67
Seeing
Candice smiling cheerfully, the corner of Maria's mouth twitched.
She
had intended to say it in a childlike manner, but perhaps it was a bit prickly.
Unlike with Arthur, Maria seemed to have been mindful of her
behavior in front of Candice.
The
Imperial nobles make large donations to the church every month. That amount
naturally increases the higher one's peerage is, and she understands now that
it was because Maria thought she couldn't make a careless move for fear
of Candice saying something to Duke Radziwill. While it was
somewhat shocking to witness the two-faced nature of Maria, who used to
agree with Candice and praise her, she couldn't help but laugh at her
own naivety for being completely fooled by it and telling Duke Radziwill
that Maria was a good person.
「To think you were hiding, that is a
prank taken too far. Oh my, it seems I unintentionally became emotional.」
「Oh my…… but you were treating my
beloved Arthur like a rat, weren't you? Much less calling him filthy.
You are so cruel, Maria-sama.」
「……hk!」
「I've learned of Maria-sama's
true nature, haven't I.」
At
Candice's words, the corner of Maria's mouth twitched. However,
as if to immediately counterattack, Maria floated a smile and uttered a
certain phrase.
「Weren't you the same, Imperial
Princess-sama, calling His Highness Arthur filthy!」
「But I am not saying that now!
Because I love Arthur very much now.」
「……!」
「Maria-sama really doesn't know anything,
does she.」
She
cornered Maria while deliberately acting like a selfish child who knew
nothing.
「Besides, to call Luca-oniisama
a failure…… I respected you, Maria-sama, but as a lady, I am
disappointed.」
「What did you say!?」
「I was simply choosing a book with Arthur.
Al has a strong sense of justice, so he couldn't just leave Luca-oniisama
alone when he was being unilaterally blamed.」
「Yes……!」
「Oh Maria-sama, how unseemly
to act like this toward children.」
Arthur seemed to be playing along with Candice's
story despite not understanding the situation. Perhaps afraid of Maria,
he nodded his head up and down while tears welled up in his eyes. A blue vein
popped on that Maria's forehead. Her gentle expression had completely
vanished, baring her anger.
Maria, who so easily fell for such an
obvious provocation, seemed to be like the previous Candice, not very
good at controlling her emotions. Perhaps because she switched between her two
faces, Candice had only seen Maria's front-facing side until now.
At
that time, unaware that the door to the archives had opened, Candice was
frantically wracking her brain to figure out what to do about this situation.
Desperate to protect Luca and Arthur from the anger-trembling Maria,
she simply didn't notice. That a familiar figure with platinum blonde hair and
a person with black hair had quietly stepped into the archives…… Only Arthur
was staring at the people who had quietly entered through the door.
「Candice, Imperial Princess-sama, I
cannot forgive your previous remark!」
「Oh my, and what will you do since
you cannot forgive it?」
「……hk!」
「You're the one who needs to retract
calling Luca-oniisama a failure! Oniisama is a hard worker and a
wonderful person who can act for the sake of others.」
「Candice…… I……」
「He told me of his wonderful dream to
want to save people.」
「──hk, what do you even know!?」
The
clicking sound of heels echoing drew closer. Just as she thought Maria's
mint green dress swayed in front of her eyes, Candice was grabbed by the
collar of the blouse she was wearing and lifted upwards.