“Here you are, Cecily.  And for you too, Eliane.”
“Thank you very much.”

I received ice cream from Nigel.  The handle was a cone, and on top of it rested a round scoop of ice cream.

“Yummy!”
Cecily-chan’s eyes went wide.

“Cecily-chan’s is strawberry, right?  That one looks tasty too.”
“Yeah!  It’s cold and sweet and yummy!”

Cecily-chan earnestly licked her ice cream cone with her small tongue.  The sight was quite adorable.

“Well then, I as well…”

Lick, lick.

Mine was melon flavored.  With a single lick, the flavor of melon spread throughout my mouth.  Quickly captive by the sweetness, I too was absorbed in eating my ice cream.

“Haha, you two are really into it. Ah, Cecily, you’ve got ice cream here.”
“Feh?”

Nigel, holding a vanilla ice cream cone in one hand, brought his finger close to Cecily-chan’s mouth.  He quickly wiped with his index finger and brough it to his own mouth.

“Fufufu. Cecily-chan, you didn’t even notice.  Nigel is so kind, too.”
“That’s embawwassing!”

…is what Cecily-chan said, but she didn’t particularly stop eating and kept on licking unfettered.

“Ah, Eliane too.”
“Yes?”

I reflexively asked back at being suddenly addressed.  Could I… also have ice cream on my face?

Faster than I could think that, Nigel had already brought his finger to me, just like he did with Cecily-chan!  It was over in an instant.  With a casual motion, he wiped away the ice cream smudging the corner of my mouth.

“Ah, thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”

Nigel didn’t seem to think anything of it.

But… as the one it happened to, over something so trivial, my heart was pounding.  Nigel sometimes does things like this so naturally.  What’s more, he doesn’t overdo it or act overly charmful, just enough that I don’t find it unpleasant.

My face must surely be red right now.

I kept my head slightly down and quietly licked my ice cream to keep him from realizing it.

“Say, that couple over there… they’re quite the handsome man and beautiful woman.”
“No, they have a kid with them.  They might be married.”
“Hey, hey, that’s His Highness Nigel.  I don’t know who the woman next to him is, but… she’s incredibly beautiful.”

…I feel gazes from the people around us.

A handsome man and beautiful woman…!  Are they talking about Cecily-chan and Nigel?  No… they wouldn’t look like a couple or husband and wife, so… the beautiful woman is me!?

And they’re seriously misunderstanding the situation!

That said, yes, I am Nigel’s fiancée, but it’s not like we’ve fully entered that kind of relationship yet…

“What’s wrong, Eliane?  You’re acting a bit unsettled.”
Nigel leaned over to look at my dazed expression.

“It-It’s nothing!  Please don’t pay me any mind!”
“……?”

My suddenly turning away must have left Nigel baffled.  But… with how things have turned out, there’s no way I can meet Nigel’s gaze.  It’s too embarrassing!

“Thanks for the treat!  Huh?  onee-chan, you haven’t finished yet?  Does it not taste good?”

Cecily-chan seemed to have finished hers.  She was staring at me with her big round eyes from below.

“No, no, that’s not it at all.  Just give me a moment.  I’ll eat it right away…”
“Eating too fast is bad!  Got it!?  onee-chan always tells me to chew really well before swallowing!”
“That’s a bit different from this though…”
“Bad!”

Cecily-chan raises her index finger.

…The way this turned out even left me completely flustered.  There was no way I could argue back.

******

“Today was fun!”

We walked along the palace road after leaving the venue.  The three of us walked side by side, Cecily-chan in the middle.  I held her right hand and Nigel held her left.

“…It’s gotten quite late, though?  Nigel, are your fine with your official duties?”
“Yes, no need to worry.  Today was a good break.”

Nigel flexes his arm in a show of strength.

The sky was completely dyed with the colors of sunset.  Even after eating ice cream, Cecily-chan had tugged on our arms, saying, “Let’s go over there too!”  She dragged us to all sorts of places.  Thanks to that, even though we’d planned to return by early afternoon, it had become quite late.

“Cecily-chan, I had fun too, so it’s fine… but you shouldn’t be too selfish.  Nigel is a busy man.”
“Ehh, but…”

Cecily-chan looked up at my face and continued.

“It was because nii-ni and Eliane-onee-chan both seemed really busy lately…”

“Eh?”

I was left dumbfounded at hearing something so unexpected.

“Both of you being busy is something that can’t be helped, I know that.  But… if you keep working yourself to the limit like that, someday your body might break down. I heard that happened to Cecily and nii-ni’s mom too… that’s why I wanted you both to take a break.”
““……””

Both Nigel and I were left speechless by what Cecily-chan had said.

“That’s why I wanted you both to take a break.”

I had thought that this whole thing was just one of Cecily-chan’s selfish whims.  Of course, she probably also genuinely wanted to see the Prism Sentai Theater Show.

But… could it be… was she also worrying about our health?

Especially Nigel, even if he’s told to “rest,” his personality isn’t one where he’d just comply.  Even on days off, he’d probably still be flipping through a book on work.

Hence Cecily-chan came up with her idea.

“I got it! If I say it’s just my selfish wish and pull them both out, I can get them to take a break!”

…like that.

“Cecily…”

Nigel also looked at Cecily-chan with a gentle gaze.  Their mother seems to have been a woman wholly devoted to her work. I heard that she always thought about the people of the nation, and never took care of herself.  Perhaps because of that, her health broke down, and after giving birth to Cecily-chan, she passed away soon after.

I’ve no doubt, Cecily-chan saw that in Nigel— and in me as well.

That’s why.

“Thank you, Cecily-chan. We probably can’t do this too often… but let’s go out together like this again, the three of us.”
“Yeah!”

Cecily-chan gives a happy nod.  When I looked to Nigel, he too gave a firm nod.

Our surroundings were beautifully dyed in shades of orange.  Undoubtedly, we must have looked just like a family from behind.

---

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