[In the dining room of the Castle in the Sky]

Delicious!

Oh, come on, Maia. Take your time. But it's really good, too.

　While everyone was eating breakfast together while having such a conversation, Runt suddenly opened his mouth.

''Come to think of it, is Eira-sama related to the royal family of the Atul Kingdom?

　At such a word, everyone's eyes turned to Eira.

　Eira's face, which was happily reporting to me that the potatoes were successfully peeled, changed to a frozen expression at Runt's words.

　A moment of silence followed, and then Schnee hurriedly opened her mouth.

''Hey, Runt........No, I was talking about Eira-san's hair, because it was the same as the red hair of the Atul royal family's features that I've heard about in the past, so I was talking about it as a possibility. It's just that I've seen red hair elsewhere, though it's different in thickness.

　As Schnee explained that while holding Runt's head with one hand, Eira unexpectedly stood up, holding her mouth with her hand.

''I'm sorry...!

　Eira mouthed a quick apology and ran out of the cafeteria. Her face instantly turned an earthy color, as if her blood had drained away.

　The sound of running down the aisle faded away, and A1, who was at the entrance of the cafeteria, turned only his face to Eira's back.

''Well I'm going to go and look for her for a bit.

　I said, and Trayne and the others got up in a hurry.

'We'll go too,'

Oh, no, I don't want you guys to get upset yet, so you guys have a nice long dinner.

　He refused Trayne and the others' offer with a wry smile and headed in the direction that Eira had run.

　The elevator. In the middle of the run, I heard Runt's voice being shouted at me from behind, so I turned around and saw A1 coming towards me in a big stride.

　I got on the elevator and chose the first floor. I was lost for a moment, but I had a feeling that he was probably headed outside.

'I'm worried about you, A1,'

　After saying that much, the rest of us fell silent and jumped out to the floor as soon as the elevator opened.

　As expected, the main gates were in the process of opening, and there was the figure of Eira running out through the gap that would allow one person to pass through.

'Eira!'

　He followed, calling out his name in a loud voice. Running outside, Eira stopped in front of a slope that led to a tree-lined street.

　The slope appeared to be gentle as it turned around in the middle, but on either side there was only a waist-high fence, and if she jumped over it, she wouldn't be able to avoid serious injury.

　A cold sweat ran down my back as I imagined the scene of Eira being injured in front of me.

''Eira well, I don't care about anything, I won't ask you anything, so why don't we go back to the castle together? Trainee and the others are worried about you, too, okay?

　As I said this gently, Eira turned around to look at me. Her eyes are filled with tears and her mouth is tightly shut, as if she is trying not to cry.

　I gently hold out my hand to Eira, who is raggedly crying while looking at me.

　But I don't know what she's hesitating about, but she doesn't seem to be coming to me for the time being.

　Suddenly, A1, who was standing next to me, starts to walk away. I don't suppose that because I mentioned that I was going to go back, he decided to take that as an instruction.

　The reaction to the sudden movement of A1 is delayed, and in the meantime, A1 is quickly approaching Eira.

''Oh, hey, don't come...''

　Eira let out a voice as she quickly retreated as A1 approached.

''Kya...!

　When she was almost within reach of A1, Eira's buttocks hit the sloping fence and she was leaning back.

　Watch out!

　Just as he said that and was about to run, A1 was reaching out with both hands at an unstoppable speed.

　She supported Eira, who was about to fall down, with a fluffy support and held her in her arms as it was.

　A1, who secured Eira in the princess hug state, came back here silently as if nothing had happened.

''........As expected of A1.

　I muttered that with a sense of weakness and watched Eira's face as her eyes went black and white.

　In the end, all the delicious parts were taken by A1, but it can't be helped.

''Welcome home.''

　When she said that to the two of them, Eira turned over with her eyebrows in an uncomfortable h shape.

''I'm sorry...''

　He smiles at Eira, who says this in a muffled voice, and turns his head to A1.

'Put her down,'

　Released from A1's princess hug, Eira opened her mouth with a serious expression.

''........Can you listen to me, please?''

　I nodded quietly at those words.




　Looking down at the tree-lined street lined with large trees from the top of the hill, Eira opened her mouth.

''........I'm the princess of the Atul Kingdom, sir. My real name is Letizia Eira Atul.

''........She really was a princess. Sure, I was a little uncomfortable with the part about being a town girl.

　I respond to Eira's shocking statement with a certain amount of conviction. Because, even though I'm a town girl, I can't do housework.

　As I nodded, Eira looked back at me and bowed deeply.

''I'm really sorry for telling you a lie.......I was spoiled by Taiki-sama's kindness and the warmth of our days together. And on the contrary, all I grew up with was the fear of being caught in a lie...

'That's why I couldn't say it. 'Is there a reason royalty is unmentionable? Well, if you had told me I was a princess out of the blue, I would have been in a hurry.

　Eira shook her head from side to side as she replied with a bitter smile.

''........I'm a sinner. It's also a great sinner who will never be forgiven.......

　Muttering that in a scratchy voice, Eira looked at the sky on the other side of the tree-lined street.

''........I was going to marry into one of the princes of the Blau Empire. In order for the kingdom to make a pact to become a vassal state of the empire. But I escaped while being escorted away by the Imperial Guard.

You don't like the prince?

　When I ask her that, Eira starts to cry again.

''........I didn't want to. The other party is only fifty years old, so he must be a young man. But I heard that out of the fifteen wives, half of them have already died. I can only hear rumors, but it seems that the deceased died in a truly horrible way.......

　Apparently, the prince is a bad guy. If he's married to a daughter from another country who joins the royal family, like Eira, then surely he should be found out when he dies. At any rate, they would normally exchange letters and other correspondence containing, if not information about the emperor, then a reasonable amount of information.

　If those letters were lost, or if you couldn't see them even if you went to the Empire, it would be natural to assume that something had happened.

　It seems that my assumption was correct, and Eira's shoulders shook and she pulled her chin back.

'There are some surviving wives who can communicate with each other by letter but can no longer face each other in person... Rumor has it that they may have lost a limb or two or something...' ...

　I was about to reach out to Eira, who rattled and shook her body. But Eira turned around to look at me, intertwining her own two fingers in front of her chest. Her face was crumpled with tears.

''I'm ... scared. I was scared and scared, and I cried every day.......but I'm the princess of the Atul Kingdom.

　His sobs began to mix with the sobs, and by the end he couldn't speak well anymore.

　But the too painful struggle was palpable.

　How heavy could such a sixteen-year-old girl be carrying such a heavy burden? Does she feel like going to the torture chamber herself?

　I can't really put myself in Eira's shoes to think about it, but I can sympathize with the situation she was forced to stand in, from the bottom of my heart.

'....Eira, would you like to live here forever? It's not as good as the way a princess lives, but take it easy, have fun.

　When he said that, Eira shook her head, holding her mouth in her hand.

You're going to be able to have a look at your own personal history. ........the kingdom of Atul, my country.......!

　At that cry of grief Eira, I couldn't hold back any longer and put my hands around Eira's shoulders and held her close.

'It's okay. I'll take care of it. So just relax your shoulders.

　The moment she said that, Eira cried out loudly, as if it was a lie that she had been holding back before. I stroked Eira's head with my other hand as she clung on and continued to cry, and looked up at A1.

　I felt A1's eyes light up as she looked at the sky.