"Yikes...! Why would I leave! That spot was originally mine!"
As Maud gave her notice and left through another door, the sound of it slamming shut was heard soon after.
"Damn it, if anyone wants to leave, shouldn't you be the one to leave?!"
A loud noise was heard, as if the man who had been muttering and cursing to himself was throwing something nearby.
For a while, all I could hear was the man venting his anger and the commotion, so I thought it was all over. I was just about to leave the man to Oscar and follow Maud.
"Stop it! Sous Chef isn't wrong at all. You've never considered that she's holding back your rudeness just because you're a long-time colleague, have you?"
Suddenly, a voice that sounded like it had been suppressing anger was heard. It seemed like it was about to explode after holding it in for a long time, so I held my breath again to observe the situation a little longer.
"What? Are you taking that guy's side right now?"
"Ha, how childish. I really tried to keep quiet, but I just can't take you anymore. Didn't you realize that the Sous Chef is actually letting you off the hook, considering you get to show up for work every time acting like this? Are you acting up just because you have the Sous Chef backing?"
“Crazy, what?”
"...But isn’t that true?”
"Yeah, actually, I was a bit uncomfortable too. All that talk about connections and whatnot is just rumors; it's a fact that Sous Chef is skilled..."
"That's right. As long as you do your job well, they don't really bother you... And I don't really think that foreign Princess is a nuisance either..."
"Ha. Are you all crazy?"
Uh? Suddenly?
"You're the crazy one. And honestly, I'm glad that His Majesty seems to be in a better mood than before since the Princess arrived. Before, it felt like I would choke just by breathing, but honestly, how much better is life now?"
There was absolutely no room to intervene. It was a situation where only the man was starting to get beaten unilaterally, making it difficult to call it a second round.
'I don't know if I should laugh or cry at this.'
On top of that, the friendly atmosphere toward me even made me feel a bit awkward.
Saying the atmosphere lightens just because I'm here is a bit much, isn't it? I myself tremble whenever I run into Thierry... That's a bit...
"Will that man be punished?"
I whispered to Oscar as I stepped away from the door with an ambiguous expression.
"Yes, he is subject to immediate arrest for insult."
Oscar had a determined expression, as if he were about to charge in at any moment. Seeing his demeanor, which made it seem like he would do it on his own without being told, I opened my eyes wide with a look of satisfaction.
"Then, could you wrap things up? I'll go look for Sous Chef."
"I will go with you."
"Ah. We have to take care of that inside. They dared to speak His Majesty's name. I will go ahead with Marie, so please make sure to hand him over to someone else before you come back."
After giving Marie a look to follow me, I walked away without waiting for Oscar's answer.
"Did they go out the emergency door? Where should I go?"
"I think I know! Princess, I'll take the lead."
"Will you? That's good."
Marie scanned the surroundings once, then confidently took the lead with a look that said she had remembered. I followed her, looking around to see if Maud might be there, when I discovered an emergency door leading outside and headed straight for it.
As I opened the door, the rear garden of the main palace came into view. While looking for a secluded spot, I found Maud sitting alone, leaning against a large tree.
“Wait here.”
"Yes"
I left Marie behind and moved cautiously. The distance between us narrowed, but Maud did not notice at all. I gazed pitifully at Maud's profile, which exuded a gloomy atmosphere, with a face lost in thought.
'No matter how hard things were, she was always such a bright child. Everyone has changed so much. Why hasn't anyone been able to find happiness?'
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth for no reason. I gave up on approaching quietly, strode over, and plopped down next to Maud.
"Princess?"
At least for now, I didn't want to beat around the bush with a conversation like I was talking about trivial things.
I stared straight ahead, then slowly turned my head. My eyes met Maud's, who had a surprised look on her face as she looked at me.
"Why did you protect me?"
"...Did you hear that?"
"Yes. I'm just someone you've exchanged greetings with a few times, you know. You didn't need to go that far to get angry on my behalf."
Maud's brow furrowed slightly. Maud's gaze, which had been staring intently into my eyes, averted to the side.
"It reminded me of a friend."
Maud lowered her gaze to the floor and muttered softly. Her voice, strangely laced with a sigh, sounded so exhausted that it felt like my throat was tightening.
"I miss my friend so much..."
And seeing Maud burying her face in the knees she was hugging, I could no longer suppress the impulse.
Especially that choking voice; the child who had told me she had never cried even once since becoming an orphan was about to shed tears because of me.
Suddenly, I felt a lump in my throat.
"...Sorry"
It was so overwhelming that a whisper flowed out without me realizing it. I felt a hot sensation run down my throat and heat up my chest.
'I was wrong.'
As for me, I died and immediately opened my eyes in a different body, and as I was busy adapting to Thierry and Maud, who had suddenly grown up, I didn't have time to grieve or miss them, but they had endured those few years alone, living immersed in their memories.
I felt ashamed of my past, when I only thought about revealing the truth to Maud for my own safety and because I needed someone of my own in the future.
'Even if I were Maud, if she had disappeared overnight, I would have missed her every day...'
Maud looked at my face with a puzzled expression as I smiled painfully, as if blaming myself.
"Princess? Why are you apologizing to me..."
"I'm really sorry."
"..."
"Honestly, I couldn't tell you because I thought you wouldn't believe me. But waiting vaguely doesn't exactly give you that certainty, so what on earth was I hesitating about?"
It’s not like our relationship is twisted by ill will like Thierry's.
Maud's eyes, which had been staring at me intently with tears welling up, began to tremble slightly. I forced a wide smile at Maud's frightened face, which seemed to reveal a lot of internal conflict.
"Hi, my friend."
"... What?"
"You told me I was your only best friend forever. You haven't made another friend, have you? You're still the only one for me."
"Best friends? No way... No way you..."
"Yes."
"... Lari?"
As we grew closer, I wanted to show off our closeness using a word only I knew, rather than the term 'best friend' used in this world, so I taught her a word that made her eyes widen. Before I knew it, the tears welling up were unbearable
As if saying no, it dropped only from the left pupil and flowed down the cheek.
"The Princess, is it Lari?"
"I know it's hard to believe. That's why I wasn't going to say anything, but I just decided not to hold it in."
"...How?"
Maud quietly watched the tears falling with a patter, then soon wrinkled the bridge of her nose and smiled.
"Come to think of it, you said you were secretly taking Terrin's apple for me. What happened to it? Did you give it to the Prince?"
Instead of rambling on about why I am Lari, I brought up the last thing Maud had said to me. For me, that moment was still as vivid as yesterday. And somehow, I felt as though Maud remembered that day too.
"...Are you kidding me? That was so long ago, and you're asking about it now!"
Fortunately, my prediction was not wrong. Maud, who had been staring blankly for a moment, spread her arms and hugged me as if to pounce. Her hair brushed against my cheek, and soon a pleasant weight settled between my neck and shoulders.
"Hoooooh..."
As my back touched the grass, the blue sky filled my vision.
"...I know. I'm too late."
Maud's sobbing mingled with my self-deprecating voice. In front of someone who believed me instantly without a long explanation, I wondered what on earth I had been hesitating about all this time. I closed my eyes and patted her slightly trembling back.
A cool breeze tickled my cheek.
***
The situation of us hugging each other, which could have easily become a dark chapter in our history or raised suspicions, was resolved thanks to Marie's quick wit. Marie rushed over just before Oscar arrived, calmed us down, and separated us. Yet, she never once asked why we were doing that.
I thanked Marie and decided to meet Maud again later tonight to finish our conversation.
Since I was under surveillance disguised as protection, if I made an excuse to have dinner in my room, Maud promised to bring food as the head chef.
"...So the conclusion is that you don't know who killed you, and you don't know why you woke up in another body?"
"Yeah. I came here less than a few months after opening my eyes, so I haven't found out anything."
Maud frowned intensely and looked frustrated.
"No, then why don't you talk to His Majesty?"
"...They say you'll get into big trouble if you even mention the letter 'La' in 'Lari'?"
"Ah... that's true. But you really are Lari!"
"I heard there have been a lot of people approaching him, pretending to be Lari. How am I supposed to reveal that I'm the real one to someone like that? Besides, I heard Thierry thinks I ran away? He looks like he won't let me get away with it if he catches me, so I can't say anything more..."
With a distressed look on my face, I almost mumbled the last words.
"What? Leaving everything else aside, the rumor that you ran away is false."
"Uh?"
"It seems the rumors about you got distorted because I deliberately ignored them, but it was His Majesty who told me you were dead."
"... What?"
I stared at Maud with a look of incomprehension.
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