Several days later, Kris was sitting in the drawing room of the Valdia house. Her usual energetic personality was nowhere to be seen. In fact, she seemed a bit low in spirit.
“What should I do?” she mumbled to herself with a sigh. “How do I make up for the other day?”
The day she was referring to was the day of the incident following her collapse from exhaustion and subsequent stay in the Valdias’ guest room. While she was resting, Reid had sneaked into her room in an act of mischief. Kris had fumed at him for his behavior, which she now regretted. After speaking to her servant, Emma, the elf had realized she’d been mistaken in her reaction. However, that realization wasn’t enough to erase what she’d done. She had to properly apologize for yelling at the young boy, and she’d been summoned to the Valdia home at the perfect time.
That was the reason for her visit today, so she was now sitting in the drawing room, taking deep breaths with a nervous look on her face. She kept going over her plan to apologize in her head.
First, I’ll apologize. I just need to bow my head and say that I’m sorry. I’m sure that will be enough to get Sir Reid to forgive me!
Kris repeated that thought in her head, over and over again, and eventually there was a knock on the door.
✦ ✦ ✦
I arrived at the drawing room where Kris was waiting and knocked on the door.
“May I come in, Kris?”
“Y-Yesh!”
Yesh? Did she misspeak?
Hearing her response, I sensed that something was off. I decided to wait a bit before opening the door and hesitantly asked her if I could enter again.
“Is it really all right for me to come in?”
“Please wait a moment!”
Did something happen?
Kris seemed a bit flustered, so even though I was confused, I decided to wait until she said she was ready.
“Um, okay, just let me know when I can come in,” I replied.
I could hear her taking deep breaths, and several moments later, she responded. “I apologize for the wait, Sir Reid. Please come in.”
“Thank you.”
I opened the door. Kris was standing in the drawing room, waiting for me. She had golden-blonde hair and green eyes, and she stood tall and composed.
Was she adjusting her appearance or something? I thought as I sat across from her as usual.
“I’m sorry for summoning you so suddenly,” I said with a smile. “Thank you for coming.”
Kris didn’t respond. She just stared at me, seeming a bit distracted. Then she seemed to snap back to reality and shook her head as though trying to get rid of said distracting thoughts.
Really, what’s going on with her? She’s acting different than usual.
Worried, I took a closer look at her face. “Is something wrong, Kris? Why are you shaking your head like that?”
“N-No, nothing is wrong.”
It was then that I realized I hadn’t properly apologized to her for the incident from the other day. Similar to pranks I’d seen in my previous life where people would barge into someone’s room while they were asleep and tease them for how they slept, I’d sneaked into her room and taken a peek at her while she was asleep.
In this world, it wasn’t appropriate for a man to enter a woman’s room alone without permission. Most children would be forgiven for such a thing, but I was the son of a noble, so I had to be careful. My mischief had immediately been reported to my mother by Mer and Danae, and she’d thoroughly scolded me for it. I shot up from my seat and locked eyes with Kris.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t properly apologized for what I did the other day...”
“What?!” Kris exclaimed. “Wait, no, that’s not...”
She seemed thrown off by my words, and her eyes were nervously darting around the room. I decided to give her a proper, heartfelt apology.
“I’m really sorry for my behavior the other day, Kris. No matter how worried I was, as the eldest son of a noble family, it was thoughtless of me to enter into your room, a woman’s room, without permission. You were right to be upset with me. I’m truly sorry.”
After saying what was in my heart, I bowed my head to her.
“No! Please, lift your head, Sir Reid!” she pleaded desperately. She stood up and nervously reached her hands out to me, signaling me to raise my head.
I did so and looked up at Kris, who was now staring at me with a determined look.
“I also let my emotions get the best of me. My reaction was a bit childish. I didn’t hear you out and instead got upset. I’m very sorry for that.”
After finishing, she bowed her head. I was surprised to hear her apologize, but I kept calm and spoke to her in a gentle voice.
“Please raise your head, Kris.”
Kris lifted her head and looked at me with a face full of regret. I gave her a kind, reassuring smile.
“I’m so glad you aren’t mad at me. I wouldn’t know what to do if you were still upset, so I’m really happy that you aren’t.”
“I was also worried,” Kris admitted. “I thought you might not forgive me for what I’d done.”
I was completely taken aback. How could I ever not forgive her?
I giggled a bit before continuing to smile as I said, “Of course I would, Kris. After all, I like you.”
“What?!” Kris bashfully turned red. Since I had this opportunity, I decided to thank her and tell her how I felt about her.
“When I first visited the Kristie Trading Company, you took me seriously. Part of that may be because I brought prototypes and prepared a presentation on my products, but the fact that you trusted a child like me meant a lot. I think you are an incredible person, and I really love you for that.”
After sharing what I’d been thinking, I gave her a big smile. Perhaps my feelings got through to her, because Kris no longer seemed flustered, and I could see her growing calm.
“I can’t believe I got worked up over something like that,” she mumbled to herself. “Just like Emma said, I must be naive and inexperienced.”
I couldn’t quite make out what she was mumbling, other than the fact that she’d mentioned Emma. “Hm? Did something happen to Emma?”
“Oh, no! I just remembered that Emma assured me you wouldn’t be upset!”
Unbeknownst to me, Emma had helped me out, which I was quite grateful for. “I see. Can you let her know that I’m sorry for making her worry about you?”
“Yes, of course,” Kris replied with a nod.
It was only then that I noticed we were both still standing, and I let out a wry chuckle as I encouraged her to take a seat, sitting back down myself. Once we were both seated, Kris looked down and thought silently for a moment, then shook her head again.
Kris is so expressive today.
Though I was entertained, it was time to move on to the topic I’d summoned her to address.
“Thank you. So, what I wanted to discuss today is something that must absolutely be kept a secret. Is that understood?”
“Yes. As a businesswoman, I can guarantee that I will protect your secrets.”
Her expression instantly transformed into a composed, serious look. Kris was truly someone I could rely on, which I felt grateful for as I continued.
“Thank you. I have some news. It’s been decided that I will soon be marrying the princess of Lenarute.”
“Huh?” My words were so far from anything she’d likely imagined I would say, and her eyes were round with surprise. It didn’t take long for her to process what I’d said, and even more surprise washed over her face. “Whaaat?!”
“You need to keep your voice down!” I cautioned her, pressing a finger to my mouth to signal her to stay quiet.
Is it really that surprising?
“Oh!” Kris realized what she’d done and covered her mouth with her hand. “My apologies...” She continued in a hushed voice. “I must say, isn’t it too soon for you to be married?”
“I think so. I only just heard about this from my father the other day. I can’t share the details, but it sounds like our situation qualifies us to receive a special exception.”
“A special exception...” Kris repeated with a dubious look on her face.
“I’m not supposed to be telling anyone, but since I need to ask you for a lot of help, I wanted to let you know ahead of time. You absolutely must keep this a secret.”
“Yes, this is definitely something that must stay absolutely secret.”
I’d said enough for Kris to understand what a big deal this was. To be getting a special exception to marry the princess of Lenarute suggested that there was something going on behind the scenes between the two countries. A leak of this information could cause security issues, so only those who could absolutely be trusted could know, and I wasn’t worried about Kris having this information.
“So, if you recall, I asked you to accompany me on a trip to Lenarute during our last meeting.”
“Yes, I remember. I’m currently coordinating with several businesses to potentially trade with them.”
“Thank you. There’s actually something I’d like to get my hands on during that trip.”
With that, we proceeded to discuss the item that I wanted her to look into in person during our trip to Lenarute.