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“ALL right. We’re heading back now.”
“Let’s have tea again sometime, Cynthia.”
“Absolutely, Lady Estellise. Be safe on the way back, you two.”
A few days later, Prince Adelberd and Lady Estellise returned home in the same carriage.
As one of the members involved in the civil war, Prince Rutherford was still in talks with the knights, but Prince Adelberd put in a good word for him and got him out of being tried as the ringleader. With a bit of time, the second-born prince would be able to return to a normal life.
The second queen consort had been apprehended and was under intense investigation. She would receive a severe verdict, though her exact punishment was yet to be decided.
Prince Rutherford told me he didn’t see her as his mother any longer, but I prayed that he wouldn’t be too emotionally wounded when her verdict came down.
“As his friends, he’ll need our support when the time comes.”
Siraiya had smiled and said that to me when I expressed my concerns. He was right. We were Prince Rutherford’s friends, so we could stand beside him and give him strength in times of distress.
Siraiya used to have no one in his life, but now he was someone who helped his friends when they needed it. I was so proud of him. He was looking out for even more people than just my parents and me.
Besides, no matter how many friends he made, I was always going to hold the most important place in his heart. He was my adoring yandere, after all.
“Now that I think of it, we’re finally alone together.”
The inn felt so quiet without Prince Adelberd, Lady Estellise, and Prince Rutherford. Although a few of Prince Adelberd’s palace guards remained behind because I still had a giant pair of wings on my back.
The enemies had been tricked into thinking I was an angel, though anyone who didn’t share their faith would see me as something closer to a monster. Even the foes we’d been fighting were so riled up from battle, they might not have believed it if their faith was slightly weaker.
The crown prince agreed to leave his guards behind to keep me safe and support my life away from the public eye. Prince Adelberd took the cursed book back with him, too. He’d decided that it was best to keep it locked up inside the palace.
The second queen consort had confessed that the book needed to be burned within three months of activating the curse for it to be completed, so His Royal Highness promised me that no one would get their hands on it for three more months.
Unfortunately, the second queen consort didn’t know how to actually break the curse, meaning I had to live out the next three months with this new pair of wings. If I really did inherit the curse from Prince Adelberd, then I only actually had a month left. But I wouldn’t know for sure until the curse finally broke.
Prince Adelberd hadn’t made a final decision about what to do with the book, but I doubted the country of Elzeria would want to part with such a powerful weapon.
However, the book disappeared in the game as soon as the character’s animal form went away. That meant the book was supposed to vanish once I was back to normal. But I kept that knowledge to myself. It would just look too suspicious for me to know that. And there was no way to know for sure if it would act the same way in this world.
For now, I was going to stay confined to the inn until my wings were gone. Although I could put a red crest on my head again and attend the festival without any suspicions. It would probably look like a highly accurate chicken costume.
The townsfolk would believe that the daughter of their lord was simply trying to liven up the festivities. If I really needed to, I could even wear a beak.
I was enjoying this fantasy when Siraiya gave a depressed-sounding remark.
“I’m glad it’s just the two of us now, but I can only be here a few more days…”
“That’s right… We can’t just vacation forever, can we? I’m sure you have important work to do for your own family’s territory.”
“I do. But it’s closer to the Rhuddlan territory than the royal capital, at least. I’ll have any paperwork sent to my manor, then I’ll wrap up my work in the territory as soon as possible so I can come back to you.”
I wanted to join him in the Brooke territory, but my wings were too big to fit inside a carriage. A horse-drawn wagon might have been a better option, but it was too risky to travel long distances like that while keeping my wings concealed.
The best solution was to remain at the inn and wait for Siraiya’s return.
“Mother and Father wrote that they were coming here too, so I hope you’ll get some good family time with them. I hate that I’m always intruding on you three.”
“You’re family too, Siraiya. We’ll be waiting for you to come back to us as soon as possible.”
“…Right. I understand.”
Siraiya blushed cutely. I felt the urge to hug him, but that was when I thought of something. I spread my wings out, then folded them gently around Siraiya’s body.
“What are you doing?”
“I’d been wishing I could embrace your entire body for a while now. My arms are just too small for that, but now I have a better method, at least for a little while.”
I pulled Siraiya into my regular arms too. Being able to express my love against his entire body made me incredibly happy.
“But I could always feel you all around me. Your love is as deep as an ocean, and I’m constantly enveloped by it,” he confessed.