In the royal palace, in the King's chambers.
At the start of a new day, Liyadella had come here with her knight, Shana, to pay her respects to her father.
The father and daughter had a fairly good relationship and chatted happily. Even with Aridia and Shana nearby, it did not affect their conversation.
However, for some reason, both father and daughter seemed a little absentminded today.
Shana could not help but speak up.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, you both seem a little low-spirited. Did you not sleep well last night?"
Shana asked with concern.
Anxi and Ria did not find Shana's question abrupt.
But—
"Do we seem low-spirited, Father?"
Ria appeared somewhat puzzled.
"I do feel a little lacking in energy." As if something had occurred to him, Anxi turned to Aridia and asked, "What do you think, Aridia?"
Hearing this, Aridia spoke calmly.
"Your Majesty does indeed seem somewhat low-spirited. Princess Ria is the same."
The straightforward knight answered truthfully.
"Is that so?" Ria nodded, as though she had finally noticed it herself. With a sigh, she said, "I clearly went to rest early last night, so why do I still feel like I have no energy?"
"Ria feels that way too?" Anxi sighed as well and asked as if seeking confirmation, "Doesn't it feel like we've lost something very important?"
With Anxi putting it that way, Ria truly felt the same.
That was right. It felt as though something important had been lost, or perhaps had drifted far away from her. That was why Ria felt so listless.
Perhaps it was merely an illusion.
But as someone blessed by the gods, sometimes what one believed to be an illusion turned out to mean that something bad really had happened.
This was especially true for the royal family