I glanced back at my two servants for a mont before following inside. After Rogan closed the door, his smile vanished from his face, likely realizing the sa as I. I sat down in front of Father’s desk while Rogan remained standing.
His eyes as I looked at him, and him at mine, seed to say “We’re fucked, aren’t we?”
Were we? I don’t know yet.
Also, um, aren’t you going to sit down, dude?
Maybe that’s how things work since father rely sat down and stared at the two of us, not asking Rogan to sit down. He was just silent, eerily… co on, get to the point.
“Father? Why have you brought here?”
“... Daughter, are you acquainted with this knight right here nad Rogan?”
Was he trying to see if I was going to lie my way out? I don’t get the point of testing here, but if I lie, his impression towards would lean towards the bad that I don’t want. So I decided to be honest, not like there’s any saving grace in lying.
“Yes.”
He raised his eyebrow.
“You imdiately told the truth?”
“I'm not completely fond of lying.”
“Then Estelia, be honest with . How long have you been acquainted?”
“Not long.”
Wow, I feel like I’m in an interrogation. He must be preparing for this mont since there were no other attendants here. Was he perhaps keeping this a secret? Not even my other family mbers seed to know what this was about.
“I see… Then, for you Rogan… Did you receive any orders from the princess of the kingdom?”
Rogan stood firmly and took a while to answer.
“No, the princess never gave direct orders.”
Yeah, I don’t think I ever gave him a direct order, I don’t particularly have any right to do that. I may be the princess, but it was not my place to command knights directly, they would be under Estevan’s jurisdiction, or father’s.
“Really? Are you lying to ?”
“I am not, your majesty.”
“Hm.”
Father tapped his finger on the table a few tis.
“Then your actions, spreading information about potential traitors in our midst, was that not a result of a command?”
“It was of my own volition.”
“You see, I ca to realize sothing…" he took a deep breath. "Estelia, you told him about that information didn’t you?”
“...”
“There was no one else that should have known about it. True there were rumors, but those rumors only beca stronger by the information coming from an elite knight. Please do not lie to , my daughter.”
He sounded more stern now than before.
“I implicitly told him about it.”
“Implicitly? What do you an by that?” He looked genuinely baffled.
“I an it exactly as I said it.”
“Rogan?”
“I think that was implicit.”
“So in the end, you leaked the information about the situation.”
Father pald his face.
I didn’t know how this eting was going to end, but I just have to go along for the ride.
“Estelia… You did another risky thing again.”
Well, technically it was the first.
Then he suddenly continued with a loud and forceful tone.
“No, not risky, it was utterly dangerous! What if Rogan was the traitor all along? What do you think will happen?”
“True, Father, he could have been the infiltrator. However, it plays to my benefit to realize that.”
“What are you saying? What benefit could there be in telling anyone that?”
He asked in exasperation and the way he said it implied that he believed it was a ridiculous thing to do.
“There are several reasons why I did what I did. And they are hard to express.”
“Even so, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“I only did what I believed to be necessary.”
“That again? Why couldn’t you have just told what your plans are at least?”
You would just get in the way, Father. Sotis, thoughts just pop up you know and I can quickly simulate how things would happen and end. Things would only slow down if I had to tell them each and every one of my movents.
“You wouldn’t have agreed to it. And I do things my own way, Father… I apologize if I made you angry...”
I lowered my eyes after that trailing voice.
“Daughter, I want to understand your actions…" he sighed tirely. "The night when you set up the trap, you brought Rogan with you. So that could an you have co to trust him after Oryn exposed himself, yes?"
“No.”
Rogan in particular jerked his chin in surprise, looking at with wide eyes.
“No? Is that not the reason?”
“Father, please, I need to ascertain those around .”
“Princess… so… you were also testing at that ti?”
I gave him a sweet smile.
“To be honest, you were just a bit of extra benefit, and a great one at that.”
He flinched.
“As I thought, you are scary…” he quietly said.
“How rude of you. Don’t you just see everyone scary?”
“Hehehe, maybe so, your highness.”
“You two already look close.”
I stared blankly at my Father. We’re not close at all. I an, we don’t have much interaction. Rogan just looks like soone who would appreciate a casual conversation, so I did a bit of that.
“We are not exactly close…” I said with a quiet voice.
Rogan slightly nodded his head.
“In any case, allow to know sothing regarding that, Estelia,” he sighed. “How is bringing Rogan with you to Oryn’s room benefit you?”
Well, there were a couple of things basically, but let give one that he wanted to hear.
“The trap wouldn’t have worked if Rogan was colluding with the enemy. As I said, Father, I want to make certain of those around .”
“... Is that so?”
Father stared at with a contemplating gaze — I can’t tell what exactly he was thinking. He sighed again.
“I have the feeling that you won’t tell everything you are planning on doing. But please be careful.”
I nodded my head.
He stood up and reached out to , then patted my head.
“Then, daughter, what about I appoint a knight for you, to protect you."
“Huh?”
As I was puzzled on what he ant by that, he faced Rogan and straightened himself.
“Rogan Dorien, I hereby appoint you as Princess Estelia’s personal knight. Protect her with your life.”
“Uh… Huh?” Rogan was also shocked at how things unfolded. He was suddenly appointed as my personal knight after all. “Ahem… Yes, your majesty, I hear and obey. I swear I will carry out my duty. If it cos to it, I willingly offer my life for the princess.”
With that commitnt, he bowed deeply.
I was also frantically looking at the two of them like a small child. To be honest, I’m fine with this.
“Good. Start tomorrow.”
“Um, is that alright, Father? I will be taking one of your elite knights.”
“If it’s for you, it’s fine.”
“... Okay!” I bead brightly with joy.
Father smiled in amusent. “Alright, you can go now.”
“Thank you, Father.”
With a little farewell, we two visitors began leaving, but I stopped halfway. This could be a good chance to bring that up. Rogan who had opened the door looked inquisitively at .
“Princess?”
“Ah, you can leave first, I have one thing to talk to Father with.”
Rogan looked at the two of us first before nodding and leaving the room. Now the door closed, I turned to look at my father.
Technically, I am still grounded and supposedly unable to make any request. However, this kind of request was different, and besides, maybe father had forgotten about it.
“You have sothing to talk to about?”
“Yes, Father… Um, will you listen?”
“Of course, I’ll listen.”
“Then…can I have Vernon as my direct subordinate. aning, he’ll be my personal attendant.”
“...”
Father was speechless as he watched with wide eyes, never expecting what I had just requested from him. It’s to be expected that he would react this way, Vernon was like his long-ti assistant after all. However, if he refuses, there’s nothing I can do about it.
“You want Vernon?”
“It’s fine if you refuse…”
I clasped my hands together ekly.
“No… It’s just, why?”
“Why? It’s because I like him.”
“...... Is that so…? I’ll think about it…”
I nodded my head gently.
“I understand, father. Excuse .”
With that, I left the room and saw Rogan standing by a corner with his usual grin. He walked towards with a casual shrug.
“It would seem I would be directly serving you, dear princess.”
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh please, being a guardian knight of the princess is one of the greatest honors there is.”
“Your friends would be impressed then.”
“Oh I’ll rub it on their faces,” he grinned widely.
“I’m sure you will be amused.”
I started walking down the hallway with Rogan, down the halls I could see both Vernon and ra on standby.
“Still, I didn’t expect his majesty to just call all of a sudden and you coming along. I was worried there for you for a minute.”
“It’s to be expected that Father would realize sooner or later. But it’s good we moved that problem out of the way.”
“You know princess, I’m surprised you’re making conversations with .”
I stopped and furrowed my brows while looking at him.
“I also talk, you know.”
“Now now, please do not wrinkle your brows like that, it will chip away your beauty for a bit.”
“... Okay.”
Yeah, I don’t want that. Such perfection of my being shall not step into imperfection.
It was then that my two servants approached .
“Milady, is everything alright?”
ra asked , she must be concerned that sothing might be wrong since Father called in.
“And the knight… Sir Rogan is even with you.”
Hm, was there a delay before she said his na? Did she forget his na for a mont there? Honestly, it felt like ra’s starting to get aner and aner to other people, and I am sure I have nothing to do with it…... Well, a boy and a girl together, doesn’t exactly look pleasant to the heart of a third party that… you know. Jealousy is a frightening thing.
“Um, well. Things happened. Sir Rogan, you can go ahead and explain.”
“Understood. Greetings, I, Rogan Dieren, will be working with you starting tomorrow. On this day, I was appointed as Princess Estelia’s personal knight, as ordered by the King. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
With a wide and amused grin, he extended his hand towards ra waiting for a handshake. He must have had a feeling that ra didn’t like him that much, but that was amusing for him. This guy had so sharpness to his eyes despite his easy-going deanor.
ra, still processing what she had only heard, slowly touched Rogan’s hand followed by a little handshake.
After that, Rogan offered his hand to Vernon and the latter imdiately shook it.
“Then with that done, you can go back to your friends for now, Sir Rogan. I’m sure you have to let them know. As Father said, you can start tomorrow.”
“Understood. Please excuse .”
With a bow then followed by a casual wave of a hand, he left.
“I wonder why his majesty decided to appoint him as your knight,” said Vernon.
“I wonder… But no point in pondering about it. Let’s go to what we should be doing now, ti is moving.”
***
Leodoule gazed out the window, reflecting on his eting with his daughter and the knight Rogan. He was still thinking about how to take Estelia’s action, for so reason, he was still in disbelief. She had never shown that side of hers before.
“She’s growing…”
Sohow that notion pricked his heart. He just loved the cute Estelia so much that any sign of changes just stings a little. Even though it wasn't a good thing to feel, he still couldn’t help it.
And what’s with her interaction with Rogan?
That piqued his interest, they were surprisingly very friendly to each other, the least he would expect that Estelia would do. She was never that way.
“Wait…”
A thought ca to mind. Why Rogan specifically? He recalled that she once visited the knights and they held a mock battle between elites when the princess ca to watch. If it were the battle of elites, then Rogan surely would have participated.
“Could it be?!” he sprang up from his chair.
It dawned on him. There could be no other explanation. Why Estelia approached him first of all. Why she was so friendly with him. There was no other possibility.
“She likes Rogan?”
He couldn’t help but let in a loud gasp. This was the shocking news of the century, a giant leap of humanity — no rather a giant leap of his daughter.
“Is this alright though?”
He had his worries. Rogan wasn’t exactly a reliable type, and he was quite a playful man. Why did even the princess begin to like him? Could it be during the mock battle, he was so dazzling that it caught the eyes of the princess?
“What do I even think of this?”
He muttered, he truly had no idea. To think that Estelia would like soone. It reminded him of another boy, now a young man that was blatantly in love with Estelia.
“Lucious fell behind.”
Eleden’s assistant, Lucious, that childhood friend of theirs.
Actually, Leodoule sympathized with the boy, Estelia didn’t even give him that much attention. It’s hard being ignored by their crush.
And Lucious had been carrying that feeling since they were children.
No, perhaps there was still so hope for him. For now, the way Leodoule saw it, Estelia rely had an interest in Rogan. Maybe there was no intense romantic feeling yet. There was still a chance.
Not that he rooted for Lucious, it was just that, Lucious was more reliable. If it was Rogan, one could imagine how politics would react to that.
But in the end, it’s up to Estelia who she picks. Leodoule decided to just be a normal guide for his daughter whenever she would be distraught when it cos to love. Maybe if she has troubles, he could give her advice. If she gets jealous or hurt, he’ll be there to comfort her.
“I never thought her love would begin blooming like this… But I guess…”
...This is what makes her a normal girl.
This was what he wanted, her being normal. And he was glad.
He looked at the window with a smile.
“... Vernon, huh.”
He didn’t expect that Estelia would outright request to have Vernon. She certainly has grown attached to him. But, Vernon was his old friend ever since he was young.
I need to think deeply about this.
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