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“Anastasia-sama, here you are.”
“Yes, thank you.”
After I finished changing, I headed over to the royal palace’s dining hall, but there was no one here yet. With that said, it will only be William-sama and me today. His Majesty the King and the Queen were touring the other countries for inspection, and William-sama’s younger brother, His Royal Highness the Second Prince, was also accompanying them. To put it simply, William-sama and I were the only royals in the country right now.
“Anastasia-sama, would you like some juice while waiting for William-sama?”
“Yes, I’ll have some.”
I accepted the maid’s offer, and then she poured me some juice into the wine glass near me. This was called orange juice in my previous life. When the liquid entered my mouth, I could taste the unique flavor of orange. Yes, it’s delicious. I’ve always liked orange juice in my previous life.
Ten minutes later, the door opposite the one I entered opened, and a man appeared. He had scarlet hair and bright red eyes. His eyes were sharp, and I could tell right away that he wasn’t in a good mood. William-sama was not the type of man who would show off for a woman. Moreover, he only saw Anastasia as a ‘political marriage partner.’ The fact that I had been poisoned must have affected his work, that’s why he was in such a bad mood.
“…Anastasia, are you feeling better now?”
William-sama slowly said this while also peering into my eyes. His piercing gaze gave off a stinging aura. Well, it’s okay since I’m not the type of person who would easily be defeated by something like this, and I’m sure Anastasia was the same.
“Yes, thanks to you I have recovered quickly. The maids have also been taking care of me well.”
“…Is that so.”
Looking at these words from a different angle, they meant, ‘You didn’t do anything,’ and as if he noticed this, William-sama frowned at her for a moment. The original Anastasia wasn’t the type to say such things to William-sama, so it wasn’t surprising that he was a bit taken aback. It seemed that Anastasia showed a quiet demeanor in front of William-sama.
(Well, I won’t do that now since I’m the one inside.)
I was not going to go through the trouble of appeasing William-sama’s mood. I was going about this my way. In all honesty, I didn’t care about the person who poisoned Anastasia. In fact, I wanted to thank them instead. They gave me the chance to remember my previous life.
“I heard from the librarian that Anastasia has been going to the library a lot lately. “
While their meals were being served, William suddenly said this. The only librarian there was Max-san, right? Only one librarian was working in the palace library, so I can only assume so.
“Yes, I was double-checking what I knew. I thought that the poison might have affected my memories. I’ve also been researching saints.”
When I said this, William-sama’s face became blatantly warped. For the most part, he might have remembered something about the heroine. The heroine had been constantly following William-sama around and hadn’t noticed that he didn’t like her. I don’t think she even realized that she had horrible luck. I was sure she wasn’t the only one… If I said it like this, it might end up sounding like sarcasm from the winner. In the end, she was imprisoned, and it wasn’t funny to say that she was also obsessed with her escape.
“Husband?”
“No, it’s nothing. I just remembered something I disliked.”
William said as he touched his forehead slightly. Yup, it was definitely the heroine, the innocent girl who had competed with me for the title of Saint. In reality, though, she was far from innocent. I presumed that she might be a common reincarnation.
“…By the way, husband. I’m not sure if this is a good idea, but I have a request from my husband.”
“…What is it?”
Anyway, let’s change the subject for the time being. This was what I thought when I spoke to William-sama, and when William-sama heard my words, his already sharp eyes became even sharper… I wondered if he became extra grouchy. I was sure that he thought that I wanted some luxury goods. In fact, Anastasia was also an extravagant spender.
“I have something that I want to do, and I want you to cooperate.”
“…Something that you want to do?”
“Yes.”
I smiled sweetly at William-sama when all the food was laid out. It was always better to have a good impression first. That was the meaning behind the smile, but he openly averted his gaze. Oh, was there something odd with me? Ah, maybe it’s already too late?
“I’m interested in territory management, so… please give me authority over some of the land owned by the royal family.”
“…What?”
“Please give me authority over some of the land owned by the royal family.”
I simply smiled and said this to William-sama. This was necessary to show Anastasia’s power… by getting authority over some land. I smiled, intending this meaning.