Lights began to turn on one by one throughout the city to brighten up the darkness,
It started to look like the staff was dwindling and getting increasingly tired.
“Emily.”
“Yes, my lady, I noticed it too.”
“As expected, everyone looks scared.”
“I guess so.”
“Are you okay?”
“Well… it’s not bad. But I just want to finish quickly and relax in a warm bath with a glass of wine.”
“I agree.”
“But in your case, you won’t go in alone, right?”
“………”
There is no reason to react too strongly.
What Emily said is true.
"The number of people evacuating south is increasing, but there are still those who insist on remaining here. What do you plan to do with them?"
"Well, it's not possible to forcibly evacuate everyone, is it? What are we going to do with those who refuse to leave their homes?"
“I guess so.”
“Yeah… that’s right… I guess it won’t be easy to abandon the house where you’ve lived and where the traces of time and sweat have piled up.”
For some people, life may be the most important thing.
I can't just abandon a house filled with memories more precious than my life.
“I have just one question, Your Majesty.”
“Ask.”
“What are you going to do, Rio?”
“……Actually, at first, they tried to force him to pass out and have him run away among the refugees.”
“From what you say, I guess that means you didn’t do that.”
"…………yes."
There is no guarantee that we will catch the monster here.
Even if Rio had been included among the refugees and had been forced to flee…
I really thought that a disaster might happen, but Rio said that this was the only place he could be.
He went into the room as if he was rebelling against my words and didn't even think about coming out.
“Huh… I guess this is my first fight.”
“It’s already gotten to that point… I can’t help but think that Princess Rio will be making you cry often.”
“How could that be?”
“No matter how I look at it, it seems like the Princess should bow down to Mr. Rio.”
“Why do you think so?”
“I’ll be honest with you right now… You can’t even clean properly, and you only eat meat, and you always wear the same clothes, to the point where it’s tiresome… Ugh?”
“That, that… stop.”
Maybe it's because we've known each other for a long time, but he knows me so well.
That is true.
Outside of the office, I did try to act in order to show off my dignity as a princess to others.
In spaces where you can be alone, like your office or bedroom, it would be a total mess if there weren't maids and servants.
“Well… But still, haven’t you been able to correct a lot of those habits?”
“……That’s true.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Who do you think you owe it to to be able to do this much now?”
“Isn’t it because I worked hard?”
"This is truly shameless. I can't live like this. I'm quitting today."
“Hehehe, just kidding. Isn’t it all thanks to you always being there for me?”
It's really thanks to Emily's support and encouragement that I've gotten to where I am today.
If it hadn't been for that... well, it might have been a bit difficult to get to this point.
“Emily.”
“Why are you calling, Your Majesty?”
“Don’t you have someone you like?”
"yes?"
“Did I say something strange? Didn’t I ask if you liked someone?”
"yes?"
“Don’t even think about beating around the bush.”
He must have heard the story clearly, but he's either pretending not to hear it, or he's really surprised and can't hear it...
Even if you do it, it's just saying it again, whether you acted or not heard.
“Is there no one you like and have feelings for?”
“…………It’s cold today.”
"Don't beat around the bush and answer. Haven't I answered everything you asked? What are you trying to hide between us?"
“No, I didn’t hide it. You just couldn’t find it.”
“Oh?”
Emily, wearing that mask of a cold face
Now, I can see a slight blush on her face, and perhaps because of the cold season, I can see smoke rising from her head.
“Who is it? The one you harbored such secret affection for?”
“…………There was. There was… There was…….”
“………”
"They're all equally stupid. I tried to express my interest, but they didn't notice and just walked away."
The story that started out as a joke started to take a bit of a heavy turn.
Emily's voice, which had a cold personality that suited this northern climate, was beginning to tremble slightly.
“I didn't want to pick up a knife. I wanted to walk in front of him, wearing a pretty dress and holding a bouquet of flowers, enjoying the beautiful scenery.”
“………”
"But now I can't do that. His death is confirmed, and I'm stuck without even a proper confession until what might have been his last moment."
“Emily….”
“I wanted to receive a flower, hold a flower in my hand, even if it meant killing someone, eliminating those who got in my way, and wiping out all the dirty work you couldn’t solve… but now, even if I hold one, there’s no one to give it to.”
“………”
"I know. I know that I chose this difficult task, suppressing my emotions, of my own free will, and I supported myself from the side."
They were tasked with doing dirty work that ordinary people would not even be able to set foot on.
There was always a pungent smell of blood around Emily.
Now, in order to hide even that smell, I have been using perfumes with all kinds of scents to mask the smell of my blood.
It's still like that now.
"I want to see you again. I want to see someone who wasn't ashamed of their mistakes, who always cared about others, and who, when they became serious, valued the lives of others more than their own."
Was it because he wanted to remember the person he didn't want to forget in his pocket, and the person he had been in love with?
Emily took a familiar object out of her inner pocket.
-Dalgrak
“It looks like he’s dead too….”
"Yes, that's right. I'd like to see at least a dead face, but that's impossible now. When I arrived here, all I had was one hand, already holding a sword."
“Then that’s it.”
"It's an emergency medal that was left on his desk, in case he lost it. I haven't forgotten it, even though it's been decades since I received it."
“Emily.”
“Yes, why are you like that?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault that things turned out this way in the first place, Princess.”
“Still… I want to apologize, even if it’s just a little bit…”
"No, please don't. The more you do that, the more miserable you become... He did his best. As a knight, as the commander of the knights, he didn't abandon everything and run away... but in the end, he was defeated."
“…………”
“All I can do is to leave a trace of that person’s life behind.”
No matter how long we've been together
It seems like there's not one, but two things we don't know about each other.
It's like there's a secret you want to hide from others.
“Time is the only medicine right now.”
***
It's fun.
It's just so funny to just squash a bug you see without thinking and have it burst out with a 'crash'.
“Umm, why is it so empty?”
It's night so the bugs might be hiding deeper, but even so, they're not that visible.
It would be normal if there were one or two of these in an alley like this, but it feels a little strange that there aren't any.
“What can I do? It’s not like I came here to kill bugs or anything.”
Come to think of it, I wondered if I had been playing around here too much, as there were so many bugs squashed against the floor and walls.
“Ah, a gift….”
It seems like he left the gift he had brought to give to Rio somewhere.
I finally got it because it was so pretty, but did it break because of all the bugs running around? Or did I just leave it there?
“My memory is hazy….”
What can't be done?
He's not the type of kid who would be happy to receive a gift in the first place. He'd probably be happy just that I came.
maybe?
“What good would it do if I said I didn’t want to? I came all this way just to force myself to take you.”
Now, let's come out of the dark alley for a moment
There was not a single person visible on the wide road that allowed carriages to pass comfortably, and only the occasional house with its lights on was visible.
It seems like someone knew I was coming and made the bugs run away in advance.
“That’s fun.”
But should I say that the ending is a bit awkward?
If you want to take all the bugs, you should have taken them out, like this one… If there are two left
Won't they reproduce later and produce more bugs?
-thud!!!
-Crack!!!
-Pwaaaah!!!
With the sound of houses collapsing one by one while their lights were still on
I started walking leisurely to meet Rio.