36
「Haa……」
「Candice-oneesama, is something the matter?」
「It is nothing.」
Unconsciously petting the head of Arthur, who was worrying about her, Candice gasped and immediately pulled her hand back.
（There is absolutely no way I would be won over by a child like this!）
Although she thought so, far from steadily being won over, Candice was actually the one feeling a sense of security from being together with Arthur. Doing everything together with Arthur recently was proof of that. Unable to let go of the warmth she felt for the first time, Candice couldn't admit it and told herself otherwise.
And then, as if to say 'pet my head more,' Arthur grasped Candice's hand. While touching his squishy hand, Candice ended up breaking into a soft smile.
And there was one more thing that had changed in her surroundings. Perhaps because they were together with the veteran maid Jeanne, Eva and Rose's skills as maids had improved remarkably. While Candice was spending time with Arthur, Jeanne, as if to return the favor, had been giving various instructions to Eva and Rose. Thanks to that, the two stopped making mistakes, and Candice's irritation had decreased. Such a thing was unimaginable back when she used to immediately fire her maids.
Just as she had told Duke Radziwill, she had recently come to think of the two as older sisters. She was able to accept that they were speaking not out of backtalk but out of concern for Candice, and she thought she would listen to their opinions every now and then in order to become a good Imperial Princess.
Together with Arthur, she arrived in front of the heavy-looking archive doors. Because it was called the archives of the Violet Palace, she had imagined something fitting, but as expected, from a child's eyes, it was quite large and intimidating. Looking at the large doors, Candice swallowed with a gulp.
And in front of the archives, a single guard knight stood. She wondered if someone was inside, but without paying it much mind, Candice called out.
「Excuse me for a moment.」
The guard knight, who had been spacing out, gave a start before directing his gaze downward. And noticing Candice, he hurriedly bowed his head.
「I-Imperial Princess-sama…… why are you here!?」
「I would like you to open the doors.」
「But right now, inside is, well……」
The guard knight, making a bitter face, sent a glance inside the archives.
（I wonder if someone is inside……?）
However, Candice and Arthur had walked quite a bit to arrive here. With the legs of a four-year-old and a five-year-old, just walking through the vast palace was tough. Unable to just back down without any harvest here, when Candice pointed at the doors while floating a sweet smile, the guard knight, though seemingly hesitant, reluctantly opened the doors.
While she was deeply moved by the space where books were lined up across the entire wall, packed tightly from bottom to top, Arthur beside her raised his voice, 「Wow……!」 And then, a small shadow became visible through the gaps of books piled up on top of a large table. Candice called out a name.
「Luca-oniisama……?」
「──Waaaaah!?」
Perhaps startled, Luca fell over backwards while letting out a loud voice. At the same time, the piled-up books fell with a fluttering and crashing sound.
「Ouch ouch……」
Candice and Arthur hurriedly ran over to Luca's side and began removing the books covering him. Perhaps imitating Candice, Arthur too worked desperately, lifting thick books and placing them to the side.
Luca slowly raised his body while pressing his lower back. When Candice said, 「Are you alright?」 and held out her hand, Luca swiftly averted his gaze but grasped Candice's hand while faintly dyeing his cheeks red.
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