"Hah... hah..."
"Do you... understand my feelings..."
After releasing Ileina, Elashia, who was somewhat oxygen-deprived from the prolonged kiss, gasped heavily with delicate breaths, her small chest that was beginning to take shape rising and falling accordingly...
"Shia..."
Ileina, who had been at the peak of her emotions, was frozen in place by this sudden kiss without warning.
She never would have imagined that Elashia, who was always so steady in emotions and behavior, would suddenly do something so unexpected to her...
She... didn't know what she should do now...
In front of Elashia, this feeling wasn't unfamiliar to her.
This feeling... of not knowing what to do next...
She just stared blankly at Elashia, whose face was as red as the evening clouds.
And Elashia was much the same.
That kiss just now had exhausted almost all of her courage, leaving her, like Ileina, only able to stand in place, unable to do anything...
The atmosphere in the Holy Princess Palace seemed frozen... the air between them was silent and awkward...
"That..." x2
They spoke at the same time, but both swallowed the words on their lips because of the other's voice.
After a long while, Elashia finally mustered the courage to speak to Ileina:
"I... that... I'm really sorry about just now..."
"No!"
Before Elashia could finish her words, Ileina's somewhat abrupt statement interrupted her speech again.
"Uh... that..."
And after interrupting Elashia's words, Ileina herself fell into the awkwardness of not knowing what to say again...
"I... was actually very happy... uh... no, it's not like that..."
After saying something very strange, Ileina hastily denied it herself, as if she had split personalities...
Ileina didn't know if she admitted she was happy... would Little Shia think she was very casual...
And the turmoil in Elashia's heart was no less than Ileina's...
Doing this to calm Ileina's emotions and express her own feelings... was it... a bit too much...
If Elashia remembered correctly... that was Ileina's first kiss... although it was also her own first kiss...
After doing this, would Ileina think she didn't respect her...
The two, immersed in their thoughts, fell into silence again.
The quiet lasted for a long time again, but this time, neither of them spoke anymore.
After all, having just experienced that embarrassing scene, they both knew they probably couldn't express their emotions well with words...
Ileina hesitantly raised her small hand and gently took hold of Elashia's slender hand.
And Elashia didn't resist, just let Ileina hold her hand...
Ileina led Elashia toward her bedchamber.
And Elashia just followed Ileina forward together, without any resistance.
After entering the Holy Princess's bedchamber, Ileina led Elashia to slowly sit together on the bedside.
"Lena..."
Not knowing why Ileina had brought her here, Elashia looked at Ileina somewhat strangely.
However, Elashia didn't even finish her words before being stopped by Ileina.
The way Ileina stopped Elashia from speaking was also simple.
Just like how Elashia had calmed Ileina before, Ileina also kissed Elashia again in the same way.
?!
Elashia's body stiffened slightly from surprise, but quickly relaxed again.
Ileina, who had spent almost most of her life in battle and study, kissed very clumsily, no better than Elashia's kiss just now.
But Elashia didn't feel any discomfort or unpleasantness because of this.
Frankly speaking, she didn't dislike this feeling.
After all, this was Holy Princess Ileina, one of the characters she felt most sorry for and loved most in the game...
So, Elashia cooperated with Ileina and completed another extremely long kiss...
After releasing Elashia, Ileina, like Elashia, gasped heavily from the prolonged kiss and said to Elashia:
"Shia... do you understand..."
"What am I supposed to understand..."
Somewhat amused and exasperated, Elashia looked at Ileina speechlessly.
This Holy Princess who could always speak eloquently about her ideals and direction in front of the people, but could only express her inner thoughts this way in front of her... was really a bit too cute...
"Alright... let's leave it at that, I understand what you mean."
How could she not understand Ileina's meaning?
This kiss was explaining to Elashia—from now on, I will take responsibility for everything in the past.
How could Elashia, who understood Ileina better than she understood herself, not be clear about this?
"Mm... I... will take responsibility..."
Seeing that Elashia accepted her feelings, a smile finally appeared on Ileina's small face.
"After the Holy Kingdom is liberated, I will definitely be with you..."
"Alright."
Elashia looked at Ileina speechlessly.
"Now is not the time to talk about these things."
"After the Holy Kingdom is liberated, you still have to lead them to rebuild the Holy Kingdom from the ruins."
"I also have to return to Elasia to continue working on establishing diplomatic relations with the elves."
"And the Undead Calamity will break out in just over a year, we don't have time to waste."
"Ah..."
The light in Ileina's eyes dimmed a bit.
"Do you have to go back..."
"What kind of talk is that..."
Elashia looked at her speechlessly again.
"I'm also the Empress of Elasia, you know. Although I usually don't manage anything, the major decisions that truly determine the nation's fate all need my decision and promotion."
"Is this something strange?"
"Ah..."
Ileina made a disappointed sound again.
"Then... can I entrust all the reconstruction of the Holy Kingdom to Adeline and the others..."
"How is that possible!"
Elashia said to Ileina somewhat impatiently:
"You're the current actual leader of the Holy Kingdom, and after the war you'll be Her Majesty the Queen!"
"What would it mean for the Queen of the Holy Kingdom to run to Elasia..."
Faced with Elashia's irrefutable words, Ileina could only look at Elashia pitifully:
"But... Little Shia, aren't you also the Empress of Elasia... you're even one rank higher than me in title..."
"..."
Elashia said nothing more, just stared at her speechlessly.
"But... we just confirmed our relationship... didn't we..."
Ileina's expression was extremely helpless.
"Sigh... it's not like we'll never see each other again."
Elashia comforted Ileina:
"That's just how it is in our turbulent world... Cecilia, the Knight Commander of Elasia, also temporarily separated from me after forming a guardian oath with me without seeing each other many times..."
"Ah? Who is Cecilia?"
Ileina was stunned.