Test (3)

Lily knew it right away. Now, the princess was testing several things at the same time.

How close her relationship was with Vlad.  How she, a mere commoner, responded to the teasing of a princess.

“It is said that at night, like his mother, he transforms into a terrible form. What did it look like? I can’t quite figure it out, so please explain in detail. How did you see it? Was it disgusting? Or were you excited?”

Lily’s face turned bright red. Although she knew it was being done on purpose to prod her, shame and anger rose at the same time. Absolutely, the anger was overwhelming.

He was stronger than anyone else, but in reality, he was an infinitely soft man. No one knew, only she did.

Lily crouched down in front of the iron gate. Her clenched fists trembled at her knees.

The princess giggled at her silence.

And then, her laughter was covered by Lily’s low voice, “I am respected by him, Princess.”

She stared at her behind the black iron gate. The green eyes fluttered with a serious light like a forest without a single wind.

What kind of man is Vlad to me?

In fact, she was reminded of the question. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

How could she have asked that brief question she never asked herself?

“I…” Lily licked her lower lip, chewing on her memories. “I ignored myself until I met him. I thought it was right for me to be treated badly. So more than others… He was not harsh on me, and I thought it was weird. The life I knew was like that.”

She was no longer answering the princess. She was going inside herself and answering herself.

For a chick born in a chicken coop, that tiny iron cage was her world until death.

She didn’t even know that the door had ever been opened, even by accident. She was like a domesticated animal to the extent that she did not even notice it.

He smashed the chicken coop that her father had built. He assured her every time.

This boundary could now be crossed over.

“He is my world, Princess.” Lily paused in surprise. As stiff as someone who forgot how to blink. She took only a few heavy breaths.

She only realized it thanks to the words she was unconsciously speaking.

There was a shuddering sensation as if lightning had hit the top of the head. Her heart was pounding like a man sprinting up a high hill. Her face was hot as if she was about to explode.

Oh my god. Me, him…

Lily jumped up like someone jolted by electricity.

She averted her eyes from the iron gates. It was as if the eyes of the princess were hanging there. She lowered her head as if trying to hide her red cheeks. “So I want other people to respect him too. I don’t want him to get hurt, at least in front of me, Princess.”

“…”

“If someone scratches him, it hurts for me too. Whenever he gets angry too. Me too…  I love my husband a lot.”

Silence arose.

No one thought to speak up first.

Lily was preoccupied with suppressing her rapidly blooming realization of her feelings.

The two people watched her, enraptured. And the princess who doesn’t respond at all from the other side of the iron gate.

As the silence grew longer, Lily finally came to her senses. Her consciousness rushed into reality belatedly.

This… Is it correct to answer this way?

No. Just this, rather than an answer, it’s just me… Oh no, what to do?

“No, that… And he’s a great monarch, Princess. He lives by taking care of the citizens more responsibly than anyone else. So…” Cold sweat pooled in her palms.

The princess mumbled, “What happened…”

“…Yeah?”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard something like this! Oh, it’s tickling. How? Does love really exist? Tell me more, hm?”

Like a girl who insisted on hearing someone tell her about their first love.

Lily was rather embarrassed, and she backed away. “L-l-love. W-what do you mean…?”

It was as if her face had been engulfed in a roaring bonfire. She thought that steam must be coming out of her ears right now.

“I like you. I wish my maids would be half as cute as you. Hm?” The princess pounded on her iron door as if knocking.

She only answered calmly, far from crying because she was upset or hurt. She didn’t even cry. She didn’t counterattack by slyly twisting her words, as was usual in the social world.

She didn’t put anyone down, she didn’t hurt anyone’s mood, and she naturally defended herself from rudeness.