“You’re usually pretty slow on the uptake,” the dragon said. “But you can feel the tension, too?”
“Y-Yeah,” I replied. “Do those two not get along?”
Could they be too alike for their own good? Similar people don’t get along sometimes. Wait, I have another idea. Janus is Em’s personal attendant, which means they’re always together. That must be a bitter pill for Giusto to swallow, considering how much he adores my brother.
At that moment, Custode interrupted my very serious deductive reasoning.
“Using all your wits just to read the room, eh? Well, no matter. More importantly, that large cookie over there looks appetizing.”
“Huh?” I asked. “Th-That one?”
Did this dragon just diss me while demanding treats? And that cookie he set his sights on is humongous.
“Squishy,” the slime cheeped while bouncing up and down. Then, he extended part of his body like a tentacle and grabbed the cookie deftly.
“Wow, Squishy, you’re so clever!” I cried.
“Squishy!” the slime cheeped again, handing the cookie to Custode.
The dragon nodded in satisfaction. “Yes, this is the confection I desired,” he said, taking the cookie in both hands. “You have my gratitude.”
He munched on the cookie like a barnyard animal.
“I still can’t get over the difference between the way he talks and the way he acts,” Cita noted wryly.
Custode’s manner of speech didn’t change between sizes. As a result, he sounded pretty comical when small. Oh, and he was dropping crumbs on his chest.
“You really are helpless.” I laughed, brushing the crumbs off him.
A wave of hostility swelled beside me. Of course, it originated from Embert.
Oreste, who sat on Embert’s opposite side, sensed his bloodlust and bent back slightly. “Whoa.”
“Custode,” Embert growled. “Why do you always insist upon sitting on Ally’s lap? I still haven’t forgiven you for what happened earlier. Are you trying to pick a fight with me, perhaps?”
Custode laughed with crumbs still stuck to the corners of his mouth. “Haha! And why do you insist upon always repeating yourself? It’s only natural for me to stay close to my holy woman, no?”
“Staying close and sitting on her lap are two entirely different things. How about this? Why don’t you move over to my lap?”
Custode stared at Embert’s legs with the cookie still gripped in both hands. Then, he sank even further into my lap. “Sorry, but your lap looks much less comfortable,” he said.
Embert’s hostility swelled even more. Likewise, he wore the most sinister smile I’d ever seen.
I’m just gonna sit here and quiver in fear, okay?
Meanwhile, Custode continued munching on his cookie, paying Embert no heed. Would I have to suffer this same exchange for my entire life? With a soft sigh, I brushed Embert’s arm with my fingertips.
“Please calm down, Em, okay?” I pleaded.
Though his hostility vanished, he still regarded me with narrowed eyes. “Very well then,” he said. “However, I still don’t accept this completely.”
“Thank you.”
Embert kept his eyes narrowed, his mood not the least bit improved. “Is that all?” he asked in a sullen voice.
I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve quelled my hostility, and I’ve stopped antagonizing Custode. Don’t I deserve some kind of reward?”
“A reward, huh?”
As Embert leaned towards me, I could sense what he was hinting at. Thus, I kissed him on the cheek, as he so obviously wanted.
The things we do for love, right?
Embert responded to my kiss with a chuckle. Where had his sour mood gone? Upon seeing him brighten so thoroughly, everyone else laughed as well. At first, Giusto had watched this entire scene slack jawed. Gradually, however, his expression relaxed, and he chuckled as well.
“What a surprise,” he said. “I’ve never seen you act like this before, Prince Embert. Lady Alexandra brings out a whole new side of you. I could have mistaken you for an entirely different person.”
“Ally—or rather, Alexandra—is my irreplaceable treasure,” Embert responded with a grin. “I would never relinquish her to any man, regardless of who he might be.”
Being compared to treasure filled me with a mixture of joy and embarrassment. I hung my head and drank my tea to hide my face, which had probably turned bright red.
“Even so, you have no right to stop others from desiring her,” Giusto said.
An icy silence fell over the tea party. Almost everyone froze as a frigid aura radiated from Embert. Only Oreste, Squishy, and I moved. While Oreste’s eyes darted to and fro, I looked at Embert curiously. He was glowering at Giusto with a terrifying expression. Furrowing my brow, I looked at my friends for answers. Everyone merely shook their heads.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why did everyone freeze up?”
Custode heaved a deep sigh from atop my lap. “Ally…” he said, gazing at me with pity in his eyes.
“What?” I responded. “Seriously, what’s going on?”
“Yeah, what’s the big deal, everyone?” Oreste asked.
“Squishy?” the slime cheeped.
In the end, no one answered our questions. The tea party ended with unease still lingering in the air. As I battled against the distress of being left in the dark, Embert grabbed my hand.
“Why don’t we take a short walk?” he suggested.
Was it just my imagination, or did his voice sound cold? As I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, Custode flew out of my arms. Then, he grabbed Squishy and said, “I’ll be waiting in your room.” With that, he soared off into the distance. One by one, everyone else headed back to their rooms as well.
“Hang in there,” Cia whispered to me right before leaving.
Why do I need to hang in there in the first place? I wondered with a frown.
Embert led the way silently. I followed him, and we eventually arrived at the maze we’d failed to enter before. Embert positioned me in front of one of the entrances.
“Try to reach the goal from here,” he said. “Start after counting to ten.”
“Got it,” I replied, unable to refuse.
After counting to ten, I entered the hedge maze. It turned out to be surprisingly complex. Despite getting lost a few times, I brute-forced my way to the goal. Finally, I walked through the beautiful, rose-covered arch and arrived at the charming gazebo. Embert hadn’t made it yet.
“Nice,” I muttered. “Looks like I’m the winner.”
As I tried to enter the gazebo, someone embraced me from behind.
“Oh?” I asked. “Did you get here first, Em?”
“I did.”
Embert sat down on a bench while still holding me. Naturally, I ended up sitting sideways on his lap. Though Embert remained silent, he showed no signs of letting me go. As such, I leaned into him without speaking either. After a short while, he finally spoke up.
“Ally,” he said.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
I couldn’t help but react with surprise. After all, I hadn’t the faintest idea what Embert was driving at. He wore an earnest yet somewhat angry expression.
“What do you think of Prince Giusto?” Embert asked.
“Prince Giusto?” I repeated.
“That’s right. What do you think of him?”
“Um…”
Where is this coming from? Honestly, I didn’t know Giusto very well, seeing as we’d just met.
“I feel a sense of affinity for him because he looks like Julie,” I answered honestly. “That’s all.”
Embert’s expression turned sullen. “Then why did you let him get so close to you? Just because he looks like Lady Julietta? No matter how much they resemble each other, they’re still different people. You know that, right? If I hadn’t called your name, he would’ve touched your face.”
While Embert made a sound argument, Giusto was the Prince of Bragioga. I couldn’t just brush away his hand or tell him to stop. Embert’s words didn’t sit right with me.
“Are you implying that I wanted him to touch me?” I asked, a hint of irritation in my voice.
Suddenly, my vision went dark. Embert had embraced me so that my face was buried in his chest. “I love you, Ally,” he whispered, his voice husky. “I don’t want to relinquish you to anyone. I don’t want anyone else to touch you.”
With my face pressed against his chest, his heartbeat echoed in my ears. Hearing his pulse, which raced even faster than mine, caused my irritation to subside.
“I love you too, Em,” I replied. “So much that I don’t want anyone else to touch you. I’m sorry for being careless.”
When I finished speaking, Embert pressed his lips against mine. His kiss—more urgent and passionate than usual—robbed me of all thought. I melted into the kiss, which grew even more amorous. As I struggled to breathe, a dizzy spell overcoming me, Embert’s lips finally parted from mine. While I hyperventilated, desperate to catch my breath, Embert squeezed me in his arms again. At the same time, a frightening laugh echoed above my head. Of course, it had originated from Embert.
“He had some nerve to declare war against me,” he mumbled, barely audible. “In that case, no one can criticize what measures I take, regardless of whether he’s a crown prince. I’ll make him regret ever challenging me.”
Embert caressed my cheek, his lips curling into a sinister smile. A wicked aura radiated from him all the while.
“I’ll never relinquish you to anyone, Ally,” Embert declared.
Once again, he pressed his lips against mine. Next, he kissed my neck. As the ticklish sensation caused me to squirm, he bit my collarbone lightly through my clothes. The unfamiliar thrill caused me to shudder delightfully. Embert’s eyes lasciviously gleamed as he regarded me.
“Ally,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re forbidden from showing that adorable expression to anyone but me.”
As Embert brought his face close to mine again, I shook my head. The blood in my cheeks felt near boiling. “That’s enough already!” I cried. “My heart is going to stop if we go any further. We have to stop now.”
However, the lascivious gleam in Embert’s eyes merely intensified. “That rejection won’t be enough to stop me when I know you don’t mean it,” he whispered in my ear.
As his breath tickled my inner ear, I uttered a strange cry due to overwhelming embarrassment. “Meeaah!”
For some reason, Embert froze while staring at me. “Ally, you look like…”
“Huh?” I asked. “Could you finish that sentence?”
What did I look like, exactly? I definitely hadn’t turned into a fennec fox again, right? My line of sight hadn’t changed at all. Even so, Embert’s cheeks slightly reddened as he stared at me. Something appeared to have excited him.
“Um, Em, please explain what’s going on with me,” I said.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to restrain myself,” Embert mumbled, gazing at me with an odd look in his eyes. “This is adorable beyond words.”
Hold up. What do you mean you won’t be able to restrain yourself? Come save me, Custode! But first things first, what in the world is happening to me?