"So it's today?"
At the dining table, Shiro bit into the sandwich on his fork, chewed, swallowed, then looked at Emilia, who had finished eating early and was sitting across from him.
Three days had passed since his encounter with Priscilla.
During those three days, her Yang Sword had acted like an overexcited husky that had finally found its owner, randomly dropping out of thin air whenever it felt like bothering him.
Yesterday, Shiro had gone to take a bath.
The moment he settled into the water, the entire bath suddenly began bubbling and boiling.
When he looked down, a blazing crimson greatsword was planted right in the middle of the bath.
If his physique had not far surpassed that of an ordinary person, he might genuinely have been boiled alive that night.
Fortunately, Shiro had gradually figured out some of the Yang Sword's habits over the past few days.
Apparently, as long as he regularly fed it a certain amount of magic, it would calm down for a while.
After discovering this, Shiro could not help wondering whether the damned sword had started treating him like a portable charger.
Otherwise, why did the flames covering it visibly grow stronger every time he fed it magic?
This morning, after being harassed by the Yang Sword yet again, Shiro had originally planned to take it to Priscilla and tell her to control her weapon.
Then he suddenly saw someone wearing a pure-white knight uniform enter Emilia's reception room.
Later, Shiro asked Rem about the visitor.
Apparently, the man was a member of the Royal Guard and had come to speak with Emilia about something important.
The Royal Guard.
Emilia.
An important matter.
Putting those clues together, Shiro could only think of one thing—The Royal Selection that was about to begin.
So after finishing lunch, he brought it up himself.
"Mm..."
Emilia sat across from him and answered quietly.
A troubled expression lingered between her brows.
Seeing this, Shiro turned toward Puck, who was floating in the air with his face buried in a snack.
"What's wrong with her today?"
"Hmm?"
Hearing Shiro's question, Puck pulled his head out of the snack.
Then he furrowed his brows, apparently trying to make his face look as serious as possible.
Unfortunately—
A fluffy cat face combined with crumbs stuck around the corners of his mouth only made him look adorable.
Puck first glared at Emilia.
The look made her entire body flinch.
Then he raised one paw toward Shiro.
"Lia did something unforgivable today!"
"Unforgivable?"
Shiro's breathing paused.
Even the hand holding his fork stopped.
If there was anyone in this world who treated Emilia better and tolerated more from her than anyone else—It was undoubtedly this gray cat who proudly called himself her father.
During Shiro's stay at Roswaal Mansion, he had heard Puck say more than once that if Emilia died, he would destroy the world.
Something even Puck could not forgive...
What the hell had Emilia done this morning?
Wait!
Shiro suddenly remembered the dissatisfaction on the Royal Guard member's face when he came to notify Emilia.
The man was probably another person prejudiced against silver-haired half-elves.
A terrifying possibility flashed through Shiro's mind.
Could it be—Had Emilia finally snapped after enduring discrimination for so long and done something to that guard...?
"Lady Emilia's diet has always been strictly controlled by Puck."
Rem's voice suddenly came from behind Shiro.
"To maintain her figure, Puck allows Lady Emilia no more than two bowls of rice per meal."
"But because Lady Emilia was too nervous today, she secretly asked Sister to prepare an extra bowl for her at lunch."
"Unfortunately, Puck happened to appear while she was eating it, so she was caught in the act."
Judging from the cloth in Rem's hand, she had probably come over to clean the table once Shiro finished eating.
"I'm sorry..."
Now that Rem had exposed everything, Emilia could no longer pretend she did not exist.
She lowered her head and apologized softly to Puck.
Whenever she became stressed, Emilia's usual method of relieving it was to secretly eat an extra bowl of rice while Puck was not looking.
Then she would apologize afterward.
This was simply the first time Puck had actually caught her red-handed.
At the moment, Emilia felt like a child caught secretly eating junk food by her parents.
Worse—
The parent was not even scolding her.
He was just staring.
That somehow made her even more nervous.
"Lia, you really need to reflect properly this time."
Puck truly seemed to transform into Emilia's worried old father.
"I've told you so many times already."
"If you eat three bowls of rice, you'll suddenly get so fat you won't even be able to run anymore!"
"Yes... I'm really sorry..."
Emilia was already guilty.
How could she possibly argue against Puck's earnest lecture?
Only after she hurriedly promised to double her exercise for the day did Puck finally decide to temporarily spare her.
"..."
"Hey!"
"Young man, what's with that look?!"
"Figure management is the most important thing for a girl!"
Noticing Shiro's speechless stare, Puck practically wanted to grab him by the ear and personally lecture him on just how vital body maintenance was for women.
Poor him.
A devoted father constantly worrying about Lia this and Lia that—And now people were even looking at him like he was ridiculous.
What a decline in morals.
What had the world come to...
"You're the cat who steals Emilia's snacks."
"You're the last person qualified to say that."
Shiro sighed as he watched Puck cross his arms and sink into some strange emotional spiral.
"Forget it."
"I'm clearly the bigger idiot for seriously thinking Emilia might've lost her temper and killed that guard."
"Eh?"
"Killed the guard?"
Emilia tilted her head in confusion.
"Why?"
"He didn't do anything wrong to me, did he?"
"Please stop looking at me like that."
"I'm begging you."
"I can feel my conscience being condemned."
"Isn't that fiiine?"
Before Shiro could remain embarrassed for long, Roswaal's voice came from the dining-room entrance.
He had changed out of his usual extravagant clothing and into a much more formal mage outfit.
Naturally—The ridiculous clown makeup remained firmly on his face.
Roswaal walked directly behind Shiro and rested one hand against the back of his chair.
"After all this commotion, Lady Emilia seems much more relaaaxed now."
"At least we don't need to worry about her becoming so nervous later that she forgets what she wanted to saaay."
"Judging by the result, it was a good thing for uuus."
"Tch."
"You've been hiding outside the door watching since earlier, haven't you?"
"Don't think staying silent means nobody notices you."
"Hahaha."
"It's almost tiiime."
"We should probably get reaaady to leave."
Roswaal laughed his way around Shiro's accusation and immediately redirected everyone's attention.
Sure enough—The moment Emilia heard they were about to leave, she fell silent again.
Then—She quietly muttered something under her breath, clenched her fists, and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again—The uncertainty that had filled her blue-violet eyes was gone.
Only determination remained.
"Mm."
"Let's go."
"We're heading to the royal capital."
…