The Villainess Is Being Doted on by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Country 42
Tiararose's FlowerThey gazed at the dazzling rainbow and sighed in relief.
Tiararose had been so worried about what would happen after Pearl called forth the tsunami, but she was now able to feel a small sense of confidence in herself, for succeeding in stopping it.
"Hahh…"
"How are you? You must be very tired, as you are not used to using so much magic."
Aquasteed wrapped his arm around her waist in order to support her. "You did very well." He says with a smile as he gently caresses her honey pink hair.
Tiararose nodded and leaned into him, wanting to be coddled. Then she realized that both of them were soaking wet from the spray of the water.
She dimly thought about the need to change-but then something else hit her.
"Prince Aqua."
"Hm?"
Tiararose suddenly looked up at him. And while surprised, he maintained his gentle smile.
"Oh…"
"Tiara?"
"No, it is nothing…"
-Aqua, he looked so handsome when wet!
The drops of water dripped seductively from his dark blue hair.
Her hand stretched out to it, and Aquasteed smiled happily. Her finger moved to brush the drops of water from his bangs, and her fingers trembled from how cold they were.
"Tiara, your hands are so warm."
"! Oh, uh…sorry about that. Touching you with my wet hands."
"I wish that you would touch me more."
"Oh."
He pulled her hand forward and around him.
He was drenching wet and should have been cold. But he somehow felt warm. She thought that it was probably because her heart was beating wildly in her chest. But still, there was a sense of comfort to it that she could get lost in.
The two of them were in their own sweet little world now-but the green Fairy King was not one to watch and stay silent.
"Hey, have you two forgotten that we are here!"
"Now, now. Aquasteed did well today, leave them alone. Actually, we can't have you catching any colds, so let me dry your clothes."
Grail made an attempt to pacify Keith as he controlled the wind in order to dry Tiara and Aquasteed's clothes.
It was a pleasant, warm wind. Tiararose was ever more impressed at the Fairy King's abilities. Aquasteed could also control the wind, but he could not adjust the temperature as perfectly as Grail.
"Thank you."
"Thank you so much, King Grail."
Tiararose looked down at her fluffy warm dress and thought that it felt like it had been hung out under the sun.
"Tiara, the flower…looks very 'you'."
"Huh?"
Keith said with a laugh as he looked at the flowers that bloomed on the roughened beach.
These flowers that bloomed through Tiararose's magic were a beautiful pink color. There was nothing particularly strange about them. Tiararose tilted her head in puzzlement as she walked towards them with Aquasteed.
It was Aquasteed who first noticed that something was different.
Indeed, the flowers had what looked like small pouches underneath the petals, and it seemed like there might be something inside of them.
"…? What is it?"
"It looks like there is something inside of them. What could it be? It's powdery. Tiara, it's your flower, so you open it."
"Yes…"
Aquasteed encouraged, and so Tiararose picked one of the flowers.
A light, sweet scent entered her nostrils. She smiled.
-But, what was this sack?
It was the size of a strawberry and she could hear a faint sound when she shook it. When she tore it open, she saw that there was a white powder inside.
-This, was this…
Tiararose stared hard at the white powder. Aquasteed stood next to her and had a doubtful expression on his face. Neither of them had a clue what it was.
However, Keith knew the answer, and so he gazed at them with a grin.
"Oh, Keith. What is that stuff?"
"It is something that Tiara likes."
"Huh? Tiara likes powder does she?"
Grail asked Keith and was surprised by the answer. He would have never thought that Tiararose had a fondness for suspicious-lookings powders.
However, hearing Keith's words, Tiararose now knew what it was.
She dabbed at the powder with her fingertip and brought it to her tongue.
"Tiara!?"
"Mm, it is alright. Look."
Aquasteed cried with surprise at this sudden action, but Tiararose just smiled at him. It was completely harmless. She showed him the white powder—the most high-quality sugar, on her finger.
"That is very 'you', after all, I mean…"
He sighed, and Tiararose looked at him questioning.
Aquasteed didn't explain any further. Instead, his mouth enveloped the tip of her offered finger. Tiararose gulped as she saw his red tongue move over her finger to taste it.
-Whwhwhat am I doing!!
She hadn't really been thinking when she offered him her finger. She hadn't realized that it would end up inside of his mouth.
"Oh, Aqua…"
She trembled as she felt the wet sensation on her finger.
"Mmm, you have sweet fingers."
"Oh…"
Her face turned bright red and her ears searing hot. But she did not know what to do about it, and so she let Aquasteed do as he pleased. -But, Keith was not so weak as to allow this to go on any further.
"Control yourself for once! You've caused quite enough jealousy as it is!"
"Tiara is my wife."
Keith had torn the two apart, but Aquasted stubbornly held her again.
"Oh, you two. You must try harder to get along."
Grail said with a little exasperation. Then he took some of the high-quality sugar into his hand. He nodded with understanding and licked at his finger. "Sweet," he chuckled.
With this sugar, the quality of Tiararose's sweets would only rise. That is why Keith had claimed that this was something that she liked.
Keith ignored Grail's words, and there were now angry sparks flying between him and Aquasteed. But now Grail was walking towards the sea and so they called out "Are you going?"
"Yes."
Grail replied flatly and they all fell silent.
-He must be going to visit Pearl.
How had things gone so horribly wrong? Tiararose wondered. But at the same time, Pearl had clearly gone too far.
-Perhaps Grail was no longer in love with her…?
She felt sweat trickle down her back as she watched his serious face gaze out to the sea. It wasn't the same smiling expression that he made when talking about how much he liked Pearl.
"Keith. Is Pearl…"
-What would happen?
But she could not ask it.
Keith was always so nonchalant, but he answered her now in a serious tone.
"…Nothing will happen. We are Fairy Kings. There is nothing that humans can do."
"Then why is Grail…"
Why was he trying to go and meet her? She did not like this at all.
Tiararose's face was full of concern. Keith looked at her and assured her that there was nothing to worry about. And so they saw Grail off.
"I think that it is Grail who is the most furious about all of this."
"I do not like humans as much as Grail does. In fact, the forest rarely gives its blessing to humans, you know?"
She nodded at this.
Currently, Tiararose was the only person who had the blessing of the forest. It was incredibly special for this country, and it had helped greatly in establishing Tiararose's position, since she had come from a foreign country.
"Grail always did like humans. He was very cooperative with you, was he not, Aquasteed?"
"He was. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he has a grasp on all the information concerning this country."
Information that came from the sky was in the thousands.
Yet the beautiful flower that Grail had liked the most was…under the sea.
Of course, it was not easy to gain information about other Fairy Kings, and there was also a gap between Keith who was on the surface and Pearl who was at the bottom of the ocean.
"Grail, I wonder if he is alright…"
"Who knows. Well, I'm sure that he of all people will figure something out…"
"He is an odd one, with hobbies like dressing up as women. But he can be frightening when pushed too far."
Keith said with a laugh. He was remembering that time when Grail and Pearl met face-to-face.
"Keith! It is not a laughing matter…"
"Oh, but it is a laughing matter. In any case, it is best to leave the rest to Grail."
Tiararose was not convinced at Keith's assurances, but it was not as if she could go to meet Pearl either. She would just have to stay here and help clean the beach and tell the people in the town that there was nothing to worry about, regarding the rain of seawater.
Just as they were talking about returning to the castle in order to dispatch some knights, the carriage that carried Aishira arrived.
Out came Aishira. And then Philiane and Elliot.
-They seemed, tired?
They all seemed a little gloomy as they came out. Tiararose prepared herself for some more bad news as they approached.
"…Elliot?"
"You look horrible."
Tiararose gasped. Aquasteed looked suspicious. Keith bluntly expressed what was on his mind.
In front of them stood Elliot. He was still crying.
"I see. He did drink that love potion after all… Elliot has a high resistance to poison, so I thought that he might be fine…"
But it looked like it was at least a little effective.
However, there was no cure for it here, and as it was from a Fairy Queen, they were not even sure if there was a cure. Just as Aquasteed was wondering what should be done, Aishira raised her voice.
"Umm, I…"
"No, it is nothing for you to worry about, Lady Aishira. I apologize for leaving you there. I hope that Elliot hasn't done anything…"
"No, nothing."
Aquasteed was relieved to hear this, and he looked back at Elliot.
"I, I will go to visit Pearl and beg that she make a cure for him!!"
Currently, it was only Aishira, who had been blessed by the sea fairies, who could visit Pearl's palace. She felt very uncomfortable whenever this subject came up-also, she did not want Elliot to be in this state, where his feelings were twisted so, any longer.
"Aishira!? Grail has already gone on ahead and…"
Tiararose tried to stop her quickly, but her protests did not seem to reach Aishira's ears. And she jumped into the sea with a loud splash.
The next thing that everyone saw was Elliot chasing after her and jumping into the sea behind her.
"Whaaa!?"
Aquasteed sighed with exasperation. Keith was trying not to burst into laughter.
Tiararose could not understand how they could be so calm about it. All she could do was pray that they would all come back safely from Pearl's lair.