“……What happened, Jill?”

The carpet was flipped over, the chandelier tilted, windowpanes had been blown away in one section, an area of the floor was dented in another, and furniture was overturned.  In a corner of the great hall that gave the impression of robbers having broken in, Hades crouched down in front of Jill.  She was hugging her knees beneath a small writing desk.

“Why is Your Majesty at the Dragon Consort Palace?  How… did you know I was here?”
“About that, of course I’d know with sounds that incredible and magical power shining that brightly.  Even the imperial castle was in an uproar.  Seig and Camilla are waiting outside.  I brought them with me.”

Which meant the fact that she was there had become widely known.  The First Imperial Consort might no longer show herself— I failed in that too.

“…I’m reflecting on my actions.”
“You… seem to have a habit of hiding in cramped places when you’re reflecting… but do you have that much to reflect on?”
“Today has brought nothing but things to reflect on.  I was looked down on nonstop by the imperial consorts of the inner palace, and Lady Fine used me as she pleased, and because of that I wasn’t able to do the fitting with Your Majesty either.”
“Ah… I figured that might the case, so don’t worry about it, alright?  It’s probably nothing more than the standard sort of harassment.”
“But His Highness Vissel is smug with triumph at my poor handling of this.”

Hades gave an ambiguous smile and dodged the issue. Jill hugged her knees tightly.

“More than anything… for me of all people… I let someone get away…!”
“Eh? What got away?”
“The Dragon Consort Palace’s caretaker!”

Bang, she slammed her fist against the floor.  No dust rose into the air, likely because of all the rampaging earlier.

“The issues with the inner palace are still fine, I never expected it to go smoothly from the start…!  However, to lose in a contest of strength of all things, it’s humiliating!”

She had been conceited.  Her opponent was an old man, and she could barely sense any magical power from him.  In the back of her mind, the part of her that was still calm ensured to hold back.  Despite that, she was certain she had plenty of leeway.

Yet, she couldn’t catch him.  That old man used every trap set throughout the great hall to confuse both Jill’s thoughts and movements and then escaped somewhere.  She searched the Dragon Consort Palace but had been unable to find him.  There must be a hidden room or something somewhere.  In the end, she didn’t even learn his name, but he certainly seemed to be the caretaker of the Dragon Consort Palace.

“What’s with this place?  It’s utterly baffling.  Not even the Saber House is this bad…!”
“It-it became that much of a danger zone?”
“I think all the traps in the great hall have been triggered, but… it makes me lose confidence.  Even though I thought this was the one thing I was good at…”

Losing a battle like this, I really am nothing more than a child.  Her frustration exploded.

“Either way, I’m just a flat girl!  You think so too, don’t you, Your Majesty!?”
“I-I-I-I-I-I just heard something outrageous.  It must have been my imagination, right!?”
“Your Majesty treats me like a child too.  If not, you wouldn’t run away from kissing practice…”

She presented her lips and stood on the tips of her toes. Hades’ face had been bright red moments ago, but she could no longer tell what sort of expression he was making now.

Regardless, at times like these he always wore an adult’s expression.

“—Are you hungry, Jill?”

As she expected, a basket was held out before her nose.  It was the basket Hades always brought when they ate outside or went on picnics.  It was a treasure chest filled with lots of delicious food.

“Once again, you worked hard late into the evening.  Let’s eat together, Jill.”
“I’ll eat… but… well, please return to your room first, Your Majesty.”

Normally, she’d have leapt for the basket with sparkles in her eyes, but this felt like a childish distraction, one she couldn’t honestly be happy about it.  While repeatedly glancing at the basket, she ended up saying something un-cute.

“This place is in this sort of state, and… I still haven’t reflected enough.”
“That’s no good.  To be sending back the emperor who came for a night visit, of all things.”

Jill stopped moving and thought for a minute. A night visit. “Visit” probably refers to Emperor Hades coming here.  That’s to say, the inner palace.  Then, adding “night” to the—

—Ah.

When she raised her face, their eyes met.  There was a mischievous light in Hades’ golden eyes.

“Let’s practice it, starting now.”

This was like playing pretend, yet her mood lifted all at once.

“I-I understand, it’s fine, so I won’t send you back!  E-etto, I found a kitchen earlier, so over there!”

She jumped out from beneath the desk and pulled Hades by the hand.  Now that she saw the great hall again, she determined that it was a complete mess.  It was far removed from any sort of sensual atmosphere.  Yet the humiliation she had felt earlier was gone.

I’ll need to clean this up properly before the wedding.  When that day comes, it won’t be practice anymore.

“What’s today’s meal?”
“It’s a surprise for when you open it.”
“Understood!  Ah, that’s right.  Let’s call Seig and Camilla too.  I also want to discuss what we’ll be doing next.  They’re outside, right?”
“Ehh, it won’t be just the two of us?”

Hades puffed out his cheeks.  Jill replied coolly.

“That’s for later, work comes first! —Hey, Your Majesty!”

He easily picked her up with one arm.

“Honestly, please stop suddenly picking me up all the time already.”

Even when she glared at him, Hadis merely pouted.

“I am delighted that you’re feeling better, but my bride is being too cold.  I want you to be gentler with me.”
“But there are a lot of important things to discuss.  We’ll need Camilla and Seig to cooperate too…  Apparently the First Imperial Consort is secretly meeting someone in the Dragon Burial flower field.  This is our chance!”

As Hades’ eyes went wide Jill counted on her fingers.

“First, we get leverage over the First Imperial Consort.  Then we report that Lady Fine leaked the information and divide the inner palace.  From there, I will mediate with my fists!  The inner palace will say, ‘We surrender,’ and the festival is a success.”
“I don’t really understand the part about mediating with your fists… but you don’t trust Listeard-ani-ue’s mother?  Didn’t you say she seemed like a kind person?”

Jill, whose cheek was poked, proudly puffed out her chest.

“I never said she wasn’t kind.  This is how it’s done in the inner palace—a battle of women!”

How strange.  Until just a moment ago, she was done with these unfamiliar methods and her own lack of ability.  Now everything felt trivial.

“That’s scary.  Someday I feel like I’m going to be wrapped around your finger—fueh?”

While Hades acted carefree, she grabbed his relaxed cheeks and pulled them.

“I’ll say this now.  Keep laughing while you still can.”

Just hearing suggestive words like “night visit” and becoming happy over them was the weakness of being in love.  There was no way a man as beautiful as him would easily fit in her small hands. She understood that properly. That was why she would spread her arms as far as she could and hold to him tight.

“I’ll work hard to make the Dragon Consort’s dress and flower crown beautiful.”
“Stop, my heart is going to stop.”
“Shall we kiss too?  As practice.”

Hades’ cheeks reddened.  He averted his gaze to the side and quietly said, “We won’t.”

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