A strange vision passed through Sezh’s mind as she braced herself for what Raytan was about to do as he approached her. She had already imagined beforehand the many ways he would react the moment she arrived at Lise’s palace.

He might come at her with a furious expression, a bloody vein popped out on his forehead. He would be biting his lips, glaring at her with his cold, red eyes as his hand reached for the nape of her neck. That’s right. That kind of image. Just like what he was doing now.

But then, Lise opened her lips.

“Raytan.”

The gentle voice that had previously been speaking so sweetly with Sezh was no longer there. Instead, it had been replaced with a deeper, more forceful tone. Lise’s expression had also turned cold.

But, what surprised Sezh more was that Raytan, who had gone towards her fully intent on strangling her delicate neck, started to hesitate upon hearing that voice.

“Come on. Sit down.”

“…”

“The food is getting cold, isn’t it?”

Did I mishear her?

As if nothing had happened in the first place, Lise resumed her angelic expression once more. ‘Come on. Sit down’. The words that she spoke just now were also warm.

Sezh was very cautious of Raytan. He glared at her as if he truly did mean to kill her while he made his way to the seat beside her.

What could have possibly happened between Raytan and Lady Lise?

Sezh couldn’t hide her curiosity and stared at Lise. Lise just smiled at her as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Now that Raytan is here, we better start eating right away. You must be very hungry, aren’t you?”

“Ah, yes…”

“Please help yourself. Had I known you were coming, I would have prepared more special dishes for you. I don’t know if what we have here will suit your tastes.”

She says that, but it doesn’t seem like that at all. This table is full of all sorts of foods, and everything looks so plentiful and delicious. The problem is… No matter what kind of food they serve, I don’t think they will let me go now.

Sezh stealthily snuck a glance at Raytan. He was eating with his eyes fully focused on his plate, and Sezh wasn’t sure whether he was intending to ignore her or not. Nevertheless, he exuded a murderous aura around him, and now Sezh wanted to slap herself for saying she would join them for dinner.

Sezh started to cut her meat with shaky hands. Afterwards, she lifted a small piece into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed it. Now that she had already come this far, she couldn’t suddenly make up an excuse for not feeling well.

“It’s really de… delicious, Lady Lise.”

“I am glad,” Lise grinned.

Fortunately, the rest of the meal went rather smoothly. Lise was very friendly and occasionally recommended some dishes for Sezh to try. She had no trouble eating it all. And Raytan, being himself, of course, ate without uttering a single word.

“So, Raytan, this is the first time that we’ve had other people to celebrate your birthday with,” Lise said while sipping her tea, “You should show your gratitude to Her Highness. She went to the trouble of coming here.”

“No, not at all. I came here on my own accord…”

Sezh was flustered. What kind of gratitude would that be, anyway? Raytan keeps glaring at me like he is really going to kill me.

“Ah, that reminds me. I didn’t get to hear the answer earlier, but how did Your Highness get close to Raytan?”

Lise looked at her with curiosity while Raytan’s face twisted with disgust. Well, of course. This was quite an embarrassing situation for Sezh.

“We’re not close,” Raytan said faintly, “Not at all.”

As if one strike wasn’t enough, he added the latter to drive her to the edge of a cliff.

“Um… We haven’t gotten close, yet… But I came here so…”

“…”

“Um… I could get closer to him… Lady Lise.”

“Oh my, I see.”

Lise smiled brightly. She thought about something for a moment before opening her lips.

“Princess, you like reading, right? I heard from the Grand Chamberlain that your lady in waiting is frequently borrowing books from the West Library.”

“Yes, I don’t really have much to do in the Imperial Palace in the first place.”

“I see. What do you like to read these days?”

What books did I read during this time? Sezh started to skim her memories. Children around her age would usually read fairy tales, but unfortunately, those types of novels normally went to the other princes and princesses. The West Library was instead full of books with heavier, more serious themes.

Sezh figured that she would be reading a book about Kazaki. Kazaki was a language that was spoken in a land located far across the sea. It was easier to learn than most other languages, and she had thought that it would be useful to her in the future when she leaves the Imperial Palace, so Sezh had tried her best to learn the language.

But of course, she wouldn’t have done it had she known she was going to die first before she could succeed in ever using the language.

“I’m studying… Kazaki these days.”

“Oh my, Kazaki?” Lise sounded delighted upon hearing that.

“Pardon…?”

“I don’t know if Your Highness knows about this, but I actually originally came from the Ewant Empire before I arrived in the Denhelder Empire, so I know how to speak Kazaki and have been teaching Raytan the language too.”

The Ewant Empire. It was an empire located across the sea and also an empire that spoke Kazaki.

“Raytan, why don’t you teach the princess Kazaki in return for her celebrating your birthday?”

At that moment, Raytan made a distorted expression. As his red eyes turned their glare towards her, the flustered girl started to cough.