After dinner ended, Darkness quietly pulled Iris into her room.
After the door closed, Darkness asked helplessly, "Princess, why are you here?"
Iris sat down. Those light blue eyes blinked innocently. "I sneaked in to play... and before I knew it, things ended up like this."
Darkness covered her forehead.
Although there was a certain age gap, Darkness could definitely be considered Iris's friend.
She knew this little princess too well.
Iris had been sneaking out of the royal palace since she was very young, running through the streets and alleys of the royal capital. Darkness had helped her cover for her several times.
But before, it had always been within the royal capital. This time, she had come directly to Axel, and into enemy territory.
'You're way too bold.'
"You need to go back immediately." Darkness grabbed Iris's wrist and started pulling her out.
Iris's gaze fell on Darkness's neck, and she couldn't help asking:
"Lalatina, why are you wearing a dog collar?"
Darkness's face suddenly turned red.
She lowered her head, a few strands of blonde hair hanging beside her face, hiding her expression.
'Oh no, I forgot to take it off.'
She usually didn't bother to hide her perverted, masochistic personality.
But in front of the royal family, she still had to maintain an image. As the daughter of a high-ranking noble family in the Belzerg Kingdom, the heir of the Dustiness Family, how could she run around wearing a dog collar?
Darkness barely managed to force out a dry, awkward laugh. "Th-this is... this is for... for this... for that..."
Fortunately, Iris didn't press further. She asked another question. "Nishikawa Makoto... what kind of person is he, really?"
Darkness's expression changed from shyness to distress. She scratched her head, thought for a long time, and finally squeezed out a sentence. "Not really a bad person, I guess."
Iris looked completely unconvinced.
Makoto had just admitted to those things himself... slaughtering the royal family, torturing and killing ministers, turning the king and princess into dried human specimens.
'If he wasn't a bad person, then there were no bad people in this world.'
Darkness sighed, pulled Iris back, and sat her down.
The two blonde figures sat side by side on the edge of the bed.
"People are complex."
Darkness's voice softened. "There's no such thing as purely good or purely bad people."
Darkness's gaze fell on the night sky outside the window. "Makoto did indeed do terrible things to the Melromarc royal family, but didn't he also let the citizens of Axel leave for safety in advance? He also had his subordinates notify the royal army to leave as soon as possible."
Darkness said earnestly, "Isn't that a sign of a good heart?"
Iris was silent.
"Then why did he start this war?" Iris asked one last question.
Darkness was stumped again. She instinctively wanted to reply, 'Didn't your father start it?' but the words stopped at her lips.
After all, if you thought about it for a moment, the reason Iris's father had sent out the troops was because Makoto had written a letter saying he wanted to become king.
In that situation, what king could tolerate that?
After holding back for a long time, Darkness sighed.
"Iris, can you try to persuade His Majesty... to give up the throne?"
Iris was completely dumbfounded.
She couldn't believe that Lalatina, born into the Dustiness Family, who had served the Belzerg royal family for generations, would actually say such a thing.
Darkness looked exhausted. She looked at Iris's young face and said earnestly, "You can't win. The more I get to know Makoto's group, the more I understand how terrifying they are."
She simply couldn't imagine any possibility of the Belzerg Kingdom winning.
Iris, who was already in a bad mood, was even more upset to hear this. "I am very strong! Just wait and see, Lalatina!"
With that, Iris turned and ran out of the room, her feet thumping loudly on the wooden floor.
Darkness reached out to grab her, but Iris, in her rage, exploded with a speed that Darkness simply couldn't match.
…
On the first floor, in the living room.
In the kitchen next door, Tsuki was washing dishes at the sink. The faint sound of splashing water could be heard.
The people at the dining table had scattered one by one. Some went back to their rooms, some went out.
Yanagi curled the corner of her mouth in a mischievous smile. Like a little cat wanting to do something bad, she sidled up to Makoto and gave him a 'you know what I mean' smile.
Makoto turned his head and looked at her.
The two of them looked left and right, respectively.
Mm, no one was paying attention to them.
The next second, their lips met.
Yanagi's kissing skills were getting better and better, and her courage was getting bigger and bigger. Her body pressed against Makoto's. Her hand slid from his back to his waist, then rubbed back and forth between the grooves of his abdominal muscles like scrubbing a washboard.
Makoto's hand was also restless. It slid from her waist to her back. With a 'snap', he undid the back clasp of her bra and directly pulled that flesh-colored lace garment out from under her sailor suit. His two hands, without any hesitation, cupped those two melons.
Yanagi's body trembled slightly. She kissed even harder.
Tsuki stood in the kitchen. The faucet was running, making a 'splashing' sound, but she wasn't actually washing dishes at all.
Instead, she had moved to the other side of the door, her gaze passing through the crack in the kitchen door, falling on the living room sofa.
It had to be said, this lady was quite skilled. She was even using tactics to peep.
Her youngest daughter was sitting on Makoto's lap, her arms around his neck. The two of them were kissing like the world was ending.
Especially seeing the movements of their hands, Tsuki's heartbeat couldn't help but quicken a few beats. She swallowed her saliva.
She didn't know why she was watching, but she just couldn't help it.
In the living room, Makoto had already pulled his hand out and put it inside Yanagi's pleated skirt. His finger hooked onto something, pulled it slightly to the side, and he was about to lift Yanagi up and lower her onto something.
Yanagi's breathing grew more and more rapid. Her face pressed into his shoulder. But at the critical moment, she still pushed Makoto away in time.
"Tonight."
The second daughter of the Uzaki Family said coquettishly, "And don't you beg for mercy then."
Hearing this, Makoto laughed.
'Wow. Even Saeko and Reze didn't dare to say something like that.'
'Where did a little weakling who hadn't even learned magic get the courage to say this?'
But seeing that she was so bold, Makoto still nodded, waiting to see what kind of trouble she would stir up tonight.
Yanagi stood up from his leg, leaving behind a few drops of moisture. With a smile on her lips, she walked toward the dining room.
Tsuki stood in the kitchen, having heard the entire conversation between her daughter and Makoto. Her fair face instantly turned as red as a boiling kettle.
She felt that the two of them were going to be quite intense tonight.