The final destination is the Imperial Palace.
First, we went to the Crown Prince's palace, dried ourselves off, and changed our clothes. After that, we gathered in the Crown Prince's study.It wasn't that cold, but I emptied the contents of the teacup in front of me.
"What happened? As I mentioned before, did the aftermath of the explosion that detonated the heart of the Magic Tower cause a massive explosion?"
"Yes."
“I'm so glad I found you two.”
Despite all that, the senior's expression looks a bit gloomy. Is it because of his mood?
“The search party will look for any survivors of the Magic Tower...”
The senior continued to ask questions as if he was struggling, and Shish responded with a stiff expression.
You seem very angry.
“Oh, did you see anything important inside the tower?”
The senior asked Shish a lot of questions, but even from what I heard, the questions were very low-nutrition.
Fatigue was building up on Shish's face. His already pale complexion darkened even more, making me want to drag him out immediately.
Since Shish has done everything so far, you, Crown Prince, should clean up the mess by yourself!
But before I could get up from my seat, Shish cut off my senior's words.
“Can I report the details in writing?”
"What-"
“-In such a case, I will report in writing, not verbally. Isn't that right, Your Highness?”
"That's true, but..."
The senior's answer was powerless.
"As Your Highness just said, if there are any surviving wizards, we just need to rescue them. As for me, shouldn't I just report what happened at the Magic Tower?"
Shish was looking at my senior without even smiling, and my senior strangely avoided Shish's gaze.
“I will make sure to upload the report by the time of the conference, before the weekend.”
"Understood. Junior, junior, you're going to the Rose Palace, right? Do you want to come with me?"
"Yes?"
Of course, I wanted to go with Shish, but should I go to the Rose Palace?
Now I'm at the Rose Palace, and then I went to the Magic Tower, so it seems right to go to the Rose Palace, but the fact that I was at the Imperial Palace in the first place wasn't a normal situation.
I don't think it will be a problem if I go somewhere else now...
“No, Lady Hayley does not go to the Rose Palace.”
Shish stepped in on my behalf as I was struggling.
"Your Excellency, I asked my junior. It's not your place to interfere. Let's go, junior. Freisia is worried."
“Lady Hayley's legal guardian is the Marquis, not Your Royal Highness.”
“Prime Minister!”
Strangely, it seems like my senior doesn't want to leave Shish, and I'm alone.
“Determining Lady Hayley's residence is a matter for the Marquis and me to discuss, and I believe Your Highness, the Crown Prince should not interfere.”
Although he had a falling out with my senior, Shish, who had pretended to respect him, now comes out strongly.
“And above all, her own decision will be the most important, right?”
Ruby-like eyes turned to me.
“Lady Hayley, will you continue to stay at the Rose Palace?”
"No."
I quickly denied it, and a look of frustration crossed my senior's face. He seemed to want to say more, but his lips barely moved.
“Your Highness, there is nothing to worry about, so please don't worry.”
Shish stood up from his seat with a stereotypical, fake smile.
"I'll go. Let's go, Lady Hayley."
A large, soft, gloveless hand reached out to me. I took it, stood up, and, in the tense atmosphere, gently unfolded my dress to greet my senior.
We left the Crown Prince's palace holding each other.
“Do you want to go with Milan or with Hayley?”
"Hmm..."
The answer is already decided, but let's pretend to think about it.
"Hayley, would you like that? Your parents are worried, and you're still single."
"Are you serious?"
Shish stopped walking and looked at me with a crooked gaze. Always ready to bend down and step in, I smiled and shook my head.
"I'll go with Shish and call Hayley. I'll be over in Milan."
"Good."
As soon as I told him the correct answer, Shishi raised the corners of his mouth.
"I'll have a servant bring your luggage. Is there anything you really need, Master?"
Wow, master.
It was nice to hear from you after such a long time.
"Oh, by the way, there's Freisia at the Rose Palace. I should tell her I'm back safely."
“Why the Third Princess?”
“She helped me a lot when I was looking for you.”
"Ah."
Shish nodded as if he understood, and I was able to confirm that Freisia would be able to marry Billau.
Shish, who was passing by, called a servant and told him to bring the carriage to the Ministry of the Interior, and I suddenly ended up going to the Ministry of the Interior with him.
As we were passing through a hallway I had never seen before, a blond man beamed at him.
"Your Excellency!"
"I'm busy now, so later."
Shish responded stiffly, and the man, perhaps seeing the prime minister in this state for the first time, took a bewildered step back. I don't think he even realized how delighted he was to see Shish.
Shish opened the door to the office and let me in first.
The thick wine-colored carpet, which dampened the sound of footsteps, and the curtains of the same color felt welcoming.
"I thought it was just a dream, but it turned out he was a real person."
"Dream..?"
"Yeah. That man was in my dream. He was Shish's aide, wasn't he? Yes, he was a secretary."
“Aha, what a dream.”
Until this point, I was so busy looking around the place in my dream that I didn't notice anything strange.
“Yeah, a dream.”
"So, Secretary Glant appeared in your dream? Not me?"
“Yeah, that was the name... no.”
Oh, didn't I just tell him that I had a dream about another man?
"That, that! It's not just that guy!"
I explained the situation hurriedly, afraid that my single word would kill the poor, pitiful aide.
"You came out too! The place was here."
"Yes?"
I looked around and stood before a very clean desk. Sunlight streams in through the window behind the desk.
"I had a dream, and you were sitting here."
What my finger was pointing to was the chair in front of the desk.
Shish crossed his arms and leaned against the desk. I swallowed hard, as if I was being told to keep talking.
It's not that I'm scared, but because Shish, who looks strangely tired but also stands up, is so handsome.
"I had a dream while I was away from here. You said you were looking for someone. You wanted to quit your position as prime minister and go find them."
At first, I didn't say that I was secretly disappointed because I thought it was a story about the female protagonist.
"I naturally assumed you'd forgotten me. Just like everyone else had forgotten the Crown Prince. That's why I assumed you weren't the one who was saying you missed me."
Shish uncrossed his arms.
“But you... You said I was the master.”
The expression on his face as he looked at me was incredibly strange. I couldn't find a specific way to describe it, but it seemed like he was wondering, "Did that really happen?"
Just like when I had a dream.
“You haven't forgotten me, you haven't forgotten me...”
From then on, I started having trouble sleeping in a different way than before.
"I've always wanted you to be happy, so I didn't want you to forget me and be unhappy. I didn't have a clear goal in mind for what I wanted to do for you, but I just decided to come to you."
If you need me to be happy, I'll be there for you.
“Actually, that was just an excuse.”
When I smiled awkwardly, Shish narrowed his eyes as if he was puzzled.
"I needed you. I've always wanted to see you. I missed you."
A man stood facing me with his posture straight.
“So I came back here. This time, of my own free will.”
The red eyes, whose inner thoughts were still unknown, were sparkling in the afternoon sunlight.
How terrifying it is to think that I might never see those eyes again.
“I'm better at hiding my feelings than expressing them, so I pretended not to know that I really wanted to see you.”
I took a calm breath, which was getting increasingly heavier.
“I didn't know what was in my heart either.”
So I couldn't be honest with you, I added quietly.
“It's not that I didn't answer because you were a letterhead, it's that I wasn't honest.”
Unlike the day I cried and looked at Shish's back, I was able to confess my feelings calmly.
I was finally able to tell him what I had always wanted to tell him, who was looking at me with wounded eyes.
“You have been Shish Milan to me for a very long time.”
Thin, trembling eyelashes and thin lips. A few gasps of breath escaped between his half-open lips, and then his beautiful face contorted.
Shish covered his eyes with one hand and took several deep breaths, then looked straight at me again.
It was wet, as if it were about to cry, yet it was sparkling like a jewel.
"Thank you."
"Yes?"
Shish whispered as if breathing.
“For come to me.”
My favorite hands cupped my cheeks. My favorite scent, now a scent I've grown accustomed to, rose from Shishi's wrists.
While I was distracted by the scent I hadn't smelled in a long time, a sea-like face appeared nearby.
"Uh..."
I opened my mouth without realizing it.
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