Naturally, Clovis was aware of what was worrying his master. That was why he purposely stood beside her, stared out the window with her, and mentioned this name.

“It’s fine, I’m sure that Ed will forgive you.”

The girl’s head flinched, and after some time, her sky-blue eyes timidly looked up at Clovis.

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes, for certain.”

Alicia asked, downhearted, so her aide reassured her with a smile and nodded.

“You lied to me, didn’t you?”

After Riddhe Sutherland left in a huff, Alicia apologized to Edmond and the others. She added that not only was a prominent family affiliated with the Privy Council rude, but she was too for lying about her identity.

She didn’t declare until the very end that she was the princess. However, it should have been easy to assume that she was someone of high status given her master-servant relationship with Clovis and her interaction with Riddhe Sutherland.

While the children and their guardian were simply surprised, only Edmond’s reaction was different.

“Clo, you too. You deceived me when you told me you had a younger sister.”

“Sorry. When I thought about milady’s safety, that was the only thing I could say.”

He looked somewhat sad but still reproached Alicia and Clovis. After looking at them with a critical eye, he ignored the church children trying to stop him and ran away.

(That was to be given. Edmond looked happy to see that Clovis had a friendly family member in me.)

Alicia recalled how he looked surprised when Clovis introduced her as his younger sister and how excited he looked as he talked about their fun memories. She tightly clutched her dress. Although she couldn’t help it, it was a fact that she lied to Edmond.

Because of her, Edmond was even angry at Clovis. What should she do if this caused their relationship to crumble?

If she strained her eyes, she could see the rows of orange roofs of houses outside the window. They were far more beautiful up close than from her view up in the castle. And they looked even more vibrant and colorful when next to the people’s smiling faces.

“I really am no good. Then and now, it still looks like I’m not good with the people of the city.”

Her sky-blue hair shook as she gave a troubled smile. When she did, her aide staring outside the window noticed something and opened his mouth upon this realization.

“…It seems that you’re too rash in your declarations.”

When she followed his line of sight, she saw the fluttering silver hair of someone running on top of the observation deck. It was Robert.

Alicia picked up the hem of her dress and ran down the spiral staircase. The one following after her was, naturally, Clovis.

Her soft cheeks were flushed. Her breathing was slightly labored, possibly because of nerves, but the princess’ feet continued to run. She ran across the observatory deck, confusing the soldiers and civil officials she passed, and finally made it to the lookout area directly above the main gate.

“Edmond!!”

She placed both hands on top of the wall and leaned over it. In her line of sight were the friendly boy she met in the market, several church children, and their guardian. They looked up at her from the outside wall encircling the castle.

“It’s Alice~!”

“Stupid, it’s not Alice but Lady Alicia, got it?”

“Wow! You’re really a princess!”

The church children noticed Alicia and simultaneously waved their hands in excitement. Alicia noticed Edmond’s sour face in the middle of them and unintentionally shouted.

“I’m sorry, I—!”

“Um!!”

Edmond looked up and shouted, interrupting Alicia. His mouth fidgeted, uncertain of what to say next. Only his eyes looked steadfast at Alicia.

Then, Robert, who had arrived a moment sooner than them to inform them of their arrival, leaned against the wall and rested his cheek against his hand. He watched Edmond with a big grin on his face.

“What’s wrong, boy? You said that you wouldn’t move until you saw her, so what happened to all that spunk? Oh, how I wanted the princess to see. Your desperation…”

“Wai, whoa, stop!!”

Robert was speaking with such eloquence for some reason, so Edmond shouted for him to stop as his face was bright red. After that, he gulped and looked up at Alicia, who was still waiting. He took a deep breath.

“Thanks!”

Alicia blinked her sky-blue eyes at these unexpected words.

“You were super cool cutting off that guy’s harsh words! Thanks for protecting me and these guys.”

“But, I lied to you…!”

“Ah, that doesn’t matter anymore!!”

Alicia tightened her grip on the wall and looked away in her regret. But, as if to blow her worry away, the boy scratched his head.

“As long as you care deeply about Clo, I’m fine. You weren’t lying about what you told me, right?”

“Me? Lady Alicia, what did you talk to him about?”

Her aide was surprised when he suddenly became a topic of their conversation and looked at Alicia with a puzzled face. She didn’t answer and looked up at his beautiful face.

“I like him. Isn’t that obvious?”

When Edmond asked her what she thought about Clovis, her answer came from her heart. She deeply nodded and shouted at the boy on the other side of the wall.

“Of course!”

“Then, we really are friends!”

Bathed in the orange light of the sun, the boy broadly smiled. Friends—the sound of this word caused Alicia’s heart to jump for joy.