I! Cleaner!

Originally, I intended to have dinner first, but after seeing you, I just wanted to go back and work overtime...

"Princess Veronica!"

Interrupting the princess's teasing inquiry, Leon's expression dropped, full of speechlessness.

"Stop fooling around, okay? How did you suddenly end up in my house? Where's Anna and the others?"

"Anna and the kids are asleep... Besides, I'm your fiancée, isn't it odd for me to be in your house?"

Seeing the respectful distance in Leon's eyes, Princess Veronica blinked and pretended to be hurt, saying,

"Darling, why are you being so cold to me? Could it be... you have someone else outside?"

"..."

*I don't know if that counts, but we're definitely innocent. Why did you suddenly come to my house and ambush me, and dressed so... casually?*

Trying hard to control himself from raising his line of sight to avoid looking at some impolite spots, Leon spoke with a bit of a headache,

"Princess Veronica, between us..."

"Even though we are apart more often than together, our relationship is still strong."

Proactively linking arms with Leon, she pulled his speechless self into the house and pressed him to sit by the table, pointing to the dishes with plates covering them on the table,

"Hurry, eat. These are personally... watched by Anna as she prepared them for you, and I tried a good mouthful of each. They taste really good!"

"..."

*I thought you prepared them yourself—so just watching counts as contributing, right? Besides, why do I feel like you seem a bit strange today? Looking...*

*...oddly happy?*

Watching the oddly exuberant princess feel inexplicably buoyant despite his "cold shoulder," and smiling regardless, Leon hesitated for a moment before settling honestly by the table.

"Your Highness, why did you come to see me today? What's the matter?"

"Look at you, why can't I visit without a reason?"

Princess Veronica adjusted her loose nightdress, sitting elegantly opposite Leon, resting her chin on her hand with a gentle smile,

"By the way, I indeed have a few happy things to tell you... go ahead and eat, and I'll tell you while you do, alright?"

As she moved, the loose silk sleeve of her nightdress slipped slightly, dropping to her elbow, revealing a small section of her dazzlingly white arm.

Paired with the princess's flower-like smiling face and the subtly exposed softness at the neckline, it made Leon's heart skip a beat. He quickly averted his gaze, focusing intently on the food on the table.

*His reaction wasn't bad~ It wasn't in vain that I specially ordered this half-size larger nightdress.*

Playfully using her finger to tug the deliberately loosened sleeve, exposing even more of her arm, she then inwardly drew back her arm, making the already ample curve more pronounced. With a smile, Princess Veronica said,

"There have been many delightful things recently, but the thing that pleases me most is that our wedding is set. We will be wed the day after tomorrow at noon, and I came to fetch you today."

What?!!!

Hearing Princess Veronica's words, Leon abruptly trembled all over while drinking his soup, nearly swallowing half a bowl of warm fish soup down into his lungs.

"Cough! Cough cough! You! What did you say... cough cough cough!"

"Oh dear, there's plenty of soup, why are you drinking so hastily?"

Walking around the table to the choking Leon's side, she lightly patted his back, a glimmer of cunning flashing in the princess's eyes, then she looked regretful,

"Seeing you so excited makes me truly happy, but... if only this were true."

"..."

*Revenge! This is definitely revenge! Revenge for how I was cold to you earlier!*

After catching his breath, realizing he had been toyed with, Leon frowned, preparing to demand an explanation, only to see a small shiny fork with a piece of fish being held up to him.

The princess, who had just been sitting opposite, had already slipped onto the chair beside him under the pretext of patting his back, smiling as she tried to feed him.

"Ah~"

"..."

*Ah, you!*

Feeling the warmth emanating from the mature, abundant body beside him, Leon, overwhelmed, quickly shifted away, creating distance from this tempting source of heat. He then grabbed the fork.

"Don't cough... no need, I can do it myself."

"Mm, mm, whatever you say~"

Seeing Leon's embarrassed expression, the princess understood she had teased him to the brink, and any further might get her pushed away. So, she gave in, letting Leon take the fork, and with a teasing smile, she said,

"By the way, do you still want to know why I'm so happy?"

"..."

Not getting a response from Leon after two seconds, Princess Veronica straightened up, sighing with a bit of disappointment,

"Aye, if you don't want to hear it, then sitting here is meaningless for me, how about..."

Hearing this, a flicker of emotion crossed Leon's face.

*How about you leave?*

"How about I continue feeding you!"

"..."

"Ah~"

"Please don't 'ah'... I, um, I do still want to hear what you have to say..."

*Hmph, captivating!*

With an unrestrained sly smile after accomplishing her goal of teasing, the princess sat up straight, smiling with gleaming eyes,

"Then I'll tell you... have you heard about the Marquis of Gold Droplet?"

The Marquis of Gold Droplet?

Recognizing the familiar name, Leon's expression slightly shifted and then nodded,

"I heard something... he recently drowned accidentally, right?"

"Yes, that's him."

Although the weather had warmed significantly recently, the nights were still a bit chilly. And while the silk nightdress adorned her figure beautifully, it left much to be desired in terms of warmth.

Unintentionally curling up her body and tucking her limbs in tightly for warmth, her nose slightly red from the cold, the princess joyfully recounted,

"He was the tax secretary in the Ministry of Finance, second only to the Minister of Finance, always involved in the Ka Army Department's budget, and exploiting craft guilds, using the Kingdom's budget to fill those... mm... let me put it this way, he was a terrible man, very bad indeed!"

He was indeed a wretched person, in every sense.

Nodding emphatically, Leon curiously asked,

"So, you're happy because he died?"

"Not entirely."

Blowing on her palms to warm them, Princess Veronica shook her head,

"Rather than his inexplicable drowning, I would have preferred to personally see him imprisoned, punished for his past deeds.

But, this works too; even if I had managed to topple him, having him truly confess would have been difficult. Plus, his vacant position opened a breach in the Ministry of Finance.

Without his obstruction, many previously stagnant reforms have begun to show the prospect of progress. If part of the taxation rights can be diverted, those harsh, complex taxes can be tidied up to avoid... mm...

Leon, are you interested in this? Would you prefer we talk about something else?"

Looking at the princess, curled on her chair from the cold but with bright eyes, Leon hesitated slightly, then removed his coat and draped it over her, shaking his head,

"No need, I am actually quite interested in this... continue, but keep it down a bit, don't wake Anna and the others."

"Mm~"

Seeing Leon finally remember to drape a coat over her after her hints, Princess Veronica gave him a teasing glance and then leaned against him with a "greatly moved" look.

"You're so sweet~ Let me continue... oh, have you heard about the Boarding Tower being attacked?"