In a guest room with no fancy decorations to be found.
Lily had been huddled at the edge of the bed ever since then.
“Is it really something to be so depressed about? It’s not like ‘My family died!’ and some tearjerker performance started, you know? You haven’t been cast as the tragic heroine, so why don’t you cheer up?”
Beside her was Ilya in a maid outfit.
Though her voice had a light tone, her face looked terribly worried.
She was happy to have a friend who worried about her like this. For Lily, this was the first person she could call a friend.
Not someone showing goodwill only on the surface, but someone who purely, of their own will, took a liking to the existence called Lily-Lilac and became close to her. That’s why Lily loved Ilya too. She wished they could be together forever.
She didn’t want to make her first friend worry.
But even more than that, the inferiority complex that had been glossed over by her sister’s visit had surfaced, and even when she tried to pull herself together, her heart wouldn’t quite face forward as she wanted.
“…I can’t do anything.”
Lily let out softly.
“Nicola onee-chan and Sakuya onee-chan are both amazing people, but I’m the only useless one.”
“…………”
“That’s why I thought if I married Phil onii-chan, I could be useful. I thought I could properly serve the country as a princess… But Nicola onee-chan told me ‘don’t worry about it.'”
Lily’s heart wasn’t thick-skinned enough to become shameless when told not to worry.
It felt like being treated with consideration while at the same time being casually left out, only rubbing her inferiority complex the wrong way even more.
That’s why when Nicola came and said those words, it was painful—literally painful enough to make her run out.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault; she knew she was the one at fault.
Nicola was simply worried about her. She herself was a child compared to her two sisters, and she wasn’t truly needed yet.
However, she couldn’t accept it honestly.
Precisely because she’d spent years watching her sisters’ accomplishments from beside them, her own powerlessness weighed heavily on her.
“…Sniff.”
The memories made tears threaten to overflow again.
Lily buried her face in her knees to hide from Ilya beside her and stifled her voice.
—It was at that moment.
“I want to fly in the sky.”
Suddenly, words with no context flew out of Ilya’s mouth.
“Huh?”
“Haven’t you ever thought about it? What lies beyond the clear blue sky? Or wanting to touch the beautiful stars floating in the night sky?”
She had thought about it. Like when she quietly went out to the balcony at night and looked up to see a beautiful starry sky spread out, making her reach out her hand without thinking.
But what did that have to do with anything right now?
Wondering this, Lily raised her face and turned her gaze to Ilya.
“Everyone laughs and says it’s childish, but… I’m serious, you know. I seriously want to fly in the sky and see what’s beyond the blue sky, or grab the stars. So much so that I’d make it my ideal.”
Every mage has their own ideal. Even Lily, who still knew so little of the world, knew that.
Ilya was a mage. Surely she had some ideal and was active as a mage because of it.
However, Lily was a little surprised that it was such an ideal.
“Mages create their own magic to fulfill their ideals. How can I make my ideal come true? What kind of power would bring me closer to my ideal? In my case, it was ‘gravity.'”
Ilya moved one hand slightly.
Then the vase that had been on the table floated in the air and immediately dropped straight down.
“I thought about wings and… such fancy things. But then, if I lost the wings, I wouldn’t be able to fly. I also thought about bringing the sky closer instead. I gave up on that one because I couldn’t think of a method.”
“Um, Ilya-chan…?”
“The point is, all mages have considered every possible means for their ideals. Phil-Salemabart is no exception, nor is that woman—they tried various things, racked their brains, still couldn’t give up, worried and worried… and reached their own answers.”
Ilya gently grasped Lily’s hand.
At that moment, Ilya wore an unusually gentle, soft expression.
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“I’m not going to tell you to ‘not worry about it’ or anything. I’d probably get all ‘grrr!’ just like you, Lily. But I wouldn’t get depressed like you are now. Because that would be such a waste. If I had that time, I’d think about themes for making my ideal come true.”
“…………”
“I don’t think the only way to be useful as royalty is to marry Phil-Salemabart, you know? If it’s obstructing his ideal, I don’t think that man would nod his head, so I think you should look for a different path. There’s definitely a method that won’t make people around you worry. If you ask me, you give up too quickly, Lily. You could search and search and search all over for a way to be useful that everyone can accept, and then cry after that. When that time comes, I’ll comfort you with all my might.”
So cheer up, Ilya said with a bright smile.
In response, small tears welled up in Lily’s eyes.
For a little while, Lily moved her mouth as if wanting to say something, but seeing Ilya’s unchanged expression, she couldn’t help but relax her lips.
“You’re so strong, Ilya-chan…”
“Well, I’m a mage after all! Don’t lump me together with the common rabble!”
“Hehe, you’re right.”
Lily wiped away the tears that had welled up and squeezed Ilya’s hand back.
“Yeah, I’m feeling better. Thank you, Ilya-chan.”
“W-we’re friends, after all. I’ll easily take on this kind of thing with the friend discount.”
Ilya, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment, stood up as if to hide it and hurried toward the room’s door.
Whether the timing was good or bad, a stomach growl loud enough for Lily to hear came from Ilya’s direction.
“W-well then, I’m hungry so I’m going to the dining hall to get something. I won’t tell you not to be down, but please cheer up!”
When Lily waved her hand slightly in response, Ilya flashed a grin and disappeared beyond the door.
Just by being alone, silence spread through the room.
Though it felt lonely, Lily’s heart was clearer than when she’d entered.
(Think, huh… You’re amazing, Ilya-chan.)
Could she live as positively as that? Though the environment she was born into was special compared to others, and her position was special too, could she escape from days tormented by inferiority complex?
(No, I was just running away… wasn’t I?)
Just as Ilya said, if she searched, there might have been ways to serve the country without making people around her worry.
She cornered herself arbitrarily, jumped to a simplistic idea, and cornered herself even more—that was all her doing.
(I’ll be useful to everyone… I’m a princess after all…)
If she thinks, worries, and studies, there should be a possibility of finding a different method. It was Ilya who taught her that.
“Be useful… I’ll be useful for onee-chan and the citizens…”
Muttering, Lily’s voice echoed through the silent room.
The dejected face from before was nowhere to be seen. She faced forward, and the sunken expression had disappeared as if she’d switched gears.
At that moment—
“Lily, I’m coming in.”
With a click, the room’s door opened once more.
When Phil appeared and spotted Lily in the room, he approached and sat down nearby.
“Are you okay, Lily… wait, what’s wrong?”
Phil peered at Lily’s face with some concern.
Why did he do that?
“I’m giving up on the engagement with Phil onii-chan.”
It was a sense of discomfort.
An indescribable sense of discomfort welled up in Phil’s chest.
“Instead, let me stay here a little longer, okay? I’m going to think.”
He didn’t know the true nature of that discomfort.
But she didn’t look depressed—
“I’ll be useful… absolutely.”
—It felt like he’d seen that face somewhere before.
He too had made such a face before.
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