Chapter 52: Scruffy~!!

Scruffy~!!

“Tré~ Hey, Tré~”
“……”

It seemed like my best consolation efforts had failed, and Tré had confined herself in her room.
There’s no response even when I call out to her.

Luna was worried that she caused this situation, so I told her not to worry about it and that everything would be fine. But at this rate, Tré may not be leaving her room for a while.
Since there’s nothing else I can do, I gave up temporarily, hoping that Lily and Aura will be able to comfort Tré when they get back, or that time will heal it.

Right now, I had Luna preparing the breakfast for the king, so I should leave Tré for now and wake the king up.
Thus, I came before the normally unused room that the king was currently using.

“Your Majesty, are you awake?”
“……Yeah, I’m up.”

After a short pause, I heard the soft voice of the king. It seems he was awake.

“Breakfast will be ready soon, so it’ll be good if you get ready soon.”
“Got it.”

I wait in front of the door for a while, and finally the king exits from within the room, having finished changing clothes.
By the way, the clothes were mine.
However, it seems that the king hadn’t finished getting ready completely, since a few strands of bed hair was standing out on his head.

“Then, shall we go?”

Leading the king, I head to the place where I had been just now.
As we approach, the nice aroma of the cooking starts to drift our way, and the king also becomes aware of that aroma.

“……O-oh, it’s Luna.”

When the king noticed Luna’s existence, he seemed somewhat surprised.
……Ah, when I think about it, yesterday he fainted before meeting her, so he didn’t know about Luna being here.

“Good morning, Father.”
“N-now, what is Luna……?

And, as one should expect, he showed even more surprise at seeing Luna’s cooking figure than when he noticed her existence.

“Luna, have you ever cooked before today……?”
“No? Today, I was taught by Nest-san and was allowed to try for the first time.”

The king’s face pales when he heard those words.
I dare say, he probably remembered the cooking from yesterday.
……The king seemed reluctant to eat it, so I, together with Luna, made him eat the food. Impressed by the results of the cooking his daughter made, the king suddenly burst into dance. Anyway, all I can say is that it was quite a big deal.

“To think the day would come where I could eat my daughter’s home cooking……!!”

Now drinking tea after our meal, the king’s excitement had yet to lessen. As expected, Luna also gave a wry smile when she saw her own father’s state like that.
“I’m home~!!”

At that moment, Lily’s lively voice was suddenly heard from the entrance.
It was easy to tell that those clearly resounding footsteps were gradually approaching this way.
In the next instant, the door was opened vigorously.

“Welcome home, Lily.”

I pat the head of Lily, who came rushing to me with such spirit.

“Hm, a guest?”

She asks me while having her head pat, seemingly feeling good.
I suppose she’s talking about Luna and the king.

“Yeah, we have visitors.

When I finish patting her head, Lily looks up in wonder at the king, who was a little closer than Luna.

“……Scruffy~~!!”

Lily springs at the king’s bed hair.
It was so sudden that no one was able to respond, and even the king ends up letting Lily do so.
I pull Lily away from the king right away.

“L-Lily, suddenly doing that sort of thing is no good, wouldn’t you agree…..?”

Luckily, the king didn’t seem to mind it much, so for now I make Lily introduce herself and apologise.

“Well, uh.. I’m Lily. And I’m sorry for pulling your hair.”
“M-mnn. I didn’t really mind it so you don’t have to worry about it either, okay?”

The king kindly calls out to the apologising Lily.
Thereupon, Lily once again tries to leap upon the king as if misunderstanding something, so I had her stop.

“Come to think of it, where’s Aura?”

She was supposed to be with Lily, but Lily was alone when she returned.

“Well you see, Aura-oneechan said that she has something to talk to Asha-san about.”

While Lily sat on my lap like she is often seen doing, she tells me about Aura’s whereabouts.

“Mn, understood.”

Well, since that kind of thing happened before, she probably has all sorts of things to consult Asha-san about.
Which reminds me, in the end, I still don’t really understand that matter of Asha-san’s either……

 

Knock-knock――

“Hm?”

While I’m feeling troubled, I hear the sound of knocking at the door from the direction of the entrance, unlike during Lily’s return.

“Ah, I’ll go have a look.”

When I think about this lineup, letting other people go is a little difficult.

Knock-knock――

When I move towards the entrance, there is another knock at the door.

“I’m com~ing.”

What I saw when I slowly opened the door was something I’ve seen many times before. Covered in dirt, people wearing knight’s armour were standing there beyond the open door.

“……I’m sorry for being so abrupt, but have you seen some people with a seemingly high stature, near here?”

In regards to people with a seemingly high stature, without a doubt, there’s first Luna, the saint, or the king, or otherwise the both of them.

“Yes, in that case they’re probably inside.”
“I-is that true!?”

Reacting to my words and raising a loud voice, was the one who appears to be the the most distinguished of them.

“Y-yes. Err…you’re certainly referring to the saint and the king, right?”
“Yes! That’s right!!”

Despite being slightly surprised by that vigour, I, having been requested to fetch them, return to call the two waiting inside.

“Hey, people who seem like Your Majesty’s guards have come though……”
“Ah!”

When I convey that the guards have come, Luna raises her voice as if recalling something.

“……Speaking of which, I came here because I was told by Mother to bring Father back.”
“………Couldn’t you have said that sort of thing earlier……?”

After hurriedly finished sorting their respective belongings, they head to the entrance where the guardsmen were waiting.

“……We were quite indebted, you have our gratitude.”

The king gives thanks, as if representing everyone.

“No, no, likewise, it’s an honour to be of help to you, Your Majesty.”

Since the guards were also here now, I make use of the limited honorifics I can use to respond.

“……well then, until next time.”

Saying such parting words, the king was likely returning to the capital.
I thought to see them off until they were out of sight, but when they had reached a distance, the king comes back here on his own.

“…… ……Haa, come to think of it, I forgot to hand this over. The name is already written on it, so by all means, please use it.”

While being short of breath, he passed me some kind of black object.
When I look closely, it was a black cloak of finer quality than the one I used when I was the ‘Jet-Black Saviour’.

“Thanks, it helps.”

Since mine was just at the point where it’s covered in cuts, I gratefully accept it.
Having given the black cloak, the king returns with everyone this time for sure.
……Speaking of which, he said the name was written on the black cloak.
With this and that, I never got to ask the king’s name in the end, so I should have a look……
I search for the king’s name, that was likely written on the interior of the black cloak.
And then I was finally able to find it.

“…………”

There, was written as such――

‘Jet-Black Saviour-sama’

 

 

………………Sigh, should I throw it away?