I let out a deep sigh, though I wasn’t sure if it was from relief or from unhappiness. Anyhow, whether the Emperor had blind eyes or dead eyes, it was clear that he was staring at me, so I patted Selene’s head as affectionately as I could and called her name once more.
Regardless of how much Selene might shudder, if I could enlighten this man even just the smallest bit, there was nothing I couldn’t do.
“You like it that much? Aww, you’re just sweet.”
“…..Quaaaaack.”
Madam, how much longer do we have to do this.
Selene’s timid protest flooded me, but I closed my eyes firmly.
I’m not doing this because I want to either, okay?
When I cracked open my eyes to see if this man was watching properly, his expression with his hand on his chin was a bit strange.
“Uh…. What’s wrong? It’s not that hard, you just need to call them by name like this….”
“……I just had a sudden thought, but…..”
Just like our Haniel, Rashid’s head tilted exactly 25 degrees to the left. This was really a gesture that only came out when he had a very strong question to ask.
“You also don’t know my name, isn’t that right?”
***
“……..”
What did you have to do for your mind’s thought process to ricochet out like that.
As I slowly removed Selene from myself while she’d been rubbing her cheeks on me, I looked at him.
From what I knew, among all the people who would feel good if they were called by name, there was only one person who was the exception.
The ruler of the empire, who’d swept through the entire continent, the one whose word was thereby law…. In other words, the Emperor.
“Rashid.”
“Sorry?”
“It’s Rashid, my name.”
“…….Ah, yeees.”
But so what.
Even if I knew, if I called him by name whenever I wanted, I’d be found guilty for treason and my neck would be cut off.
He seemed so expectant of who-knew-what that he was even leaning forward and staring point-blank at me, until he also seemed to realize that something was strange and didn’t urge me any longer.
Seeing it this way, except for matters regarding his younger sister, he really did have a side to him that was keener than anyone else.
“Come here, my dear.”
“….Quack.”
Since I couldn’t keep holding out awkwardly like this, I ended up going back to acting friendly with Selene. Though it wasn’t at my princess’s level, Selene also had clearly colored feathers, with no tear stains and straight, so she could also be called quite a beauty herself.
‘Stop moving, goodness.’
As I patted her head and brushed down her feathers visibly, time went by pretty quickly as well.
Since expecting any kind of response from this man would be a waste of time from the start, I didn’t really need to sound him out. But if there was an advantage to that…. That also meant I didn’t have to walk on eggshells around him as much, too.
“……”
“Haha, stop it. It tickles.”
When Selene pecked my hand telling me she wanted to go home now, I touched her beak and laughed lightly.
It wasn’t easy to forget the existence of a man with as much presence as he had, but strangely enough, I felt more at ease the more time passed.
‘Oh whatever.’
He may look at me with displeasure, but he wouldn’t treat me harshly.
He may glare death threats at me, but he wouldn’t kill me.
He may smile so coldly, it feels like it would shatter the world, but he would leave my world alone.
That was this man’s greatest merit that I, as Miss Sullivan, had discovered.
***
When I looked up at him with a smile that said I was proud of him, Rashid’s lips moved, as if he was about to say something.
“Catherine….”
“Your Majesty, we have come back.”
“……”
Rashid’s lips stopped moving the same time this and that, no, Tenon and Peyton, who had been chasing down traces of Loam under the pretext of inspection, came in.
Following the rules of courtesy, I was about to greet the imperial princes first, but stopped once I saw the unusual glint in his eyes.