Lieselotte swallowed the rest of her apology and slowly looked up. “I mustn’t trouble you, though...”
“Hmm, it’s true that Sieg’s entrance changed the mood,” Lady Kobayashee said. “It seems like a case of ‘The North Wind and the Sun,’ but it’s actually more like the carrot and stick—or the stick and carrot, I guess? Well, anyway, the point is, Liese-tan thinks she’s incompetent and that Sieg’s better than her. In reality, combining Liese-tan’s lecture with Sieg’s gentle suggestion was super effective.”
“What? But I respect Lieselotte for being able to say what needs to be said, even if it paints her as the villain,” I said aloud, without thinking.
“Huh?” My fiancée stiffened, seemingly caught off guard. Apparently, she thought I was better than her.
“Lieselotte, I merely gave them a reason to reevaluate the situation. I think it was your sincere effort in persuading them that made them understand. My advice came from the gods’ prophecy, and—” I’m the one who should be ashamed for always relying on you and the gods, I was going to say, but the sight of Lieselotte crying rendered me speechless.
“Oh, I-I’m sorry, Your Highness,” she stammered as the tears streamed down her face. “Oh no, how disgraceful of me.” She hurriedly tried to wipe them away.
“Lieselotte, if you rub your eyes so hard, they’ll turn red.” I took my handkerchief from my pocket and gently dabbed her eyes with it.
“Th-Thank you...”
Wh-What should I do? Why did she suddenly start crying? Did I do something wrong? What do I do now that she’s covered her face with the handkerchief? I was so lost that I couldn’t move.
“It looks like she’s crying out of happiness, so why don’t you pat her head?” Lord Endoh said.
I immediately sprung to action. Lieselotte was looking down, and I began to stroke her hair. Is this right?
I heard muffled whimpers behind the handkerchief. Thinking about it, considering how concerned with public appearances she is, she’ll likely push me away.
However, contrary to my expectations, she allowed me to pat her head. She trembled and hid her face further behind the handkerchief, and I could faintly hear her stifled sobs. Um, is this good or bad?
“Liese-tan’s often misunderstood, so she’s weak to people being kind and understanding to her,” Lady Kobayashee said.
“Oh yeah, she was a big softie in the Reverse Harem Route,” Lord Endoh said. “It makes sense, considering how isolated she was in her memoir, but it was still surprising how quickly she fell for Fiene.”
“Ha ha ha, it’s because she’s hard to understand, and she seems way too perfect. People tend to avoid her, which makes her lonely. It’s unfortunate, because she’s actually a good girl—and really cute.”
The gods’ conversation connected all of the dots for me. That’s right; Lieselotte is easily misunderstood. Outsiders sometimes see her warnings and advice to Fiene as bullying, just like Baldur did. Thus, when I intervened in their quarrel, she must have thought I was going to blame her based on the same false assumption. That was why her face turned pale. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, her relief has led to tears of joy. How charming.
Once you got to know Lieselotte, it became clear how adorable she was. I understood why Lady Kobayashee called her a good girl. I felt like I was praising a young child as I patted Lieselotte on the head.
Well, the issue is that one has to get to know her first... Before hearing the Voices of the Gods, I had been rather disheartened by her strictness towards both others and herself. I hadn’t understood her at all. Since I can hear the Voices of the Gods now, does that make it my mission to tell the world how sweet she is?
“How can I get everyone to understand how cute Lieselotte is?” I unwittingly murmured aloud.
“Huh?!” My fiancée looked up. “Wh-What are you talking about, Your Highness?!”
Good. Her tears have stopped.
I finally got a look at her eyes. They were slightly red, but it wasn’t noticeable because her cheeks and ears were flushed a much deeper shade.
“Just dote on Liese-tan the way you are now, Sieg!” Lady Kobayashee said. “She’s weak to you, so she turns into an adorable mess right away! Once someone’s seen this cuteness, they’ll never think she’s scary again!”
“Yeah,” Lord Endoh said. “For every person who comes to understand her, she’ll be misunderstood less and less. It only takes a small opportunity for people to see her good side. That’s how it was for Bal and Fiene just now, wasn’t it?”
The Voices of the Gods covered up Lieselotte’s desperate assertions, which were along the lines of, “I am not cute in the slightest. As the future crown princess, I cannot allow others to make light of me.”
Come to think of it, the gods said something similar before.
I observed the faces of the other students in the area. They were focusing on their own preparations since it would be rude to stare at us, but the atmosphere seemed relaxed—warm, even. It was possible that many of them had gotten a sense of Lieselotte’s charm from what they had overheard of our conversation. At the very least, unlike when she had first started scolding Fiene, no one was shrinking back in fear anymore.
“Your Highness, are you listening?!” Lieselotte glared at me. She may have intended to sound as stern and dignified as when she was scolding Fiene and Baldur, but her expression and the color of her face made it clear she was embarrassed, so I could only see her as adorable.
“Ahhh, Liese-tan’s the queen of cuteness!” Lady Kobayashee exclaimed.
“Since she’s normally so harsh, it makes the impact even stronger when you find out she’s actually sweet on the inside,” Lord Endoh said.
I completely agreed. Today has proven once again that my fiancée is an adorable tsun de rais.
For a second, I considered keeping her non-obvious charm for myself. However, I couldn’t let her continue to be misunderstood and avoided by her peers. With renewed determination, I vowed to bring out more of her cute side.