CH 13

“Lobelia!”

It was none other than Bella who knocked on the door. She came into my room with her shiny blonde hair fluttering.

“Ah, Bella.”

“Look at this. Guess what I brought?”

Then she raised her hand, twinkling her eyes. In Bella’s hand was a small box of light pink.

“What is it?”

“It’s eclairs full of chocolate cream!”

She hummed and excitedly opened the box on the table. As Bella said, the box contained two large chocolate eclairs.

“It’s from the best bakery in the West! I bought it after standing in line at Chandrine Bakery.”

“Standing in line?”

“Yes. Actually, it’s my first time going there myself.”

She smiled brightly and handed one eclair to me first. “Try it, Lobelia. It will be really tasty. It feels like your tongue will melt from it.”

“Thank you, Bella.”

In just a week, we had been calling each other quite affectionately. Maybe because of being ill for a long time, Bella really liked people. She was just like me, who ran back and forth with my mother when I was young and ended up alone.

I was worried about what would happen if I gave affection to people like that and was betrayed later. With an effort to conceal my bitterness, I accepted the eclair and lightly expressed my gratitude. Then I slowly bit the eclair.

…What is this? The thin crust was spread out, lightly soaked in cream, and the chocolate cream filled inside burst out like a bomb. The taste was just right, not too sweet, not too bitter. The chocolate cream gently wrapped around your tongue was ecstasy, as if tasting heaven. This is seriously delicious.

My determination not to show my emotions as much as possible collapsed for the first time. A crimson blush appeared on my cheeks without my knowledge.

“It’s delicious, right?”

“…Yes. Really… I meant it…”

“There are a lot of young ladies who failed their diet because of Chandrine Bakery. It’s so delicious.”

Bella also opened her mouth wide. She struck down a single eclair like lightning. Then, she opened her mouth as if she had suddenly remembered something while wiping the corner of her mouth smeared slightly with cream.

“Ah, by the way.”

“Yes?”

“Have you met His Highness?”

“…Who?”

“His Highness the Prince. He’s a very distant relative of the Duke.”

In an instant, I dropped the eclair I was eating.

“He has the same golden hair as me… His eyes are blue. He said he had come to see me, but I couldn’t meet him because I was on my way to the bakery. Did you see him?”

“You spoke informally first.”

If it was golden hair and blue eyes, he was the only person I thought of.

“I admit that your appearance is great, but that’s not everything, right? If all the women fall for you after a wink, do you think you’re the god of love?”

With the tingling feeling as if someone had stabbed me in the back of my head, the absurd remarks I had made to him came to mind.

“If you want to be treated respectfully, you must introduce yourself first. Don’t you think so?”

“…Wait.”

My eyes blinked quickly. Unable to hide my bewilderment, I asked again. “That person, no, he… you said he’s a prince?”

“Yes. Have you met him yet?”

“Ah, I’m doomed.”

“Why?”

Without even thinking of answering Bella’s question, I immediately looked for the laws.

“What are you doing, Lobelia?” Bella came close to me with her eyes full of wonder.

“I’m looking for charges of insulting the imperial family?”

“What?”

“Because I spoke informally to him.”

“I-informally?”

Bella stuttered in surprise. Seeing her stutter like that, it was clear that there was at least a law that punished someone for speaking informally to the imperial family. I couldn’t tolerate the death penalty.

It was the moment when I was thinking about what to do now.

“Ahahaha…!” Laughter burst out of Bella’s mouth as if she couldn’t hold it in. “You’re the first person who spoke informally to His Highness!”

“…Will I be sentenced to death?”

“Aah! Don’t make me laugh more. I’m really out of breath!”

“Then don’t joke like that. Until now, I really panicked to the point where I could barely breathe.”

“Hahaha… It’s fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

“No, Lobelia will be alright.”

Bella laughed so hard at my words, it was to the point of tears forming, and she wiped them. Only then did my face slowly brighten.  

“…Really?”

“Yes. His Highness really has a good personality.”

“…Hmmm.”

“Why?”

“It’s just…”

Blurring my words, I remembered the image of Frinel seducing the maid. He didn’t seem like a bad person, but he didn’t fall into the ‘good person’ category too. At least, that was for me.

“Aah, has he been flirting with the maids again?”

“…Yes, well…”

“Don’t think too strangely.”

Just as I was about to think that she was defending her distant relative, Bella smiled and continued her words. “Because he did it on purpose.”

“…On purpose, you mean?”

“Um…”

There was a look of embarrassment on her face. I picked up the fallen eclair and said, “You don’t have to tell me if you’re in trouble.”

“I-it’s not like that. After all, since Lobelia is also a member of Duke Gracie, you will find out anyway.”

Bella took a deep breath and began to explain Frinel’s circumstances. “Frinel is the son of Her Majesty the former Empress, who passed away.”

“Are you saying he’s not the child of the current empress?”

Because my progress in history didn’t go that far, I didn’t know much about the current situation. My eyes twinkled as I tried my best to soothe my regrets.

“Yes. Unfortunately, Her Majesty the former Empress passed away shortly after giving birth to Frinel. After that, the only daughter of Duke Bonitare, Princess Bonitare, took the throne as the new empress.”

“…Then…”

“Her Majesty got pregnant right away. She gave birth to a son.”

“Ah…”

I sighed deeply, blurring the end of my words. It was obvious, even if I hadn’t heard the story behind it.

“In that situation, what would the empress do?”

“… I’m sure she wanted to put his son on the throne.”

“Yes, that’s right. In addition, the nobles are divided into factions and fight fiercely.”

Bella slowly finished her explanation. “Frinel is just making up rumors on purpose. He goes around spreading scandals here and there for no reason. He seduces women and indulges himself in luxury.”

“To show that he’s not interested in politics, but aren’t his scandals real?”

“Yes. Umm…maybe.”

To my question, Bella answered in a voice of uncertainty.

“By the way…”

“What?”

“Is it okay for the person involved to be so absent?”

Even the nobles were arguing over the issue of the throne. It was irresponsible for him to deliberately make scandals just because he didn’t want to get into the fight.

“Ah, Frinel is…”

A dark shade hung over Bella’s face, which was always shining. She raised her mouth bitterly and said, “Since his childhood, so many times that you can’t count…”

Bella continued slowly, swallowing her saliva as if choking her throat. “He almost died.”

“He almost died? What do you mean?”

“…From assassination.”

At Bella’s words, my mouth opened without realizing it.

“Frinel, from a very young age, lived with her stepmother, who tried to kill him. The abuse was basic. Now that he’s grown up, she can’t do something like that again, but…”

Hearing all of Bella’s stories, I closed my mouth for a moment. Soon Bella opened her mouth again.

“…It makes him want to stay away.”

For a moment, I was ashamed of myself for thinking Frinel was irresponsible. Just because the victim avoided the perpetrator a little, you couldn’t blame them for being irresponsible.

So, when we talked about inevitability… Only then did I realize why his expression had darkened in our previous conversation. If the abuse and pain he had suffered were an inevitable event in this world, that would drain his strength.

It was the same for me. I never wanted to believe that the betrayal I suffered was inevitable.

“If Frinel comes again, please treat him well. Even if he looks like that, he’s soft-hearted. He has a lot of scars. Until now, he’s a person who didn’t trust anyone except Grandpa and me…”

“…Then to Your Highness…” I opened my mouth slowly.

“Yes?”

“A light relationship might be better.”

“Light relationship?”

I never dreamed that there would be such a deep scar behind his shining appearance. After listening to all his stories, sympathy rose naturally in my heart. However, having a deep relationship with him was another thing.

“A deep relationship can hurt each other, but a light relationship can end rather cleanly.”

I, who couldn’t trust people anymore, and Frinel, who had never trusted people. Although his first impression wasn’t good, I thought I could get along with him in the future. It was a very shallow and light relationship.

“I think that would be convenient. For each other,” saying so, I smiled lightly.