We arrived at the palace an hour later, the basket containing the apple pie in hand. We told one of the guards that we were here to see Rex and Phil, and he took us to the meeting room they were in. As soon as we knocked on the elegant door, Rex poked his head out with a happy smile.
“Ah, Vivi, you dropped by so soon. I knew I could count on you, my sweet angel.”
“Your sweet angel? This is the first time you’ve ever called me that.”
“Huh? Really? I guess I’ve never said it out loud.”
Though I was worried that Rex was exhausted from his workload, it looked like he still had enough energy to spout his usual nonsense.
“Ah, Lady Jamie, you visited too? You’re an oasis in this man desert,” Rex continued.
“Hee hee, flattery won’t get you anywhere, you know?”
With their conversation in the background, I looked around the room. When he noticed what I was doing, Rex chuckled.
“If you’re looking for Phillip, he’s over there.”
I followed his line of sight and saw Phil giving orders to a group of people, documents in hand.
“He’s amazing. He’s such a great worker that I’d love to have him at my usual workplace,” Rex continued.
“Really? I didn’t expect anything less from him.”
“Phillip’s always been impossibly capable at anything he sets his mind to. It’s only when it comes to matters involving you that he turns useless.”
Rex was right. Until the incident with my fake amnesia, I’d been under the impression that Phillip was perfect in every way. Granted, the version I knew now was far more likable. If I remembered correctly, this was my first time seeing Phil at work. Even though I could only see his side profile, his expression was so serious and cool that I found myself staring.
“He doesn’t give me preferential treatment either. Phillip’s so strict, it makes me wanna cry,” Rex sighed.
“Lord Phillip sure looks cool when he’s acting all serious like this,” Jamie said. “And look, Viola can’t take her eyes off him. How cute.”
“Oh, come on, stop making fun of me,” I said.
Though I could feel Rex and Jamie’s warm gazes on me, I continued to stare at Phil in the distance. But then, he suddenly turned to look in our direction and our eyes met. Phil had been completely expressionless, however, he smiled the instant he saw me.
The change was so sudden and so dramatic it made my heart skip a beat. Even the men around Phil looked shocked. Phil placed the documents he was holding on to the table and walked straight toward us. When he stopped in front of me, he rubbed at his eyes for some reason and blinked a few times.
“Phil?” I said.
After I called his name, he gently placed his hand on my shoulder and murmured, “You’re really here.”
What kind of reaction is that?
“I’m sorry,” he continued. “I didn’t think that you would come. I feared that my desire to see you was so bad that I started to hallucinate.”
“Ah ha ha, you’re so weird.”
It seemed that Rex never told Phil about the letter he wrote me. It made me ridiculously happy how he missed me so much that he mistook me for a figment of his imagination.
“I truly wanted to see you more than anything else in the world,” he murmured before he rested his head on my shoulder.
Since it was more than just us in the room, it was quite embarrassing, to tell the truth. It was also very rare for him to touch me like this in front of others.
But perhaps his uncharacteristic behavior was a testament to just how exhausted he was.
“I wanted to see you as well,” I said after hesitating for a brief moment.
He wrapped his arms around my back as if he was clinging onto me. It had only been a month, but I also felt like much more time had passed. So I knew exactly how he felt, and thus, couldn’t bring myself to shrug him off.
“Um, I’ve brought you a snack too. It’s a homemade apple pie. I hope you enjoy it.”
“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
“Ah, but I can’t hand it to you like this, so could you...”
As I said that, I gently pushed at Phil’s shoulder but he didn’t let me go. No matter how many times I tried to extricate myself from his arms, he refused to budge so I gently cupped his face in my hands and lifted it from my shoulder. However, the moment I let go, he lowered his head again.
“Phillip, you’re like a baby with how your neck muscles can’t support your head. How adorable,” Rex laughed upon seeing the state Phil was in.
“My, oh my,” Jamie said, looking at us with an awfully gentle look in her eyes.
Their reactions made the situation even more embarrassing than it already was. I finally managed to pull Phil off of me after a few more minutes and as soon as I did so, I handed him the basket containing the apple pie.
“It doesn’t look very good, but I guarantee that it tastes good,” I said.
“Thank you. I’ll treasure every single bite I take.”
“Good. You’re welcome.”
I was a little embarrassed at how happy my gift made him. I definitely had to make something again and give it to him. As soon as I decided on that, the sound of knocking echoed through the room.
“Come in,” Rex said.
A man entered the room and though no one said anything, I could tell we were all confused by who he was. His sharp features and dark skin were striking, and the air he gave off did not feel like someone from this country. The man offered us a deep and elegant bow before he smiled softly.
“Hello, everyone. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Warren, the attendant of the princess of the Samarind Empire. Is Lord Phillip Lawrenson present?”
“The Samarind Empire’s...?”
Everyone in the meeting room started to murmur among themselves at the sudden appearance of the foreign princess’s attendant. The fact that for some reason, the man named Warren asked for Phil off the bat was also strange. In the midst of all the confusion, Rex remained calm and quickly jumped into action. He bowed back to Warren and immediately gestured for him to sit in a nearby chair.
“I’d heard that the princess was going to come to the ceremony as the ambassador for Samarind. However, if my memory serves me correctly, she’s supposed to come a month from now,” Rex said.
“Yes, that was the original plan. However, the princess insisted that she wanted to bring forward those plans...”
Bringing forward plans that were supposed to take place a month from now is a fairly difficult task, isn’t it? Judging by how exhausted the man’s expression was, I could tell that he must have worked very hard to make this happen for the princess.
“I see. By the way, what business do you have with Phillip Lawrenson?” Rex asked.
“Well, the princess said that she would love to meet with him,” Warren explained. “In fact, meeting him was the reason that she wanted to arrive a month in advance.”
“Huh?”
At those words, Phil, standing next to me, looked surprised. Rex, Jamie, and I couldn’t hide our shock either. What kind of relationship did Phil have with the princess from a neighboring country?
“I’m truly sorry for the trouble it’ll cause you, but could you make some time later?”
“No—”
“Of course, I’ll have him drop by later.”
Phil had been about to reject on instinct, but Rex interrupted and replied for him. The attendant looked relieved and smiled.
“Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing you later.” He bowed once again before he left the meeting room.
As soon as the door closed with a soft noise, the room was filled with silence. No one knew what to say or how to act after such a sudden turn of events. Unsurprisingly, Rex was the first person to break the silence.
“Man, that was a surprise, wasn’t it? Phillip, what’s your relationship with Her Highness?”
“I don’t know her at all. I’d never even met her.”
“Yeah, right. She brought forward her plans just for you, you know? Something must’ve happened between you two in the past.”
“I’m telling the truth. I don’t even know her name, let alone what she looks like.”
It looked like Phil was serious when he said he had no idea about her, and he tilted his head to the side. But judging by what Warren said, it was clear that the princess, at the very least, had affections for Phil.
“Hey, Lord Phillip! Don’t mess around. Cheating is unforgivable,” Jamie said.
“That’s a given,” Phil replied. “Besides, any woman other than Viola looks the same to me.”
“I don’t think that’s something to be proud of.”
“Well, Phil is the last person you’d need to worry about when it comes to cheating,” Rex laughed.
“Viola, please believe in me,” Phil said.
“Of course. I don’t suspect you of anything,” I replied.
I didn’t think he was cheating at all, nor did I doubt his feelings for me. I was confident in how deep his love for me was. However, I was also sure that I shouldn’t be too arrogant and take advantage of those feelings.
“In any case, the princess is an honored guest and an ambassador, so don’t be rude to her. Remember to pay her a visit later,” Rex said.
“Fine...” Phil sighed with a small nod, though it took him a long time to agree. His face made it clear that he was not looking forward to it. “For now, I’d like some time to rest so that I can focus on eating this apple pie.”
“Ha ha, you’re right. Let’s all take a break,” Rex agreed.
It looked like Phil wasn’t thinking about his upcoming meeting with the princess at all. He was cradling the basket containing the apple pie to his chest so carefully, it was like he was holding a baby.
“Hee hee.”
The laugh tumbled out of me from the sheer relief at how he was the same as always. However, there was a bad feeling in my chest. It was like a premonition that something would happen, or that something would change. Unfortunately, my intuition was always only accurate in times like this.