The music from the venue grew louder and louder. I could vaguely hear them announcing the names of the attendees. The party was progressing steadily.
Among it, the voice that answered my question wavered slightly.
“Hey, Lelouche, were you shocked?”
…Ugh, look at you, trying to sound all sad.
Did he think that I couldn’t see through it?
How long had we been together?
“Were you disappointed? Did you despair, perhaps? Or maybe, the two of you already overcame those obstacles and made up. Then, isn’t it all’s well that ends well?”
“Well, if you were to ask me, I just think that what you did is unreasonable.”
“What’s that? Is that it? Are you satisfied with just a slap? You can unleash your frustration on me. After all, an opportunity like this may never come again.”
“In the first place, it has nothing to do with love.”
When I sighed, His Highness tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“…The one who saw the other as nothing more than a sibling—is probably me.”
A long time ago, I was told that my fiancé only saw me as his sister.
Admittedly, I was depressed at that time. After all, to be able to support the crown prince, I’d have to at least be his equal. As such, I resolved myself to debut in society. In fact, at that time, I was probably desperate. However, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because I did get what I wanted in the end.
Even so, now that I thought about it, His Highness Sazanjill was akin to an older brother to me, always worrying about me relentlessly.
Until a while ago, I didn’t understand what love meant—but that didn’t mean I didn’t have someone important to me.
“If my heart doesn’t flutter when I see him, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t cherish him. Even if I didn’t feel that way towards him, he’s still important to me.”
Father, mother, Rufus, the king, the queen, His Highness Sazanjill, His Highness Zafield, and everyone else—they were irreplaceable people for me.
“I was angry towards His Highness Sazanjill, and as a result, I gave him the cold shoulder. Due to the misunderstanding, I was resentful from the bottom of my heart. Even so, he’s still important to me—and so are you, Your Highness Zafield.”
Therefore, no matter how mean he was, no matter how deplorable he was—I still couldn’t hate him. To disguise myself and surprise him, before slapping and then kicking him—as long as I could see his goofy face, then that was enough.
Although I kept people at bay, once I had grown attached to them, cutting them off was an impossibility for me.
How haughty of me.
“That’s why, to you, whose been watching over me for so long—”
“—Aah, the timing’s just right.”
“Eh?”
His Highness Zafield, who had been quietly listening to me for a long time, suddenly stood up.
“It looks like I won’t have to listen to you anymore.”
Then, as he turned around, he let out such a refreshing remark. His long, silver hair appeared reddish due to the light of the lantern.
“Thank you, Lelouche. But the guilt is simply unbearable—so goodbye.”
With a sadder smile than usual, he spoke in the gentlest tone possible.
Then, at the end, my best friend said the worst thing ever.
“…Please, for the rest of your life, remember me for the bad guy I am?”