Second Meeting

The two of us stood facing each other in silence.

A few minutes later, I was the first to break it. "Bellavella?"

"—Huh?" she drawled lazily, a puzzled expression on her face.

I grinned at the girl before me. "Quit pretending. If you were really Silvia, you'd only go 'huh' after a few seconds."

A blank look clearly flashed across the silver-haired girl's face, then she sighed. "You really do understand the other me well. Fine, we meet again, strange Your Majesty."

"Is it your habit to attach such rude labels to people you know?" I shot Bellavella a sidelong glance, though I was already smiling. "This is quite unexpected. I thought you'd disappeared forever."

"Disappointed?" Bellavella took two steps forward and stopped so close to me that she was practically within arm's reach. Then she suddenly pressed her face close, those bright eyes almost filling my entire field of vision. "A powerful Fallen Apostle is still alive, and in a state where you can't possibly get rid of her. That must be rather troubling for you, huh?"

My expression remained unchanged, and I turned a deaf ear to her deliberately sinister tone.

"What a boring guy."

Seeing that I refused to play along, Bellavella let out an exaggerated sigh and straightened up. "Not calling the guards? I'm free now, and you're all alone. Completely different from last time, isn't it?"

"No need. You've already come to your senses, haven't you?" I smiled, unable to understand why Bellavella would suggest such a thing.

"Uh, you really are... outrageous." After searching for the right words, the former Fallen Emperor before me could only use that term to describe my complete lack of leadership awareness. "Someone like you can actually become a leader? Something must have gone wrong somewhere..."

Honestly, I had