--King's castle, Futa's private room.

　That day, Futa was waiting in his room until his appointment with Lilac.

　Lilac's skill is getting better and better every time they cross swords, and Futa is looking forward to it.

　So I was planning to leave the room as soon as Lilac came for me. .......

"Now, let's have a little chat.
"Pii.

　I'm not sure what's going on here.

　I'm not sure what to make of it.
　I'm not sure what to make of it.

　Lilac's face is as cold as ice as she sits down, unusually taking the form of an "order".
　The air in the room is so cold that you could almost see a snowstorm in the background, and Futa can't help but intervene.

"Hey, Master Lilac.
"What is it?
What is it? This is not a class discussion, is it?

　This is what I mean when I say there's nothing to talk about.
　It's not as bad as the other night, but the anger that exposes your true self and then quietly freezes the air around you is truly Princess Lilac.

　The poor, shrunken maid is shivering and trembling.

"It's warmer when you shake.
"No, I can't stand it at all.

　I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's upsetting Lilac.

　Looking back, today must have been an ordinary day.
　Corona came in and said, "Meido! and came in for breakfast. At noon, she brought me food again, and we played games to satisfy our hunger, and as usual, Futa was beaten to a pulp.

　Then it was time for my appointment with Lilac.

　Nothing was different from usual.

"Uh, Lilac. Did something happen with Corona?
"Yes, I did. Let's have a look at this, shall we?

　She placed two objects on the table.

　A broken cuddle plate. And a music box.

　It wasn't the kind of atmosphere where Lilac-sama could say that it was cute to take them out. Futa had a minimum of reason.

"What's this, Corona?
"What?

　"What?" The question was unanswerable.
　I'm not sure what to say.

"It's the maid's personal belongings .......

　I'm not sure what to do with it.
　I feel a little sad when I say that, but it doesn't matter if the room is bleak or if there are few personal belongings. They're just lying around in this room.

　However, the answer that Lilac muttered was not what she was looking for.

No?
What?

　Lilac smiled at Corona, who raised her head in denial.

I'm sure you'll understand.

　I'm not sure what to make of it.

　But what is it? Strangely enough, the music sounded desperate, as if Futa had to challenge Lilac. Only now.

"You gave it to me as a gift.
What?　The music box, yes, but...

　The plate is different, you know.　I was going to say, "The music box," but then I remembered.

"Hold this for me, please.
"Why ......?　

　I remembered that the plate that was smashed and broken. The plate.
　I had given it to Lilac myself.
　I don't know why it was smashed, but I don't think I gave it to her as a gift.

　I don't remember giving it to her as a gift, but it's true that I did.

"You've been disgusting lately. I don't know how many times I've had to switch out music boxes.

　I sarcastically called it a "present".
　This is the second time I've been embarrassed by Corona, including the music box trick.
　You can say that the plate was an indiscretion, but the problem was that Corona couldn't tell if it was on purpose or not.

　That's why I asked. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what's going on in your life.

"Corona?
I see. I guess she thought I gave her a present.

　She wondered if it was a sign of hubris, but it was not.
　But no, she looked very depressed.

　Corona broke down from her seiza and stood up on her own.
　Lilac hesitated for a moment at her somewhat shady behavior.
　It wasn't so much that he flinched, but he was curious to see what she was going to do.
　He retracted his reprimand for standing up, watched her move, and picked up the broken plate.

"So the gift I gave you is broken.
"Now ......

　Corona's signature fake laugh was as painful as ever.


　This time Lilac was at a loss for words, and Futa came up beside her, soothed.

What is it, Futa?
I'm sorry to hear that, Corona. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.
"......

　I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

...... I still don't consider it a gift.
"Huh?　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.
"......~~~!
"Oh, Princess?

　Lilac with her head in her hands.
　But my pride won't allow me to honestly say, "I was embarrassed when Futa saw me holding that plate.

　Futa smilingly watches from behind, looking like a houseplant.

　--I'm a tree. Yes, I'm just watching over them.

"Futa!
Yeah, yeah.
I don't know why you're posing like a cactus, but!　Well, why don't you say something!

　I don't know why you are posing like a cactus!
　The first thing you should do is to look at your eyes.

I'm sure you're not the only one.
I'm not going to be able to do that.　I'm not sure what to do. I'm fine.
Hmm, that's exactly the problem. ......

　What should I do, Futa thought.
　It would be easy to confide in her about Lilac and Futa, but Lilac didn't want to do that.

　Corona's business as usual. The problem is this beautiful princess here.

　Her style of starting out with sarcasm would have stuffed her if she had been dealing with Corona in the past.
　No, considering that Corona had never come that close to Lilac in the first place, this might be the first time she has done so.

　It's not as if Corona is flirting with her and Lilac doesn't know how to handle it.

　It's simply that she's not very good at controlling her anger or emotions towards someone close to her.

　To borrow a phrase from an old fairy tale, the princess is very bad at life.

　Lilac may not like the idea of being trapped in a "profession," but I'm sure Pasta would agree with me.

　That's what happens when you're teased once.

　Imagining what would happen to the two of them made Futa feel a little worried, but also somewhat warm inside.

"If you think someone broke your present, why don't you say something else?
"Huh?　Hmm, okay. It's okay.
Why? If the person you gave it to did that, you can blame him or trip him up.
Why?
Why? ...... can't get it under control, can it?
Hmm. But it's the princess, right?　If you're going to do something that she doesn't like, why not?
～～～～～!

　Lilac looks at Futa as if to ask for help.

　Oh, what a clumsy person she is.
　I don't understand why the Lord of Finance is so afraid of her. And so on, Futa thought.

　Futa guessed that Lilac no longer cared about her original goal.

　Because it does.
　She was going to lecture him for humiliating her, but now Corona is like this.

　Corona has no bad feelings toward people.

　Lilac, who has lived her life only by regulating her bad feelings, is her natural enemy.

　This is what happens when you put yourself in a different distance from the appropriate distance.

　The other party is no longer a convenient "witch" who has no ill feelings toward you.

　As a matter of fact, this was the first time she had made a "friendship" with someone instead of a "contract.

　Lilac's cheeks turned red, and she fell silent.
　She struggled for a while, and then muttered.

...... I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.　I'm not sure what to say.
I was reading too much into the ...... plate. I'm also sorry for breaking it.
"......?

　I'm not sure why I'm being apologized to.

　I don't know why I'm being apologized to," she said, question marks flying around in her head.

"Uh...

　A few moments later, Corona said.

I'm not sure about the maid, but... I'm not sure about the maid, but I bought a new one with Futa-sama, and I really don't care about it. So...

　She laughs with filler.

The maids hate it when the princess looks like that!
"...... you.



　Lilac, who looked distressed, shook her head as if she had given up.
　This time it was completely my fault.

　It is true that the attitude of Huta, as well as Korona, who does not take care of their own minds and bodies, is irritating.

　I wish they would just die on their own without my knowledge, but the fact that they have ceased to be such strangers is inexplicably annoying.

　I let out a sigh at the new weakness I have come to know.
　Well, nothing can be gained without a price.

　I can't help but feel that instead of a safe haven, I've been given a terrible weakness.

　But why is it that I feel a little comfortable with that?

"I understand. I won't be angry anymore.

　Lilac smiled serenely, and Futa and Corona smiled as well.

　A soft space was created here again.

　Futa patted his chest and relaxed, thinking that the rest of the game was over.

　I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I'm sure you've seen it.



I'm not sure what to make of this.



　I'm not sure.


　I'm not sure what to do.



"P-please!



　"Pe, Pe, Pe!