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"There was a time... when I thought the same way Mary does," I said to my
assembled companions, as if I were confessing my sins at church. "You remember,
right, Carla? What happened during the battle with the forces of the principality?"
"That time, you mean...?" Carla, who had been standing by in the corner of the
room, said in a whisper.
I was referring to the time during the war with Gaius VIII and the corrupt nobles
when, in order to protect my heart from the pressure bearing down on me, I had
walled myself off and tried to focus solely on playing the role of king. If I hadn't done
that, I wouldn't have been able to bear the weight of all the lives being lost on my
orders.
"We're people, so we suffer due to the size of our responsibilities," I said. "We're
people, so we agonize over the decisions we've made. That time, when I was forced
into a war I didn't want, but that I had no choice but to fight, little by little, without
realizing it, I began acting as a system called 'the king'... like I was a machine.
Because if I was a machine, I didn't have to suffer, or to think and agonize over
things."
"Souma..." Liscia had a worried look on her face, but I gave her a wry smile and
shook my head.
"When Carla asked me, 'Aren't you afraid to die?', I realized how warped it was
for me to be ready to accept dying as king. Thanks to that, I was able to stop short of
it. When I think how things would have turned out if Carla hadn't pointed it out to
me then... I shudder. I could well have ended up like Mary. When I think about that, it
makes me feel bad."
When I thought of what it would be like if a version of me that had become the
system called a king had been here now standing in front of Liscia and the others... it
scared me.
Could the me who had become able to accept everything because I was the king
make Liscia and the others happy? ...No, he could not.
"I want to remain a person, and to be loved as a person."
Yeah... That's right, Madam Maria, I thought.
If I couldn't notice Liscia and the others' tears, if I couldn't make Liscia and the
others smile, even if it meant suffering under a heavy burden and agonizing over the
decisions I made...
I didn't want to become a mere system.
"Yeah. Me, too. I'd rather be a person."
"Souma?" Liscia asked. "...Eek!"
I got down off of the desk, walked to Liscia's side, and hugged her slender body
tight. My sudden action left Aisha, Juna, and Roroa all dumbfounded.
"Whuh?!"
"Oh, dear me."
"Whoa, Big Sister Cia, that's no fair."
With the three of them staring at us, Liscia turned a bright shade of red, her eyes
darting about rapidly. "U-Um... Souma? Could I ask you to let go of me, maybe? This
is a little embarrassing... Everyone is watching..."
Liscia said that, but I ignored her and kept hugging her. If she really didn't like it,
I knew Liscia was more than capable of pushing me away.
I held onto Liscia as I said to Hakuya, "I won't become the holy king. I won't let
the Orthodox Papal State get their way, either. I do have a policy in mind that
sidesteps the Orthodox Papal States' scheme, but... it's probably only good enough to
stall for time. If we're going to come up with a more fundamental solution to the
problem, all the followers of Lunarian Orthodoxy in the country will be a problem. I
do hope it can disempower them, or render them harmless..."
"Hold on, why are you talking about serious stuff while holding me like this?!"
Liscia cried.
"Hm... In that case, let me handle the countermeasures for that," Hakuya said. "I
have some ideas of my own. I'll be borrowing Kagetora and some members of the
Black Cats for my purposes."
"You, too, Hakuya! Why are you holding an ordinary conversation?!"
"Got it," I said. "Let's bounce ideas off each other and work on our plans
tomorrow."
"By your will."
"Ignored?! I'm being ignored?!"
"Thanks, I'll be counting on you. Now then..."
Scratching my cheek, I turned to Aisha, Juna, and Roroa.
"Sorry, but could you leave Liscia and me alone tonight?"
"""?!"""
The moment they understood what those words meant, Aisha, Juna, and Roroa's
eyes all bulged in surprise. And as for Liscia, who had been protesting for a while
now...
"Uh... Uh..."
It seemed she couldn't even form words properly, and she was just opening and
closing her mouth like a goldfish. Liscia was usually so dignified, but when I thought,
Hey, she makes faces like this, too, it was kind of funny.
"D-Darlin', does that mean you two're gonna..."
Roroa came back to her senses and tried to get some answers out of me, but Juna
laid a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.
"Roroa."
Then she said something to Roroa and Aisha in a whisper before turning and
giving me a deep bow.
"Now then, Princess, Your Majesty, we will be taking our leave of you now."
With that said, Juna quietly departed.
"Erm... Good night, Your Majesty, Princess," said Aisha.
"Murgh... Big Sister Cia! Tell me how he did later, 'kay?"
Aisha and Roroa followed Juna out of the room.
"Well, until tomorrow, then," said Hakuya. "Rest well."
"I-I will be standing guard outside the room... Please, take it easy, Master..."
With Hakuya and Carla being the last to leave, Liscia and I were left alone in the
room.
I picked up Liscia, who was frozen stiff.
Hey, she was pretty light. She did have a bit of muscle on her, but on the whole,
she had a slender figure, so the weight difference between us made it easy for me to
lift her up. When I sat her down on the simple bed that was sitting in the corner of
the room like always, Liscia finally came back to her senses.
In the candlelight, we sat side by side on the bed, staring into one another's eyes.
"U-Um, Souma? This means... what I think it does, right?" she asked with her face
beet red.
My cheeks started to feel hot, too. "Uh... Yep. That was... kind of the intention..."
"O-Oh, I see..."
"...Can't we?"
"No! It's not that we can't! I mean, I've been waiting for this..." Liscia hurriedly
shook her head. Her words were trailing off and getting weaker, though. "B-B-But
why now, all of a sudden? You held out on me so long."
"Oh... Yeah, well... I was thinking I should wait until the kingdom's more stable,
until I was able to take responsibility for it, until we had gone through all the steps,
but..."
Aw, geez, this was really embarrassing! I scratched the back of my head.
"But... When I saw Mary, and thought about how I want to be a person... I just
couldn't hold back any longer. I wanted... to act on a human impulse, and to have you
accept me for it."
"I-I see..."
That, and Maria's words, "I want to remain a person, and to be loved as a person,"
probably had an effect on me, too.
I wanted to be a person, and I wanted to love Liscia and the others as a person.
I wanted Liscia and the others to love me as a person.
I felt that way strongly, and I couldn't hold back any more.
...Well, at a time like this, I wasn't about to tell her that another woman's words
had that deep an effect on me, though.
"Um, but... having our first time in the governmental affairs office, it sure isn't
very sexy," Liscia said, tripping over her words, as she folded her top which she had
stripped off and set it aside so that it wouldn't wrinkle.
I took off my shirt, too, and pulled Liscia who was now in nothing but her white
underwear close to me.
Was I the one trembling, or was it her...? It might have been both of us. Neither of
us were used to this, and we embraced each other awkwardly. We kissed once, and
then...
"Well, do you want to take this somewhere else?" I whispered in Liscia's ear.
When I did, Liscia grinned and silently shook her head. "No. Here is good. I mean,
this is..."
...the place where you and I first met, after all.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Nngh... Hm?" I murmured.
When the light shone in through the window and woke me, Liscia's face was right
in front of mine.
We were sharing a single pillow, so it was pretty close. She was sleeping
peacefully.
With each shallow breath Liscia took, her soft chest rose and fell under the
covers. Just the sight of her like this left me with an indescribable mixture of glee,
embarrassment, and love, and I reached out to touch her cheek.
When I did, "Murgh..." Liscia twisted as if something was tickling her and then
slowly opened her eyes.
She was probably still half-dreaming. She didn't seem to know where she was,
and she started looking around restlessly. Then she noticed my face right next to her
own.
"Oh... Souma. Morning..." she said with a grin. It was a smile as gentle as the
morning light that was shining in.
Her reaction was unbearably cute, so I hugged her close and placed a kiss on her
half-closed left eyelid. Still groggy from sleep, Liscia let out a ticklish laugh.
"Geez, Souma, what do you think you're doing?"
"Hmm, I'd love to keeping looking at you like this, but... Sorry, Liscia, get up,
please."
"...Huh?" she asked.
As I gave her a gentle shake, this time Liscia's eyes opened fully. The moment her
eyes snapped open, Liscia's face turned red so quickly, I could almost hear the
comedic exploding sound effect as it did. Most likely, when she'd gotten a handle on
the current situation, all of her embarrassment had flared up at once. Of course, that
included enough for last night, too.
I softly patted Liscia on the head. "Good morning, Liscia."
"M-Morning. Ohh... Don't look at me so much."
"Don't look at you? I saw a whole lot last— Mmph!"
Liscia shoved a pillow in my face.
"That doesn't make it any less embarrassing!" she cried.
Liscia hugged the blanket to herself and glared at me kind of resentfully.
Yep, she sure was cute. I almost wanted to jump her right there. But instead, I just
pushed the pillow aside and stretched.
"Yeah... I don't think I ever want to do it in the governmental affairs office again."
"...Why not?" she asked.
"Because this is our workplace, so I'll have to ask them to clean up after us right
away. I want to flirt with you more, and it's a pain having to get up."
"I-I see..."
I got out of bed and slipped on the clothes I had been wearing yesterday. I hadn't
brought a change of clothes, so I would have to go back to my room to get one.
After quickly getting dressed, I asked Liscia, "So... are you feeling okay?"
"Y-Yeah... I do feel a little sluggish, though..."
"Okay. Let me be the one who asks the maids to clean up, then."
"Yeah," she said. "Could you do that for me?"
I planted a kiss on Liscia's forehead and then left the governmental affairs office.
When I left through the door, I was met by a red-faced Carla, who was averting
her eyes, and a gently-smiling Serina. I understood why Carla was there, since she
had been standing guard, but why Serina?
Serina showed a slight, impassive smile and said, "You two had fun last night."
Wow... That line, when someone actually says it to you in real life, it's really
frustrating.