“Wait, Jill-chan~!?”

“What about your tea time—”

—Dashing pass Camilla and Zeke, who were guarding the entrance, Jill stormed out of the palace. She even triple-jumped past the stairs.

Around that time, Hadith should be in the office.

“Dragon Pri—Your Highness, this meeting is prohibited—”

“—Move aside, it’s urgent. Excuse me, Your Majesty!”

Slipping past the empire soldiers who gallantly tried to stand in her way, Jill barged through the door.

Vissel and Listeard were seated on the sofa in front of the office desk. They both noticed her first, and grimaced at the same time.

“—Jill!”

As for the owner of the room—Hadith; he was sporting a smile.

“What’s the matter? Are you hungry? The snack will be served later.”

…Upon hearing that concern of the beaming Hadith, Jill blushed—

—Do I ask for sweets that often?

“No, it’s not that…”

“Eh, I was mistaken? You didn’t come to inquire about today’s snacks?”

“While that’s certainly important, I didn’t come for that! It’s about Her Highness Natalie! Are you serious about that engagement!? Moreover, her partner is Prince Geraldo!”

“Alright, who leaked the information?”

The frustrated murmur that spilled from Vissel served as an affirmation.

“I, I did…”

Frida, who came in after Jill along with Camilla and Zeke, said that before rushing to hide behind Jill. Clicking his tongue, Vissel turned to look at Listeard.

“For you to be unable to keep such information discreet, how incompetent do you have to be?”

“…My apologies. I’ll investigate the cause later and prevent the same mistake from happening again. Frida, please return. Right now, your brother is still at work—”

“—Why, why would you, to Natalie-nee-sama?”

The words of his half-sister knitted his eyebrows. To convey them, she must’ve spoke with all her might. Thus, Vissel responded with a smile plastered across his face.

“It’s part of the peace negotiations. In terms of age, the two suit each other well. After all, sending the emperor’s older sister isn’t an option.”

“W-which is why, nee-sama…”

“Let me inform you, Natalie proposed this herself. Of course, I objected.”

Frida, who did her best to appeal to her brothers, stiffened in shock. Inwardly, Jill had the same reaction. Seeing both Frida’s and Jill’s expressions, Vissel sarcastically laughed.

“Did you think it was my idea? Forgive me, but I wouldn’t have taken such a gamble.”

“But why would onee-sama…”

“Because it’s for the best.”

A dignified voice resounded from the doorway. Upon turning around, there stood the figures of Natalie and Elynsia, standing tall and smiling wryly respectively.

“What’s all this fuss about? I thought my brothers were arguing again, hence why I brought Elynsia-nee-sama.”

“Well, Natalie, isn’t that great? I’d rather not beat my brothers all the time. Don’t you guys agree?”

Recently, whenever the male siblings had a fight, they’d be slapped on the head rather than being reprimanded by their thoughtful older sister.

At the sight of Natalie, whom she was close with, and Elynsia, whom she relied on, Frida teared up.

“onee-sama, a, are you truly going to become a bride…?”

“It still hasn’t been decided, yet. Moreover, I haven’t been summoned, or asked to show my face. Still, it isn’t a bad story, right?”

At Natalie’s smile, Frida blinked in confusion. Jill was astounded by Natalie’s unexpected positive attitude.

“But your partner will be Prince Geraldo!? Are you truly alright with that?”

“Once we make peace, he’ll no longer be our enemy. Besides, isn’t he the rumored genius? Moreover, I heard that he isn’t exactly bad-looking…”

“—My ass! He’s the scummiest, disgusting, siscon bastard—!?”

Immediately after exclaiming that, Jill’s hands flew to her mouth.

…Such was the cause of Jill’s former death.

Elynsia blinked and tilted her head.

“While it’s true that Prince Geraldo and Princess Faelis are famous for being close, is that supposed to be a problem? If anything, I’d like my younger brothers to follow their examples.”

“But they are them, and we’re us, Ane-ue.”

Listeard, who once had confronted Faelis, spoke as if to gloss over the situation, perhaps because Frida was there.

Still, the fact remained that in the future, Jill was executed precisely because she witnessed the forbidden love between Geraldo and his own sister—Faelis.

Before she could even spread the word, a splendidly-woven false accusation had met her, leading to her subsequent arrest and execution.

…As such, who could say that the same fate wouldn’t await Natalie?

Regardless, it’d be troublesome if she were to publicly state such a scandal and ruin the peace treaty. Above all, how was she supposed to break such an outrageous story to them?

“A woman who’ll eventually become our nation’s mother shouldn’t slander the royal family of a neighboring country.”

In the end, all she gained was Vissel’s disapproval.

Jill’s eyes swum.

“I, I’ll have to admit that my choice of words is unpleasant, but, those siblings, they’re… special.”

“In any case, you should’ve phrased it better. Instead of something as insubstantial as a doting relationship between siblings; the words ‘martyr’ and ‘Goddess’ are more accurate to represent them. If it was for the sake of his sister, Prince Geraldo wouldn’t hesitate to get his hands dirty. Even if you’re the princess of the Rave Empire, you won’t be an exception. Despite his young age, Prince Geraldo has proven both his power and wisdom. Hence why he’s referred to as a genius.”

Frida paled at Vissel’s evaluation. Without paying her any heed, Vissel went on.

“Which is why I’m against it. There’s no way a mediocre princess without any combat ability, isn’t exceptionally intelligent, and doesn’t have the magical prowess to survive in a magical powerhouse. At best, you’ll end up as a pawn.”

“You never know unless you try.”

“—You heard her. Feel free to try and persuade her in any way.”

Seeing that Vissel had given up, Listeard also remained silent with a haggard look on his face. Timidly, Frida took Natalie’s hand.

“O, onee-sama, why…?”

“Because now’s a good time.”

Thus, Natalie lifted her face.

---

***T/N: Natalie, even if that sounds cool, don’t jump into the frying pan…

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