Chapter 54

27. — Picnic! Picnic? (2)

“…Come to think of it, I’m a little hungry.”

It was only then that I started to realize that I did not have an actual meal yet that I was hungry. Cain, who saw me rubbing my slender stomach, grabbed my hand and moved his steps.

“Your Highness?”

The place I was led by was a secluded part of a lake where people rarely come… A place where squirrels and rabbits ran around on the green grass and colorful flowers that no one had touched were in full bloom. In a place where an emerald lake spread out like a painting and a large cypress tree blocked the scorching sunlight and provided cool shade, Cain slowly turned to me.

“It’s a place I come to when I’ve got a lot of worries, and I hope that Young Lady would like it, too.”

Under the large tree, a pretty checkered mat was spread out and a picnic basket made of rattan was placed above it. The sunlight glistened as though it were breaking through the cool breeze and the fluttering leaves.

I stared at Cain standing in front of me and asked as if possessed.

“…Did Your Highness prepare this?”

“It’s a gift from me for your wit that saved the village of Winder from the crisis.”

Behind him, who was smiling dazzlingly, there was a sound of the wind rustling through the leaves. In a picturesque landscape, he was standing like he was in a painting and gazing at me…

…Cain Destro, the male protagonist of this novel, whom I never thought would have anything to do with me.

ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ

“I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste.”

Saying so, Cain smiled as I accepted the sandwich he was handing over. I glanced at the sandwich that looked appetizing enough to believe that it could be sold at stores and asked cautiously.

“Did you make it?”

“He made it.”

Did he say he made this, Cain himself…?

When I looked at him in disbelief, Cain gestured with his chin and pointed behind me. Blinking my eyes and following his chin gesture, I turned my head to find Lyle, the knight of the Grand Duke, stroking the back of his head with a shy expression on his face.

I blinked my eyes at a situation I could not understand easily, and then I turned back to Cain while muttering, ‘Ah…’

“Sir Lyle made it?”

“Yes. He’s pretty good with his hands.”

That is right…

What kind of sandwich did I even think Cain would make for me? Would a male lead do something like that for an extra young lady like me? Haa— They said there is no medicine for a disease* like this. This is a big deal.

[ T/N: The author didn’t use the word 병 literally — so, it’s a disease (병, figuratively) where the patient believes everyone has a crush on him/her. ]

“Does it not suit your taste?”

“Oh, no. It’s delicious.”

I thanked Lyle, who was standing a distance away, before asking for the sandwich again. The next moment, Cain, who watched me quietly, took out five books from the basket. The sandwich got stuck in my throat because I was surprised by the books protruding from the rattan basket, which I thought was just a picnic basket.

As he looked at me coughing and tapping on my chest, he handed me a bottle of milk.

“Ah. Thank, thank you.”

When Cain pulled out the book, my stomach felt cramped as if I was suffocating. This is why people commit crimes…

“I want the Young Lady to read some of these books.”

“…Yes?”

At my question, Cain looked at the books with his eyes. I followed his gaze and glanced down at the book.

“The History of the Lian Empire”, “A Study on Human Behavior and its Background”, “Metropolitan”, “How to Relax Your Mind”, and “The Use of Black Magic and its Reaction.”

I narrowed my eyebrows while skimming at the books that were in completely different genres and their different book covers. When I was done looking, I asked with an awkward smile at the titles that did not seem interesting enough even to pretend like they were.

“Me…?”

I rolled my eyes at the sight of Cain nodding his head. At the same time, his brow narrowed at the hint of annoyance that was expressed in a subtle way. With his sharpened eyes, I swiftly picked up a book nearby and spoke.

“Sha-shall we read this first, a study on human behavior and its background?”

I slowly turned the book cover as I watched Cain nodding.

…I wondered if it was maybe time to do audiobooks now?

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