Chapter 72
72
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Now Victory's tongue had grown quite long, and her slander of her own brother had reached a new level.
"Because Your Highness goes to pray with that child, he's jealous, so these days he's been practicing his prayers so much..."
Gray tried to cover his sister's mouth, but it was too late.
'Come to think of it, I haven't even properly seen Joey...'
It was awkward that Gray was jealous of someone because of me.
And yet, what was strange was that Gray had competed with Joey for Rosa in the past as well.
'Back then, Victory pitied Joey and took her side, just like this.'
Rosa liked to subtly provoke Gray and make him anxious.
'It was a mean and useless thing to do.'
In any case, it was absurd now, so I smiled and looked at Gray.
"No matter what anyone says, you guys are my first friends. The most precious, and the ones I always think about the most."
Victory was still silenced, so Gray had no choice but to answer.
"...Really?"
"Of course. And going to the prayer room isn't even that fun, to be honest. I want to have the most fun with Gray, you know? Like eating delicious things together like this..."
Even if he was a little older than my body, Gray was still a child.
His hardened face softened simply at those words.
'How cute.'
Then, this time, Victory broke free from her brother's grasp and pouted.
"What about me, Your Highness?"
Oh dear, here we go again...!
"Victory too, of course!"
I grabbed the two biggest cookies from the plate with both hands and stuffed them into the mouths of the disgruntled siblings.
'You troublesome things!'
* * *
But Gray was more persistent than I thought.
"I don't think I can let this go, Your Highness."
Strangely enough, Victory was asleep on the sofa.
'She said she had a nightmare the night before and couldn't sleep well.'
I recognized the seriousness in Gray's expression and tensed up a little.
"Huh?"
Still, one of them was asleep, so I could probably handle the other one somehow, right?
"Like... how Joey can help with prayers, and Shamash High Priest can come to Your Highness's side and help with Divinity training."
...Like he can help, what?
So what are you going to do?
"I need my own role too."
Gray's tone was so firm that I barely managed to hide my embarrassment as I asked.
"But Gray, your role is my friend. My best friend... Isn't that enough?"
Gray seemed to waver for a moment at the words 'best' friend, but he soon shook his head.
"Your Highness is going to be King one day. It's not right for me to just be a friend who can only offer friendship to such a person."
...But you have a lot of money.
'You'll have even more in the future, you...'
But saying that would make my position very strange.
It would seem like I was deliberately after Gray's money.
'Ahem, that would be troublesome.'
So I tried to replace the word 'money' with something else.
"But Gray doesn't just give me friendship. He gives me cookies, necklaces, and letters too."
But Gray was already too clever to be caught with such words...
He frowned his beautiful brow and asked.
"It's all material, isn't it?"
"Hmm? What's material?"
When I shamelessly pretended not to know after being caught using a shallow trick, Gray sighed deeply.
"...Anyway, it's not enough, Your Highness."
Why!
Why should Gray envy Joey or the High Priest?
I know Gray's future well.
'He really grows up to be a wonderful all-rounder.'
He's second to none in swordsmanship or knowledge, he's skilled enough to expand the trading company to twice its size, he owns Ruelle's only sapphire mine, he's loyal to the royal family, and he's like the sun in high society, yet he only looks at one woman...
'Our Gray is such a perfect man?'
In other words, he's pretty! Kind! And rich! Such a blessed person.
'Well, except for the last one, since he doesn't like it...'
I tried to appease Gray once again.
"Ah, I thought of another role Gray can take on!"
"Really? What is it?"
"It's..."
I wanted to think of a better-sounding word somehow, but it didn't go very well.
"The prettiest role in the royal palace!"
As expected, Gray asked with a suspicious look.
"The prettiest role in the royal palace, what is that?"
I smiled brightly and tried to persuade Gray.
"It's exactly what it sounds like! You're the prettiest in the royal palace. You know that the prettiest person in the royal palace is also the prettiest in the kingdom, right?"
Gray looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
"Your Highness, I think you've forgotten, but I'm a man. Even if I'm still young, I'm definitely a man, yet you're teasing me by saying I'm the prettiest."
"What foolishness are you spouting? Whether you're a man or a woman, being pretty is the best."
Perhaps because I said it so confidently, confusion flashed across Gray's face.
"...Really? Since when?"
I don't know since when, but I nodded my head diligently.
"Since way back! Gray is so pretty, even prettier than a porcelain doll made by the kingdom's best artisan, it's such a pleasure to look at you every time."
He asked with a suspicious expression.
"...Are you serious?"
Of course, I was really, really serious.
"Of course! When you smile once, all the fatigue of the day flies away! That's why I wait for you so much, you know?"
My passionate assertion seemed to finally be working.
Gray nodded faintly.
"Well, I'm happiest when Your Highness smiles at me too. I know Your Highness thinks I or Victory are pretty, but in my eyes, Your Highness is much prettier."
People of the kingdom, here's a handsome blond-haired, blue-eyed boy saying something ridiculous...!
I wanted to criticize Gray for not deceiving himself, but I held back.
"So you're satisfied with the prettiest role? The prettiest, the closest, and the kindest, our Gray."
"..."Our" Gray?"
He asked...!
I nodded with delight.
"Of course, 'our' Gray. Because you're the 'closest'. Isn't that right?"
He finally dropped his serious expression and smiled as usual.
"Well... if 'our' Your Highness says so."
I smiled brightly and held Gray's hand tightly.
'You, I have so many plans to make good use of you! How can you be upset because of that Joey Terajev?'
You can't do that. It worries me.
Gray's smile grew brighter and brighter.
Seeing that face, the conviction within me grew as well.
'It's a sin to be so humble with that face.'
Yes, a very big sin.
* * *
On the same day in the afternoon, a servant in shabby clothes came to the King with a letter.
"...It's from the Terra Temple?"
The servant prostrated himself before the King and replied.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The High Priest of Earth, who had been bedridden since the earthquake, suddenly got up and wrote a letter, and ordered that it be delivered directly to King Oblin of Ruelle."
It was an unexpected event for King Oblin.
Ikan was known to have been one country with Ruelle long ago, and was still quite close to Ruelle.
'But it's clearly another country...'
How could the High Priest of the Temple there, who had been bedridden after the accident, get up and seek out the King of another country first?
King Oblin was more burdened than pleased by this unexpected visit.
'But I can't mistreat a servant who has come all the way from a Temple across the sea.'
As the servant took out the crumpled letter from his bosom and offered it preciously, the King indifferently reached out and received it.
"Let's see."
However, as he read the letter, the King's expression changed subtly.
"...The High Priest was bedridden, then suddenly got up and wrote this letter?"
The voice asking that trembled slightly, so the Grand Duke's gaze also fell on the crumpled letter.
Then, King Oblin folded the letter and put it in his bosom as if to hide it.
The servant replied while prostrating himself.
"Yes, Your Majesty. He hastily looked for a pen and wrote something while in a daze, so I thought he might have received a revelation while he was ill..."
"And?"
"He gave this to me and ordered me to go to the King of Ruelle, and then fell asleep again..."
So, it seemed that the servant had not received a proper explanation about the letter.
"I dared not open the sealed letter, so I rushed here. Even if the contents are not important, please have mercy on the elderly High Priest's illness."
The King asked carefully.
"Are you the High Priest's direct servant?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I have been attending to him throughout his illness, but he ordered me to go in person, so I had to leave."
The King nodded deeply.
"The grace of the High Priest, whom I have never met, is deep and wide. Although it is late, I will support the Terra High Priest with restoration costs for the disaster damage."
The servant, who had been prostrating, raised his body slightly in bewilderment.
"...Yes?"
The King conveyed his sincere gratitude.
"Thank you for bringing the letter safely. You have done important work for me and this country. I will give you a separate reward for that."
Amidst the murmuring of the nearby nobles, a firm order followed.
"Give him a comfortable bed, good clothes, and excellent food, and assign him a servant to run errands."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Chamberlain guided him out of the audience chamber.
Everyone looked at the King, wondering about the situation that had suddenly occurred.
However, the King did not add any explanation and said.
"I apologize for leaving in the middle of the banquet, but I must excuse myself for a moment."
Then he turned directly to Nigel Grand Duke.
"Let's talk for a moment."