Ch.114Special Side Story – To Another Continent (7)

I was dumbfounded.

The carriage I thought was heading to some grand mansion had actually arrived at the imperial palace. I wondered if Rishe was playing a joke on me, but she wasn’t the type to pull such a tasteless prank as impersonating royalty.

“It’s true. Nepy, you’re making such an amusing face.”

“He’s surprisingly vulnerable to these kinds of twists, our Nepy.”

“Anyone would be vulnerable to this kind of twist?!”

I felt betrayed watching the two women laugh at me. I could understand Irefi, but even Rishe had deceived me… it was devastating.

“Come to think of it, Irefi. Since when did you know?”

“Have you forgotten who rented the carriage with Rishe?”

“It was you…”

“That’s when I became certain, but… I had my suspicions all along.”

Rishe displayed obvious embarrassment at Irefi’s answer.

“W-really? Since when?”

“Shortly after we first met. If you wanted to hide it properly, you should have at least dyed your hair.”

“Ah…”

According to Irefi, one of the characteristics of this country’s imperial family was silver hair.

Things were so strict that even dyeing one’s hair silver was forbidden to prevent incidents of people impersonating royalty.

‘The 3rd Emperor I saw in the old man’s memories didn’t have red hair… that’s quite peculiar.’

The imperial family’s genes must be incredibly strong. Still, you’d think at least one of them wouldn’t have silver hair.

“Ugh… that was careless of me.”

“You should reflect on that.”

“Yes…”

I stared blankly at Rishe’s silver hair and was overcome with a strange sense of discomfort.

It felt like encountering a bizarrely twisted coincidence that wouldn’t go away.

As I traced back through my memories, the discomfort took a concrete form.

“Wait a minute.”

“Nepy?”

“If the imperial family’s traits are so distinctive… why were you being chased in the first place?”

“Oh.”

Rishe’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt, planting themselves firmly on the ground.

From my position, I couldn’t see her face as she walked ahead of me.

“Even the craziest group would know they’d be utterly destroyed if they laid hands on royalty.”

“Nepy’s right. I’d naturally forgotten about it, but certainly…”

Our gazes converged on one spot. Rishe turned her neck slowly, creaking like a puppet.

As her face gradually came into view, it wore that unique expression of utter embarrassment. It was also tinged with fear directed at Irefi.

She looked like a rain-soaked puppy. Perhaps that’s why, even though I hadn’t scolded her, my heart softened.

“Rishe, you…”

Just as I was about to call out to Rishe.

“Princess? Is it really you, Princess?”

The moment an elderly woman clearly recognized Rishe, she covered her mouth with her palm. Rishe twirled her hair nervously while deliberately avoiding the woman’s gaze. But she couldn’t escape reality forever.

“Nanny…”

“Princess Rishecrate! Where on earth have you been all this time… the palace has been turned upside down for days!”

“Umm, well…”

“You must immediately report your return to His Majesty. And be sure to apologize properly!”

“Yes, I understand…”

“Sigh, if anything had happened to the princess…”

The elderly woman—Rishe’s nanny—turned her head slightly to look us over.

“Excuse me, but are you the ones who brought the princess back?”

“Yes, more or less.”

“First, let me express my gratitude for your efforts. If you would follow me…”

Just as Rishe’s nanny was about to guide us, a piercing scream echoed from the other side.

“No!!!”

“Eek! You startled me. Are you trying to destroy this old woman’s eardrums, Princess?”

“No means no. Nepy and Irefi have to come with me.”

“Come with you where?”

“Where else? To meet my father and mother.”

“Princess!”

The woman’s mouth gaped open in shock at Rishe’s unreasonable tantrum.

Honestly, from the nanny’s perspective, it was understandable.

A pair of strangers from who-knows-where wanting to meet the Emperor and Empress? Being wary of us was the loyal thing to do.

“Don’t you ever get tired of nagging? It won’t end with you—how much more scolding do you want to hear from the Emperor?”

“Hmph, I’m not scared at all! You don’t understand, Nanny. There’s a nagging demon in this world who can make you cry tears and snot.”

Rishe declared proudly while crossing her arms.

The button she pushed seemed to hit someone else’s forehead.

“Who are you calling a nagging demon…!”

“Whoa, calm down, Irefi. She’s just a child.”

“Kuhuk.”

And so, the fire that was about to erupt on top of Irefi’s head was quickly extinguished.

Taking advantage of her momentary calm, Rishe enthusiastically continued pushing buttons.

“Now I’m not afraid of Father’s scolding or even Mother’s. Because I’ve successfully overcome extreme situations.”

“Oh my, how did the princess come to speak such rebellious words…”

It was clearly an educational failure. And whose educational failure was it? None other than my world’s strongest wife, whom I was carefully watching.

Irefi might have thought she was molding a person, but all she’d done was greatly increase Rishe’s immunity to scolding.

No wonder she couldn’t lift her head in shame.

“Haah…”

Irefi let out a deep sigh. Somehow, what should have been a warm breath carried an icy chill that cooled the atmosphere.

‘She’s not hanging her head in shame…?’

She was trembling with anger.

This could get seriously out of hand. Such an ominous feeling pierced my temples.

In the end, I had to jump between the three of them and actively mediate.

‘I never imagined Rishe would have a keyboard warrior personality…’

Was she thinking she had nothing to fear from her nanny or parents because we were here?

I had a feeling things were about to get exhausting.

◇

“…That concludes how we came to escort your daughter here.”

My hasty mediation ended successfully.

Setting aside the fact that we were uninvited guests, I convinced the nanny that we should at least report how we brought Rishe here, and she reluctantly agreed.

The result was our current situation—participating in a tea party hosted by the Emperor and Empress.

“You’ve gone through a lot of trouble. Tell me if there’s anything you want.”

“Nothing in particular.”

I answered promptly.

In truth, I really didn’t want anything. In terms of material wealth, neither Irefi nor I had personal expenses that could match even a provincial wealthy family.

Unless it was something like “Please give us your daughter as our daughter.”

“I heard you came from the Eld Empire.”

“That’s correct.”

“And I heard that your wife’s family name is Justitia.”

This time, Irefi responded to the Emperor’s words.

“Only the surname remains; I severed direct and indirect involvement long ago.”

“Hmm.”

Perhaps due to the density of years lived, the Emperor’s intentions were clearly visible.

Now that a certain familiarity had been established through Rishe, he seemed to want to build various exchanges based on this connection.

“In fact, while I’m seeing your husband for the first time, I’ve heard of your name. You were the captain of the knights who guarded the Emperor of the Eld Empire.”

“That’s ancient history.”

“I see.”

The Emperor stroked his thick chin thoughtfully. He was clearly pondering how to cook us up to be of use to him.

“I imagine you must be tired after traveling with my daughter. How about staying for a few days?”

Anyway, he seemed to have concluded that he couldn’t find an answer on the spot. At least to me, his invitation to rest from travel fatigue sounded like it had that meaning.

I looked at Irefi for her opinion, and when she nodded slightly, I expressed my acceptance.

“Very well.”

◇

We unpacked our modest luggage in the assigned guest room.

While physical fatigue couldn’t exist for me, the fact that I was craving sleep after so long suggested accumulated mental fatigue.

Unusually, even Irefi was disheveled as she collapsed onto the bed and rolled over to my side.

“Good job, Irefi.”

“You too, Nepy.”

“We sure go through some strange experiences, don’t we?”

“We do. And yet we haven’t seen even a glimpse of a dragon.”

“Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations. The continent is so vast—how could we find one just by running around on foot?”

“Maybe if we ran at full speed?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Since we’re on a journey anyway, I have no interest in running around without any romance. Even if we don’t see a dragon, I’d rather slowly admire Irefi’s profile.

She was always there when I opened my eyes. But seeing her in a foreign country was different from seeing her in the Eld Empire. That’s why I never once thought our travels were bothersome.

“Irefi, you really are an iron wall. You refused to get politically entangled until the end.”

“I don’t have the authority in the first place. Miren is now the head of the Justitia family.”

“Hmm.”

While Irefi had essentially left the marquess family, she hadn’t lost her influence.

Whether as close sisters or as a senior with abundant experience whom a successor looks up to, Miren wouldn’t be able to ignore Irefi.

I simply respect Irefi’s opinions. If she loves principles, then I too must love principles.

As we lay sprawled, looking into each other’s eyes, she murmured a quiet observation.

“It’s quiet.”

“Yes, it is quiet.”

It was a surprisingly fresh observation. A quiet daily life shouldn’t be that rare, but somehow this atmosphere felt like it had been a very long time.

I pondered the reason and recalled an obvious fact.

‘It really has been a while.’

We met Rishe just a day after setting foot on the new continent. And since meeting her, we’d continued on a bustling journey.

When two became three, the gears of conversation turned endlessly. The strange silence surrounding us now was due to the absence of just one person.

It felt a little empty, but not unpleasant.

Having time like this, just the two of us with Irefi, was precious.

“It’s been a while since just the two of us lay down like this, hasn’t it?”

“I agree.”

“I wasn’t aware I was being considerate of Rishe all this time, but now I realize I was extremely mindful.”

“In what way?”

“This way.”

A light kiss touched Irefi’s white hair with a soft sound. She flinched as if nerves were connected directly to her hair.

Irefi’s reaction was a trigger that warmed my heart.

She gently stroked the back of my hand with her small hand. Her fingers, lightly settling from the back of my hand to my knuckles, curled into a hook shape, creating a firm interlocking grip. Our joined hands seemed like a channel where our body temperatures mixed.

We applied gentle pressure to our interlocked hands. It was as if we were firmly binding and constraining each other. But as if that wasn’t enough to hold onto the partner before us, the distance between us was gradually closing.

Taking a cue from our interlocked fingers, our lips also made a passionate argument for meeting languidly to exchange heat.

We closed our eyes gently, intending to share our love in response to our desires.

Just as our passion was about to connect in a straight line.

BANG!

“Nepy! Irefi!”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

“MMMMPH…!!!”

We instantly broke our seemingly eternal bond and jumped up.

We leaped so high that we bounced on the bed several times.

Rishe added an innocent comment to our intense reaction.

“The palace beds have good elasticity, don’t they? I still find it fun to bounce on beds. I completely understand.”

No. You’re 100 years too early to understand, kid.

If possible, I hope this pure child never has anything like this to understand.

I desperately tried to calm my flushed face, having no choice but to put on a false expression.