“Hee-hee, I was just kidding. Marino suggested I try teasing you since your reactions are fun to watch. Sorry.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on just a second! Seriously, Marino, what were you going around telling people? Thanks to you, I got treated to a wonderful moment of bliss! Amazing!
After we stayed the night, our first stop was not, in fact, a dungeon. Of course, I would have loved to go to one, but instead we had headed to the castle, which doubled as a comfortable living environment and work of art.
This was the palace where Ludie and the rest of the imperial family lived.
Unlike the stylish and slender-looking castle at Disneyland, this place had a bit more of a short and stout feel to it, but it was still quite adorable. According to the game reference materials, the designers had taken cues from Château de Chaumont in France. At the time, the Château had seemed very pretty to me, and I had wanted to make a pilgrimage to it one day, but now that the real thing was right in front of me, I could forget the reference castle. I had to imagine I was the only one in the world who had ever experienced something like this.
Now, as for why we were here.
Lilou had extended to us an official invitation. While she had been excited by the chance to play with Ludie, apparently, she had been looking forward to meeting all of us just as much. This made sense to me, as she had shown us a glimpse of that enthusiasm during our lunch the previous day. I’d felt like I was looking at my niece or granddaughter when she’d invited us the other day, y’know? It made me real happy.
A child’s smile was something else. Just like with watching dogs or cats at play, the sight of a young child having fun warmed your heart right up.
Except, something strange was going on here.
Ostensibly, I had been invited to the castle by Lilou. No doubt about that. Just yesterday, she had told me she wanted to hang out with us more and show off her magic.
Heck, I had thought the invitation amounted to some sort of honor, the kind I’d normally have to get on the ground and beg to make happen.
However, for some reason, I wasn’t standing face-to-face with Lilou right now.
“…”
Instead, a handsome man stood before me, fixing me with a glare so sharp that if someone said he possessed evil eyes of petrifaction, I would have believed them.
Yes, I was currently having an audience with Lilou’s father, Emperor Marc. He stared unblinking at me.
“U-um, is something the matter?”
I had been convinced I would have the chance at a few hours in utter bliss with Lilou. However, after the girl had greeted us in the front of the castle, excitedly waving her hands, I only got to chat with her for less than thirty minutes.
For some reason, the emperor summoned me, and only me, from our group.
Leading, ultimately, to this silence.
“I have something to ask you, Takioto.”
“What would that be, Your Majesty?”
If only Ludie or Claris were here, this whole thing would have been way easier. However, the emperor had claimed he wanted to talk man-to-man and had stopped Ludie from joining me, so I was forced to fend for myself.
“What do you think…of Ludie and Lilou?”
“Uh, they’re the crown jewels of the empire, I’d say?”
Not just the empire—those two girls were so great that they had grabbed the hearts of fans across dimensions. I assumed that among my fellow Ludie aficionados in particular, whose love had made them plow through her route and go straight through to the fan-disc released afterward, not a single one disliked Lilou. Though, if there were, I would’ve punched them out for sure.
“…That’s right,” the emperor said, turning his back to me. “If I were to lose my daughters, I’m not sure I could keep myself together. The nation would be equally distraught. However, there are people who are after my daughters’ lives.”
Obviously, I could understand where he was coming from.
“I am aware. I wish to protect Miss Ludie to ensure she can be calm and carefree, even if it should cost me my life.”
When I said this, the emperor visibly trembled. Huh? I hadn’t said anything with the intent to anger him.
“Ngh, you can’t have my daughter…!”
“Uh, what?”
“Cat got your tongue, does it…? Let me make myself clear, I—”
Just then, I heard a loud noise come from behind me. Turning around, I saw Sophia, a huge smile on her lips, yet not an ounce of joy in her eyes. For some reason, she was enveloped in powerful mana.
“Dear, what exactly are you doing?”
Her intensity practically made my body go cold. And it appeared I wasn’t the only one to have that reaction.
“Sophia, I was just having an important discussion with Takioto.”
I was aware the emperor could not hope to out-argue his wife. I also knew that she was older than him despite her youthful looks, and that they had used to have a lot of fun together. Finally, I knew His Majesty would be totally outclassed by her in a fight, whether he had access to magic or not. She really had him under her thumb.
“Well then, I’m going to take Kousuke for a bit, okay?”
She grabbed my hand. Wow, talk about a firm grip. Just like Yukine, I felt a level of strength in her hand I never would have imagined from her outward appearance. In all honestly, it was a bit terrifying.
Led along by Sophia, I exited the room.
“Sorry about that… He didn’t say anything weird, did he?”
“Oh, uh, no. He didn’t really do anything to me, either.”
“Okay, got it. Don’t worry, I’ll teach him a lesson later.”
She had no interest in actually listening to my answer, did she? Also, what did she mean by “teach him a lesson”? While the phrasing terrified me, at the same time, I felt this mysterious desire bloom within me to have her “teach me a lesson” as well.
With these weird feelings swirling around my head, Sophia took me into what appeared to be the parlor. There, Ludie, Lilou and the others were all busy having fun.
“Miss Lilou, how about I tell you a secret about my Master?” Nanami said. No doubt she deliberately brought this up the moment she saw me come in.
“Like a s-special secret?! Just for me?”
Lilou must not have noticed I was here. Her eyes sparkling as bright as a child who had just won a raffle for the latest new game console. Little kids love it when something is special, don’t they? After seeing Lilou smile like that, I lost the heart to stop Nanami.
“That’s right, just for you,” Nanami said, putting her pointer finger up to her lips and winking. She was implying that it was a secret, except everyone else was still right there, including the actual subject of the conversation.
As for this “secret,” the sheer number of possibilities gave me nothing but pure dread. I could only hope Nanami wouldn’t start bringing up what had happened at Amaterasu Girls’ Academy.
“Okay, just for me, got it! I won’t tell anyone, promise!”
“…The truth is, Master can actually move faster sliding on his butt than he does walking on his legs.”
“Whaaaaat?!”
Lilou’s eyes shot wide open in shock, her eyeballs looking as though they were going to fly out of her sockets.
“They don’t call him the ‘Tsukuyomi Thunderbolt’ for nothing.”
“Ludie, is that true?!” Lilou asked.
“About half of it’s a lie.”
“Awww, so it’s not the whole truth. Wait, does that mean half of it is true?!”
Like hell it was!
“All of it’s a lie.”
Lilou whipped around when she heard my voice.
“Whaaaat?! When did you get here?!”
“Hee-hee.” Nanami dauntlessly giggled at Lilou’s shock. “This clearly proves Takioto moves with his butt. Stealth butt.”
“Enough with the nonsense, okay?” I said.
“H-how can I walk with just my butt, too?!” Lilou asked.
“First, you need to have your butt split in two before you can begin the training,” Nanami said.
“Oh, oh, mine’s already split in two!”
C’mon seriously, someone stop her! She was way out of control here!
Nanami’s attempts to befuddle and my retorts continued back and forth before Ludie finally took action.
“Sorry about all this, Lilou. It was all just a joke.”
Ludie explained the truth to her sister. Why was she close to believing you could walk with just your butt anyway?
Watching as Lilou laughed and gave a sulky “sheesh,” I began to think she really was an angel, after all. While there was already a biological angel here with us, Lilou was a whole different kind of angel.
Something suddenly came to Nanami as she watched Lilou complain about being teased, and Yukine and Ludie tried to calm the girl down. Nanami leaned over to whisper to Yuika.