“Ah?!”Hearing those disrespectful w

“Ah?!”

Hearing those disrespectful words, Elfaria noticed Koutarou's existence. She had definitely not heard any praise, yet she smiled brightly. Like a young girl, her eyes sparkled and she ran up to Koutarou.

”Long time no see, Reio―”

“Aaaaaahhhh!!”

Noticing what Elfaria was about to say before anyone else, Koutarou hurriedly caught her and blocked her mouth. He then wrapped his arm around her neck, forcibly drew her closer to him and whispered into her ear.

“Elle, if you say any more than that, I'll punch you, even if you are the empress”

“Hmmh, Mhhm”

Sensing that Koutarou was serious, Elfaria frantically nodded her head. After that Koutarou let go of her, but Elfaria didn't move right away, and instead whispered into his ear.

“...Reios-sama, you still haven't told Theia the truth, even in this situation?”

“..How could I tell her? Do you want to expose Theia to danger?”

“...I don't think there's anything more dangerous than a coup d'état though...”

A sudden shout, rude behavior, and an empress that allowed it. On top of that, they were secretly talking about something. Koutarou and Elfaria's strange behavior astonished most of the girls on the bridge. Theia represented the girls and posed a question to Koutarou.

“Koutarou, have you spoken to mother before?”

As far as Theia knew, Koutarou and Elfaria had never met before. Theia had mentioned Koutarou to Elfaria in the past a few times, though those had only been small talk. But the two of them most certainly didn't look like this was their first time meeting. That's why Theia believed that Koutarou had somehow managed to contact Elfaria after she had given him full access to the Blue Knight's systems.

“N-No, it was my misunderstanding. She just happened to look like someone I know. Right, Elle?”

“Elle?”

Theia tilted her head at that strangely intimate nickname. Having realized his own mistake, Koutarou hurried to correct himself.

“Uhm, I mean... your majesty, Elfaria”

“That's right Theia. This is my first time meeting Reios-sama―”

A thud could be heard.

“You're doing that on purpose, aren't you, your majesty?!”

“Owowow... that's not true, this is our first time meeting after all”

”Hmm??”

But every time Koutarou was about to convince Theia, Elfaria mixed things up. It would take a little while longer until Koutarou could convince Theia.