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However,
Candice was nowhere to be found, and it seems that Valentin,
after hearing from a maid of the White Palace that she was in the
archives of the Violet Palace, came all the way here.
Hearing
that, Candice could not stop trembling.
（To not be able to properly keep a
promise is unthinkable as an Imperial Princess. What a blunder I've
made! My pride is……）
With
a continuous string of failures, Candice's pride was in tatters.
（That sword…… was it actually meant
to hack me to death for failing to keep my promise!?）
Now
that the reason he had visited the archives carrying a sword was revealed, Candice
was astounded. Furthermore, Candice, who had retained her memories,
thought she was hated to death by Valentin. Therefore, she completely
believed so.
Perhaps
out of concern for Candice, who was trembling faintly, both Luca
and Arthur held her hands from both sides as if sandwiching her. While
holding hands just like that, the three of them followed behind Hugo and
moved down the wide corridors of the Violet Palace.
Rather
than the room where Candice had previously been summoned by Valentin
and dozed off, they were led into a spacious room for guests. As the three of
them sat side-by-side on a sofa, maids appeared from the door and placed a
three-tiered afternoon tea stand on the table.
The
three of them gazed at the sweets and cakes being lined up one after another,
and the warm black tea being poured into their cups.
Arthur's eyes were sparkling at the
numerous luxurious foods. Seeing that Arthur was excited, Candice
urged him to calm down. Luca was sitting with good posture, stretching
his back perfectly straight, just like Candice when she was called to
the Violet Palace for the first time.
At
that moment, seeing Valentin and Hugo, who appeared carrying a
massive amount of documents, Luca and Candice stood up and bowed
their heads. She tried to make the dumbfounded Arthur stand up, but as Valentin
lightly raised one hand, the strength drained from Candice's body.
Sitting
down with a heavy thud at the table in front of where the three were
seated, he began flipping through the documents. As Candice and the
others waited for Valentin's words, he sent a fleeting glance this way,
followed by the same single word as always: 「Eat.」 While Luca audibly gulped out of nervousness, Arthur
reached out his small hand and pointed at a cake.
「This is the delicious one that Candice-oneesama
gave me, isn't it!」
「…………hk!」
Candice made her shoulders jump, fearing
that it would be exposed that she had taken the cake home with her after that
time. However, seeing his gaze directed uninterestedly at the documents, Candice
let out a breath of relief.
Perhaps
out of nervousness, Luca scraped his tableware, making a sound, and then
got depressed, saying, 「What a useless guy I am,」 looking as if he was about to cry. Partly out of
irritation, Candice slapped Luca's back as if to pump him up,
saying, 「Luca-oniisama, please pull yourself
together!」 Startled, Luca said, 「S-Sorry!」 and corrected his posture.
Arthur was asking for cake to the point of
piling it high on his plate. After stopping him, she pleaded with him in a way
that would remind him of tea party manners. Arthur dejectedly dropped
his shoulders, and then obediently began to eat his cake slowly.
When
Candice raised her face after looking after the two, there was the
figure of Valentin looking this way while holding documents. Making eye
contact with those violet eyes, Candice realized something.
（I-I am being tested again……!）
Candice immediately floated a stiff smile and behaved as flawlessly as possible to avoid any blunders. Trembling violently, Luca also somehow managed to drink his black tea and carry sweets to his mouth, but perhaps because his tension was unwinding, a smile gradually leaked out.