Sezh sat all alone in her chair as she waited for Raytan to return for her. The talk was getting longer and she couldn’t sense Raytan’s presence or his shadow approaching this place. Even the maids had started to remove all the empty dishes and clear the room. Did he leave her alone on purpose?

Sezh started to look around and frowned while rubbing her full belly. It had been too much for her. The atmosphere during the dinner had been awkward, but in addition to that, she had to eat all the foods that Lise recommended to her. Now, she felt sick and nauseous.

“Hue…”

Sezh closed her mouth to stop herself from vomiting. The bitter taste of bile reached her tongue. How troublesome.

I’m going to find an empty room somewhere and just puke like crazy. That would be a better choice than what I have to deal with now.

Sezh rose from her seat quickly.

Yeah, it would be better to not see big brother Raytan again. It must be better that way. I will go back to my palace quickly and vomit, then I’ll ask Luna to give me some medicine to help with digestion.

Sezh thought that was her plan as she walked towards the door, but before she could reach the doorknob, it opened.

“Ack…”

Sezh poked her head towards the door and stopped. She looked at the person blocking her way.

“Big bro-, big brother Raytan.”

The person standing in front of the door was Raytan, who also coincidentally happened to be the most annoying person in the world at the moment.

Sezh started to stutter without realizing it. His sudden appearance had surprised her so much that her nausea stopped. Raytan stared at Sezh without saying a single word to her before walking ahead.

Are you asking me to follow you? No, I mean, I can follow you now. That’s the only way to go out anyway.

…

Oh, right. The present. I need to give him the present.

Sezh, who had been hesitating, began to chase after Raytan wordlessly. Much to her surprise, the place that Raytan was heading to was Sezh’s palace.

I thought he was going to leave me alone. It must have been hard to ignore Lise’s words.

While she thought about that, Sezh struggled to keep up with Raytan’s pace. She didn’t know whether it was due to his long legs or the fact that he took long strides, but Raytan walked very quickly. Sezh felt like she was going to die trying to chase after him and match his pace.

I don’t know what his problem is, but I’m having a hard time following him. I wish I had the courage to say, ‘Brother, please walk a little slower’.

So Sezh could only follow him in science. Not long after, Raytan and Sezh reached her palace.

Had I known this would happen to me, I would have rather asked Lise to deliver the present to him…

But there was no time to regret the past. She had to deliver the present now before things got worse.

“Big brother, please wait a min-“

“…”

“Big bro-, big brother Raytan!”

Raytan came to halt and stared at Sezh standing far behind him.

Though it was a little intimidating for her when those red eyes glared at her in the dark, like the way a beast looks at its prey, Sezh mustered up the courage to speak.

“Thank you for escorting me. I also enjoyed the dinner. And uhh, this…”

Sezh pulled out the small jewelry box from under one of her arms and opened the lid. There was a jewel with a ruby placed inside of it. She wasn’t able to call a merchant, so she had picked the most expensive jewel in her possession as a present.

It was a tough decision and she almost cried when she made up her mind on this. She didn’t know how things worked outside the Imperial Palace, but she was sure that if she had sold this jewel, she would have been able to eat for a few months.

She couldn’t help it since this was the only chance she had to seek his favor and avoid meeting death again in that way.

Also, rubies were the most valuable of gems. The jewel she presented him glowed as brightly as his eyes. It was not a bad gift at all.

“It’s a birthday present for you, and I think it looks like big brother’s eyes-“

“…”

“Y-You might think of this present as nothing… but this is the only precious thing that I’ve ever had…”

“…”

“Big bro-“

Before Sezh could even finish calling his name, Raytan reached out to her, snatched the jewelry box, and threw the entire thing away without even looking at it properly.

Sezh’s blue eyes watched in bewilderment as the box rolled on the floor.

She found herself unable to do anything except stare at the floor with a dazed expression.

“…”

Raytan’s hand suddenly grabbed her collar. Sezh yelled out and looked at Raytan, frightened. His red eyes looked down at his sister coldly