Unedited
Roy, King of Orstoll, entered the room, and Fiiru stood up to bow.
“Good evening, Your Majesty Roy. Lynette has prepared some tea. Please have some if it pleases you.”
“I see. Thank you,” he said as he removed his jacket and tossed it to some nearby shelf.
Lynette’s brows furrowed as she ran over to straighten it out and place it on a hanger.
When she was done she ran into the kitchen to bring dinner for the King and Queen.
Lynette returned with a cart with the food on it. As it was no more plentiful than your average dinner it seemed a little scarce for a royal couple’s meal. Still, Roy paid it no mind and spoke to Fiiru instead.
“How has life in Orstoll been? If there has been anything unsatisfactory, please say.”
“No, you have treated me very well, Your Majesty. There is nothing unsatisfactory.”
The tone that Roy used to speak to her sounded a little gentler than his normal speech, and he used this tone to apologise once again.
“I am terribly sorry for essentially confining you here.”
“I am very grateful for your help. I could not hope for anything more.”
But after that, Fiiru spoke to him a little hesitantly.
“Umm… but… if possible, I would like to meet with Fii-neesama.”
“Impossible.”
Roy’s rejection was immediate.
“Why…!?”
Roy replied calmly to her sad cry.
“There is no proof that your sister was uninvolved. As long as I cannot decisively rule out the possibility, I cannot allow you to come into contact with her.”
“My sister isn’t that kind of person!”
“Exactly. Fii-sama would never do such a thing!”
Even Lynette the maid spoke out above her station to refute Roy.
However, Roy did not chastise her, and instead replied to the two with his ever calm voice.
“I have said it before. I will doubt everybody. With regards to this case, I will trust nobody except you, Lynette, and my most trustworthy retainers. Even your sister is no exception. For the sake of your safety, I intend to be as careful as humanly possible.”
“But…!”
When Fiiru continued to argue, Roy’s gaze began to grow sharp.
A dark aura seemed to seep out of him.
“I will say it once again. No matter how much you or Lynette may trust them, I have no absolutely no intention of doing the same. To begin with, I recall you leaving all facets of this investigation to me, did you not?”
Fiiru couldn’t help but tremble under his glare.
As Lynette watched this, she had a thought.
(I don’t think he realises at all…)
It was probably unintentional. The way this king glared at others.
(Even though he’s scaring Fiiru-sama like this…)
Fiiru-sama was blessed with knowledge and wisdom, but she was not particularly blessed with courage. Frankly, she leant towards timidity and cowardice.
It went without saying that a grown man’s glare was enough to frighten her.
Even so, it was within her nature to try her best to overcome her fear, but this man alone was too much for her to handle.
After all, he was the monarch of the great nation of Orstoll, and the man known as the Ice King.
And upon considering her current position…
Fiiru had no path except to hang her head in dejection and apologise.
“My sincere apologies. I should be thanking you in gratitude for your help, not… I said too much…”
It was only at this point did Roy seem to have an inkling that he had scared her.
The sternness on his expression was replaced by the mask of calm, and he replied to her in a gentler voice than usual.
“No, I should be apologising for speaking so severely. But as I’ve said, I want to limit contact as much as possible to those who aren’t absolutely trustworthy. Please bear with it for now.”
“Yes…”
After gazing at her crestfallen expression, Roy spoke to her seriously.
“Princess Fiiru. I promised Prince Tomáš that I would absolutely protect you. And we are by no means in a situation where we can let our guards down. Even so, I still want to make your time in this country as pleasant as possible.”
With that, Roy took a sip of Lynette’s tea before leaving his chair.
“Apologies, but I still have work left over so I will be heading to the study. I’m still busy, you see.”
“Yes. Thank you very much for coming tonight.”
Fiiru once again bowed to him.
“Um, what will Your Majesty be eating for dinner…?”
“Just this will do.”
Roy responded to Lynette as he took just one dish from the cart. After that he holed himself in the study as usual.
Lynette was unable to tell Fiiru about how Fii was being treated.
It was because the only thing it would achieve right now would be piling on another worry.
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