“Princess!”

The study door swung open with force. The smell of the outdoors came in with it. Terion Iligen had returned just when she felt herself finally getting absorbed in the book. He walked toward her in long strides.

He tossed what he was carrying onto the sofa across from where she sat, then settled in beside her. Before she could even say a word of greeting, a large hand reached over and cupped both her cheeks.

“Did you wait long?”

Pamona could already picture how squished her face must look, and tried to twist free. But the person holding her had no intention of letting go, which only made her look more ridiculous. Terion Iligen looked at her face and laughed. She felt embarrassed.

“Let go.”

“Why were you waiting? When did you get here?”

“I can’t talk if you don’t let go.”

Her mouth would not cooperate and her words came out muffled. Terion Iligen shook her cheeks from side to side, making her head wobble back and forth, then pinched them once before finally releasing her. Even then, there was a trace of reluctance, like he wished he could have kept going.

“Terion, you.”

Pamona covered her slightly stinging cheeks and put on a serious face.

“Hm?”

“You’re getting more and more……”

“More and more?”

“More and more fond of me.”

It seemed to catch Terion Iligen off guard, because he let out a short, startled laugh. Then he covered his eyes and laughed, shoulders shaking. Covering his eyes when he laughed was a habit of his.

“How did you know? You’re right, I am fond of you.”

It was true. Quite literally, he had been growing fonder of her by the day. At first he had only tapped her shoulder, her arm, her nose, but at some point he had started smoothing her hair and her back in a soothing way, and squishing her cheeks. The fondness showed in his eyes too. And of course he had said the word “cute” more times than she could count.

“How could I not know? I’m practically memorizing the word at this point, cute this, cute that. What is that about, honestly. Do I look like your little sister to you?”

Pamona rubbed the cheek he had pinched and scooted back a little to put some distance between herself and Terion Iligen.

“Hardly.”

He looked at her with a smile playing in his eyes.

What is wrong with him, really?

“Anyway, good that you came. Would you stand up for a moment?”

Terion Iligen stood first and took her hand to pull her to her feet. What he had tossed onto the sofa across from her turned out to be several things wrapped in pretty paper. He pulled a cord and undid the wrapping, and several items that looked like clothing spilled out.

Pamona stood there blankly as Terion Iligen picked one up and draped it around her. It was a cloak, full and roomy, with a hood. There were no openings for her arms, so she wiggled her hands around inside it. He pulled the hood down over her head and made a satisfied sound.

“Pamona, guess what I’m about to say.”

“Hmm. I know.”

“What?”

“Cute?”

“Correct. Ah, you’re so cute!”

Terion Iligen laughed without any pretense and pulled the large hood down over her head. Her face disappeared completely inside it.

That was fortunate. It hid how red her face had gone, and the way her lips had pushed out into a pout. The feeling was too good, and it felt strange.

It felt good, and embarrassing, and odd.

“It gets chilly at night and you always dress too lightly. Wear this when you go.”

“You bought this for me?”

“Of course.”

“But it’s so big?”

“I wanted to hide you in it.”

What is he talking about now?

Still, having someone be fond of you was quite a nice thing. It felt a little like being treated as a child, yet it was not unpleasant. Even if it was the same sort of treatment, being dismissed and ignored was worlds apart from the way Terion Iligen doted on her.

“This is yours too.”

He undid another bundle, and inside were sweets she had never seen before. That was where the sweet smell had been coming from.

“I went to the market. Someone told me it was a dessert Masion people eat, so I tried one and it turned out to be incredibly good. You’ve never had anything like this, have you, Princess.”

“Mm, no. Never seen it before.”

“Oh.”

Terion Iligen picked up the small dessert she had never seen in her life and held it out in front of her mouth, the way one might feed a child. She felt flustered and started to turn her head away, wondering what to do, but his waiting blue eyes were so lovely that she ended up opening her mouth anyway.

A small piece of the dessert went in. Opening her mouth wider felt too embarrassing, so she bit off a small piece with a little nip, and something sweet and flaky dissolved softly on her tongue.

What remained after her bite naturally disappeared into Terion Iligen’s mouth.

“Hey!”

Pamona startled and reached her hand toward Terion’s mouth. There was no way to take back what he had already eaten, so she tried to pull her hand away. But Terion’s hand closed around hers first, a beat faster.

“What are you doing?”

He held her hand firmly and raised his other hand, palm out, as if to say wait a moment, since he was still chewing. He worked at it diligently, and it seemed he finished quickly, because he opened his mouth to speak.

“How was it? Good?”

“It tastes good, but.”

It tastes good, and you are strange.

“Then give me some now.”

All of a sudden he picked up one of the desserts and placed it in Pamona’s hand, which he had been holding the whole time.

“You just had some!”

Whether Pamona was flustered or not, he sat there with his mouth open and waiting, and he looked like a small bird waiting to be fed. What kind of bird this big existed in the world…….

Pamona stood there holding the pastry carefully in her palm so it would not fall, imagining a very large baby bluebird, far bigger than a hawk or an eagle, with Terion Iligen’s face and tiny wings flapping, and she burst out laughing.

“Why are you laughing, hurry up and give it to me, my jaw is going to fall off.”

“You look just like a, pfft……. You look just like a bird……”

Pamona could not finish her sentence through the absurd image and laughed until her shoulders shook. Terion Iligen watched her and, without even knowing why, broke into laughter himself.

Terion Iligen slid his palm under her hand holding the pastry, in case it was uncomfortable to hold. The warmth on the back of her hand made it tingle.

Pamona sat on the sofa and ate a few more of the desserts. Perhaps because she had skipped dinner, they went down easily. Terion Iligen sat beside her and folded the cloaks he had bought, stacking them neatly. He smiled with satisfaction and said she should wear one each time she left at night.

“Why did you move to the side castle? I never said I was moving to the Twin Castle.”

She said it just to poke at him, and he answered with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s there for whenever you change your mind.”

“That doesn’t make what you did disappear. You’re still a bedroom intruder.”

Terion Iligen was easy to tease. Whatever nonsense Pamona threw at him, she was certain he would take it. Sure enough, even at something completely absurd, he laughed good-naturedly without a hint of grievance.

“Kidnapping a child makes you a kidnapper. Kidnapping a bedroom makes you a bedroomnapper.”

“Again?”

“A bedroom hijacker.”

“Heh. Any more?”

“I’ll think of more. I did think of plunderer, but that felt a bit much.”

He could tell that everything Pamona said with that straight, unsmiling face was teasing. She found it funny herself, that she already assumed he would understand her, after such a short time of knowing each other, but he really did.

“I’m sorry for going out alone. I thought I’d slip out quickly so you wouldn’t feel bad, but I was wrong about that. I should have told you before I left. I didn’t think you’d come and wait.”

Really. He understood even the things she had not said.

“It’s not like I could have gone with you anyway. It’s not your fault I can’t go out.”

“I should have stayed and sent Unnar instead. I went because I wanted to pick out the cloak for you myself.”

His voice was soft and quiet as he apologized, and it was pleasant to listen to. The small sadness she had felt earlier was gone, as though it had never been there.

If this was what one felt toward a friend, then what she had felt toward Lora and Su was not something like friendship.

Then what was that? And what was this?

She found herself suddenly curious how far his warmth would stretch.

“Then don’t go. Not next time.”

She had thought she knew where the line was, and it turned out to be further. She thought she had found it there, and it was further still. So she kept wanting to push, kept wanting to try more. She wanted to keep stretching her leg out until she finally tripped over it herself. She wanted to find out.

“Okay, I won’t go anymore.”

Ha…….

The answer came back instantly, without a moment’s hesitation, and she felt something beyond bewilderment, almost an urge to tell him he really should not be like that.

No wonder I keep getting worse. Does he not even think it’s unfair?

His warmth was definitely ruining her. He was the kind of person who, after tripping over her outstretched leg, would ask if she was all right and pat her leg for her.

What kind of prince is like this, really? Why is he so warm?

Does he have no spine? No, that’s not it.