By One’s Side
Siana’s Side
While holding Lux in her arms, Siana walked down the corridor of the luxury cruise ship and looked at his sleeping face.
If their goal was interrogation, then Lux would likely wake up soon, since not much time had passed… but even so, it didn’t change the fact that harm had been done to him.
“It turned out to be a sleeping drug this time, so he’s fine… but what if it had been poison? If that were the case, then Lux-kun would…”
As that thought crossed her mind, Siana couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt while walking down the corridor.
She continued on, then climbed the stairs and entered a guest room that was a fair distance from the one earlier. Inside, she laid Lux down on the bed to rest.
“Lux-kun…”
Siana gently touched Lux’s cheek with her hand and softly called his name.
“It’s my fault that Lux-kun ended up like this… If we hadn’t gotten involved on this cruise, that woman would have had no reason to target Lux-kun at all.”
Until now, Siana had always thought she could never forgive anyone who harmed Lux and that she would punish them… but now…
If Lux were to be hurt simply because she stayed by his side…
“Even though I love Lux-kun this much… am I not allowed to stay by his side? Should I not be by his side at all…?”
The name “Third Princess Felisiana”… was far too heavy a burden for someone who wished to stay by Lux’s side and be happy with him.
If there were a path where she could throw away that name and be with Lux, Siana would gladly walk it. But such a path didn’t exist.
“Lux… kun…”
Overwhelmed by guilt, regret, and anxiety, Siana lowered her head and began to cry.
These were tears she could never shed in front of her father the king, her mother the queen, or her older sisters, Princess Rezamiliana and Princess Elizalina. She could only allow herself to cry when she was with Lux.
As she kept her head lowered and let the tears fall for a while…
“Huh… Siana?”
Lux stirred awake and, seeing her, mumbled those words.
“Sia… na?”
Siana was startled by his voice. She was currently appearing as the Third Princess Felisiana, not as Siana the maid. Her hairstyle and clothing were entirely different.
While Siana was still frozen in shock, Lux slowly raised his upper body, looked at her face, and spoke with a slightly hazy voice.
“Siana…? Why are you crying?”
Since Lux’s consciousness was still blurry and he appeared to be only half-awake, she chose not to act like Siana and instead spoke openly as her true self, Felisiana.
“Because of me… Lux-kun got hurt.”
“Because of you? Siana, you mean?”
“…Is it really alright for me to stay by Lux-kun’s side?”
She knew it was meaningless to bring up something like this so suddenly. But even so, she couldn’t stop herself from asking.
Lux wiped away the tears on her cheek and smiled.
“Of course. In fact, if Siana isn’t by my side, I’d be in trouble. That’s why I want you to stay with me forever.”
“Ah… Lux-kun!”
Overcome with emotion, Siana threw her arms around Lux.
Though he still seemed a bit dazed, Lux gently hugged her back and, while softly stroking her head with one hand, said,
“Oh, right, Siana… I’ve been chosen to participate in the swordsmanship tournament. I really want to show you how cool I can be, so if you have time, would you come watch and cheer for me?”
Hearing that, Siana responded through her tears with a joyful voice.
“Yes, I’ll be cheering for Lux-kun more than anyone else.”
“Really? I’m so glad… and also…”
For a short while, Siana continued to exchange words with the half-asleep Lux.
By the time his awareness fully returned, Siana’s tears had already dried.
“…Huh? F-Felisiana-sama?!”
“What’s the matter, Lux-kun?”
Now fully awake, Lux let out a startled voice, quickly pulled away from Siana’s embrace, and stepped back in a panic.
“I-I-I’m sorry! I was just with Siana and… wait, what?”
“Fufu, maybe you confused reality with a dream. That kind of thing happens when people wake up groggy, you know.”
“R-Right… that makes sense. I was at a party on the cruise ship, and then… groggy? Did I fall asleep?”
“You had such an adorable sleeping face.”
Siana said that with a small smile, and Lux blushed deeply as he replied,
“I-I’m so sorry…! I hugged you, Felisiana-sama, and on top of that, I fell asleep in the middle of the party…”
“There’s no need to worry about it. Like I said before, I got to see your cute sleeping face.”
“Ah… p-please forget that!”
Siana found his embarrassed reaction to be incredibly endearing.
She would not tell Lux that he had been drugged and made to sleep.
Her wish was for Lux to live happily, without ever being touched by the darker side of the world.
“Oh right, Lux-kun. Would you like to walk around the cruise ship with me for a bit?”
When Siana asked, Lux answered with an excited expression.
“Yes, absolutely! Please take me with you!”
“Alright, let’s go.”
After that, Lux and Siana happily began walking through the cruise ship together.