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Mr. White's scolding came to an abrupt halt after receiving a smack to the back of his head from his wife.
"If not for a certain someone setting a bad example for her, where would my little angel have learned to be so disobedient?"
Her husband's expression made it clear that he felt wronged, but he was still smart enough to know when not to retort.
Mrs. White turned her gaze back to Sam. "Anyway, although I can't deny that I'm a little upset, you… don't need to feel so guilty. Since you've already been willful, why not at least be happy?"
Sam's lower lip trembled involuntarily, and her eyes quickly welled up with unshed tears. "M-Mom…!"
Her mother rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Don't go crying just as I told you to be happy, you idiot!"
Emilia couldn't help but be a little amused as she watched her older sister immediately 'disobey' that instruction to envelop Mrs. White in a nearly suffocating hug as she cried.
"I-I love you so much, m-mom!"
And perhaps feeling a gloomy gaze nearby, she quickly added. "A-And dad."
Mrs. White chuckled. "If I don't spoil my daughter, who will?"
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Emilia understood that although they seemed to be taking it quite well, parting from another one of their daughters couldn't have been that easy to accept for the older couple, so she asked Sam to accompany them as much as possible until they were ready to leave.
The crimson-haired girl also accompanied them from time to time, and despite both Mr. and Mrs. White insisting otherwise, their joyful eyes ended up betraying their real feelings on the matter.
Of course, Emilia couldn't accompany them all the time, since most of her time had to be spent 'counseling' those who had been 'accepted' by Crystal and the others to accompany her out of this world.
Although she was sure that everyone who qualified deserved a chance to be taken along, Emilia still wanted to personally make sure that they wouldn't regret it later.
From some of her old schoolmates to the staff that took care of her in the White Deer Mansion, to some of the 'youngest' knights who were a little too passionate about meeting her, she had a sincere exchange with them all, one by one, even if it was a little exhausting.
Crystal and the others were obviously a little worried about her, even after she assured them that she really didn't 'need' to sleep. But considering how Cynthia behaved and her apparent 'authority' over both the transfer and Emilia herself, they could only keep their thoughts to themselves.
"Maybe we should have trimmed the numbers down a little more…" Crystal sighed.
Dixie nodded in agreement. "Since Emily wants to handle it all personally, it really is too much to handle so many people without rest. But… she won't be happy if she doesn't see those she expects to see here."
The blonde heroine also realized that Emilia's memory was actually quite good, and if she didn't spot someone she had a favorable impression of in the qualified candidates… needless to say, it would be a disaster, in more ways than one.
In the best case, they would be blamed for not sorting through everyone properly and really get a proper scolding, and in the worst case, Emilia might not even check, and just feel heartbroken and betrayed.
Noelle interrupted their discussion with a cough. "Since the two of you have time to gossip, why not help me a little more with work?"
Since Emilia and Sam would both be leaving, it went without saying that the entire framework of how the Empire of Blue Dawn worked needed to be changed to fit the needs of the future.
To say it was a lot of work was an understatement, and the fact that neither Emilia nor Noelle trusted many people to handle it properly only made things worse for them all.
"…"
"…"
Needless to say, Crystal and Dixie didn't have much time to worry about other things as they were promptly drowned in reviewing the documents piling on Noelle's desk.
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Meanwhile, in one of the shelters on the outskirts of the capital of Blue Dawn, a rather unkempt silver-haired boy stared blankly into space while listening to the idle chatter around him.
The last thing he remembered was Emilia's rather pitying gaze as his vision slowly faded away, and a feeling of loss burst from his heart.
'What was that? What happened…?'
That was the question that had been haunting him for almost every waking moment since then.
Even when the caretakers at the shelter started assuming him to be a strange person who pretended to be deaf and mute despite being completely fine physically, and refused to even communicate with the psychologists they painstakingly invited to have a look, Amos couldn't care any less about any of it.
There were only a few people who weren't a part of the staff in this place, but while everyone else around him was working hard to turn their life around, only he remained focused solely on the TV in the dining hall.
Amos had learned that so long as he kept watching the news, Emilia's face would definitely appear at least once every day. And whenever he tried to match it with the one in his memories… he couldn't help but feel strange.
ραпdα Йᴏνê|(сòm) Why was it… that he could no longer feel that strong hate in his heart whenever he looked at her?
Even though she'd ruined his life, taken everything that was supposed to belong to him, and trampled his pride into bits and pieces… why?
Looking down at the clean surface of the table, Amos almost reeled back in shock and horror.
'W-Who is that?'
He, who was in the prime of his life, couldn't possibly look like that, right? There was no way he aged over twenty years in less than a few weeks!
With innumerable questions bubbling in his unsettled heart, Amos knew that there was only one person in this world who could answer them all.
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The shelter obviously didn't prevent anyone from leaving whenever they wanted to, and Amos had no trouble reaching the vicinity of the Blue Lotus Palace despite the place currently being surrounded by knights, and his previous infamy as Emilia's enemy.
No matter how carefully some of them remembered each enemy for their princess, no one could recognize the unkempt man in front of them as Amos Black.
Of course, there was only so far he could get as a 'normal person' before someone stopped him.
"Hold on, sir! May I know where you're headed to, and who you wish to meet?"
What came into the silver-haired boy's view as he turned towards the sound was a girl with dark, sun-kissed skin and long, curly black hair. The official emblem of the empire on her chest made her identity as one of the 'knights' more than obvious, even to Amos.
The cold, pale-green eyes of the lady knight who stopped him looked clearly suspicious, and she couldn't be blamed.
No citizen of Blue Dawn would be disrespectful enough to march right into the Blue Lotus Palace, where the empress lived. Admiring her was one thing, but disturbing her needlessly while she was either working or resting was definitely not acceptable.
The only reason she didn't immediately detain him was because of her confidence in her own strength.
Unless it was a member of that stupidly unreasonable Nightingale clan, no one in this world could beat her, an original knight of their princess, in single combat!
The silver-haired boy didn't remember her name, but he clearly recalled seeing this very same girl in one of the senior classes during his stay at the Imperial Academy. He remembered that when he once passed her by, she'd hurriedly lowered her head and rushed away.
Amos had almost gotten used to being looked down upon, but somehow, being looked down upon by someone who used to 'fear' him rekindled something in his seemingly cold heart.
"What business I have here… is that something someone insignificant like you can ask?" He sneered.
The lady knight was clearly stunned by his response, and was more confused than angry. "W-What? What is that supposed to mean? If you're just passing by and not heading into the Palace, then—"
Amos interrupted her with a scoff. "I'm not just passing by, I'm here to meet Emilia."
The confusion in the girl's eyes was quickly replaced with anger, but she was interrupted before she could respond.
"Hi, Hazel! What's going on here...? Who is that?"
The curly-haired knight turned to her 'companion' with a snort. "Nothing to be alarmed about, commander. It's just some mannerless idiot who wants to meet the princess, apparently."
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