Natalia looked at the letter spread out on the table.

“A love letter?  Certainly…”

Next, Frieda, with slightly reddened cheeks, spoke bashfully.

“…Because Jill-onee-sama is cool… it’s great… wonderful…”

Camila continued from behind the table the 3 of them surrounded.

“I also find these sort of heart-pounding developments… exciting.  Except, has the official announcement regarding your marriage already been made?  Or perhaps, not yet?”

Zeke, guarding the room’s door, responded with an unpleasant tone upon being addressed.

“No public announcement yet.  Isn’t that being settled with the Three Dukes right now?  There are a ton of procedures to this.”

Jill secretly let out a sigh.

“Although the preparation have already started, for now it just… embroidery and embroidery and embroidery…”

Finally, Lutiya, the room’s owner, cried out.

“Why are you having this kind of conversation in my room!?”
“Sorry, Lutiya.  This was the only place I could think of where we could all gather during Rho’s afternoon nap without it looking unnatural.”

The flightless young black dragon currently sleeping in Jill’s sunny room using the stuffed Hades Teddy as a pillow along with the gamecock Sauté, despite having large, round, golden eyes and a big bottom, was dragon king.  The Dragon God Rave and his vessel, the Dragon Emperor Hades, could all communicate with him without exchanging words.  That’s to say, anything Rho overheard would be passed straight along to Hades.

“You do understand… it would get quite troublesome if His Majesty were to see this…!”
“Tha-that’s, well… I get that, but… of all places…”
“You just don’t like that Jill received a lover letter.  The only thing you’re good at is moving your mouth.”

Jill’s eyes fluttered as she blinked.  Before her, Lutiya, flustered, turned red all at once and glared at Natalia.  With a smirk, she rested her cheek on her hand.

“Ara, my apologies, my tongue slipped.  But, isn’t it pitiful if only our newly arrived little brother gets left out?  I would like for you to show your gratitude for my consideration.”
“That’s none of your concern.  Hurry up and get out, Natalia!”
“Call me, onee-sama, you brat!”
“Shut up!  Who would call you that, ugly?”
“What was that!?”

Natalia and Lutiya glared at each other with sparks flying between them.  They gave the impression of already being proper older sister and younger brother.

Deep within the imperial castle of the Rave Imperial Family— lived Hades’ siblings.  It had become much livelier as the numbers increased, and considerably so once Lutiya had been given a room in the palace Natalia and Frieda lived. 

At first, Lutiya seemed uncomfortable with the finely decorated furniture and spacious room, but he gradually got used to it as Natalia and Frieda continued to barge in for one thing or another.  By nature, he wasn’t one to have many belongings, yet the sparse shelves that troubled him because he had nothing to fill them with held a tea set Natalia had brought and the previously bare window area and sofa had been decorated with flowers and sachet-filled cushions arranged by Frieda.  Bit by bit, hints of life started to fill the place.

“Hold on, Lutiya, the baked sweets I left here are gone.  Don’t tell me you ate them!?  I can’t believe you, you’re the worst.”
“What’s wrong with eating something that’s in my room?  If you don’t want them eaten, then don’t leave them here.”
“The monitoring over there is intense.  ‘You can’t have that, you can’t have this!’  So I thought maybe my attendants wouldn’t find them if I hid them here…!”
“Lutiya-onii-sama… you can have Frieda’s candy too… if you’d like…?”
“In that case, you can help yourself to the cookie tin over there in exchange.”
“Hold on, why is your treatment of Frieda so blatantly different!”
“Because of your usual behavior.  Wait, Jill-sensei, that’s—”

“Eh,” by the time she made that sound, everyone’s attention had gathered on her.

While she had been watching over them thinking, They really get along well, the cookie pile she had absentmindedly been munching on had disappeared before she knew it.

“Sorry, Lutiya, were these yours!?  They were set out on a place and, that… they were so incredibly tasty, I didn’t realize…!”

Lutiya let out an exaggerated sigh at Jill’s panic.

“It’s fine, don’t mind it.  I mean, the moment I put them out on a plate, I kinda knew… and I can get more if I ask Noin again.”
“Noin?  You, are you meeting with Noin?”

Lutiya’s expression said, “oops,” without any reservation.

Noin came from the same province as Lutiya and was his classmate.  At present, he was temporarily studying at the imperial capital’s military academy as an exchange student.  Lutiya would deny it, but he was a good rival and friend.  However, Lutiya was both a member of the Rave Imperial Family and a hostage from Grand Duchy of Laica.  Leaving the imperial castle should require permission.  He would be assigned an escort and the whole thing would be blown out of proportion.

When Jill glanced at Camila and Zeke, they gave small shakes of their heads.  For this to have not reached even their ears— in other words, he must have slipped out.

Lutiya was an appalling problem child.  His specialty laid in slipping past the eyes of adults.  Even Jill, as his former instructor, felt that avoiding the surveillance of the imperial castle should be a simple matter for him.

As Lutiya’s expression tightened, she flicked his forehead.

“I’ll keep it secret for you.  Your Highness Frieda, Your Highness Natalia, please keep this secret as well.”

While Frieda’s eyes shined as she eagerly nodded her head, Natalia seemed uninterested.  Zeke and Camila, who were the Dragon Consort’s knights, took her words as an order.  Lutiya, perhaps uncomfortable by the situation, turned to the window with a huff and sat down on a chair by the window that had its back to them.

Natalia, while making a light snort at her younger brother, set down a cup of tea before Jill.

“So, the sender’s identity?”
“Nope, no idea… I searched around after picking it up, but I couldn’t find anyone.”
“May I… read… the contents…?”

Frieda, nervously fidgeting over something, tried reaching out with her hand when Natalia swiftly took the letter.  She then frowned.

“The composition and spelling are flawless, although the phrasing is a bit old-fashioned… the penmanship is quite pretty too.  There’s no doubt it was written by someone who is upper class.  However, this handwriting also looks like it might be a woman’s…”
“Maybe it’s harassment to the Dragon Consort-sama who receives all of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor’s favor?”

“Fufu,” Camila lightly laughed out in amusement for some reason.  Jill shook her head.

“There are times when its serious.  We can’t rush here.”
“Jill-chan, you’re quite composed… have you perhaps received confessions from the same-sex before?”
“I have.”

It had happened back when she was the Battle Maiden.  The men, for some reason, were left speechless by her light nod.  Also for some reason, Lutiya was holding his head.

“No way… women too…?”
“Why are you so shaken, Lutiya?  It’s quite believable with Jill.  Shall I read the contents aloud?”

Jill gave a firm nod.  Natalia readjusted the letter and took a breath.

“—Her beloved highness Dragon Consort.  At present, I am drowning in my love for you and have lost my way.  Please, somehow, save me from this suffering.  For however long is needed, I shall wait in the field of flowers where dragons are laid to rest—”
“Uwa, gross…”

Jill thought the text quite poetic, but Lutiya’s evaluation was harsh.  Having heard the text aloud, she regards those around her.

“I think… I will go—”
“That’s obviously not happening!”

Lutiya spoke up so quickly, he was like a bell ringing after being struck.  Perhaps embarrassed at having spoken too strongly, he waved his hands in a fluster upon seeing Jill’s eyes widen.

“We-we don’t know who this is, and even if Jill-sensei is strong… it’s still dangerous.  More than that, that answer has already… been decided… anyway…”
“Right, right, that’s correct!”

Camila went out of her way to approach Lutiya, whose voice had weakened, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  For some reason, she brightly added on to it.

“Times like these are when we, the Dragon Consort’s knights, have our turn.  Right, Bear-man?”
“Well, there’s no need for you to take the trouble of going.  I can pass along your refusal.”

As Jill was pondering the situation, Camila, who had been shoved away by Lutiya, spoke with a wry smile. 

“Listen, Jill-chan, my heart also flutters with anticipation at for things like this?  And I also understand the want to give a sincere reply?  But that sort of thing—”
“No, I don’t particularly care about excitement or sincerity.”
“You don’t care!?”
“After all, this is an enemy of His Majesty.  We should deal with this now while we can.”

Everyone froze at her straightforward conclusion.

---

Read more than 10 posts ahead and support Faux on Patreon for only $2~

<Previous Chapter

Next Chapter>