Neither of us spoke for so ti, as Diana was engrossed in making the coffee, sothing that according to should have been an easy deal.
Yet the Veltran princess was adding many things to it, and creating sothing that I just hoped would be safe for to consu.
Though there was the option of rejecting the drink... I didn’t think it would be strategic to go against her interests, given what I wanted to achieve.
"Here."
Hm?
That was quicker than I had expected.
Diana handed a cup, before taking one for herself, as both of us sipped the coffee at the sa ti.
Sweet.
"Sweet."
Diana repeated my words, though she said them loud enough for to hear.
"Mostly I prefer it on the bitter side, but maybe—"
"Did my presence affect your skills?"
Though I asked the question, from within I had begun to analyse the Diana before .
Since entering the room, her behaviour had never even shown hints of being nervous about my presence.
It wasn’t like Diana should have been scared of , but given the current status of the relation between the two of us, she should have been at least a little conscious about my presence.
After all, that was how she always behaved around .
But... if she hadn’t been nervous, then there was no need for her to make such a basic mistake of adding more sugar to the drink.
Though one could attribute it to a basic human error on her part, I thought otherwise.
"Maybe."
Diana simply chuckled at the end.
If she preferred coffee on the bitter side, then this error was all the more on the weird side.
And if she wanted to make it a little normal for , she could have simply asked for my preference, but—
It was as if she had added the sugar out of habit.
Maybe... I was analysing the situation in unnecessary depth, but for so reason the more I thought about it, the more my instincts tried to favour my thought process.
They weren’t kicking in, but they were there.
Even now I clearly felt my instincts being suppressed, but the source of the suppression was still unknown.
Could it be Diana?
The thought had previously crossed my mind, but knowing Diana’s strength, I knew that she wasn’t capable of doing sothing like that.
And even if she had sohow beco capable out of nowhere... why would she even act against ?
Diana was soone who deeply cared for Kael to the extent of falling in love with him.
Why would soone like that try to harm ?
Though I still tried to think of any possible actions on my part that may have resulted in a sudden developnt of hostility in Diana’s mind with regards to .
But... no matter what, the slate was clean.
The reason behind the suppression wasn’t Diana, but soone that was currently in my vicinity.
But who?
Or had the emperor mixed sothing in my coffee, making feel this way?
No.
Such things should have been beneath him, yet no matter what I couldn’t help but be suspicious of the emperor.
"When are you going to return to the academy?"
Though I was still wary about the possible threat to my life, I still had to achieve my primary objective behind coming here.
"I was thinking of taking a break for a while."
Diana gave a defeated smile while uttering the words.
"A new assignnt had been given out, and missing it could severely impact your academic scores."
Hearing my statent, Diana simply nodded her head while looking down, as she sipped the coffee from her cup at the sa ti.
There was a short silence as I waited for Diana’s reply—
"Are you worried about ?"
"..."
The question wasn’t difficult, yet directly being asked about it, made think of the most strategic and diplomatic answer that I could give at the mont.
Honestly, without her possible use in my plans, Diana had no place in my life... so caring for her had never even crossed my mind.
Yet right now I had to give an answer to make Diana feel closer to , while also being a little distant in my tone... which was normal given the personality that Kael had.
"Alicia and the rest were worried about you."
I responded with no change in my expression.
Faking the expressions on my face, could give away the truth that I wanted to hide from Diana.
After all... the eyes never lied.
That made having a neutral face with no emotions whatsoever the best choice before ... at least at the mont.
"I had told them to not visit . But... that wasn’t what I had asked."
Hm?
Given Diana’s nature she should have already received the hint, and should have already tried to change the subject knowing that I didn’t want to give a clear answer.
But—
"Ah! You don’t have to answer it. I just got carried away."
"..."
"Sorry."
I simply opted to nod my head without giving a response.
From the slight clenching of Diana’s left fist, and the curling of her fingers around the cup, I could see that Diana was being sowhat nervous.
But—
For so reason I just couldn’t believe the expressions before .
Sohow they had beco the perfect replication of how the character nad Diana should have behaved in this situation.
"That’s alright."
Maybe... I was reading too much into the situation.
"Allan wouldn’t want his sister to score poorly, would he?"
Taking another sip from the cup, I leaned on the wall behind , my eyes fixed on Diana, who had her head downcast, looking at the floor below.
I could even see the slight tears that had begun to form at the corner of her eyes, as Diana looked up to et my gaze.
"How could people be so cruel to kill a child?"
Diana asked the question with a trembling voice, as the tears stread down her face.
Hm?
Did the sudden ntion of her dead cousin make her return to reality?
After all... it was only now that I had the feeling of having arrived to actually console soone, and that the person in question finally looked like she was in so real pain.
Haa...
Humans sure were complicated creatures.
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