41
At the sound of Valentin moving and the sword at his waist shifting, a chill ran down Candice's spine. And she was bracing herself, thinking she had to maintain this posture out of sheer stubbornness.
（Even though we are inside the palace, why is he carrying something like a sword……!）
It was the same sword that had cut off Candice's head that time. Perhaps because she was in a panic, the worst-case scenario that she might be cut down like that time popped into her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Valentin bending down right next to Candice just like that. The sword's scabbard grazed Candice's light pink dress. Her heart was thumping so loudly it felt like the sound of it beating could be heard.
（M-My redo life is……!）
She didn't want to be killed for the reason of being disliked, but since Candice had also been continuously killing people for such reasons, thinking that the same would be done to her was terrifying, yet she clenched her teeth, thinking she had to accept it. Then, contrary to Candice's expectations, Valentin stood up without laying a hand on his sword, and asked Candice a question.
「……What is this?」
She was surprised, never expecting that Valentin would be the one to speak to Candice. Her legs had been trembling and she was about to collapse at any moment, so should she think of this as having been saved?
In Valentin's hand was the book she had just been told about and had Luca choose for her earlier. What Candice had dropped from the momentum of bumping into him must have fallen onto the hallway floor.
「……hk, ah……!」
「……?」
Although it was a bit late for it, Valentin's pressure and intensity mixed with her memories, and she felt terrified. Before her eyes was a body much larger than hers and a low voice. Perhaps from breaking out in a cold sweat and from fear, words wouldn't come out properly. Perhaps irritated that Candice was not answering his question, Valentin's intimidating presence increased more and more.
（I was already hated by Otou-sama from this time, wasn't I. Without realizing such a thing, I……）
A moment of silence passed, and Candice grabbed the hem of her dress. 『Ah…… my beloved Otou-sama!』 She felt as if such a voice echoed in her head. Candice's voice yearning for her father echoed in her brain. Candice's shoulders trembled slightly, and her breathing gradually became ragged. She desperately put strength into her legs to endure them being about to give out.
『I wanted to be loved』 （I will never be loved again）
『Otou-sama likes me』 （I am hated）
『Look at me!』 （If things stay like this, I will be killed）
She became filled with a sense of incongruity as if her head and body were about to split apart, along with the fear and anxiety of death. From Valentin's perspective, that must have looked like a meek attitude unimaginable from the Candice up until now.
Perhaps from confusion, tears ran down her cheeks one after another. Hugo wasn't the only one surprised that Candice was crying. She could see in her blurred vision that Valentin's eyes were also wide open, but she covered her face with her two small hands to wipe her tears. Seeing her sobbing figure, letting out sounds from her throat, Hugo was panicking.
「Hic…… sob」
「Ah, what should we do! Is the Imperial Princess-sama crying because His Majesty the Emperor's face was too scary!?」
「…………」
At Hugo's words, Valentin's eyebrow twitched once again. Although she somehow tried to stop crying, the tears that had overflowed like water from a faucet would not easily stop. Is it because she is a child that her emotions run wild like this? Seeing the tears overflowing and falling, Hugo and the others also seemed to be bewildered.
Perhaps unable to just watch Candice rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, Rose reached out a trembling hand from behind and offered a handkerchief.
Seeing Valentin kneeling down in front of her while she was wiping her tears with the handkerchief, Candice stopped her movements.
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