ALGTS: 9

“The Lily Maiden of Fortane...”⁣

⁣

Lord was reading a report that Celestria has submitted. Ruminating on what he had read, he stared out the window yet again. Celestria herself was standing aside, staring at the wall intensely. “Is that you? The Lily Maiden?”⁣

“I am.”⁣

“Ah... You’re a lot more cunning than I thought.”⁣

In response, Celestria simply bowed. But Lord would not let anything slip. Celestria was acting strangely. The bow she gave was off. So was her general air today. She was insistent on focusing on something else.⁣

⁣

So he stood up and came to tower before her. She kept her eyes stuck on something. Anything other than him. Oh, she looked very tense. Lord wondered why. “You’ve done very well. I am happy with the results.”⁣

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I am very glad that you are happy.”⁣

“But you’re not really happy. Why?”⁣

And that made her eye twitch just a tad bit. Something that not a lot of people would notice. It made Lord’s smile become just a little more saccharine.⁣

“I do not understand, Your Majesty. I am very glad.”⁣

And that’s when Lord smiled wide. Wide enough to expose his teeth.⁣

⁣

He had known what would happen if he did something like this, but the results still surprised him greatly. Her carefully curated face dropped and shattered irreparably. Horror made her jaw drop and stiffened her already proper posture. “Please don’t lie to me if you purport to be such a loyal subject.”⁣

Five seconds of her face morphed in horror passed, and then she surprised Lord. If her previous mask had shattered, then she pulled out yet another and swiftly donned it. A different one with a tinge of honesty.⁣

“I apologize, Your Majesty. In truth... I am happy that the results are to your liking. But...”⁣

“But?” Lord tilted his head, his smile returning to its usual calm default state.⁣

“But... I stood for three days straight and my legs hurt. I apologize for my rudeness.”⁣

⁣

Oh. So that’s what it was.