Leisha watched Luvia and Iluna Bayes converse from the side. Only after Iluna left did she smile and say:
"That girl likes Shade too?"
Dorothy had actually met Iluna before, so she knew that.
"Luvia, you're pushing yet another girl into our playboy's arms."
"My dear Her Royal Highness the Princess, I'm not pushing her toward the cliff. She asked me to help her fall faster."
Luvia said, then teased:
"What, do you disapprove? Do you think I'm indulging Shade?"
"Of course not. Dorothy and I understood long ago that he isn't an ordinary man."
Her Royal Highness the Red-haired Princess recalled the time she had spent with Shade, a smile appearing at the corners of her lips:
"He's quite an interesting person. Devoted, yet indulgent. Reserved, yet unable to refuse. Sometimes I wonder whether this is some kind of strategy of his. But I still believe he is loyal. Whenever I see him, I can still read that passion in his gaze—the passion that wants to melt me away."
As she spoke, she recalled the vows Shade had made a few days ago, kneeling on one knee before her by the window of the third floor room.
"Tsk, tsk. I think you've been bewitched by Shade."
Luvia continued teasing her.
"Luvia, elegant ladies do not make 'tsk' sounds. But bewitched... perhaps you know Dorothy's and my secret."
She smiled at Miss Writer beside her. This was the first time the two of them had taken the initiative to speak of themselves before Luvia. Of course, she had not forgotten to activate a very small-range Silence Charm, ensuring that only the three of them and Angelina—who pretended to watch the flames while actually straining her ears—could hear these words:
"If not for our knight, the two of us would probably