“Is something the matter, Anastasia-sama?”
Lloyd smiled at me as he asked this, and I could tell that Lloyd was fondly beaming at me right now. I didn’t know whether it was because I’ve known him as Anastasia for a long time or if it was because I knew this world as a memory from my last life, but at least I knew now that I liked Lloyd’s loyalty.
“…Hey, Lloyd. Are you happy with the way you’re being treated here?”
If I used a strained voice to say this, Lloyd would just say, “Of course,” in a calm voice, and from Anastasia’s point of view, it would seem normal. However, Lloyd wasn’t like that. If it was as per the otome game…
“The last boss, Lloyd, only wears a cat costume in front of Anastasia.”
This information was brought by my previous sister’s voice into my mind. In front of Anastasia, Lloyd played the role of a relatively quiet servant. In reality, however, he was bad-tempered and quarrelsome. He also wasn’t very talkative and would argue with his brother a lot. Anastasia knew this as well.
“….Lloyd, I only have one favor to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
Lloyd listened to my words and replied. He had on a smiling expression, and he looked like a nice young man, but his eyes were shaking. Maybe he was scared.
But what exactly was Lloyd afraid of? Did he think that if he revealed his true nature, Anastasia would abandon him? I don’t know about the Anastasia in the otome game… but the Anastasia in this world didn’t seem to harbor the slightest intentions of doing anything like that.
When I closed my eyes, I could clearly see the memories of my life as Anastasia. Lloyd had always been there for her. Anastasia’s parents were extremely busy, and they traveled all over the place, eventually dying in a magical runaway accident. Although they dearly loved Anastasia when they saw her from time to time, they were not considered as Anastasia’s ‘precious family.’ In Anastasia’s mind, the only people who were classified as ‘precious family’ were her brother and a few servants who were willing to accept her as she was, one of them being Lloyd. Visit novelping . com for the full chapter.
(Maybe Anatasia’s loneliness was the cause of her fierce personality.)
She wanted people to look at her as much as possible, so perhaps that was the reason why she became such an intense person. I thought this, but even though I have Anastasia’s memories, I couldn’t decipher her feelings all that well. I could only see what I remember. But, I do know this. Anastasia… trusted Lloyd from the bottom of her heart.
“Lloyd… I requested something from my brother. I want you to come with me to the royal palace. I want you to be my servant again.”
I looked straight into Lloyd’s eyes and said this. To put it bluntly, there were far more attendants by Anastasia’s side than servants. In other words, she had a few followers. That’s why… I wanted Lloyd to be by my side. And… yeah, this was something I shouldn’t even be thinking about.
“…Anastasia-sama, do you know what you’re saying? A young lady who marries into the royal family is not allowed to take in a male servant from her family’s estate. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know that, but still…”
I could see where Lloyd was coming from. It’s an old rule in this kingdom that a young lady who married into the royal family could only take female servants from her family’s estate. But, I think… that that rule was outdated. Somebody had to change it, and besides… rules were there to be broken, weren’t they?
“I think that that rule is old. Besides, I’ve been married into the royal family for quite some time now. I think that taking you alone now would be but a small matter.”
“…Anastasia-sama, do you realize that you hold the important position of the crown princess?”
“Yes, I do.”
I was going to throw that position away someday! I grinned at Lloyd as I said this in my mind. I couldn’t leave Lloyd alone. I didn’t know why I felt that way, but my gut was telling me that I should take Lloyd with me.
“Besides, I’ve been nearly poisoned to death. I wanted someone whom I trust to be my full-time servant so that it won’t be as rough… If Lloyd doesn’t want to be by my side, then that’s fine…”
I dropped my face down as I said this. The problem was that I only had ‘information from the otome game.’ The actual Lloyd was the only one who knew how he felt about this. Maybe the Lloyd of this world thought it would be better to be my brother’s servant. I still felt that there were too many uncertain factors.
“…Lloyd?”
“…I always want to stay by Anastasia-sama’s side, and that is unquestionably my true intentions.”
When I hastily looked up from Lloyd’s words, his face was drooped down, while his clenched hands trembled slightly… Hey Lloyd, what on earth were you thinking about?
“But I can’t stay by Anastasia-sama’s side… At one point in time, I certainly thought about a lot of things, even selling my soul to the devil, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want you to be unhappy…”
…Well, what was it exactly that made you want to sell your soul to the devil? I continued to stare at Lloyd as I thought this. Then, as if he had made up his mind, Lloyd looked up and put his hands on my shoulders.
“…I wish for Anastasia-sama’s happiness more than anyone else… That’s why I didn’t take that woman’s deal.”
…Hmm? That woman? Those were the words that stuck to me the most. That woman… There’s only one person to whom that word applied to.
“Hey, Lloyd. That woman… Was it Candy-sama?”
I interrupted Lloyd to ask him this question, but Lloyd slowly nodded his head.
T/N: Hello!!! Super sorry for the short notice, but I need to take another hiatus. Work has been beating the cr*p out of me lately with forecast deadlines, upcoming reports, and regular 6 am meetings. :’) I’ll start reupdating this once I get out of hiatus!!