Chapter 53

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"Toru! Hey, Toru!"

"..."

It seems my attempt to comfort Toru failed, as she has retreated to her room.

She doesn’t respond even when I call out to her.

Luna was worried that it was her fault, so I told her not to worry, but there’s a chance Toru might not come out of her room for a while.

There’s nothing I can do but give up for now and wait. Maybe I’ll ask Lily and the others to comfort her when they come back, or perhaps time will heal everything.

Right now, I need to wake up His Majesty, as Luna is preparing breakfast for him. I need to go wake him up first.

So, I’ve come to the door of the room where His Majesty is currently staying, which we don’t usually use.

"His Majesty, are you awake?"

"...Yeah, I’m awake."

After a moment, a small voice, apparently from His Majesty, who seems to be awake, replied.

"Breakfast will be ready soon, so it would help if you could get ready."

"Got it."

I waited in front of the door for a while, and finally, His Majesty, who had changed into some clothes, came out.

Incidentally, the clothes are mine.

However, it seems His Majesty isn’t fully ready yet, as there are a few bed-heads on his head.

"Let’s go, then."

I led His Majesty to where I was just a moment ago.

As we got closer, the smell of the cooking food started to waft over, and His Majesty noticed it too.

"...Luna?"

His Majesty seemed surprised to see Luna.

...Ah, thinking about it, he must not have known Luna was here because he fainted before they met yesterday.

"Good morning, Father."

"Luna, what are you...?"

And as expected, His Majesty was even more surprised to see Luna cooking.

"Luna, have you ever cooked before...?"

"No, I learned from Nest today for the first time."

The moment she said that, His Majesty’s face turned pale.

He must have remembered yesterday’s cooking.

...After that, it was a struggle to get His Majesty to eat, with Luna and I working together to feed him. His Majesty, moved by the meal his daughter had prepared, suddenly started dancing, making the whole situation quite chaotic.

"Who would have thought I’d get to eat my daughter’s cooking...!!"

Now, after the meal, we’re having tea, but His Majesty is still excited. Seeing her father like this, Luna couldn’t help but smile wryly.

"Welcome back, Lily!"

Just then, Lily’s energetic voice rang out from the front door. The sound of her footsteps gradually approached.

The next moment, the door was flung open.

"Welcome back, Lily."

I patted Lily’s head as she ran over to me.

"Mmm, guest?"

She asked, enjoying the head pat. She must be referring to Luna and His Majesty.

"Yeah, there’s a guest."

After the pat, Lily looked up at His Majesty, who was standing a bit closer to me than Luna.

"Fluffy, fluffy!!"

Lily suddenly pounced on His Majesty’s bed head.

No one reacted in time, and His Majesty just let her do it. I quickly pulled Lily away from His Majesty.

"Lily, you can’t just do that suddenly, okay...?"

Fortunately, His Majesty didn’t seem to mind, so I introduced Lily to him as an apology.

"My name is Lily. And sorry for pulling your hair."

"Umm, it’s fine. You don’t need to worry about it."

His Majesty kindly replied to Lily’s apology. But then, for some reason, Lily tried to pounce on him again, so I had to stop her.

"By the way, where’s Aula?"

Lily was supposed to be with Aula, but she came back alone.

"Well, Aula said she had something to talk to Asaha about."

Lily, sitting on my lap as usual, told me where Aula was.

"Got it."

Indeed, after what happened, Aula might be consulting with Asaha. Speaking of which, I still don’t quite understand what happened with Asaha...

Knock knock---

"Hmm?"

While I was thinking, I heard a knock at the front door, different from Lily’s earlier arrival.

"I’ll go check it out."

It would be a bit difficult to send someone else, considering the people here.

Knock knock---

I went to the front door, and it was knocked again.

"Coming!"

I slowly opened the door to find a group of people in knight’s armor, which I had seen a few times before, though they were dirty.

"Sorry to bother you, but have you seen anyone of high status around here?"

By "high status," they probably meant Luna, the Holy Maiden, His Majesty, or both.

"Yeah, they’re probably here."

"Really!?"

The person who seemed to be in charge reacted loudly to my words.

"Yes, if I’m not mistaken, the Holy Maiden and His Majesty, right?"

"Yes! That’s right!"

Surprised by their enthusiasm, I went back to call the two who were waiting inside.

"Hey, some people who look like the king’s guards are here..."

"Ah!"

Hearing about the guards, Luna suddenly remembered something.

"Right, Mother told me to bring Father back."

"......You should have said that earlier, huh?"

After quickly gathering their things, we headed to the front door where the guards were waiting.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

His Majesty, representing everyone, thanked them.

"No, no, it’s an honor to be of service to His Majesty."

I used a bit of formal language, as there were guards present.

"......Well, then."

With that, His Majesty and the others left for the capital.

I watched them until they were out of sight, but then the king turned back alone.

"......Ah, I almost forgot to give you this. I’ve already written your name on it, but please use it."

Breathless, he handed me a black object. It was a black cloak, seemingly of higher quality than the one I used as the "Black Savior."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

I was about to use it, as I had some damage on my current one, so I gratefully accepted it.

His Majesty, having given me the black cloak, finally left with everyone else.

...By the way, he said he had written my name on it. I didn’t actually know His Majesty’s name, so I decided to take a look...

I searched for His Majesty’s name, which should be written inside the black cloak.

And finally, I found it.

"......"

There it was, written:

"Black Savior, Sir"

......

...Well, I guess I’ll just throw it away.