The Villainess Who Looks Like a Little Girl Is in the Arms of the Ice Prince (Who Is Sometimes Cute) - Chapter 13

In a room within the imperial castle.

In preparation for the exchange evening party to be held in the Eastern Capital, I began practicing dancing.

“Lady Hal.”

“What is it?”

“This kind of dance… well, I feel terribly sorry toward Lady Hal.”

“Are you enjoying it?”

Since the top of my head only reaches around Prince Folkhardt’s thigh, naturally when we dance together he has to bend down considerably, and with my small feet I can barely manage the steps, let alone turns. It ends up being quite awkward.

“Then, let’s do it like this.”

Before he finished speaking, I was lifted up.

“Eek!”

Held up in a position where I was sitting on his left arm, my right hand was taken, and Prince Folkhardt stepped alone. It looked as if he were amusing a small child, and it was embarrassing.

“Denka!”

“It’s Hal, Ria.”

I was made to pout, and he rubbed his forehead against my cheek.

Since there was no helping it, I decided to comfort him by gripping his collar with my free hand.

“I’m sorry, don’t sulk.”

“Grr. Being looked down on from above is nice too…”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Behind us, my attendant was wriggling and thrashing about for some reason, but I decided to pretend I didn’t see it. If I acknowledged that, it would undoubtedly lead to trouble.

“Geez, brother! Next, it’s my turn.”

Prince Etogal, who had approached our feet, looked up at us with his hands on his hips and an exasperated expression.

“Tch.”

“The Crown Prince clicking his tongue? That’s not good, is it?”

“Gal, that’s an impertinent mouth. To begin with, you’re not going to the Eastern Capital, are you?”

“Yes, yes. No freezing, please! This is Lia’s practice, after all.”

Thus, the sight of the brothers bickering with me in between was gradually becoming an everyday scene.

“Hehe. You get along well, don’t you?”

“Ria…”

Prince Folkhardt, lowering me while his eyebrows drooped slightly, was as expressionless as ever, but unlike our first meeting, he gave off a softer impression.

Just as my feet touched the floor and I took Prince Etogal’s hand, my attendant Michel entered the room with a tense expression.

“What is it?”

“Yes, sir!”

Michel quickly approached Prince Folkhardt and whispered something in his ear.

While watching this out of the corner of my eye with concern, I had already begun dancing, escorted by Prince Etogal. Unlike Prince Folkhardt’s efficient steps, his were lively and energetic, so I focused strength into the soles of my feet to avoid being tossed about.

“Mother is?”

Prince Folkhardt’s cold mutter, which seemed to slice through the air, definitely sounded like that.

—’Mother’ would mean Her Majesty the Empress.

(I have a really bad feeling about this.)

“Gal. My apologies, but practice will have to be another day.”

“Eh!?”

Prince Etogal stopped dead in his tracks and, with a dissatisfied face, refused to let go of my hand as he looked back over his shoulder at Prince Folkhardt behind him.

“Why not!?”

“Mother wishes to see Ria.”

“Ehh~! In that case, can’t I come too?”

“No.”

“Che~”

His puffed-out cheeks were so perfectly round that I couldn’t help but let out a soft “hehe” of amusement.

“What, you too, Ria?”

“Prince Gal. It seems Her Majesty the Empress wishes to speak with me.”

“Mother is, well, a little scary. I wanted to go with you, I thought.”

Since we hadn’t exchanged words during the audience in the throne room, I only knew she was an imposing beauty. Being the Empress of the Great Empire, I had prepared myself for the fact that she wouldn’t simply accept my existence. ‘So it’s finally come,’ was my true feeling.

“I am deeply touched by your concern.”

The fact that Prince Etogal had developed a sense of caring for others made me happier than anything.

“If I get scared and cry, you’ll comfort me, won’t you?”

“Un! Call me anytime! Okay!”

—Behind Prince Etogal, who had clung to me with a gabari, a blizzard began to swirl again, but… well, I don’t have the bandwidth for that right now.

◆

“That Etogal, he’s getting far too familiar in touching Ria.”

While carrying me and walking through the corridor of the detached palace, Prince Folkhardt grumbled. I had grown completely accustomed to being carried around. I was almost worried my legs would grow dull from lack of use.

“My appearance is that of a four-year-old. He’s surely just amusing himself with me.”

“Even so. The idea of you being touched by members of the opposite sex other than me.”

I reconsidered; as his fiancée, it might be considered inappropriate behavior.

“My deepest apologies. I shall be more careful.”

“……Sigh.”

“Lord Hal?”

Had I responded incorrectly? As I grew anxious, he gave a wry smile from extremely close range.

“No. I was being childish. It’s fine as it has been. In fact, it’s having a good influence on Etogal… Between his earlier statement and everything, he might have been lonely.”

“Ah.”

I only just realized it myself. The fact that he described his own mother as “a little scary.” If a mother inspires awe even in her seven-year-old prince, it’s understandable that he would crave human warmth.

“I was absorbed in my duties and failed to notice the change in my brother. It’s thanks to you, Ria. As Crown Prince, I still have much to learn.”

“No! That is not true!”

“Hm?”

“That courage to acknowledge one’s own mistakes and shortcomings. I am filled with admiration.”

Someone in the position of Crown Prince of the Great Empire could be permitted arrogance. Yet this person is diligent and extremely strict with himself. Precisely because of that, he is feared by those around him to an almost excessive degree.

Even in my short stay, I had come to understand this. They mock him as ‘Heinous and Unprincipled’ because they cannot keep up with this person, who is overflowing with talent and ambition, striving for even greater heights.

“I respect you.”

“Haha. Thank you. Though respect alone is not enough.”

“Not enough?”

Huh—Prince Folkhardt let out a sigh near my ear as he relaxed the tension from his shoulders. It carried a scent of citrus.

“Ah. I will obtain it eventually. For now, it’s fine.”

I wanted to question the meaning, but my heart, pounding and leaping doki-doki, interfered with my thoughts.

Since things had come to this, I decided to seek help from my attendant. Peering over Prince Folkhardt’s shoulder to look behind us, he was wriggling again. For the time being, I stuck my tongue out at him. Bleh.

“Too wholesome! Even taking your frustration out like that is too precious~!”

“Hey, what does that mean?”

“I don’t know!”

“It’s too precious, it’s killing me! Grr—!”

The Imperial Guards passing by in the corridor were looking at Enzo with pitying expressions.

I decided to take a positive view of it, thinking that perhaps he was trying in his own way to lower the guard of those around us.

“Now then. It seems she has arrived before us.”

Prince Folkhardt, who had been walking on the stone pavement leading from the covered corridor outside to the gazebo in the courtyard, stopped and gently set me down on the ground.

I remembered the white stone gazebo, the place where Prince Folkhardt had seen through my true identity.

(Perhaps this is a place where one chooses the fork in the road of fate.)

As Enzo would say, it’s probably that ‘route selection’ thing. It feels undeniably like a place where the future changes based on my attitude and words.

“You have come, Princess Rianne.”

“I am deeply grateful for your summons, Your Majesty the Empress.”

The imposing beauty with lush platinum-blonde hair and emerald eyes was seated at the table, wearing a beautiful afternoon dress in a pale green with golden thread embroidery.

I performed my most heartfelt curtsy and waited for a reaction when a calm voice descended from above.

“At ease. Sit here.”

It seemed the greeting had been acceptable, at least.

“Yes.”

Urged to take the seat opposite, Enzo pulled out the chair, and Prince Folkhardt lifted me up to seat me.

Once I was seated, Her Majesty the Empress lightly waved her right hand, dismissing the maids and Imperial Guards.

“The reason I summoned you today is for none other than this.”

Su—Her emerald-green eyes narrowed slightly.

“You are not Princess Rianne, are you?”

(Mother and son, both saying the exact same thing!)

“Now, I have no intention of blaming you. I have acquaintances placed within the central structures of various nations. I merely overheard a little whisper that the young princess of Chevran is within that palace over there.”

As expected of the Empire’s intelligence network.

It was undoubtedly a failing on Chevran’s part, which I had completely underestimated. If anything, I think it’s impressive it lasted this long.

“Your Majesty the Empress. Regarding that matter—”

As Prince Folkhardt tried to interject to protect me, Her Majesty the Empress stopped him with a sharp voice, saying, “I did not ask you.”

“Rianne-imposter. What is your goal?”

Goal—when asked so directly, I wondered what it was.

I, who was effectively driven out of Chevran by the command of my father, Duke Logier—did I offer up this body for the sake of my homeland? No, that’s not it.

“I wish to change my destiny.”

“Destiny, you say?”

“I am Yuliana Logier, the daughter of a marquis. In my country, I was unwanted, and my life was in danger. However, I… I want to live.”

“Oh? To prolong your own life, you risk your own life. That is contradictory.”

“It is not a contradiction. Without taking risks, one gains nothing.”

Her Majesty the Empress’s eyes widened, and then she slowly opened her fan and hid her mouth behind it.

Her widened eyes had, at some point, narrowed again with apparent amusement. I wondered what true intentions she was hiding behind that fan.

“I can understand Hal’s obsession now.”

“Mo-Mother!”

Behind me, Prince Folkhardt was flustered—a rare sight.

“However, as Empress, it also gives me cause for melancholy.”

“Melancholy?”

Haaah—She let out a large sigh.

“If it gets rumored that the Crown Prince is only interested in little girls, you know.”

“Kuhihi! Ah, my apologies!”

The attendant’s high-pitched laugh tore through the courtyard’s refreshing air.