“It’s delicious!”
“…I’m glad!”
Only after hearing Ellie’s reaction did Rilkea finally let her shoulders relax from all the tension.
It didn’t taste exactly the same as the one her brother made, but it was pretty close.
And it made her feel almost as happy as when she drank the tea her brother made for her.
“Try it. It’s good.”
Ellie offered it to the boy who was just staring at the teacup.
“Yes.”
But the boy only touched the cup to his lips and pulled it away again, without drinking.
Just one sip would make him feel so much better.
Feeling a bit frustrated, Ellie set the teacup down and stared at the boy.
He was still looking down at some corner of the table. It was a perfect refusal.
It felt like looking at a walnut you could never crack with bare hands.
Still, Ellie didn’t give up.
“Um.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Ellie realized she didn’t know the boy’s name.
“What’s your name?”
“…You didn’t know?”
The boy lifted his head with a baffled look.
“Oh.”
Their eyes met as a result.
“Your eyes are pretty.”
A compliment slipped out before she could stop herself.
Up close, the boy’s eyes were a blue that looked like the sky or like a lake on a clear day.
In the center, the color was deep like water, but where the light hit, it turned a pale sky color, like clouds were covering it.
At her compliment, the boy frowned and lowered his gaze again.
It was such a shame she couldn’t keep looking at those beautiful sapphire-like eyes.
“My name is Cleus. I am the Duke of Berndt.”
‘Berndt… Berndt…?’
It was a name she had heard before.
The name Cleus sounded new to her, but the Berndt family had appeared in the books several times.
They were described as a house powerful enough to rival the royal family.
But maybe they weren’t important in Princess Ellia’s life, because they were only mentioned briefly.
‘When were they mentioned again?’
It wasn’t anything very important.
Ellie stared hard at Cleus, trying to bring back her memory.
“……”
But the more she looked…
Nothing came to mind except that he was really handsome.
“Hey, Cleus.”
“I am the Duke of Berndt.”
“Yeah, I know. Duke of Berndt, Cleus. Anyway, Cleus, listen.”
“…Please address me by my title, Your Highness.”
“Why?”
“A name is only allowed between people who are very close.”
If Ellie stepped one foot over the line, he would draw the line twice as thick.
“But I want to get close to you, Duke of Berndt. So can’t we start by using your name, and then become that close from now on?”
Tired of his cautious line-drawing, Ellie just jumped completely over the line.
Cleus was so shocked his expression didn’t even have time to settle, and his eyes widened.
“Is… that not allowed?”
Ellie, suddenly timid again, asked nervously.
But Cleus’s once-cool eyes began to burn fiercely.
“…How could you say something like that.”
“Why…?”
“We are not people who can be that close.”
His voice was so cold that Ellie shrank back.
“Why can’t we be that close?”
Cleus’s eyes sharpened even further.
It was pure anger.
But the more Ellie tried to show friendliness, the angrier Cleus became.
‘There’s something. There’s definitely something!’
At this point, maybe Princess Ellia had hit him not just once, but several times.
“Are you asking because you truly don’t know?”
If she said she didn’t know, he looked like he’d get angry beyond repair.
But she really didn’t know.
Ellie hurried to explain herself.
“You know, the truth is… I lost my memory.”
“…What…?”
At those words, Cleus—who had been radiating icy hostility—froze.
This was her chance. Ellie quickly began rattling off an explanation.
“It’s true. They said it was because of an accident, but I don’t remember anything. I remember a few things, but Cle—no, the Duke of Berndt—I can’t quite remember you.”
“…Is that really true?”
“Why would I lie? I’m confused too.”
She had managed to get by so far, but as time passed, the fact that she didn’t have Princess Ellia’s memories would become more and more obvious.
Even now, Baroness Laval kept being surprised, saying Ellie was acting differently than before.
“W-what?!”
And Rilkea , who had been quietly hiding her presence in the corner, burst out in shock.
“I’m sorry for interrupting, Your Highness, but… is that true?”
Guards usually wait outside the door.
Right after Ellie woke up, during the commotion, Rilkea had been outside. There hadn’t been any time for word to spread that Ellie had lost her memory, so her reaction made sense.
“You mean you don’t remember anything?”
“I do remember some things… They said it might come back with time.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Rilkea let out a sigh of relief.
“You must be having such a hard time… suddenly thrown into all of this without your memories…”
“Yeah…”
It was hard.
She hadn’t just become some ordinary noble girl overnight—she had become the princess who would one day carry the kingdom, the future queen.
The more she realized how different things were from what she knew through books, the more she felt how overwhelming the situation really was.
“But I’ll stay by your side until all your memories return!”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Ellie beamed at Rilkea.
Rilkea reflexively smiled back.
Between them, Cleus couldn’t smile at all. He glanced at the two of them with a sour expression and lowered his head to the table again.
“Then why do you want to be friends with me if you don’t even have your memories?”
Cleus spoke first for the first time.
Ellie’s eyes sparkled as she quickly shifted her attention from Rilkea to Cleus.
“Because we’re the same age?”
“If it’s about age, there are plenty of people my age. What I want to know is why it has to be me.”
“There are more besides the Duke of Berndt? Earlier…”
At the funeral hall, Cleus had been the only one.
“Today was an event only people with noble titles could attend.”
“…Oh.”
“If the only reason was our age, then may I take my leave now?”
If Cleus was right, she had no reason to keep him here.
He had just caught her eye, that was all…
She simply wanted to get close to him…
But if she answered that honestly, Cleus would probably leap up and storm out right away.
She needed a more decisive, fateful reason.
So Ellie blurted out what she had been holding back.
“I wanted to know why you hate me!”
“……”
Cleus’s eyebrow twitched.
But he didn’t immediately try to leave.
Instead, a freezing chill settled over the table, as if ice were forming on top.
“How could I possibly like Your Highness?”
“…So how many times did I hit you?”
“Hit? You? Hitting me?”
Cleus openly scoffed.
Only then did Ellie really look at Cleus’s body—bigger than most people his age.
Ah… maybe not…
The current Ellie was different, but Princess Ellia had been so weak she couldn’t even hold a cup properly.
She wouldn’t have had the strength to punch someone like Cleus and make him hold a grudge.
“If I didn’t hit you, then why do you hate me?!”
Then how on earth had she earned such deep resentment that he didn’t even want to meet her eyes?
Ellie couldn’t come up with anything no matter how hard she imagined.
At her question, Cleus bit his lip.
He was debating whether to say it.
Oh—finally, his real feelings were about to slip out.
“Tell me! I don’t want to be hated for no reason, especially when I don’t even remember!”
“……”
“Please? Please? Pleaaase?”
Ellie pressed him relentlessly.
Cleus opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally spoke.
“You can’t erase the debt your royal family owes mine just by acting like this. I will never forgive the royal family!”
“But why?”
“To apologize or make amends, I need to at least know what happened.”
Cleus hesitated, then met Ellie’s clear eyes and made up his mind.
Those eyes weren’t lying.
They weren’t the eyes of someone trying to trick him with some scheme.
He wondered if he should really be revealing his true feelings like this, but… everyone already knew. There was no reason to hide it.
She didn’t know, so he would tell her.
“A little while ago… I lost my parents too.”
“…Huh?”
“The former Duke Berndt and the duchess died at the same time, so as their only son, I became the duke.”
It was a much bigger problem than she expected.
Ellie’s eyes widened in shock.
“W–when?”
“Not long ago.”
“That must have been… really painful…”
Ellie looked at Cleus with eyes already welling up.
“Y-Your Highness mustn’t speak like that!”
She had only wanted to comfort him, but Cleus burst out instead.
“Why not?”
“Because they died because of the late king and queen!”
“What?!”
Ellie’s eyes grew even wider, and her tears stopped altogether.
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