"Welcome, Ian."
Guided courteously by a maid, I stepped inside to find Chloe waving her hand at me.
Normally, whenever we met at the library, we would sit up straight at the table and read in a prim, orderly manner. But today, the place where she welcomed me was a massive study located deep within her private palace.
"Is this your first time in my private study?"
"Yes, it's my first time here. But... for a study, it's truly enormous. I think it's on the level of a library."
"It's actually modeled after a section of the imperial palace library. The only difference is that every book here belongs to me. You may borrow as many as you'd like."
Between towering mahogany bookshelves that stretched to the high ceiling, one corner of the room held a large rug made of soft, plush animal hide, with several oversized cushions strewn across it that looked incredibly comfortable.
Books lay piled in disarray, the warm draft from a nearby crackling fire brushing over them.
It felt like a secret, cozy hideaway belonging solely to Princess Chloe.
Dressed in thin, comfortable indoor clothes, Chloe was languidly leaning against one of the cushions and reading a book when she beckoned to me.
"Is it alright to read reclining on the floor? It's the posture I can concentrate most comfortably in... If it's uncomfortable for you, Ian, we can sit together in the chairs over there."
"No, I prefer this posture the most as well. When I was in my homeland, I read like this in bed all the time."
Indeed, that was the position in which I had read the most during my previous life.
After being discharged from service, my back had gotten rather bad, so I had tried to refrain, but...
I gave a light smile and plopped down onto the fluffy cushion opposite her.
"If that position is comfortable, I'll have to invite you here often... yes."
At my answer, Chloe smiled warmly too, but soon a hint of melancholy clouded her clear eyes as she stared intently at me.
Though I always strove not to lose my composure, the fatigue, guilt, and psychological pressure that had relentlessly accumulated over the past few days seemed to have seeped, entirely unknown to me, onto my face.
"Ian, you don't look well. Did something happen?"
"Hm? Ah, no. It's just that my schedule has been rather busy lately, and I've started riding horses, so I seem to be tired. Exercise, horseback riding, work... things have gotten a bit busy. I'm fine. I should ask His Highness Artur for a chance to run away once..."
I tried to brush it off with a laugh, mixing in a joke, but Chloe silently shook her head.
Her clear eyes seemed to pierce right through my shallow excuse.
She slightly raised her upper body and approached me, then gently swept back the bangs fallen onto my forehead with a delicate, soft touch.
"That's the face of someone who isn't fine."
The gentle touch filled with worry was warm, and a faint, sweet lily fragrance brushed the tip of my nose.
Faced with this pure goodwill of someone who trusted and worried for me completely, I had to survive by thoroughly exploiting her heart.
The thought of concealing my intentions, forcing a smile, and deceiving her made me feel as though my very stomach were burning away.
Chloe gazed quietly into my eyes and began to deduce in a small voice.
"There don't seem to have been any particular incidents in the palace lately that would torment you, Father cherishes you, and Brother Artur and Brother Maximilian wouldn't have acted improperly toward you..."
After pausing for a moment to scrutinize my expression closely, Chloe's face stiffened ever so slightly.
"Could it be... did something happen with Sister Victoria?"
"..."
At the sharp question that struck the mark, I stopped breathing for a moment and pressed my lips tightly shut.
Countless thoughts were swirling like a storm inside my head.
'Something did happen. Though it's in a completely different direction from what she's thinking.'
Victoria, the sister who had bawled her eyes out and pushed me toward her younger sister Chloe in order to stave off destruction.
And the younger sister before my eyes, Chloe, whose heart I had to steal in order to survive.
There was no way Chloe, like a delicate hothouse flower, could know of this absurd melodrama.
If I misspoke here, even this peaceful relationship I had painstakingly built could crumble like a sandcastle.
"...If it's hard to say, you don't have to tell me, Ian."
Chloe, who had interpreted my heavy silence and faintly trembling gaze in another light, made a sad, complicated expression.
She seemed to guess that I had been bullied by Victoria, or subjected to some kind of unreasonable pressure.
"...Something did happen, but it seems things didn't go as Sister Victoria wanted."
Chloe withdrew her hand from my hair and returned to her spot, putting on a bitter smile.
"Ian, you look so unwell that I want to comfort you tenderly... but I can hardly do that when I'm too happy. To speak my honest heart, I'm thrilled that Sister failed to achieve what she wanted."
"...What?"
"I'm sorry. I know I'm being wicked, and I know it's a truly despicable thought. Even so... haha."
For a moment, I had the illusion that the temperature in the room had plummeted.
They were venomous words utterly unimaginable from that radiant, beautiful, angelic face.
"I hate Sister so much. I detest her. Sister's misfortune is my happiness, and if Sister is happy, I am unhappy... so I'm happy right now."
"..."
There wasn't a shred of hesitation mixed in her voice.
Chloe had spewed fierce hatred toward her sister at my quarters last time as well, but I hadn't even been able to fathom the depth of that hatred.
"May I ask... why you hate your sister so terribly?"
At my cautious question, Chloe leaned her body deeply against the fluffy cushion again and smiled faintly.
The cold killing intent from moments ago was nowhere to be seen; once again, it was the languid, elegant face of the princess from usual times.
"You're clever, Ian, so you must have already roughly guessed from the atmosphere of the imperial palace and various people's words. No matter how much they try to hush it up... if you know a secret exists, it's not so difficult to infer what it is."
"...To be honest, I have roughly guessed."
"I had a feeling. There's hardly anyone as clever as you, Ian."
Chloe gazed at me with heavily sunken eyes, then suddenly asked as if she had firmly resolved on something.
"By any chance... the book I left in your room last time... did you bring it today?"
I nodded without a word and opened the buckle of the bag I had placed beside me, taking out an old, thick hardcover book.
When I held out the book, which she seemed to cherish dearly and which had the name Adrian written on the inside cover, Chloe quietly received it with both hands and let out a deep sigh.
Her hand caressing the book's old leather cover was incredibly careful and affectionate.
"I'm sorry, but I think the conversation will run rather long today—too long for reading. I apologize in advance for taking away your usual quiet, peaceful reading time."
"..."
"Also, I might be rather emotional today. I might get angry while talking, or cry... I'll ask for your understanding in advance. Is that alright?"
Chloe's voice was filled with sincere regret and the loneliness of having to dig up old wounds.
"I'm always alright."
I met Chloe's gaze with unwavering eyes and answered kindly with sincerity.
At least for this moment, setting aside all calculated schemes and seductive purposes, I wanted to be a complete comfort to the wounded person before me.
"It's a joy simply to be with Your Highness the Princess. Books can always be read alone—I can read to my heart's content in my room. If it's a story from Your Highness, I'm prepared to listen anytime, for as long as you need."
At my answer, a soft, bright smile finally spread across Chloe's stiff lips.
It was a smile like a flower petal soaked in cold rainwater blooming again under the sunlight.
"...I'm so happy to hear you say that. This is why it's so enjoyable being with you, Ian. You always make me happy... it's simply astounding."
Hugging the book carefully to her chest, Chloe gazed for a moment out the window where the chilly November wind blew, and slowly opened her mouth.
"Then... where shall I begin?"