Even Better!

“Eueueut…!”

Sylvia, waking from a sweet nap, stretched lightly as she sat up.

Even though I only took a light nap, I must have been quite exhausted, because I fell asleep without even realizing it.

I was worried that I might have slept for too long, but thankfully, when I checked the clock on the table, it seemed I had only slept for about three hours.

It might be a bit long for a nap, but Sylvia was quite satisfied that she had slept well enough to relieve her fatigue without overdoing it.

*Kkiek.*

“Ah, Sylvia. You were awake. I didn’t even know…”

As I was cracking my neck from side to side to relieve my stiff body, Kyle appeared from beyond the door that opened without a sound.

He must have thought she was still sleeping, so he came in without knocking, wearing a sorry expression and looking troubled.

Sylvia simply shrugged her shoulders as if to say it was okay.

“It’s alright. More importantly, did you have a good talk with your mother?”

“We didn’t have any particularly deep conversations. It was just a morning greeting, that’s all.”

“Hehe, that’s something. We’re taking it one step at a time.”

Considering that to be a remarkable improvement, Sylvia gave her signature soft smile and tapped the round chair next to the bed.

It was a signal for him not to stand there blankly and to come sit next to her.

“Eueum…”

But Kyle was somehow shuffling and not coming closer, keeping his distance from the bed and only making humming noises, so Sylvia tilted her head to the side.

Could he possibly be trying to continue that ridiculous bad boy act he had been doing until a few days ago?

As that uneasy feeling suddenly washed over me, the words came out prickly.

“…What is it? Are you planning to act like that again?”

“Ah, no. It’s not for that reason…”

At that, Kyle waved his hands and hurriedly went to sit on the chair she pointed to.

After all, he knew better than anyone that such tricks were useless in front of Sylvia, so he had long since abandoned any thought of continuing.

However, despite all that, there was a reason why he found it so difficult to stand next to Sylvia like this.

“…Um, Sylvia. Actually, while you were asleep, I got one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to hear the good news first? I’m the type to eat the strawberry on top of the cake first, you know.”

Sylvia always preferred to do the fun things first and enjoyed savoring the happy things first.

So, without hesitation, I chose the good news at Kyle’s words, and his mouth carefully opened.

“Then I’ll tell you the good news first. Actually, a letter just arrived for me from His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.”

“Yes? From His Imperial Majesty?”

When such an unexpected big shot suddenly appeared, Sylvia was momentarily stunned.

I shouldn’t have such bad thoughts, but I was worried that Kyle might have done something to get on the Emperor’s bad side and was being summoned.

But since he clearly mentioned it was good news, I figured it wasn’t the reason I was worried about and listened to the story in silence.

“Yes, it seems His Imperial Majesty has heard about what happened in our family.”

“Well, I suppose so. The Imperial Family’s intelligence network must be the best in the Empire…”

No matter how far the Imperial Palace and the Lyaird County were apart, there would usually be a separate channel to quickly deliver such important news.

Moreover, if it was related to the Eyes of Dawn, a group infamous as the Empire’s greatest traitors, not just a minor incident, it would have quickly reached the Emperor’s ears.

Understanding that it was entirely possible, Sylvia nodded.

“But His Majesty, after hearing the news, wants to see me in person. So I think I’ll have to leave for the Imperial Palace sometime tomorrow, but if it’s alright, how about Sylvia comes with me?”

“To the Imperial Palace?”

“Yes. Of course, if you’re busy, it can’t be helped, but Sylvia has always said she wanted to visit the Imperial Palace at least once…. I just wanted to ask.”

Sylvia’s eyes sparkled at the incredibly sweet suggestion.

The Imperial Palace! Isn’t that a place that people of the Empire want to visit at least once in their lives!

Moreover, Sylvia, as an ordinary woman, always had a longing for beautiful architecture and well-designed landscaping.

There would be no place as suitable as the Imperial Palace to satisfy that.

What’s more, my companion is Kyle, whom I love so dearly? It would be crazy to refuse this.

“Busy? Not at all…! I’m as free as a bird! Please, let me go with you.”

“I, is that so? I know you’ve been away from your main family for quite a while.”

“It’s okay. My mother also said, ‘Spend your time as you please.’ I won’t have to worry for a while.”

If it were the original her, she would have at least pretended to hesitate, worried about the affairs of the main family.

From the beginning, as she had solemnly taken on the position of head of the family, she had no intention of belittling that role.

However, even for her, there was something as high a priority as the head of the family, and that was being by Kyle’s side.

To do that, I vowed to stay rooted in this place, using any excuse I could find.

Knowing her feelings well, her mother, Marianne, pushed her daughter’s back by adding those words.

“I understand. Then I’ll let His Majesty know in advance. He said any number of companions would be fine, so I think we’ll get a positive answer without much trouble.”

“Wow…! I’m so excited.”

Sylvia thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, not just because of the Imperial Palace, but because she was so excited to walk side by side with Kyle through the bustling streets of the capital and see and experience so many things.

But I didn’t really care.

I had already taken a good nap, and I could somehow catch some sleep in the carriage on the way to the Imperial Palace, so who cares about that little bit of sleep time.

With that, her movements, which had been full of anticipation, clasping her hands together and swaying her body back and forth, stopped for a moment.

‘Huh? But did I ever tell Kyle that I wanted to go to the Imperial Palace?’

I wouldn’t claim to have a very good memory, but if I wasn’t mistaken, I don’t think I ever mentioned to Kyle, even in passing, that I wanted to go to the Imperial Palace.

“And secondly, the bad news is…”

“Ah.”

As I was furrowing my brow slightly and continuing to think, Kyle’s mouth opened again, and she hurriedly snapped out of her thoughts and focused on his words.

Come to think of it, he said there was bad news too. I was so happy about the good news I heard earlier that I almost completely forgot.

“Please don’t be surprised when you hear this, Sylvia.”

“……? Yes.”

What kind of news could it be that he’s scaring me in advance like this?

If Kyle hadn’t mentioned that he met Roxanne in the morning and had a conversation, she probably would have imagined the worst-case scenario.

“Um, it seems that my parents…. think we spent our first night together.”

“What? Ou, our first night!?”

But at the unexpected words that followed, Sylvia widened her eyes and blushed.

If it’s the first night, isn’t that it? The act that was described in the slightly erotic romance novel that Sylvia secretly snuck into the study to steal when she was young.

“It’s my fault. I think the problem was when I took Sylvia out of the room with me earlier, and Alf caught us.”

“Ah…!”

I was so flustered because I was being held by Kyle at the time that I had forgotten, but when I recalled the situation belatedly, Sylvia understood that it was definitely a situation that could be misunderstood.

From the beginning, it was she who called Alf to move Kyle, who had fallen asleep using her thigh as a pillow last night.

But since she came out of a room with Kyle early in the morning in the same clothes as last night, it would be strange if they didn’t misunderstand.

“I told them it was a misunderstanding, but they didn’t seem to believe me. I’m sorry, Sylvia. I have nothing to say even if I had ten mouths.”

“…….”

Sylvia silently stared at him as he lowered his head.

It wasn’t that I was angry and lost my words.

Of course, I was quite surprised, but that was all.

No, rather, she was looking at this story that Kyle brought as ‘bad news’ in a positive light.

‘Isn’t this even better? It’s practically like getting the stamp of approval.’

Even if such an act didn’t actually take place, in the minds of his parents, Dvere and Roxanne, it would be imprinted that ‘the two are lovers who spent their first night together.’

That means, isn’t it practically like being recognized as a publicly known couple?

Moreover, Kyle would also be feeling a considerable amount of guilt for causing such a misunderstanding with a young woman, so if I use this as an excuse and shake him up somehow, I might be able to keep him by my side.

All of a sudden, she ended up getting two pieces of good news.

‘Sylvia must have been very shocked. Well, it can’t be helped.’

On the other hand, Kyle, who had no way of knowing her sinister inner thoughts, felt a piercing sense of guilt as he looked at Sylvia, who had been keeping her mouth shut since some time ago.

This situation is commonly referred to as a different dream in the same bed.