━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Emilia soon settled into her 'usual' position in the backseat, with her head on Crystal's lap and legs on Dixie's, sighing contently. "Ahh, by the way, how many others were with him?"
Noelle felt her lips twitch as she tried her best not to laugh at how childish and spoiled her little boss looked right now. "Two, a driver and a bodyguard."
Emilia already had her eyes closed contently as Crystal ran her fingers through her hair. "Mhm, that bodyguard… was it that guy I mentioned earlier? The one caught at Crystal's house?"
Noelle nodded, her eyes flickering to the rearview mirror from time to time, recalling how the redhead had advised her to be extra careful of that guy. "Yeah, he took three more shots, but went down just the same."
Perhaps this was the limitation of the human body. No matter how one trained and how skilled they got, a few shots of a strong tranquilizer or a bullet to the head would still affect them just the same.
Emilia chuckled. "He must feel quite wronged, huh? Unfortunately, there is a price just for picking the wrong camp."
Noelle almost rolled her eyes as she thought about what the redhead had planned for those two. 'Wouldn't they feel more wronged later? Ah, but at least they won't die or suffer like that. At most, it can be considered a change of careers, right? Thinking about it this way, Emilia is unexpectedly soft-hearted.'
Unaware of her thoughts, the redhead nuzzled her face into Crystal's palm before she suddenly seemed to realize something.
While Crystal was busy feeling up her face, and Dixie was leisurely running a finger on her calf, Emilia's right leg immediately reached for the gun the dark-haired girl had been carefully keeping away, as if she wanted to use her dainty little toes to snatch it over.
Dixie immediately jumped in shock and fear as she moved the thing away and clutched at the fair calf hard enough to immediately leave a mark.
Emilia flinched. "H-Hey!"
The knight's tone was uncharacteristically stern. "Don't play around, Emily! That's not a toy."
The redhead could only pout. "I know there's a safety on it, I've studied about guns!"
Dixie bit her lip in distress as she let go of Emilia's calf and stared at the bright red mark of her fingers on the fair skin, but refused to relent. "Just tell me what you need to do, or use your hands."
Emilia sighed. "Then… give it to Noelle to take care of properly. Just in case. Put it on the passenger seat."
It wouldn't be funny if such a meticulously crafted plan failed because of a simple oversight, after all.
The dark-haired girl did as she was told, leaning forward to put the gun on the empty seat at the front. And Emilia took this opportunity to gently kick Dixie's butt, making her roll her eyes in exasperation.
Noelle was mostly focused on the road ahead, but her eyes still wandered to the gun when Dixie placed it on the next seat, and her brows immediately furrowed in confusion. "Huh?"
Emilia, who had just been about to bully Dixie some more as revenge, was instantly distracted, making the other girl sigh. "Hm? Something wrong?"
Noelle frowned as she hesitated, but in the end, she could only shake her head. "No, I didn't notice it before, but… this looks quite similar to that model last year, ah, no—"
Emilia tilted her head in confusion. "What 'last year's model'? I don't get it?"
Looking at the redhead's pouting face in the rearview mirror, Noelle could only stiffly focus on the road and turn her face expressionless. 'Look at that adorable little face… no wonder she has so many people wrapped around her little finger…'
"Noelle?"
The gray-haired lady coughed. "W-Well, let me look into it and give you a report later, how about it?"
Emilia could only begrudgingly agree as she leaned back on Crystal's lap with a sigh. "Alright, don't make me wait too long, okay?"
Hearing her grunt in acknowledgment, Emilia sighed. "Mhm. Strengthen the security around Crystal's home by the way, and keep an eye on Dixie's mom as well."
While Noelle nodded, Dixie immediately furrowed her brows. "My mom?"
Meanwhile, Crystal's expression remained unchanged as she continued running her fingers through Emilia's red locks.
For that boy to be so lawless and unafraid of provoking trouble, his backing couldn't be any less unscrupulous, so she knew Emilia was right to be cautious.
In fact, had she not said anything, Crystal would have had to remind her.
Obviously, since Emilia couldn't be sure in which direction Mr. Black might lash out if he lost his rationality, she also felt that it was better to be prepared.
The redhead sighed as she curled her finger, motioning Dixie to move closer.
Once the dark-haired girl was almost lying right over herself, Emilia pulled her into a hug. "Of course, I have to make sure nothing goes wrong with my knight's family, after all. But it's just a precaution, so don't worry too much."
No matter how obnoxious she usually was, Mrs. Brown was still her mother. Dixie couldn't help but tense a little before she forced herself to calm down with a sigh. 'Princess is right, of course. It's better to send a few more people to keep an eye on her, and I can stay by Emily's side and protect—'
"For the next few days, you can stay beside your mother more."
Dixie almost immediately jumped, forgetting her position. "E-Eh? N-No I—"
If not for Emilia's arms around her neck holding her down, the dark-haired girl would have certainly bruised Crystal's chin with her head.
Dixie's mind turned blank as she was pulled down, her lips pressing against soft, delectable little petals that she was now all too familiar with.
Unfortunately, it ended all too soon, and the dark-haired girl could only allow her princess to push her away with lingering regret.
Emilia fluttered her eyelashes with a smile. "Well? Won't my knight listen to me?"
Dixie, whose vision and mind was still focused on Emilia's soft lips, obviously failed to respond as she tried her best to control the ravenous hunger that was almost about to burst forth. 'N-No, I must not! O-Only when she asks for it—!'
Looking at the dark-haired girl remain silent, Emilia couldn't help but pout. "Have you forgotten what you promised me—?!"
Dixie immediately leaned down to capture that pouting bottom lip, immediately muffling the rest of her words. "I-I'll listen!"
The dark-haired girl quickly tried to move away, but Emilia kept her arms wrapped around her neck, so she could only separate partially.
Emilia didn't hold her anymore, but a palm on her head made Dixie reluctant to immediately move away. "Good girl. I'll call you if I need, okay? Don't worry."
Feeling her princess pat her head as if she was a child, Dixie couldn't help but lean back down and bury her face in the redhead's embrace shyly.
Noelle — who observed Crystal looking at the two cuddling on her lap with a slight smile, as if watching her own children play — could only try her best to stay focused on the road. 'There's definitely something wrong with the younger generation's brains. Instead of feeling jealous, they react like this…?'
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━