The playful banter wrapped up quickly, and naturally, it was time for the more proper "visiting the patient" part.
The moment Nagisa Akatsuki handed over the bouquet and began chattering endlessly with Kanon Kanase, the girl's serene, gentle smile never left her face. It wasn't a lively or dazzling smile, but it bloomed like an icy flower—so beautiful it made even Kaiser momentarily lose focus.
"I say, Kaiser, could you please not stare at my aunt with such a lecherous look?" La Folia, for once, voiced her dissatisfaction in rather blunt terms. "Don't tell me you're into the 'younger aunt' type?"
"Who said that?" Kaiser blinked, coming back to his senses. Without thinking, he replied, "I like the well-endowed type."
It was only after the words left his mouth that he realized he might've revealed a little too much.
Not that La Folia seemed entirely convinced.
"If that's the case, why don't you ever look at me with such fascination?" she asked petulantly. "I'd say I count as well-endowed and curvy, wouldn't you?"
As she spoke, she subtly lifted her chest, and Kaiser's gaze inevitably shifted downward.
And he had to admit—this woman was indeed exceptionally well-proportioned. You'd never guess she was only seventeen. Among the girls he knew in the same age bracket, only a few—Claudia, Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, Kuroka—could compare.
As for Kirin Toudou… well, give her a few more years and she might match them too.
And with La Folia's face being essentially a mature version of Kanon's, she was, objectively speaking, perfectly within Kaiser's strike zone.
Still…
"Knowing you're rotten black inside from the core, my heart just refuses to budge," Kaiser said flatly.
A scheming princess? The very thought was exhausting. On the other hand, the pure, untainted little saint's occasional flashes of gentle divinity—that was the real killer move.
Naturally, Kaiser's jab didn't just deepen La Folia's dissatisfaction—it earned him a swift counterattack.
"But when I'm naked, you seem pretty fascinated," she said with a smile that was anything but innocent.
The remark made Kaiser's mouth twitch—and also drew the attention of a certain sharp-eared girl.
"What's so fascinating? The scenery? Oh, the view here is really nice!" Nagisa said brightly, completely missing the point.
"…The scenery is nice, yeah," Kaiser replied vaguely, trying to steer the conversation away.
"And which scenery do you mean, oh great Beast King?" La Folia pressed, her tone dripping with implication.
"Cut the crap." Kaiser shot her a glare. "Kanon's health isn't an issue, is it?"
"Fortunately, no. She's been thoroughly checked, and all her readings are perfectly normal," La Folia replied, clearly aware he was changing the subject but letting him. "I'm guessing it's because you removed both the backlash and the side effects? Or did you secretly treat her beforehand?"
"As long as she's fine, that's all that matters," Kaiser said, ignoring her question. "So she'll be discharged soon?"
"Yes. One more day for observation, and she can leave the day after tomorrow." La Folia sighed. "But there's another problem, and it's a tricky one."
Kaiser already knew what it was.
"She doesn't want to go back with you, right?"
La Folia paused. "…You already knew?"
"Guessed," Kaiser said, folding his arms. "I haven't known her for long, but I think I understand her enough to know she wouldn't want a royal life, even if she longs for family."
Though hailed as the 'Saint of the Middle School Division,' Kanon Kanase's life was simple.
Before being adopted by Kensei Kanase, she was just an orphan in a convent, used to a life of poverty. Afterward, she was the kind of kindhearted girl who'd take in abandoned kittens, nurse them back to health, and keep them hidden in the back hills.
Not yet fifteen, when most kids her age still begged their moms to cook for them, she was raising over a dozen kittens all by herself. A girl like that had no interest in royal palaces.
And since in the original story she made that exact choice, Kaiser was certain La Folia's "problem" was that Kanon wouldn't return to Aldegyr.
"Yeah… I didn't expect it either." La Folia gave a helpless smile. "I thought this trip would just be a simple family reunion. Instead, we got wrapped up in another incident—and now she won't leave. Feels like I came here for nothing."
"What's your family say? You must have reported it."
"Of course." She nodded. "My father strongly disagrees. My mother thinks we should respect Kanon's wishes. My grandfather—well, his opinion doesn't matter. My grandmother's disappointed, though. She was looking forward to meeting Kanon and asked me to try persuading her again."
"Your grandmother?" Kaiser raised a brow. "She actually wants to meet her husband's illegitimate daughter?"
Yeah, right.
If she were really that forgiving, would the former king have had to abdicate and flee?
"Kanon's mother was actually my grandmother's friend," La Folia explained. "They were very close. So while she blames my grandfather, she doesn't resent Kanon or her mother. She's been worried about her ever since learning of her situation."
…Huh. That was new.
"So what now? You're not going to force her, are you?"
"Of course not. We want to respect her choice," La Folia said with a wry smile. "But Kensei's been arrested. Kanon's alone again. She says she can manage, but whether officially or personally, we can't let that happen."
Officially—she was a princess of Aldegyr, with an exceptional spiritual medium physique. That made her a target for all kinds of shady figures. Privately—she was family. None of them were comfortable leaving a girl under fifteen to live alone overseas.
"Unless there's someone trustworthy to act as her guardian, we can't leave her here," La Folia concluded.
By now, she was smiling at him sweetly.
Oh, for—this woman's been acting the whole time.
"…You mean me, don't you?" Kaiser's eye twitched.
"Isn't it perfect?" she said brightly. "If the so-called Beast King is nearby to protect her, she'll be perfectly safe."
"I think whoever came up with that idea is an idiot," Kaiser said bluntly. "I'm a high school boy. She's a junior high girl—a pretty one, at that. Living together? You call that safe? By the time she's your age, she could be bringing two kids back to Aldegyr!"
To his surprise, La Folia didn't bristle—she just smiled even wider.
"Wouldn't that be a good thing? For Aldegyr, having the Beast King's children would be a win-win. Our royal line's thinning out—two kids in three years would be wonderful. My mother and grandmother wouldn't object. My father… well, you could probably handle his axe, right?"
…So the doting father would try to chop me up for messing with his little sister? And you say it so casually?
"You're not serious, are you?"
"Half and half," she said with a shrug. "After what happened with the artificial angels, my family isn't thrilled about us staying here. But Kanon's wishes matter, and my escort knights suffered heavy losses. The airship's basically scrap. Unless the local government offers extra security, I could be attacked on the way back.
"So, the royal family's letting me stay here for now. In a while, they'll send someone to fetch me—and probably talk to Kanon then."
That was unexpected… yet also logical.
In the original timeline, Natsuki Minamiya became Kanon's guardian, so Aldegyr had no need to send anyone important. But this time, Natsuki had barely been involved. La Folia, not trusting strangers to touch Kanon, had placed her in an Aldegyr-run hospital. With no reason for Natsuki to get involved, Aldegyr had to send someone significant.
"…When you say 'family,' you don't mean your father, do you?" Kaiser asked warily.
"I don't know," she said innocently. "Probably not. A king's busy, after all!"
Yeah, sure.
The look on her face screamed something's up. She was way too amused for this to be nothing.
"…What exactly did you tell your father?" Kaiser asked slowly.
"Oh, nothing much. Just the truth," La Folia said cheerfully. "Like how we first met when I was completely naked, and how Kanon's artificial angel and Spirit Rank Evolution spells were broken—oh, and how she was also naked when you brought her back. You know, just little details like that."
I'm screwed.
Kaiser could almost see a sharp axe swinging toward his head.
"…And what did your father say?"
"He told me to give you a message."
"What message?"
"'You little punk, just you wait.' That's all."
I'm double-screwed.
Now he could picture the entire Aldegyr military standing at his door.
"…If I kill someone while defending myself, will it be a problem?" he asked dryly.
La Folia's smile faltered. "…Then I'd really have to make sure to give you two kids within three years—so I could bring them along when I plead guilty as an unfilial daughter."
Kaiser could only stare at the ceiling, speechless.
And so, just like that, he somehow became the potential enemy of Aldegyr—or rather, its king.
Meanwhile, La Folia happily moved in with Kanon after her discharge—at his house.
Officially: "temporary lodging."