87. She made the first move!
The situation in the Prussian Kingdom does not allow me to be leisurely. After confirming the “action plan” with the white-haired elf sisters, I took the “meeting request” prepared by the queen and underwent layer upon layer of scrutiny from the elves until I directly met with the “Your Majesty” of this kingdom—Adele.
This is the “most convenient opportunity” prepared for me by the queen, and if possible, I absolutely do not want to waste it. In other words: I need to figure out what the “secret” is that makes Adélaïde’s “command” disappear ! This thought lingered in my mind even as I leaned against the queen’s written document, having passed through layer upon layer of scrutiny, finally arriving in a reception room within the palace of the Prulish Kingdom.
Then, unexpectedly, I heard the voice of Urasilu behind me.
Compared to her sister, this elder sister, while serious in her actions and exceptionally calm in her thinking, still… she must be harboring grudges from the era of the white-haired elves, as she always seems to have a subtle, sarcastic tone towards me.
“Anyway, it must be a ‘secret’ related to you. It seems you have too many women to think of one at a time?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, I will think about it some more.”
I hurriedly brushed off this new little ancestor’s mockery. The queen’s meeting request was indeed effective, and Adélaïde would soon come to meet us in person. If I was still in the dark at this point, it would certainly put the nun in a bad mood .
But… I can’t be blamed for this. If it were the queen or someone like Letty, it would be fine, but my “lack of understanding” of the elf Adélaïde has a very difficult reason behind it.
However, the “script” did not give me much time to think.
【Adélaïde Appears!】
As the content appeared, the two white-haired elf sisters, who had sensed it earlier, were already standing behind me like genuine maids. Although bringing two elf maids with me gave off a vibe of “upper-class young master,”… .
The elf girl in my line of sight, however, was not buying it at all!
At the same time the script appeared, the female elf Mel, who I remembered as Adélaïde’s assistant, had already led Adélaïde into the room!
I knew very well: “now” Adélaïde would not recognize me at all, and I was also prepared for everything in the Prulish Kingdom to have become increasingly “changed” due to the passage of time. But… it was only when I saw Her Majesty the King of the Prulish Kingdom that I suddenly realized: not only did she feel unfamiliar to me, but I also felt strange towards Adélaïde…
“Mel, you stay here.”
It wasn’t her every move, or the unfamiliar, guarded, and suspicious look she gave me, but rather from my side…
To put it in a rather crude way: even when I saw Adélaïde, I did not feel the familiar sensation I had when I met the queen or Letty. To me, this king before me was truly just an elf whose appearance I was familiar with . I had an impression of her heroic demeanor and decisive actions, and I was familiar with her every move, yet… I simply could not think of what Adélaïde would “care about.”
“Would you like something to drink? But I’m in a hurry, so it would be best to resolve this quickly.”
She sat across from me, handing her waist dagger to Aunt Mel beside her, her serious words carrying a hint of caution: “You are someone sent by the Great Ying Empire. Your queen has given you a request for a direct meeting. Under normal Circumstances, Louis IV would not do such a favor. So, despite giving you this power, you are here to see me. What do you want from me?”
【Adélaïde is Suspecting Oujilide!】
As the script appeared, I was not surprised that Adélaïde would suspect me, after all, “now” she did not know me at all. The problem was, I still had not thought of what could be the “reminder” that would make Adélaïde recall something.
And this, indeed, is my greatest dilemma: because my encounter with Adélaïde lacked a genuine “process of meeting”! Adélaïde knows me entirely because she took the initiative to investigate me, and when I first arrived in the Kingdom of Prussia, she inexplicably developed feelings for me for a myriad of chaotic reasons!
I have been trying to refuse this matter all along. After becoming familiar with me, Adélaïde has indeed restrained herself somewhat, but… this way of getting to know each other has now turned into a significant trouble: when my relationship with Adélaïde reverted back to “strangers,” I found it truly difficult to know how to interact with this elf!
Let alone talk about “reminding” her!
“Li De, that’s your name, right? If you have any questions, hurry up and ask. As you can see, I just came by when I had a moment.”
Adélaïde’s voice interrupted my thoughts, forcing me to face a decision immediately—should I just find some excuse to brush it off and waste this rare opportunity to meet Adélaïde directly, or should I take the risk to “remind” her and see if I could make her “remember”?
The former is clearly not my style, not to mention that the longer I delay, the harder it will be for Adélaïde to “remember.” Even though in my memory, Adélaïde only wanted to “get close,” at this point, I must take responsibility for this elf.
Having made up my mind, I prepared to seize this limited time and tentatively “ask.” However, just then, with the appearance of a new script, there was a commotion outside the meeting room where I was to meet Adélaïde, and then. .. a figure pushed the door open and walked in!
It seemed that Adélaïde had not regarded this meeting with me as an important matter, even failing to set aside time for it, which caused a slight scheduling conflict. Yet it was this small oversight that led to an… unexpected surprise before me!
“Sorry to interrupt, Your Majesty Adélaïde, regarding the previous matter, my wife and I have already…”
Because, entering through the door, this man who looked anxious to find Adélaïde was none other than Uncle Zerola! Previously, he had only expressed a desire to escape the Great Yīng Empire and then leisurely spend his days with his wife, indifferent to worldly affairs ! He was even escorted by Ludwig to avoid being pursued by the then-queen. Why…
Is Uncle now in contact with Adélaïde!?
The sudden turn of events left me no time to evade, so… Uncle immediately recognized me!
“Uh… Li De? What are you doing here!?”
Uncle knew more or less about my actions in the Great Yīng Empire. I wanted to explain why I was here, but it was incredibly difficult!
“Uncle!?”
Helpless, I could only force a look of surprise and respond under Adélaïde’s puzzled gaze.
Ugh, this is a bit troublesome now.
——
A color illustration will be released later, featuring Adélaïde.
Please look forward to it. Next month, I will seriously work on the content for the monthly ticket lottery illustrations.