It was a day when about half a year remained before returning to their home country.
"Um, Crown Prince Leo Your Highness."
"Ah, Lady Julia."
"Um... c-could you accept this?"
What the girl with braids on both sides of her head shyly handed over was a letter envelope.
"Thank you, I'll treasure it."
The pretty boy called Leo smiled faintly and then turned around.
"Kyaa!"
"Crown Prince Leo is truly so kind."
"I'm going to write another letter too!"
The recent trend among the girls from various nations staying at the temple was writing letters to 'Crown Prince Leo.'
Even though no replies came back, the girls wrote letters enthusiastically.
Because at least instead of a reply, they could receive a kind smile and gentle greeting.
As soon as the boy called Leo turned the corner, he sighed "Hah..." Having smiled to the point of twitching at the corners of his mouth, his cheeks were sore.
He should have gotten used to it by now, but it was still difficult.
Rellia rubbed her sore cheeks and headed to her room.
Upon returning to the room, she saw a pile of letter envelopes on the table. Rellia added the letter she had just received on top of them.
Just then, the door burst open.
"You said you were going to the library, did you go and come back?"
The first to enter was Calix. Behind him, Griffith, Romeo, and Oscar filed in one after another.
It seemed they had come after sword training and a shower. Their hair was wet at the ends.
Rellia looked at them with a complicated expression.
'They're big.'
They've all grown big.
The children who hadn't been much different in height from Rellia had all grown more than a span taller than her.
'Everyone except me!'
Rellia clenched her fists and trembled.
'Weren't girls supposed to be taller at this age?'
No matter what, the three-year age difference seemed impossible to ignore.
Currently, the official age of Crown Prince Leo, whom Rellia was disguised as, was twelve years old. The same went for the four children Rellia was close with.
However, Rellia's real age was nine.
That didn't mean Rellia hadn't grown. While eating well and living well here, she had grown much more than before.
It's just that those children had grown even more.
Even Oscar, who used to be smaller than Rellia, had surpassed her height.
'My pride is hurt.'
And at some point, the frequency of them calling her 'Boss' had decreased.
Even when they occasionally called her that, it somehow didn't feel sincere. It felt like they were teasing her.
'Is it because they've all gotten taller than me...'
So angry... Rellia narrowed her eyes and glared at them resentfully.
"Don't tell me you're crying again?"
Romeo asked with a mischievous smile.
"I'm not crying!"
Rellia shouted and then walked past them toward her bedroom.
Actually, because of what happened recently, she felt a bit uncomfortable dealing with those guys.
'Why did I do that.'
Rellia flopped onto the bed and clutched her head. And she recalled what happened a while ago.