For herself to feel something like competitiveness… Dianna found it very strange.
With the mindset she had built up after being queen for so long, such emotions really shouldn't even surface.
Let alone when the one she was considering as a rival… was her own successor—Diancie.
Just a child. Why was she letting herself get worked up over her?
Even though she thought this way in her heart, Dianna still shifted her gaze toward Diancie, cast her a light glance, and asked back:
"You're sure Elias wants to go out too?"
"If it's for the sake of your strength improving, I believe he could endure a while longer."
Faced with her Highness's confidence, Diancie's momentum sagged.
She looked at her queen suspiciously, not understanding where that certainty came from.
But…
"Elias, do you want to go out?"
She turned to where Elias stood, asking with no small confidence.
So what if Her Highness knew of his existence?
He was her ghost! Found in the ore heap and brought back by her.
No matter what, he ought to stand on her side.
As expected, Elias nodded in agreement. "Mm, I'd like to go out too."
Meeting Diancie's bright, expectant eyes, he spoke helplessly.
Hearing his voice, Diancie's heart filled with satisfaction.
She was just about to turn her head proudly toward her Highness, to show off her victory.
However…
Before she could, Elias's voice came again:
"But before we go out, let's stay in the kingdom one more week."
His voice was softer now, and he was looking right at her when he said it.
Clearly, he was trying to persuade her.
Diancie's face froze.
Though Elias had spoken gently, his meaning was not so different from Her Highness's.
The only difference… was that he'd set a time limit.
Realizing this, Diancie puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.
She glared at Elias first, then at Dianna, as though trying to show how she felt.
It's all Her Highness's fault!
She was already convinced Elias had only come up with this compromise because of the queen's pressure.
Seeing Diancie upset, Elias couldn't think of a good way to console her.
After all, it was just yesterday that he had promised Dianna he would use the Power of Viridian to help ease her physical strain.
And since her body was already on the verge of collapse, he absolutely couldn't leave abruptly now.
If he did, when Diancie learned the truth in the future, she would surely fall into crushing guilt.
But to prevent her from worrying too soon, he also couldn't reveal her Highness's condition.
When all was added up—
From the moment Diancie said she wanted to go to the human world, the problem had already become a dead loop.
Across from them, Dianna of course knew the whole story.
Seeing Elias actually go against Diancie's wishes, just to keep a promise casually made the night before—
Her heart couldn't help but warm.
When her head cooled a little, she glanced at Elias and gave him an apologetic look.
Then she turned to Diancie. "Since your Elias has already said so reasonably, you should go along, shouldn't you?"
When she spoke the words your Elias, she felt her heartbeat speed up for no reason.
Realizing her struggle was useless, Diancie could only accept the result, nodding listlessly.
---
[On the way back to the room, Diancie's mood clearly wasn't good. She spoke much less than usual.]
[Seeing this, you began to think about how to cheer her back up.]
[Conveniently, you'd been studying quite a bit of human cooking knowledge lately. You decided to put it into practice tonight.]
[Without realizing, you'd already followed Diancie back into her room.]
Clack—
As the door shut, Elias blinked in surprise.
Diancie had spun around, quickly grabbed his arm, and after hesitating only a second—opened her mouth and bit down hard.
Because he was a ghost body, Elias's sense of pain was quite limited.
So to him, her bite felt only like damp warmth, nothing else.
On the other side, when she noticed Elias wasn't struggling, Diancie hurriedly let go.
Looking up at him with her face stern, she asked seriously:
"Do you know you were wrong?"
As the one who had picked him up and raised him, his "master," she felt it necessary to assert her authority.
Seeing her like this, Elias couldn't help a faint smile tugging at his lips.
She didn't look like a master establishing authority at all—more like a Pokémon pouting at its Trainer.
Though he thought so inwardly, he still nodded and promised:
"I won't let something like today happen again."
Seeing how earnest he was, Diancie's serious little face finally softened.
"Her Highness may look scary, but as long as you're firm, she won't actually do anything to you."
After thinking a moment, Diancie lowered her voice to pass along her own experience.
Clearly, she still believed Elias had only changed his tune because of Dianna's intimidation.
Elias didn't expose her misunderstanding.
He just kept nodding, agreeing with what she said.
It was only when her mouth went dry from talking that Diancie finally stopped.
But remembering her Highness's behavior today, she frowned again, a vague unease in her chest.
It had seemed fine enough… yet she couldn't shake the sense that Her Highness's gaze had lingered on Elias far too often.
When she deliberately counted, she even realized her Highness looked at him more than at her.
Is it just because she hasn't seen much of Elias, and finds him novel?
Diancie wondered.
"Diancie, does the kingdom have cooking utensils from the human world?"
Elias's voice cut into her thoughts.
She blinked, then slowly nodded.
"I think… maybe? What do you want them for?"
Though the Carbink didn't reject human things, they hardly ever used them.
At most, a few were kept as curiosities.
She couldn't imagine what Elias would need cooking tools for.
"Even if we can't go to the surface yet, how about tonight I take you to that forest again—on a picnic?"
Elias said, recalling popular activities in human society.
---
PS — Dianna: I don't care, I don't care…