CH 24

“Sian! Sian!”

My friendship couldn’t be ruined because of the frivolous Agasa.

But, Sian.

Turns out you’re very fast.

The sudden running made my lungs ache.

Out of breath, I finally stopped and walked.

Of course, I didn’t stop to give up.

Clack, clack.

Staring at the blonde hair moving away with a sunken gaze, I undid the shoes I was wearing one by one.

My first friend for the 100th lifetime.

I can’t lose him over something so trivial.

“Sian! It’s all a misunderstanding, talk to me!”

“I-I’m scared…”

I freely chased after him through the castle barefoot.

Sian, who hesitated for a moment, ran faster while contemplating.

“Princess?”

“Miss?”

“That boy is your slave. Should I catch him?”

Whooshㅡ

Pursue, pursue.

A smoky dust rose in the corridors of Vallois Castle.

Before my speed, the skirts of the maids who were cleaning in the hallway fluttered lightly.

They glanced at us as we were moving away with a bewildered expression.

“Princess?”

“Is that slave you are after? Can I catch him?”

The same was true of the knights who were standing guard from afar.

“Don’t catch anyone! It’s a matter between the two of uuus!”

When Sian’s back flinched at the knights’ offer, I stopped them with a heavy breath.

Did the effect of the barefoot buff appear?

In the gap that was getting closer, my arm was unconsciously thrown in the air.

However.

Flinchㅡ   

‘When I tried to shake hands, he tried to avoid me.’

Also, in the middle of the night, I secretly caused an accident and damage to the servants.

My 100th life.

The current villain’s daughter, Billishia.

I’m finally starting to realize what this concept is.

I squeezed my palms, which seemed to touch the hem of my skirt, in an effort to immediately stop my attempt of grabbing Sian.

“Sian! Can I catch youuuu?”

So this time, I’m going to get his permission and catch him.

“…?”

“Thanks! I’ll catch youuu!”

Grabㅡ

Finally, I grabbed the hem of his white shirt, which was fluttering in the wind.

“Sian! Let’s have a chat!”

The black eyes that confirmed me grew bigger in surprise.

The more they did, the more the smile on my lips grew thicker like slow motion.

But I still have a lot to learn.

First of all, I didn’t even know how to suddenly stop my body.

‘Oops, I have to stop.’

If I went on like this, I would fall.

“…Ah, shiㅡ”

It was then.

My pretty voice spat out a curse.

Something passed in an instant under my upper body, which was pouring forward.

Thudㅡ

“Princess!”

“Miss Billishia, are you okay?”

It happened in an instant.

I’m sure I fell down.

I was clenching my teeth because I thought it would hurt when I fell down.

‘It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought…?’

I was scared and closed my eyes.

The sound of heavy breathing under me pierced my ears.

Feeling strange, I slowly lifted my eyelids.

Tangled blond hair on the floor came into my brightened field of view.

“…”

It was Sian.

He must have deliberately taken the lead and fell first, thinking that I, a princess, would get hurt.

I’m sure he would be in pain with my weight on him.

He slowly raised his eyelids with an expressionless face.

“S-Sor…”

“Would you have quit if I had refused then?”

“Huh?”

“You asked me if you could catch me. You didn’t order it.”

Sian’s black eyes, lying beneath me, lazily turned to me.

A little doubt was buried in his dry gaze.

“…Y-Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s right.”

I came to my senses at the strangely subdued voice of Sian, and nodded vigorously.

I feel sorry, so I’ll have to answer straight.

“…Then, if I answered no accurately at that time, were you thinking of quitting?”

It was then.

[My goodness, what’s going on there! Princeeeeeeeeess!]

Sian changed his tone, perhaps conscious of the servants who discovered us belatedly.

“…Of course. I just wanted to clear up a misunderstanding.”

“Then I was wrong.”

He was about to raise his upper body, yet he hesitated and frowned.

Come to think of it, I was still above Sian.

“It was my fault for answering vaguely without expressing my intention to refuse. So don’t make a strange expression.”

“… A strange expression?”

“That expression just now. A Vallois doesn’t look like that.”

…Does he really hate the Vallois family?

My heart, which had been excited by the cold voice, crashed.

We got along well when we were confined to underground prison.

Sian’s words of acknowledging our differences in status were all right.

However, along with an apologetic heart, a strange thought popped up.

‘Why does he seem to have a grudge on Vallois?’

Even if we’re a family of villains.

Cassis’ misdeeds were limited to Isilis, the Empress.

Of course, it was true that many swindlers died in the process.

‘But there’s nothing that would make Sian hold a grudge.’

And doesn’t one usually pretend like they can’t win when a princess wants to be their friend?

Else, am I like a snob?

“Sian, if you have any complaints about Vallois, tell me…”

Dangleㅡ     

“This Agasa caught you again, Miss Baby.”

I got serious in a rather similar situation.

Something lifted me between my armpits.

“…”

…Again.

Why is this a deja vu again.

“Agasa.”

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“… Agasa.”

My body is,  but my heart is not.

“Agasa, I’m a princess.”

As I floated into the air with a strange dull sound effect in front of Sian, I put on an expression like a Tibetan fox to hide my embarrassment.

I don’t want to look embarrassing like this in front of my friend.

I hoped he would pretend he didn’t see it.

“…”

In the rare scene of a princess levitating, Sian was staring at Agasa with me.

“I aaam a princess, Agasa.”

“Is there anyone in this castle who doesn’t know that?”

It was then.

“Princeeees!”

“Miss, are you okay?”

Dozens of servants belatedly rushed around me as my face flushed red.

“First of all, from Sian…”

“Miss, if you’re going to run, take off your socks too. Didn’t you fall because it was slippery?!”

“You bastard socks! I’ll take it off!”

Plopㅡ

Plopㅡ

Lisa, furious that I had fallen, even took off my socks on the spot.

“…”

No one noticed my increasingly gloomy face.

Dimㅡ 

Except for Sian, who looked at me as if he was curious.

“Now that your socks have been taken off, you can run down the hallway as much as you want…”

“Timeout! First of all, we need to check the Princess’ condition! Let’s play around later.”

After the battle with Cassis, no one disobeyed Lisa’s orders.

“Miss, I will take you to the treatment room.”

“Miss Baby. Let’s go at once.”

“Princess. Let’s go quickly!”

“…”

Let Agasa turn his body.

Controlled by his hand, my body moved by itself, away from Sian.

“…”

I cleared my throat, trying to keep my body steady with my swaying body.

“Ahem. Sian, you will be transferred to the treatment room soon, too.”

“…”

“I don’t usually do things like this, you know? I’ll come to the place where you’re staying soon!”

“…”

“Sian, I’m soooorryyyyyyy!”

As I got further and further away from Sian, my urgent voice grew louder.

“…”

Realizing the cruel truth about the Princess of Vallois, he said nothing.

Sian, who was left alone, watched the whole scene with his eyes wide.

***

Pluck, pluckㅡ

In a deserted garden.

After mercilessly tearing the grass in the field, I took a deep breath.

I still haven’t forgotten that scene.

Me, floating like a bird flying, and Sian’s gaze looking at it.

Upsetㅡ

…Those black eyes.

“Aaaah shiiiㅡ!”

I still hadn’t resolved my anger.

Thud! Thud!

This time, I jumped up and hit the tree hard with a shoe smaller than a cookie.

It’s been a long time since Sian asked me a question first!

Everything is ruined because of Agasa!

“Is it so hard to make friends?”

Is it originally like this?

Is it not that I couldn’t make friends because I took on the role of the villain’s daughter, but human relationships are so complex and difficult to catch like a mirage?

“…Do ordinary people have difficulty in human relationships?”

I knew that everything would be fine if I stopped playing villain.

But besides that, there was something else about Sian.

‘Why doesn’t he like Vallois?’

If it’s because instead of our differences in social status, he’s being wary of Valois, things got a little more complicated.

If so, there is no way to dig into Sian’s gap anymore.

“Princess. Have you relieved all your stress?”

“Yesh.”

Knock, knock.

I calmed down my anger and, as promised, visited Lisa’s bedroom.

Earlier, she belatedly noticed that my face had gone reddish, and was waiting for me and my time to be alone.

“Eat this and let go of your anger, Princess.”

“Thanks.”

It was Higgs’ cake.

After I was relieved of my stress, I felt refreshed, thus I sat down and ate the cake.

“Mmm.”

“After all, delicious things are the best, right?”

The sweet taste thrilled my whole body.

By the time Lisa’s face started to automatically limp as she shuddered.

“Lisa.”

“Yes?”

“Is it difficult to make friends?”

I don’t have any appetite.

In the end, I put my fork on top of the plate and asked with a deep sigh.

“Princess! If it’s a friend, I…”

Lisa, who opened her eyes in bewilderment, muttered earnestly.

“Ah, right. I wasn’t the Princess’ friend, I was her family. Not a friend.”

“Lisa.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. By the way, if it’s a friend, you’ll be able to make a lot of them as you go out into the society in the future. Maybe they’ll line up to say they want to be friends with the Princess?”

I shook my head.

“I’ve lived like that, but such a kind of relationship didn’t last long.”

“Pardon?”

“No. Are there any examples of a slave and a princess becoming friends?”

Hmm.

Lisa, who finally realized my intentions, in response to my question, blurted out the end of her words.

“I’m not sure. Actually, there is no such case in real life. I don’t know if it’s in a romance-fantasy novel…”

…This is a romance-fantasy world, though?

“…”

After listening to Lisa’s answer, who was immersed in her thoughts, I also quickly became serious.

“!”

Something caught my eye on the bookshelf in Lisa’s bedroom.

“What’s there…”

“Princess?”

“That, that!”

I found something and jumped down the bed, walked to the bookshelf.

Smirk.

I lifted my toes and took out a book with difficulty.

The corner of my lips went up at the satisfying title.

“Lend me this.”

“Yes? what book…”

Lisa, who got up from the seat with a questioning expression on her face, turned blue when she saw the title of the book.

The title of the book was The Relationship Between Slave and Master.