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“Why on earth would you be interested in the Statue of Roo…?”
“Just because? I was curious about what kind of statue the first prophet left behind. Valentin, you're a prophet too.”
Wait. If I put it like this, it basically means I went down to Shaharansk because of Valentin. Come to think of it, that's actually true... I added a few more words, feeling as if I were making an excuse for no reason.
“I mean, a prophet of gabhilism completely changed my life, so it's only right that I see the face of where it all began. It's being moved after being exhibited only in Shaharansk, right? Anyway, it's not like I'm just idling my life away. I also went down to get some rest for a bit. Of course, if you call that complacent, I have nothing to say!”
Despite my confident excuse, the furrow in Valentin's brow showed no sign of relaxing.
“That is a difficult excuse to accept. There are still two months left in the exhibition period. No matter how busy the social season is, it shouldn't be to the point where you cannot invest a day or two in Shaharansk. Furthermore, had you hinted it to me, I would have coordinated with the Holy See to add Mahachkala to the exhibition schedule.”
Sharp as always. I replied with a sigh.
“You're right. But I wanted to rest somewhere that wasn't Mahachkala...”
“Did you wish to spend private time with Sergei Nikitin?”
For a moment, it felt as if I had been struck in the back of the head.
“What?”
“You do not need to hide it from me. I have no intention of reprimanding Your Highness. Such things are natural at your age. From what I've gathered, he is a man without any major flaws.”
Unlike before, Valentin admonished me in a voice that had grown slightly tender. It was a kindness that didn't please me in the least. If anything, my mood plummeted so sharply that it was difficult to maintain my facial expression. I replied with a pout.
“Don't talk nonsense! Seryozha and I are absolutely not in that kind of relationship. You know Ivan was with us in Shaharansk, right? I just... I wondered if my actions, which I thought were well-intentioned, were making Vasily too uncomfortable.”
“Making him uncomfortable? You went all the way to Shaharansk fearlessly for a mere reason like that?”
“But I also found out that day that some suspicious people were digging into my background!”
Was it because of this endless hearing? My voice rose without me realizing it. This whole situation was irritating in many ways.
“We finally meet after so long, and all you do is nag me from A to Z... I'm already exhausted from being scolded by Tanya all night, can't you just stop? It's been four years. Do you know how long I've waited for today!”
Once the dam broke, the resentment I had accumulated rushed out like a flood. Perhaps surprised by me shouting at the top of my lungs, forgetting the dignity of a princess, a deep bewilderment clouded his usually stern turquoise eyes.
Thanks to that, an unfamiliar surge of emotion rose from deep within my chest, but I barely managed to hold it back.
“I...”
How pathetic would I look if my eyes welled up here? I glared down at the ground, forcing my eyes wide open with all my might.
“I thought you'd come back if I just waited three years...”
Silence fell over the area. It was so quiet that I felt as if the entire world would notice Princess Larisa's sobbing if I so much as sniffled.
At this point, wouldn't he try to soothe me?
No matter how cold-blooded the blue blood in Valentin's veins was, wouldn't he offer at least one apology?
Even if Valentin were a man without blood or tears...!
“May I ask what it was you were waiting for?”
I swallowed a sigh of relief inwardly and glared at Valentin with spiteful eyes.
“What do you think? ...To greet each other warmly and ask how we've been.”
While I was making it blatantly obvious with my whole body that I was displeased, Valentin, surprisingly, bowed his head quietly and reached out his hand.
“In that case, Your Highness, your hand for a moment.”
Was he telling me to take it? I awkwardly held out my right hand. But soon, a soft sensation touched the back of my hand, and my body stiffened as if it had been waiting for that moment.
Valentin had placed a kiss on my hand.
“I truly missed you, Princess.”
The lips whispering softly against the thin skin of my hand felt explicit.
With one hand behind his back, his waist bent at a proper angle, and his reverent gaze fixed somewhere between my nose and lips, Valentin's posture was absolutely flawless. Slowly lifting his lips from my hand, he spoke with a trace of a smile on his face.
“Just in case, let me tell you, these words are by no means spoken because I was unintentionally pushed into it. Your Highness is correct. I was unaware of the proper order. I could have asked after your well-being even when our eyes first met.”
Holding my hand, Valentin stepped closer, and I could feel him scrutinizing every detail of my face.
“I am finally relieved to see that you look healthy. For someone who doesn't look the part, you consistently fall ill every change of season... I worried that you might be bedridden this spring as well.”
This shouldn't be happening.
Even if his goal was to soothe me, there was no way Valentin of all people would say he missed me.
“That is not all. I wondered if you might try to run away from home for three or four days without an escort, claiming you were curious about the lives of the poor. Or if you might scale the walls of the Imperial Palace suddenly, saying you missed me too much, or perhaps sneak into a neighboring country...”
It was absurd because his voice carried genuine concern.
“Just how deficient of a child do you think I am?”
At my indignant question, Valentin gave a soft smile.
“You know by now, don't you? That this all stems from a heart that cares for Your Highness. This, too, is my sincerity. Throughout the four years we were apart... especially this past year, Your Highness's face would not leave my mind.”
Wha- what? My face wouldn't leave his mind? Why?
“Why on earth?”
“Are you truly asking because you do not know?”
“I'm asking because I don't know, why else would I ask?”
Valentin shook his head with a sigh, but the smile remained on his face.
“Because I cherish Princess Larisa like my own family.”
“...”
“If such feelings did not arise while exchanging letters for several years, that would be a transparent lie. Because I cherish Your Highness, I worry, and because I worry, I keep nagging, failing to consider your position as the one listening. I apologize once more.”
Valentin gave my hand a small shake, as if telling me to let go of my anger now. It was a side of him so incredibly tender that I had never encountered, not even in my dreams.
'Is that not so? Was Valentin this friendly before? Did I just forget because I haven't seen him for so long?'
Because he truly considers me family? Yes, that's right. We are family. But Valentin is the prophet who insisted I should never have been born. How could I appear as family in the eyes of such a seer?
'There's no way...'
...Regardless of the truth, one thing was important.
I cannot face Valentin head-on right now. My heart is beating so loudly that my head is spinning, and I have no confidence in continuing a normal conversation!
After hesitating several times, fearing my true feelings might leak out, I finally managed to speak.
“I... I should go now.”
Fortunately, I didn't stutter like an idiot.
Valentin, still holding my hand, twitched one eyebrow. He seemed displeased by something.
“Where to?”
Anywhere!
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