“I don’t have the time.”
It’s been a little over an hour since my brother left. After I showed Lloyd and Nina that I was fine, I had nothing left to do. If I could, I would have taken a look around the territory today, but now that my brother has nailed me to the bed, I couldn’t do that. That demon king. I thought this, but I couldn’t actually say it. Just as you couldn’t look at a scary person and say, “I’m scared!” It’s the same feeling as not being able to say it with that state of mind.
“Anastasia-sama, please don’t say that you’re bored.”
Nina, who was standing by my side, said with a slightly troubled expression on her face. The first thing I did when I saw Nina was to worry about her injuries. However, Nina was full of energy and didn’t seem to be injured at all. It seemed that I was the one who was most seriously injured. Incidentally, Anastasia had never defended anyone before, although she had formally worried about people, so she was very surprised that she defended Nina. So, I just falsely claimed that I had acted on the spur of the moment to protect Nina. It’s still too early for them to know that I’ve changed inside.
“But…”
Lloyd has been assisting brother with the investigation. He seemed to be analyzing the situation and searching for the enemy. In his perspective, the heroine Candy seemed to be the perfect candidate to be on the dark side. However, they didn’t know who was helping her. According to brother, it was most likely that it was someone close to the royal family…
(The king and queen weren’t the kinds of people who could do such a thing.)
I couldn’t imagine those good-natured people brainwashing and manipulating others. The same went for His Highness the Second Prince. So then who? Was it a minister or someone who worked for the royal court? Ah, I couldn’t think of an answer.
“Anastasia-sama, may I have a moment?”
As I was thinking about this, one of the guards who had been quietly waiting outside came into the room and called out to me. So I just said, “Come in.” Speaking of which, this guard was assigned to me by my brother, right? So it wasn’t a royal escort, but an escort hired by the duke.
“Actually… His Highness the Crown Prince is here. He wants to see Anastasia-sama’s face…”
I was stunned by the guard’s words. William-sama? Wants to see my face? No, what’s up with that? I thought this, but recently, William-sama hasn’t been rejecting Anastasia like he used to. Although he seemed a bit dismissive, I didn’t think it was enough to count as neglect right now since it was even worse before.
“What kind of strange wind is blowing…? I’ve noticed that my husband has been acting strange lately.”
“…I think that goes for you too, Anastasia-sama.”
At Nina’s mumbling, I replied impatiently, “Wah, I’m normal, right?” Oh no. This would make me seem even more suspicious. In any case, William-sama has come to see Anastasia, hasn’t he? Then, we have no choice but to let her meet him. I couldn’t just dismiss him. Even though we were going to eventually divorce, we were still husband and wife now. Our relationship should still look good to the people outside.
“Okay, I’ll meet him.”
“Understood.”
Hearing my words, the guard quietly left the room. A few minutes later, William-sama, who looked a little tired, stepped into the room. From the look on his face, it seemed that he didn’t like living with brother very much. But, as expected of the main hero of an otome game, even though he was tired, the quality of his face was still superb. Beauty was a sin by itself.
“Anastasia, is your body alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine now. The reason why I collapsed in the first place was because I used too much magic, and my physical strength was also too drained. But, it’s nothing compared to when I was poisoned.”
Yes, Anastasia had almost died once. Perhaps it was because the memory was so vivid that I didn’t count falling over as a near-death experience.
When I said that cheerfully, William-sama just said, “I see.” He then sat down on the chair next to the bunk I was sitting on… No, could you just go back to brother right now? I’m not sure if I’d feel more comfortable if you were here. New chapters come out on novelping(.)com first.
“…Hey, Anastasia?”
“What?”
I did my best to smile at William-sama, trying not to let him know that my heart was fidgeting. From the look on my expression alone, no one would think that I disliked him. After all, Anastasia has always been fond of William-sama. It was because of this preconceived notion that the depths of my heart were undetectable. Well, I think…
“I know I’m not supposed to say this, but you’ve changed.”
It’s a little late for that. I’ve been told that many times now. This was the reason why I’ve been looking at you with a stern gaze, but you chuckled. Looking at his expression, I felt a tightening in my heart for some reason. I wondered if, perhaps, Anastasia was still in the depths of my consciousness.
“It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?”
“Oh, it’s too late… But, I once again have a strong interest and curiosity in Anastasia.”
William-sama said this to me and gave me a dashing smile… What on earth was it now?
“It’s been a long time, I thought, since I’ve had such strong curiosity and interest. So, I’m grateful to you.”
I wasn’t expecting to hear these words from William-sama’s mouth.