Thud.
The sound of a fist landing on a skull was light, more like a feeble protest than a strike.
“Ouch.”
Lita let out a short yelp of pain and turned back pitifully to look at Cecilia, who was watching her with some displeasure.
Cecilia gave a sullen hum and shot Lita a look that said “figure it out yourself.”
Cecilia wasn’t actually that angry, but Lita’s joking response had left her momentarily unsure how to continue her bad mood.
Still, she was a bit irritated.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“I’m serious…”
Lita muttered quietly, and when she saw that her reply had made Cecilia raise her fist again, she quickly waved her hands and begged for mercy.
“No! No, no! It’s a setup! A tease, you understand, Lady Cecilia?”
Leave it to Lita to always pull some new trick when Cecilia least expected it.
Cecilia lowered the fist she was about to bring down on Lita’s head again and took half a step back.
But Lita noticed out of the corner of her eye that Cecilia wasn’t about to let her off. That hand had already grabbed the small cane she kept in the corner of the room, and if her answer didn’t satisfy her, maybe next time she’d whip out that magical little tool.
But Lita hadn’t missed the slight widening of Cecilia’s eyes when she spoke, or the flicker of… relief? And expectation for her excuse?
At least that was how Lita saw it. Though of course she wasn’t making excuses—it really was a setup, at least—
Cecilia brandished the small cane, squinting as she held it just inches from Lita’s head, radiating a threat of “if you don’t explain yourself, I’ll keep hitting you.”
“Well, you see!” Lita nodded frantically, the movement so big that a few strands of her hair caught on the cane. “I have to first admit that Lady Cecilia has a point, and then refute it bit by bit.”
Thud.
Cecilia hit her again. Though the force wasn’t great, it made Lita pout and slump.
“I don’t need you to teach me that.”
Lita kept her head down and looked up at Cecilia. “If I just said something like ‘Lady Cecilia’s existence isn’t a mistake,’ you’d think I was being perfunctory, right?”
Cecilia thought about it and seemed to agree.
“So I thought about it seriously. From Lady Cecilia’s perspective, you might think you cause trouble for others. But are those troubles really caused by you? Saying ‘one-sided’ might sound rude, not at all like something a knight should say to their master, but it did pique Cecilia’s interest even more.”
That was the interesting thing about talking with Lita. Even knowing Lita as well as she did, Cecilia could never guess what she’d say next.
“Take the story of the turkey and the farmer, for example. A farmer raises a lot of turkeys and feeds them at 11 every day. So one turkey scientist, after observing for a long time, announces to everyone that he’s discovered a new scientific law: food arrives every day at 11. But on Thanksgiving, instead of food, the farmer comes with a butcher knife.”
“Or take that detective manga with the elementary school kid who brings death. Everywhere he goes, a case happens, so people call him the Death Elementary Student! But none of it has anything to do with him!”
Cecilia had no idea what Thanksgiving was, or what an elementary student or detective manga was, but she understood what Lita was trying to say.
“Anyway! Lady Cecilia, don’t carry everything on your shoulders. Doris spent so long preparing just to make her move when you went to Solus City, because you were her target. And Kaisa? Her waking up had nothing to do with you, right? If anything, us being there stopped a tragedy!”
“Alright, alright.” Cecilia waved her hand helplessly. “I know you’re trying to comfort me.”
It was a bit childish, but it was something Lita had racked her brains over just to cheer her up. Just seeing someone trying so hard for her already made Cecilia feel a lot better.
“Well, that’s the logic. Even if you really have that curse on you, and even if it really brings misfortune, so what? I’m strong! Don’t worry about it affecting me!”
Cecilia’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She almost wanted to avoid Lita’s burning gaze.
“But… even Mother…”
“Your mother traveled across the whole kingdom with you, showed you the sights, and taught you how to move on before she left. Your father might not have loved you freely, but he gave you what love he could. And your sister, Lady Rosalia—even now she’s still choosing to stay by your side, protecting you in her own way…”
“Those consolation speeches with all the parallel structure are like lines from a third-rate play. They might make the speaker feel good, but they don’t have much power…”
“But that’s the truth! Whether or not you bring misfortune, there are people on your side! They didn’t abandon you! Isn’t me standing here in front of you the best proof?!”
“What kind of proof is that…”
“How is it not proof? If you hadn’t trusted me, you might have cut me down in Solus City. Or earlier in the palace, if you hadn’t argued for me, I might have… And also, after you learned my identity, you kept it secret for me. That’s clearly colluding with the Demon Race… mmph!”
Lita kept talking, but Cecilia silenced her with a kiss.
Idiot. Lita was a complete idiot.
Spouting passionate lines, talking about unrealistic things—that might work in stories about love and justice, but this wasn’t a story. Who would be shameless enough to say these things?
Even Cecilia, listening to it, felt her face burning.
If she hadn’t kissed her, Lita would have definitely seen her embarrassing expression.
The sudden kiss made Lita’s eyes go wide, but slowly her lashes lowered.
Even though she couldn’t see Cecilia’s face, the candlelight still caught the red tips of Cecilia’s ears.
Lita just responded, gently wrapping her arms around Cecilia’s body, listening to the increasingly frantic heartbeat weaving into a resonance.
And the muffled thud of the cane falling on the carpet.
After a long moment, Cecilia finally pulled away, raising her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth, but the embarrassed expression she wanted to hide was probably impossible to conceal now.
“So dumb.”
“That’s no way to comfort someone.”
“I wasn’t comforting you. I was telling the truth.”
Lita squinted as she looked at Cecilia’s peach-flushed face, her own frantic heartbeat gradually calming.
“Shut up.”
Cecilia bent down to pick up the cane, brandished it at Lita threateningly, but couldn’t bring herself to swing it. She put it back in its place.
She returned to sit close beside Lita.
Though neither Lita nor Cecilia was in a great mood, a comfortable, lingering silence spread through the room.
A small scene like that was enough to salvage both their moods.
“Thank you,” Cecilia said softly. “But next time, don’t say such strange things. It’s too embarrassing.”
“You’re welcome.” Lita’s eyes curved. “If you start overthinking again, I’ll keep saying it until you get tired of hearing it.”
“I’m already tired of hearing it. Don’t ever say it again.”
“But you seemed happy.”
“Sh-shut up! No dinner for you tonight.”
“But I already ate.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Don’t, don’t! What if someone challenges me again tomorrow?”
“Figure it out yourself!”
The bickering went on for a while, then gradually settled.
Though Cecilia seemed determined to starve Lita, that kiss had at least given Lita some energy.
Cecilia tilted her head and rested it on Lita’s shoulder, as if thinking about something. Lita let the light weight and soft warmth stay pressed against her.
“Still, the situation isn’t looking good.”
Cecilia’s voice was much calmer and quieter now.
“Mei and Chloe—those two?” Lita perked up, straightening her body. Cecilia naturally lay down on Lita’s lap.
“Not just them, but for now they’re the ones most worth watching. Whether it’s killing a Holy Knight on legitimate grounds or a Dark Elf openly using dark magic, neither can be underestimated.”
“Do you suspect they’re involved with Glen?”
“Possible, but not likely. Still, we can’t think too linearly. Father publicly put a bounty on Glen members’ heads at the opening ceremony. If I were in Glen, what would I do? Either hide completely, or stand right in the most conspicuous place and clear all suspicion.”
Wasn’t that the same as saying nothing?
“That’s exactly what you did, right?” Cecilia added.
That did seem true. Assassinating a princess, sneaking into her room, then suddenly getting close to her and being brought back to the capital—she had always been suspicious.
Lita digested Cecilia’s words and then thought of another question. “Then if they really are Glen members, what will they do next? Are they actually going to accept the Golden Blood and become Crest Knights?”
“Even if you ask me, I can only give you an ambiguous answer. Believing and doubting—isn’t that how everything is?” Cecilia still didn’t commit.
“So what do we do?”
“Just keep observing and do nothing. Only those two have surfaced for now, but the people we need to watch aren’t just the candidates. If you can, go to the tavern with Momoka a few more times. The information there might be messy, but there could be something useful.”
Getting to spend more time with her friend Momoka and having an excuse to go to the tavern—that was a pretty good deal for Lita.
So she agreed immediately.
“Great!”
Now that they were on serious topics, Lita couldn’t help but think about the other tragedy caused by Chloe today.
“Speaking of which… is Qiangsen really beyond help?”
Cecilia sighed.
“I’ll have someone look into healing methods. Since the incident happened in the capital, if we can help him, we’ll give a little hand.”
Lita breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Lady Cecilia.”
“Don’t thank me. You were the one who reached out first. I’m just supporting your decision.” Cecilia looked away. “And like I said in Solus City, you might be able to help the people you see, but more that you can’t see are still suffering. Only by solving the root problem can you prevent this from happening.”
“Solving the root problem…” Lita repeated Cecilia’s words.
Back then, the way to solve the root problem was to find and kill Doris, stopping the giant portal. But now?
Fixing Qiangsen’s problem wasn’t something you could solve by just killing someone.
Even though Lita knew nothing about politics, she could tell this wasn’t an easy goal.
Unless…
“Lady Cecilia.” Lita was silent for a moment, then asked softly, “Do you want to participate in the Royal Selection?”
Cecilia let out a laugh but gave no answer.