I ignored them and hummed a tune.
* * *
