Partner
The messenger who had handed Alia the invitation fled the Grand Duke's Castle as if his life depended on it.
Even an imperial herald couldn't have endured the gulf between that murderous atmosphere a moment ago and the abrupt shift that followed.
"My. Is it already time for the Debutante Ball?"
My sister approached, her expression flipping in an instant to the elegant smile of a proper young noblewoman.
"I happen to know a thing or two about Debutante Balls."
"…You?"
"I was rather popular with the gentlemen, you know."
That was news to me.
For someone supposedly so popular, my sister was still unmarried. If the men had truly been lining up, she would have picked one ages ago and settled down.
Maybe no one had matched her tastes. Or maybe the men had taken one look at the real her and bolted in terror.
She was, to put it bluntly, an absolute menace of a personality. And somehow I was certain that even if she did marry, she would still try to stick to my side.
"What? Roen, you don't believe me either?"
"No, it's not that…"
"I don't believe her."
Rize, still nestled in my arms, chimed in helpfully.
Alia snorted and grabbed Rize by the scruff, peeling her out of my embrace.
"Euhing…"
"Well, of course you wouldn't believe me. I sent every man who approached me packing on the spot."
"Then why bother going to the balls?"
"Because the invitations arrived. How do you refuse His Majesty the Emperor? And besides…"
She casually draped an arm over my shoulder and leaned in close.
"My type is a man who looks exactly like you. Unfortunately, there weren't any."
"Ha."
Illia let out a hollow laugh. I was just as speechless.
A man who looked exactly like me. It wasn't as if doppelgangers were wandering around.
"If a man like that exists, I'd like to see him myself."
"Heh. Same here. More importantly, Roen—you didn't get an invitation?"
"Right? I don't really need one anyway."
"Hmm. What a shame. Then while Her Highness the Grand Duchess attends the ball, we'll stay here at the Grand Duke's Castle and—"
"Roen will accompany me as my escort."
"…Excuse me?"
Alia's head turned slowly toward Illia.
Illia looked more triumphant than I had ever seen her. That expression was a rare sight.
She must have been genuinely delighted by the invitation; she fluttered it lightly as she spoke.
"Appointing Roen as my bodyguard knight was for that purpose from the start. Ah, yes. While we're away in the capital, it would be most reassuring if you two watched over the Grand Duke's Castle."
"…Huh."
Then Illia—
Clap. Clap.
—struck her hands together twice in quick succession.
Why the sudden applause—
"You called for me, my lady?"
"Eek?"
The head maid rose up out of the floor.
She hadn't actually erupted from the ground, of course, but that was how it looked to me.
"Hilda. Please escort these two to Father's study."
"Yes, my lady."
"…Unexpected. A moment ago you looked ready to die rather than show us the way."
"I've decided it's fine now. Thinking it over carefully, there was no real need for me to stand in the way. Father will make the decision either way."
"Judging by how quickly your mind changed, receiving that invitation put you in a wonderful mood, didn't it?"
"Extremely."
"Hmph. Fine. We'll see you again later. Come, Rize."
"Unnie! Put Rize down!!!"
Still dangling Rize from one hand, Alia followed the head maid up the stairs.
"Shall we head to training?"
"Uh, sure…"
Illia took my hand and led me toward the training grounds.
"Haa…"
After training I returned to my room, stripped off my uniform, and collapsed onto the bed.
Once the chaos had passed and I was alone in the empty chamber, the invitation floated back into my thoughts.
The Debutante Ball.
That was where the male leads fell for the heroine, Lilian Claire, at first sight—where love left them blind, they committed every foolishness imaginable, and then were wiped out in vain. The true seed of every ruin that followed.
The problem was that Lilian herself had never loved any of them.
I had to twist this flow of events.
The surest method would be keeping Lilian from meeting them at all. But that wasn't something I could simply decide. They were all giants of the empire.
Still, I could at least slip myself into the spaces between those meetings.
Knock knock knock.
Just like the knock now forcing its way into my thoughts.
"Roen~! Are you in there?"
"Oh—Sis!"
The door burst open the instant I answered. Two women barged in with their arms full of luggage.
Were they here to say goodbye before heading home?
"Looks like you're packed and ready to go."
"What are you talking about? We got permission."
"…What?"
"It smells like Oppa~!"
Oblivious to my stunned state of mind, Rize flung herself onto the bed. When she tried to bury her face in my pillow, I snatched her up and tucked her under my arm.
"Hehe…"
"Somehow this is nicer than your room back home?"
"Comparing it to a mere count's household is an insult to the Grand Ducal family, don't you think?"
"Mm. Fair enough. The wardrobe's huge, too."
Alia casually flung my wardrobe doors wide open.
"Why are you opening that?"
"To put my clothes in."
"Why would you put your clothes in there?"
"His Grace the Grand Duke gave us permission to sleep in the same room as you. We always sleep together, don't we?"
"Well… that's true."
It was a little strange, if I was honest.
We had each had our own rooms since we were small, yet we always ended up piled into mine for the night. But what was I supposed to do? They threw fits if I told them to sleep in their own beds, and I had never particularly minded.
It was far too late to start objecting now; I was used to it.
"Fine, all right. If that's what you both want, and His Grace already approved…"
"I don't approve."
Clunk.
Ah.
That door sound again.
Every gaze in the room snapped toward it at once.
Illia was leaning against the doorframe at a slant.
"Sleep together? With Roen?"
"My. So the rooms connect like this? This… hardly protects one's privacy, does it? Even for a liege, this is a bit much."
"This is a design for efficient protection."
Illia walked slowly into the room.
"Answer my question properly. You intend to… sleep with Roen?"
"Why? Are you jealous?"
"……"
The corner of Illia's mouth twitched.
Honestly.
Did these two grow thorns in their mouths if they went a single meeting without fighting?
I sighed, set Rize down on the floor, got up from the bed, and stepped between them.
"My lady. Would you hear me out for a moment?"
"…What is it?"
"I don't fully understand what you're worried about, but you can rest easy. I've slept alongside my older sister and my little sister since we were children. Nothing has ever happened. So nothing will happen this time either."
"And if something does?"
I had no idea what "something" Illia was imagining. That Alia and Rize might devour me in the middle of the night?
"I'll take responsibility. No matter what happens."
"Ooh. Our Roen is saying some rather dashing things."
"Sis, please be quiet."
Alia snorted and grinned slyly. Illia, on the other hand, still looked hesitant.
"What's wrong, my lady? Don't you trust me?"
"You don't… need to go so far as responsibility."
"I made it sound grand, but it's just a promise."
"A promise…"
"Yes. A promise. And with you right next door, what could my sister and little sister possibly do to me? Right, Sis?"
"……"
"Sis?"
"You told me to be quiet."
"Haa…"
She listened so well when it was inconvenient. The problem was how well she also listened to every useless impulse.
"All right. If you put it that way, Roen."
"Thank you, my lady."
"In exchange, would you send the two of them out for a moment?"
"Pardon?"
"I have something to discuss with you alone. It won't take long."
"Ah—yes. Sis? Rize? Could you step out for a bit?"
"Hmm? Now I'm curious what this is about."
"Rize's going out! Rize's a good girl who listens to Oppa!"
"Ah. Then I suppose I should go too."
Click.
Once the two of them left, only Illia and I remained in the room.
And the moment we were alone, I became intensely aware of it. I would probably keep reacting like this for a while. Maybe I would never get over it.
Whether I was conscious of her or not, Illia took a step closer.
What could she possibly need to say that required the two of us alone?
In the middle of that tension, instead of answering my curiosity—
"……!!!"
—she hugged me.
Softness. The scent of roses. The pounding of my own heart, louder than the thunder of hooves.
Illia buried her face against my chest and murmured quietly.
"Roen."
"Y-yeah. Illia."
"You're my knight alone. Aren't you?"
"Th-that's right. We signed the contract, and the investiture was official."
"So from now on, don't take your eyes off me. Don't leave my side either."
"Of course not. I'm your bodyguard knight."
Illia lifted her head and looked up at me. She even rose slightly onto her toes, and our faces drew startlingly close.
Close enough that our breath almost touched.
What stood out most were her blue eyes and her full, pink lips.
Those lips moved.
"…I'm not telling you to simply guard me."
She gripped my shirt tight.
"At the Debutante Ball, my partner is you. Only you, Roen."
"……!"
A partner at the Debutante Ball carried special weight.
The ball was, in other words, a stage for encounters—the place where one chose a partner for life.
And if that partner was already decided…
"Remember this. If you so much as glance at another woman… you'll truly regret it."
Was it only my imagination that Illia's words sounded like a confession?