A Brief Respite — 07
Lilith Cliphort.
She was the daughter of Cromwell Clifort, the current king of the Kingdom, and the older sister of Felix Clifort—the man who had recommended me to the Hero's party.
Her constitution was so frail that I had only ever met her once, and she didn't seem to remember me properly either. Hearing my name, she had probably just thought, Ah, right. That person existed.
As I had said, her body was weak, but her unique intuition was exceptional. She had solved several problems that had arisen in the Kingdom because of it, and so the citizens of the Royal Capital did not think poorly of her.
And now she had used that same intuition to find Olivia. She was the kind of person who possessed a keen instinct—and, more importantly, the kind who could place her faith in that uncertain thing called intuition and push forward on the strength of it alone.
Put generously, she had an element of surprise and a certain charisma. Put ungenerously, she had no idea how to make a plan.
In other words, she was a lot like Olivia.
The difference was that her social skills were more developed, and she actually knew how to think things through. That was probably a matter of upbringing as well. Lilith had been raised as a princess and taught all manner of things; Olivia, in order to become a Hero, had learned nothing but how to fight.
That aside...
She was staring at me an awful lot.
Even while talking with Olivia, Lilith had been looking at me this whole time. It was not the kind of gaze one might mistake for interest—there was a subtle wariness in it. She probably did not like the idea of her friend Olivia getting involved with me.
Unfortunately for her, Olivia was the one running toward me. Even if some novel-like plot twist arrived in which someone told me I was not good enough for Olivia and I ought to give up, I would not particularly care.
It was not that I felt nothing. If anything, I was the one in the awkward position—because I did not feel nothing at all. If something went wrong between Olivia and me, it had to be a problem between the two of us. Could anything be more unpleasant than trouble caused by a third party?
"She's been staring at you quite a lot."
"I know. I'm ignoring it on purpose."
"Is it because she's close with Lady Olivia, do you think?"
"That might be it."
That Lilith was fond of Olivia was a story everyone in the Royal Capital knew. Olivia, for her part, had reportedly not been particularly warm in return. According to Olivia herself, it had mostly been a relationship in which Lilith talked and she listened.
But the fact that Olivia—who at the time had been little better than a rabid dog—had not barked at Lilith to get lost, and had actually sat there and listened... did that not mean she had valued the relationship quite a bit? Whether Olivia herself was aware of that was another matter.
Regardless, for a princess of a nation to come to Elvenheim—one of the member states of the Human Alliance—with only a single escort, all to find Olivia... that was genuinely insane. She was a little crazy, just as one would expect from a friend of Olivia's.
"Let's take her to Titania for now."
"She'll be asleep at this hour..."
"Ah, right. Then the next highest-ranking person..."
"Captain Les, perhaps..."
"Or there's you, Sylphy."
"Oh, please. Not yet. I'm not ready."
"'Not yet'—that almost sounds like you'd take a shot at it if there was a chance you could."
"...After hearing what you said about the half-elves earlier, I can't seem to shake the thought that maybe I should try."
I had told Sylphy that if he became Oberon, conversations with the half-elves would go a great deal more smoothly. Until then, he had found the position of Oberon too burdensome and wanted nothing to do with it—but after hearing that, he seemed to be genuinely wrestling with the idea.
He was the sort who could think of others' circumstances before his own. And with High Elf blood running through his veins, I honestly thought it would be fine if Sylphy succeeded to the position of Oberon.
As for the problem of his shorter lifespan compared to full elves—if he could form a contract with the World Tree the way the current Titania had, he might not live as long as an elf, but he could at least live a long life by half-elf standards.
Of course, that was all predicated on Sylphy actually wanting the role.
The position of king of the elves was an honorable one, certainly, but it was a heavy burden for someone like Sylphy, who had never received any education for it—and it would remain difficult even after he took the throne, no matter how much the current Titania helped him.
In the end, the decision was Sylphy's. Frankly, if he said he did not want it, who could blame him? Even if he did not take the position, the current Titania would still do everything in her power to address the half-elf issue that had been his original goal. It would simply mean more bridges to cross every time he wanted something done.
"Hey. Lois, was it?"
"Hm?"
Lilith had crossed her arms, looking rather displeased. I bowed my head in the manner of the Kingdom.
"Lois, as you said. I present myself before Princess Lilith Cliphort of the Kingdom."
"Ugh, what... You know the Kingdom's etiquette?"
She seemed to have forgotten that I was from the Kingdom as well. Or, more precisely, I was from the slums—a place that did not really belong to any nation. Whether one could even call that a country was questionable.
"Oh. Olivia seems to trust you quite a bit."
I glanced back. Olivia was talking with Sebas, Lilith's butler. Apparently Lilith had handed Olivia off to him because she wanted to speak with me.
Olivia could have overheard a conversation at this distance if she had wanted to, but lately she had been learning about interpersonal courtesy, and she made a point of not listening in on private conversations. People did not change easily—but they did change. Olivia was living proof of that.
"I don't know if I'd call it trust, but she does treat me quite warmly, yes."
"I'll be blunt. Olivia has feelings for you."
"I'm aware."
The moment she had realized it, she had confessed to me on the spot. When it came to the push and pull of romance, the only thing she seemed capable of was pulling. But that was very Olivia, and I was fine with it. There were people like this and people like that—was that not what made people complicated?
"And you? How do you feel?"
"I don't know yet."
"What!? Olivia likes you, so why!? She's the Hero, she's that beautiful, she's kind, her figure is amazing, she's incredibly strong, and her figure is amazing!"
She said the part about her figure twice.
Well. Honestly, it was good to a degree that bordered on violence. I had always wondered how a physique like that maintained such balance while carrying all that... volume. It was a mystery of the human form, and I had wanted to ask—but if I did, I would probably get an answer like "I didn't do anything?" which would make enemies of countless women everywhere.
And more than that, asking would mean watching Olivia's smug face as she went, Does it bother you? It bothers you, doesn't it? My body bothers you, doesn't it? Seeing that face, I would think it was cute, and then I would feel as though I had lost, which was frustrating.
"Everything you said is true. But those are reasons to feel fondness, not reasons to be in love."
"Your head is incredibly stiff..."
"You're quite open-minded for a princess, Lady Lilith."
"..."
Only then did Lilith realize she had not been maintaining anything resembling a princess's dignity.
"A-ahem! Whatever do you mean? I..."
"..."
"..."
Sylphy and I both gave her a faintly pointed look. Lilith's face flushed slightly.
"Fine. You've all seen through it anyway, so I'll just talk like this. People think I'm actually some delicate, refined lady, you know? I was trying to play along and act the part."
"It's true that Lady Lilith has that reputation. They even call you the Flower of the Kingdom."
"Thanks, Sylphy. You're really pretty too."
"Ah... yes."
Sylphy smiled awkwardly. For all that, he was a man, and being called pretty did not register as a compliment. If anything, his face said, Ah. This person thinks I'm a woman too.
As a comrade, I wanted to offer him some comfort, but Sylphy's appearance was, even being generous, a severe case of gender neglecting its duties. Anyone who could look at that and immediately recognize a man was either someone who already knew, or someone who could see through all things with omniscient power.
"Hm?"
Lilith tilted her head, watching Sylphy smile awkwardly instead of blushing or anything of the sort at her compliment. Then she turned her gaze back to me.
"W-well, as a friend, thank you for saving Olivia."
"Please don't concern yourself. I only did what a person ought to do."
Well. It had been for my own sake as well.
"You didn't do anything improper, did you? You're not even dating yet, so you didn't, right?"
"I did not."
"Yeah?"
The problem was not me—it was that Olivia might. Frankly, once she obtained the Elixir and recovered her body, I would not be able to handle her. If Olivia suddenly lost all reason and jumped me, what exactly was I supposed to do? Aside from quietly surrendering myself, there was not much I could do.
"Still, if you at least recognize each other's feelings, don't do anything too shameless."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, don't cling to Sylphy so much when Olivia's right there. Aren't you two a little too close for a man and a woman?"
"..."
"Hm? What's wrong? Sylphy? No, wait—you be careful too, Sylphy. When a young man and woman stand that close together..."
Apparently she had seen Sylphy and me standing close together earlier when we had been talking quietly, and drawn her own conclusions.
"Pfft—!"
"Lois! This isn't something to laugh about!"
"R-right. I apologize. This is a serious matter for you, Sylphy."
"Pardon?"
Sylphy let out a long sigh, scratched his head, and looked at Lilith.
"I'm a man."
"...What?"
The look on her face was that of a brain that had given up on understanding. If someone were to paint that expression—the expression of a mind that had simply clocked out of its job—it would be a face people would still be talking about generations from now.