• Solis: Please forgive me for being so frank in asking this, but...
• Solis: Your highness, you...
• Solis: You don't trust me anymore, do you?
• Solis: Even though, I would still do anything you asked for without hesitation.
• Solis: I swear that I won't even let Kotori, Corona, or anyone else deter me again.
• Solis: But somehow...
• Solis: It looks like I've messed up badly enough to lose years of trust in one night.

• Solis: So...
• Solis: Am I... correct?
• Suvillan: ...
• Suvillan: ...Ha!

---->

Solis: That is just as expected... right?

Prince Suvillan: Elaborate.

• Solis: ...Then, tell me, your highness.
• Solis: What's the worth of everything I accomplished, and the high positions I gained, if you have no trust in me anymore?
• Suvillan: Whoa...
• Suvillan: Hey now!
• Suvillan: I never meant to say that I distrust you completely.
• Solis: ...You didn't?
• Suvillan: I only said that I can't fully trust you.
• Suvillan: Really, that kind of silly idea is what got you all miffed up? My god.
• Solis: So... you...
• Solis: You still have some trust left in me?
• Suvillan: Oh my god.
• Suvillan: Solis. You're so funny.
• Solis: Please just give me a straightforward answer.
• Suvillan: If I had absolutely no trust in you...
• Suvillan: Then you'd never be able to step foot in this tower! You big idiot!
• Solis: Oh.
• Solis: Right...
• Suvillan: Ahahaha!
• Suvillan: There are things I can trust you for...
• Suvillan: And there are things I cannot trust in you.
• Suvillan: So... do you have a better understanding now?
• Solis: Frankly, that is frustrating to hear.
• Solis: No, your highness, I really don't understand you anymore.
• Solis: I feel like I no longer know where I stand in your eyes.
• Solis: But I thought that...
• Solis: Well...
• Solis: ...I guess I had a little bit of pride in being a good confidant of some sort, at least. But it looks like I was wrong about that too.
• Suvillan: Aw.
• Solis: Please don't pity me.
• Suvillan: Awww.
• Solis: Prince. Look. Just.
• Solis: Please explain, if you can.
• Solis: After hearing this, I want to know just what I'm here for.
• Solis: Do I even have a role in the world you've built anymore?
• Suvillan: What, of course you do!
• Suvillan: Man... you're certainly serious about this.
• Suvillan: Then, I'll take it seriously for your sake, too.
• Suvillan: Let's see, shall we.

Recall an erstwhile friendship.

• Suvillan: You were once a precious friend.
• Suvillan: My first and only childhood friend, in fact!
• Suvillan: Back then, everyone whispered awful things about me, an illegitimate child appointed as heir.
• Suvillan: Born to some insignificant scullery maid, from an affair that left a blemish on the royal family's name...
• Suvillan: People were offended that such a person took the throne away from a legitimate heiress born to a distinguished princess.
• Suvillan: So they said insulting things every day...
• Suvillan: Because the blood of a commoner partially flows in my veins.

• Suvillan: But, right now...
• Suvillan: All those people are forced to eat their words, and cling to the hope that this dirt-blooded thing has built for monsterkind.
• Suvillan: You saw it earlier, no? How frustrating my existence feels to those old timers... fully knowing how helpless they'd be in this world, if not for my efforts?
• Suvillan: Haha, I rather like seeing the look in their eyes...
• Suvillan: When they realize they can't do anything but submit.
• Suvillan: It's a satisfying compensation for living through years of shunning.

• Suvillan: But you, Solis.
• Suvillan: You were different.
• Suvillan: You're the only one who could see past matters like royal blood, and treated me as I am from the start.
• Suvillan: Even though daring to defy the popular sentiment at the time frequently put you in tough positions... you stubbornly kept yourself beside me.
• Suvillan: Being one of a prince's very first supporters...
• Suvillan: Why, of course that's a commendable action.
• Suvillan: I don't doubt that any monster would come to respect you if they were to hear of this story.

• Suvillan: We were just kids in those days...
• Suvillan: But look at you now!

• Suvillan: You grew up to be such a highly respected guard.
• Suvillan: The pride of your hometown, their precious role model...
• Suvillan: And the next in line to be their regional lord.
• Suvillan: Quite a high rank, though not exactly the highest.
• Suvillan: Still, it is very respectable, right?
• Solis: ...
• Suvillan: Isn't it, future young lord?
• Solis: Ugh, being addressed like that will never not feel awkward.
• Solis: But I guess it is a good thing...
• Solis: Since everyone else seems to think so.
• Suvillan: Of course it is! Put some backbone in your response!
• Suvillan: Everyone says that Niyran's previous lords were regarded as great consultants to the ruler in their time.
• Suvillan: Clearly, it makes them more than a little special, even compared to the lords of other regions. So you should be very proud of that!
• Solis: That's just the perception people have built, isn't it?
• Solis: So... it's just one more expectation coming from everyone else.
• Suvillan: Hmm? Well...
• Suvillan: That's not a totally wrong way of looking at it, I suppose?
• Solis: Yeah, it's not.
• Solis: It doesn't matter to me what my reputation in my home is, nor my status.
• Solis: Nothing other people think or say about me matters at all.
• Solis: Since, the cold reality is that...
• Solis: ...Despite it all, I'm nothing special to this ruler right now.
• Solis: So don't beat around the bush.
• Solis: I only ever asked about your opinion, prince.
• Suvillan: ...Hahaha, oh my.

• Suvillan: Does every other person's opinion pale in comparison to mine, or what?
• Solis: It's natural that they do.
• Suvillan: Well, it's true that the holder of Niyran's regional lord position isn't something I especially care about, but that doesn't mean you're nothing.
• Solis: If it's something that doesn't hold meaning to you, then I don't have a use for it, no matter what kind of position it is.
• Solis: I should fill the role that you want, not what others expect.
• Suvillan: Hah, fine, fine! Don't mope about it again!
• Solis: Wha- I'm not moping!
• Suvillan: Look, what I'm trying to say, is that...
• Suvillan: In my eyes, you're just Solis.
• Suvillan: Regardless of what you were in the past, I appreciate what you are now.
• Suvillan: Yes, right now... to me...
• Suvillan: You are just like Kotori and Corona!
• Solis: ...Huh.
• Solis: Just like Kotori?
• Solis: Even though she's only ever been a mere town guard?
• Suvillan: Hm? Indeed.
• Suvillan: That's where she stands in people's eyes, but it's not the same in mine.
• Solis: Surely you don't mean to say that...
• Solis: The three of us are equal to you, despite our glaring variance in positions?
• Solis: I mean, Corona's your closest servant.
• Solis: Nobody ranks higher than her besides yourself.
• Solis: So how could...
• Solis: How could Kotori be put on the same level?
• Suvillan: Is that really how you see me...?
• Suvillan: Must I be someone who judges your worth by your position alone?
• Solis: No, but I... don't think it would be an unreasonable thing to expect.
• Solis: I'm not saying to base everything on positions alone, but in the interest of fairness... It should factor in, at least a little bit.
• Suvillan: Such things aren't particularly important to me.
• Suvillan: Solis, I am not like the previous prince.

• Suvillan: That is to say, I am a little bit... biased!
• Suvillan: Out of all the valuable guards across wildly different position, I will always have my three favorites.
• Suvillan: And a title, a position, or status, none factor in how I treat them.
• Suvillan: I'm quite fond of the very adorable Kotori,
• Suvillan: And the very lively Corona,
• Suvillan: The lowest in ranks, and the highest in ranks, in equal amounts!
• Suvillan: And you, as well.
• Solis: ...
• Suvillan: You're not your rank, nor your achievements, or your lordly bloodline.
• Suvillan: To me, you're just Solis.
• Suvillan: So... is that not acceptable to you?
• Solis: ...No.
• Solis: Not at all.
• Suvillan: A normal person would be satisfied with just hearing that I don't hate them for an answer, you know.
• Suvillan: Why isn't it enough, Solis?
• Suvillan: Is it that upsetting to be called an equal to Kotori...
• Suvillan: To someone lower than yourself?
• Solis: ...You are sharp, your highness.
• Solis: But you're slightly off the mark.
• Suvillan: ...
• Suvillan: Then...
• Suvillan: You do believe yourself to be better than my Corona, as well.
• Solis: I can't accept being put on the same ground as people who've objectively done less for your sake.
• Suvillan: ...Less, you say.

• Suvillan: Know this, Solis.
• Suvillan: Kotori is far more dedicated than you are.
• Solis: ...What?
• Solis: Dedicated to... what?
• Suvillan: Protecting me, and this world.
• Solis: Even though she hasn't served you for as long as I have...?
• Suvillan: Yes.
• Solis: ...Your highness.
• Solis: We both know full well that Kotori has never seen a day of war.
• Solis: She's only ever been a quiet town's guard for a couple years.
• Solis: So there is no way that she'd be...
• Suvillan: This is something I've personally confirmed myself, Solis.
• Suvillan: If you can't believe in her dedication...
• Suvillan: Then do you also not believe my words?
• Solis: No, of course... I don't doubt you. But this...
• Solis: This feels unfair.
• Suvillan: I see that mentioning her dedication came as a surprise.
• Suvillan: I suppose that means you don't know her as well as you think you do.
• Solis: ...
• Suvillan: So, don't look down on her.
• Suvillan: That's a final warning. Take it to heart.