IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 14

After leaving the theater, we ordered the most expensive course at the restaurant Julian had reserved.

Though the food from the ducal chef was good too, at these new flavors I devoured dinner so enthusiastically I nearly licked the plates clean.

Perhaps because it was hot, sherbet and ice cream came for dessert, and I pulled Julian's sherbet toward me.

Alternating between eating both, I wiggled my shoulders happily. Julian seemed worried I might get a stomachache from eating too much, but a little overeating once or twice wouldn't cause problems.

"Daddy, want a bite?"

When I scooped up ice cream generously and offered it to Julian, he opened his mouth as if asking to be fed.

The ice cream had melted a little so I was nervous, but it safely reached Julian's mouth without dropping on the tablecloth.

'Oh my, he's handsome too.'

Though he usually made such foolish expressions and I'd gotten used to seeing him for years, his mysterious silver hair and deep purple eyes were still drool-worthy beauty.

"Slurp"

I wiped my mouth to hide my drooling, and chocolate ice cream got on my sleeve.

Though I'd worked hard to fix the slurred pronunciation typical of young children due to communication issues, my hand muscles hadn't fully developed yet, so I often got food on myself or spilled when eating.

Moreover, brown stains on the light yellow dress I wore today were fatal.

Seeing me frown, Julian wiped my mouth with a napkin. I licked my sticky lips with my tongue and continued eating ice cream.

"Did you enjoy your date with Daddy today?"

"Yes, I liked it."

"Daddy also really, really loved dating alone with Tilly."

"Mmm, but......"

"But?"

"Royna couldn't date with Daddy, so stay by Royna's side at night."

At those words, Julian was so moved he didn't notice one corner of my mouth slightly rising.

By pawning Royna off on Julian just now, the person in charge of putting me to sleep changed from Julian to the nanny.

Usually Roxana was in charge of bedtime, reading me one fairy tale book every night.

But since Roxana wasn't here, either Julian or the nanny would fill that spot, and Julian's storytelling was too noisy. Though he read objectively very well, what I preferred wasn't exaggerated storytelling but reading in a low, calm tone.

'The nanny's lullaby is a hundred, a thousand times better.'

"Tilly, aren't you jealous anymore even if Mom and Dad love your little sister?"

"......Huh?"

I was happily celebrating my successful evasion of Julian when his sudden question made me question back.

"What do you mean?"

"You were in the baby room first this morning too. You used to absolutely refuse to go unless we took you. I wondered if you started liking your little sister now."

"......"

"......Is that not it?"

It seemed the adults thought my avoiding Royna had been an extension of jealousy.

'Come to think of it, I did cry loudly when I first saw Royna. They might think that way.'

Having nothing to say, I nodded in agreement, and Julian smiled brightly and asked.

"Then is it okay now if Mom and Dad stay with your little sister?"

"You've been staying together anyway."

"Not that...... Um, would it be okay to stay in the baby room a little longer?"

I didn't understand why my permission was even needed for that, but I told him to go ahead. At my answer, Julian's expression brightened as he praised me for being a good big sister. I soothed the strange awkwardness with the sweetness of ice cream.

"Your birthday is coming up soon, isn't it, our good Tilly?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Is there anything you want to eat or have? Daddy will buy you anything."

At Daddy's offer to buy me anything, I almost fell into unnecessary sentiment again, but I shook my head vigorously and said I didn't particularly want anything.

For everyone's sake, I was trying not to overlap our family with my current family anymore.

However, Julian didn't seem to give up easily and pestered me to tell him anything I wanted.

"On my birthday...... I hope it snows."

"Sn, snow?"

"Yes, snow."

In my previous life, I was quite amusingly born on Christmas.

'Thanks to that, our mom was happy she could handle birthday and Christmas presents all at once.'

Instead, she always gave me better presents than my older brother. Though our family was non-religious and I'd never believed in Santa, Christmas presents were important to kids.

Just once, when I was in elementary school, it snowed on Christmas day, and that day felt like I received two presents. Christmas present and birthday present. But since my current birthday was in October, it was impossible for snow to fall.

"Anything else besides that?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes, nothing."

"Don't you want toys or dolls or anything?"

"......Not really. Just snow."

Forcibly swallowing the sticky sweetness in my mouth, I wished for impossible autumn snow.

When something struck the carriage window, Rayan, who had been holding onto the curtain, quickly backed away from the window.

However, the problem wasn't the window. The horse, startled by the attack, lost control and began racing wildly. Having lost his only support when he let go of the curtain, Rayan fell from the seat and could only roll around on the carriage floor.

Rayan instinctively curled up his body, trying to protect his head.

"Huu......"

Though he was terrified, Rayan made no sound other than small whimpers. Something was pounding on the door of the racing carriage.

It seemed like a signal to open the door, but he had no room to open it and knew he'd die if he did. However, the persistent pursuer eventually broke the carriage door and forced it open.

"Your Highness!"

At the first unfamiliar low, sharp voice, Rayan, who had been lying face down, slightly lifted his head.

A short blonde woman who had persistently chased the carriage extended her hand to Rayan.

"Come this way quickly!"

"......"

A hand wearing hard gauntlets was extended. Not knowing the carriage was about to crash, Rayan didn't understand the meaning of Roxana's extended hand and stared at her blankly.

"Captain!"

A knight following Roxana desperately called to her, saying if they didn't get out now, they'd crash together.

Roxana couldn't give up on Rayan, who was still spacing out. Roxana let go of the reins and reached both arms toward Rayan.

"......Child! Please come here!"

At those words, Rayan finally came to his senses and jumped into Roxana's arms. Having rescued Rayan by a hair's breadth, Roxana held the child with one hand and grabbed the reins again with the other to calm the horse.

When the horse calmed down somewhat, Roxana dismounted.

"Captain! How could you jump into such a dangerous place?"

"Then should I have watched the Prince be in danger?"

"I said I would go! Me! Don't you know that if something happens to you over this, it might crack the relationship between the three families? You need to think about your position as Captain!"

"That's exactly why I did it. Since it was me, the mistress of Remetio, who risked myself to protect the Prince, the Empire can't find fault with us."

"......"

The knight, unable to curse in front of the child, pounded his chest in frustration. Both had escaped without major injuries, so the Empire couldn't just let slide the fact that the Prince's entourage was attacked in Imperial territory, especially near the capital.

However, if Roxana had been seriously injured in the process of saving Rayan, it really would have been a disaster. Her husband Julian would have gone wild, and the Empire would have pursued this matter to the end.

Everyone knew the attackers were from the Second Prince's faction, even if there was no evidence.

'Oh, did she calculate even that far?'

If she had considered all that in a split second, it would have been truly chilling.

As the knight looked at Roxana with a pale face, Roxana gestured toward the broken carriage with her chin. The knight vowed to tell Julian about this incident and went to the broken carriage to check the coachman's pulse.

"The carriage is done for."

Roxana took off her cloak and wrapped Rayan in it to prevent the child from seeing the corpse. Red eyes gazed at Roxana quietly through the cloak. For someone who had nearly died, his gaze was remarkably indifferent.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Your Highness?"

"......I'm fine."

"......Please let me know if anything hurts later."

"Yes."

After finishing his short, concise answer, Rayan hung his head low. Roxana could feel that he was different from the people she'd encountered so far, but anyway, he was someone she'd have to part with soon.

"Your Highness."

Matilda, wearing a dress covered with dust as if to show she'd suffered from the attack, approached Rayan. Rayan sighed imperceptibly as if he'd expected this.

"You're safe. Thank goodness."

"......Yes, this knight saved me."

"An Imperial knight?"

"That's correct."

"We were attacked by bandits and in the chaos the horse bolted...... Without the knight, I don't know what would have happened to our Prince. Thank you so much for saving the Prince."

As Matilda bowed in gratitude, Roxana smiled sweetly. Even in the midst of this, she didn't let go of Rayan in her arms.

"Not at all. I only did what I should."

"I'll inform the homeland so we can repay the distinguished Eos Knights and the Empire's grace."

Watching Matilda act humble while mentioning the relationship between the Kingdom of Celis and the Empire, Roxana suppressed a bitter laugh.

'She talks about repaying us but doesn't even ask who I am.'

Matilda hadn't even given her own name yet. By etiquette, the person of lower status should introduce themselves first.

It seemed Matilda didn't think Roxana was of higher status than her. This made her polite attitude seem even more ridiculous.

'Right, the Eos Knights are still treated like this.'

The Eos Knights, called the Swords of Dawn, were a group of knights who had fallen off the promotion track among the palace knights until Philius and Julian took power.

Since Roxana became captain, it had changed to a merit-based system based on loyalty and skill, but there was still a perception that they were relatively low-status people.

Certainly, most of the Eos Knights were commoners, with the highest status being around viscounts.

"I'll escort the Prince."

Matilda extended both arms as if asking for Rayan back. To handle this smoothly, she should have handed him over to Matilda, but Roxana's mood was already twisted beyond repair.

"Before that......"

"Yes?"

"Who are you to escort the Prince?"

"Ah, my introduction was late. I am Matilda Erind, the Prince's nanny."

"Ah, so you're Countess Erind?"

Nannies who care for children of the three families are generally granted viscount titles.

Though she'd already finished investigating who Matilda was, Roxana asked as if she didn't know.

Instead of handing Rayan to Matilda, Roxana put him down so he could stand on his own. Rayan stood beside Matilda after coming down to the ground.

"I forgot to greet you in the confusion."

"Not at all, that's understandable."

Roxana ignored Matilda's pleasantries and knelt on one knee to meet Rayan's eyes. Rayan realized that Roxana's smiling face was softly relaxed, unlike when she was talking with Matilda.

Rayan realized that the person she wanted to greet wasn't Matilda, but himself.

"......I greet you for the first time. I am Rayan of Celis."

"I am Roxana of Enfield."