As there were a lot more people ‘returning’ to the Empire with Emilia, the private jet she had arrived in was naturally far from sufficient to accommodate them all comfortably, especially since a lot of its space was used for a stateroom at the back.
Fortunately, with the White Deer Corporation’s resources and Noelle’s foresight, a converted airliner had already been prepared well before Emilia actually needed to depart.
Those like Kristie, Rhea, and Dixie’s friends, who weren’t very familiar with Emilia’s usual ‘travel accommodations’ only thought it was appropriate for her status considering she was now an ‘Empress’, but Crystal couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. “It’s so big?!”
Instead of the insides of an aircraft, the blonde girl felt as if she had entered a medium-sized house instead.
Seeing Dixie also nod along dumbfounded, Emilia couldn’t help but giggle. “As expected of Noelle, always exceeding expectations, huh?”
The gray-haired girl smiled, though the faint blush on her cheeks made her embarrassment quite apparent. “I thought it would be good if to have a more permanent solution for your travel needs in the future, and this is actually pretty much the standard nowadays.”
Of course, she didn’t mention that this ‘standard’ was only for the leaders of the most prosperous countries in the world. After all, with her status as the precious princess of the White Deer family, Noelle didn’t think Emilia would be disqualified to enjoy such luxury even if she hadn’t been the Empress of Blue Dawn.
The crimson-haired girl smiled. “That’s good. I like it very much.”
With five spacious bedrooms and plenty of lounging area, it was honestly a bit of an overkill for just the eleven of them. In fact, even the number of people in the crew needed to maintain it ended up being one more than their group.
As Dixie’s friends headed over to the well-equipped bar curiously, followed by Rhea and Kristie, Noelle also decided to follow after them.
Naturally, while she could still trust others to do their job when she wasn’t there, the gray-haired girl clearly felt much more assured personally keeping an eye on ‘unstable factors’ whenever possible.
Emilia didn’t dissuade her from doing what she wanted, and only shook her head with a smile. “Okay, you girls relax and have fun now, and I’ll go take a nap, I think.”
Naturally, with their usual habit of following her to bed, Dixie was just about to go after her princess when she felt a somewhat familiar tug on her wrist.
Seeing the dark-haired girl turn back to her with a confused expression, Crystal coughed. “Let her rest by herself for a bit, okay?”
Even with her ability as well as natural empathy with Emilia, the blonde girl could only vaguely sense that there was something bothering the crimson-haired beauty.
But while she couldn’t be sure of what was bothering her or if it really was the case, even, Crystal had the feeling that Emilia didn’t want to be disturbed right now, even by those she loved the most.
The feeling of faint envy in her heart when she thought that there might be something more important to Emilia was unmistakable, but was quickly suppressed by her worry for the crimson-haired girl.
Of course, even if Dixie had no idea why Crystal stopped her, she still had to admit that the girl was able to sense Emilia’s emotions far more intimately than herself, so she could only back down reluctantly.
Having listened to the blonde girl’s words, Sam also no longer followed after her younger sister to cuddle as she had intended either, and left to tease Noelle about the size of her plane instead. “You know Emilia already likes you, right?”
It wasn’t very clear from her expression, but the tips of Noelle’s ears still turned red in embarrassment. “Not everyone is like you, always looking to impress others. Some people just like to do their jobs properly.”
The taller girl chuckled. “Are these ‘people’ also in the business of sleeping with their young, sexy, and beautiful boss?”
The sounds of ‘ow ow ow’ slightly faded away from Emilia’s sharp ears as she closed her bedroom door, and she couldn’t help but shake her head with an amused smile. ‘Big sister will never learn not to poke Noelle, will she?’
With her previous mission’s completion, her senses had become even sharper than before, and she could listen to everyone’s conversation even with the insulating door closed.
Of course, having already experienced this sensation before, Emilia understood that this heightening of her sensitivity was only temporary, and would settle back to only a minor enhancement after some time.
But that wasn’t what bothered her the most. Instead, she was a lot more concerned about her partner’s unnaturally long nap time.
Not to mention that they were in a ‘symbiotic’ relationship, even if that hadn’t been the case, Emilia still wouldn’t be able to sit still without figuring out what was wrong with Cynthia.
After all, she was the one who gave her a new life. Not once, but twice. No matter how independent Emilia wanted to be in her heart, how could she remain indifferent under debt this heavy?
Closing her eyes to focus within herself after lying down on the bed, the crimson-haired girl quickly made her way through her soulscape and headed straight for Cynthia’s ‘room’.
The ball of energy that greeted her intimately on the way tried to ‘cuddle’ with her, but Emilia gently pushed its tendrils away with a smile. “Not now, okay? I’ll come back to play with you later.”
Clearly, while it had gotten a lot bigger, the essence of the energy hadn’t changed the slightest, which ruled out one of the most likely causes of Cynthia’s strange behavior.
Emilia couldn’t help but frown as she phased through Cynthia’s room and arrived in front of the mountain of cushions the girl was peacefully dozing off in. ‘This means…!’
Had the raven-haired girl been awake and able to do so, she would surely have wet herself after looking at Emilia’s current expression.
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