King Leroy’s POV*
I’m Leroy, the king of the Tenar Kingdom, a leopard beast man.
When my father and predecessor was the king, I, the crown prince, had to make several diplomatic visits to the neighboring country of the human race, the Kingdom of Seiran.
The Seiran Kingdom has a strong sense of discrimination against beastmen. No, it’s not just the Kingdom of Seiran. All human nations look down on beastmen.
So diplomacy was really depressing.
But three months later. My father made the decision to abdicate the throne.
The king will not be absent from the country. That’s the law of our country, so I will be freed from diplomacy when I become the king.
So, once this visit to the Kingdom of Seiran is over, I will never visit this country anymore.
I’m sorry for my successor diplomat and my son who will grow up in the future, but my feelings are quite light.
The length of stay is two days and one night.
During the day, meetings and dinners related to diplomatic relations. In the evening, an evening party called a welcome party is held.
I don’t receive direct discrimination, but at the evening party, I was exposed to a whispering and disgusting stares, and if I thought someone came to say hello, they would speak indirectly and use sarcasm.
As expected, the king and diplomats do not show their attitude, but they showed an external appearance to advance in diplomacy, and it was clear that the inside was black.
I was fed up with it, and I left the venue without giving a reason or saying my greetings.
Welcome party. While saying that, no one will stop me anyway.
The evening party venue and the prepared rooms are in separate buildings and are connected by a corridor.
The garden spreads out in the middle of the corridor, and you can walk freely from the corridor.
In addition, benches were set up in the garden so that visitors could relax and enjoy the scenery.
Stunning flowers were in full bloom, and candle lights were arranged in some places, creating a fantastic atmosphere.
There is a fountain in the back, and the sound of water is comfortable.
Even if I returned to the guest room, I didn’t have anything special to do, and I was tired, so I sat on a bench near the fountain and looked at the flowers in the garden vaguely for a while.
I was surprised by the flowers I saw.
A large number of flowers that are considered super precious in my homeland are blooming.
If I give it to my wife Denise as a present, she will be very happy.
However, according to the law of the Kingdom of Seiran, it was prohibited in principle to take the flowers of the royal palace out of the country.
You can only get it if you get the king’s special permission, but a beastman won’t be granted permission.
It was when I was thinking about such a thing.
From the bush opposite the fountain, a girl about four or five years old with a pink hair and eyes suddenly appeared.
She’s moving her head from side to side as if looking around.
Is she looking for something?
“Lilith-sama, where are you~?”
I heard a woman’s voice.
Lilith. I remember that it was the same name as the king’s daughter.
The girl noticed me and made eye contact.
In nine cases out of ten, the reaction of a child seeing a beastman is either crying or freezing with fear.
Well, what should I do?
If the princess makes a fuss, there will be an unnecessary misunderstanding and it will be extremely unpleasant.
I sensed that Dolph, the escort who is hiding his presence, was acting to silence her before she made a fuss, so I sent him a signal to wait.
I observe the girl carefully. Will she make a fuss or freeze, or. . .
The girl acted completely differently from what I expected.
When she ran towards me, she circled around right behind me and bent over.
I turned to the girl without thinking.
“Shhh, it’s hide-and-seek.”
She put her index finger to her lips and said quietly. Normally.
However, if I keep silent, when the girl is found, I may be suspected of kidnapping.
It would be better to hand her over immediately.
“Lilith-sama~, where are you~?”
The voice approached, and a woman who looked like a maid appeared from the direction where the girl came.
The moment she noticed me, the woman’s shoulders shook.
“I-I’m sorry.”
The woman’s face was pale and she left quickly.
I wasn’t even given time to talk to her.
I can hear giggles and laughter from behind me.
“Thank you. Uncle. . . Onii-san.”
I was surprised that I was thanked by a human child.
Have you ever been thanked by a human until now? I don’t remember it at all.
“Hey, is Onii-san a beastman?”
The girl looks up at me.
I answer as gently as possible.
“That’s right.”
“Do you want to eat me? Do you want to do something that hurts?”
“I won’t eat you and I won’t do anything.”
“What. Then, I’m not scared. It’s a lie that beastmen are scary.”
When the girl grinned, she didn’t hesitate to talk to me more.
“What is Onii-san doing?”
“I was looking at the flowers. That flower is very rare, so I want to give it to my wife as a present.”
“I see. Mia said that you can’t take the flowers here outside.”
Mia may be the woman from earlier.
“It seems so. That’s a shame.”
The girl seems to have been thinking about something for a while, but she seems to have shifted her interest.
“Hey, can I touch your tail?”
I never thought I would be asked.
I won’t let humans touch it, but I lost to the sparkling innocent eyes of a child.
“Well, if you’re gentle, you can touch it.”
“Thank you. Wow, fluffy. It feels good~.”
Even though the girl knew I was a beastman, she wasn’t afraid of me at all, and she didn’t look down on me in the slightest.
“Oh, that’s right.”
She seems to have remembered something.
When she came in front of me, she greeted me like a lovely lady.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Lilith, the daughter of the King of the Kingdom of Seiran.”
She introduced herself.
It’s the first thing you do when you meet someone, but Princess Lilith was probably so obsessed with hiding that she just remembered.
Was she the king’s daughter after all?
“Thank you for your kindness. My name is Leroy, Crown Prince of the Tenar kingdom.”
It’s late, but I also introduced myself.
From a distance, I can hear a maid calling Princess Lilith.
Even though it’s in the royal palace, I don’t think the maid will allow a child to go out at night.
“I have to go back now.”
Princess Lilith muttered regretfully.
“Hey, can we meet again?”
“. . .Yes.”
“Absolutely. At that time, I’ll give you that flower too.”
The little Princess Lilith held out her hand and asked for a handshake.
I gently held the small hand, and Princess Lilith looked satisfied, smiled happily and went back the way she came.
I never thought I’d promise to meet again at the end of my diplomacy.
I lied to Princess Lilith, but it seemed like hope for the beastmen that I was able to meet a beautiful princess in the end.
I returned to my country, and soon after, I became the king.
After that, diplomats and my adult sons visited the Kingdom of Seiran, but no one saw the princess.
She seems to be sickly. I received a report, but I couldn’t believe it.
Unfortunately, some beastmen fought with humans in the royal capital of the Kingdom of Seiran, and the events that led to a conflict with humans led to an incident, and the diplomatic relations deteriorated, and visiting was no longer possible.
At the same time, it was also a problem that my son Gresis did not get married easily.
Although he is not the crown prince, marriage is essential for the royal family for the sake of the national interest.
Gresis’s swordsmanship skills are high, and he is so powerful that he can be entrusted as the captain of the Royal Monster Subjugation Unit, which is famous for being the strongest in our country.
He will contribute to the country, so he doesn’t want to talk about marriage anymore. He insists, but I can’t say that either.
However, I am hesitant to rub salt on the heart of Gresis, who was hurt by his fiancée’s affair .
Domestic daughters are basically strong-minded, pushy, materialistic, and greedy for honor.
Only by paying tribute to women is a man good. That’s the value.
It can’t be helped that falling in love is considered a weakness, but I myself listen to most what my wife says, except for work, and she contributes quite a bit. I’m also very careful about the gifts I give.
A woman’s sense of values probably don’t suit the unexpectedly delicate Gresis.
When I was holding my head, I suddenly remembered Lilith’s innocent smile.
At that time, she was about four years old. . . As expected, she must have already forgotten about me.
The only thing that bothered me was the fact that I lied.
If she stays the same she was then, wouldn’t she be able to save Gresis?
However, the values may change as she grew.
When I investigated about Princess Lilith, isn’t there any problem other than her being sickly and not appearing in the social world? Rumors are spreading.
However, if Princess Lilith and Gresis get married, Princess Lilith is practically a hostage, so the Kingdom of Seiran can’t move badly. That said, the conditions we put out should not be at all disadvantageous to the other party.
It will be painful for Gresis.
If it doesn’t go well, then they can divorce or whatever.
This was a gamble.
I’m sorry for Gresis, but I’ll decide unilaterally.
When I apply for marriage to the Kingdom of Seiran with a condition that they can’t refuse, the marriage of Princess Lilith and Gresis was decided as I planned.
About a month later, the day of the meeting with Princess Lilith finally came.
“I am pleased to meet you for the first time. I’m Lilith, the daughter of the King of the Kingdom of Seiran.”
With a smile, she gives a beautiful bow and behaves elegantly.
The 18-year-old adult doesn’t talk or behave like a young child anymore.
However, her eyes staring at us beastmen had the same innocence.
“I’m glad you came, Lilith. We are family. Think of me as a your father. And I want you to support Gresis.”
“Yes, father-in-law.”
When I see Lilith smiling happily, I’m also happy.
I was able to fulfill the promise we had at that time.
And I was relieved.
Just as I was healed, I’m sure the time will come when Gresis’s heart will be healed.
While watching Gresis who doesn’t move an eyebrow, I intended to watch over my son’s heart for a long time.
But I was surprised.
Earlier than I expected, Gresis held affection for Lilith, no, he fell in love with her.
When I called the two of them to the office, Gresis was entangling Lilith with his tail.
Gresis must be hiding his expression. But I didn’t miss it.
Ah, have you finally met someone you can think of from the bottom of your heart? I’m glad you’re happy.
While feeling relieved in my heart, I pretended not to see it.
Onii-san means brother but is also used to refer to an older boy you look up to.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!