This will be the last chapter in the orphanage for a while. Enjoy the chapter!
TL: clover
ED: clover
"No way, I didn"t expect that the day will come when Milady will be stuck to the orphanage."
"……I completely agree with you on that."
A week has pa.s.sed since I became friends with Chloe.
Eventually, I went to the orphanage like that everyday since that day and helped Chloe taking care of the children.
I was told by the friend I made for the first time that 「I want to see you again」, so how can I refuse it?
I don"t want to do this anymore. While I was wondering whether to come here again or not, I was completely swayed to do so at the time of departure on the first day.
When I heard Chloe"s words, I immediately withdrew my previous thoughts.
"……if Chloe said that you want me to come, I will come again."
"Really? I"m so happy! Every time I ask my other friends to go to the orphanage, everyone will escape."
"……those friends of yours are n.o.ble ladies, right? I guess that reaction is to be expected."
As it is the duty of a n.o.ble, one will give a donation. But, just who exactly will go out of their way to take care of the orphans directly?
Because I think that I would like to avoid it if I could.
"But, Lily will come, right?"
"……that, that"s just because you asked me to come!"
Chloe, who looked at me with upturned eyes, seems pretty even from my point of view who has the same gender.
Hearing my words, Chloe smiled happily.
"Yes! Absolutely! Since we have become friends, I would like to hang out with Lily more."
"……it can"t be helped then."
Between not wanting to take care of the orphanage and the friend I made for the first time, I easily chose my friend.
I don"t want to end our meeting just like this after I finally made a friend. For that purpose, I will gladly help the orphanage as much as I can. That"s what I thought.
It"s fine if I think that this is for my self-interest.
With that kind of thoughts, I kept going to the orphanage everyday.
I read to the children, teach calculations, and sometimes sing songs to them.
Little children have a nap time, and at that time, Chloe and I (of course there is also Luke, but that is not important) have a tea party and enjoy ourselves.
Today as well, after taking care of everyone, both of us enjoyed a simple tea party, when Chloe knew that I have a fiancé, she enthusiastically asked me.
"Waah! You have a fiancé! As expected, Lily. You truly feel like a Duke"s daughter!"
I looked at Chloe, who said such a thing even though she herself is also a n.o.ble lady, in exasperation.
"……it"s not that rare. I think it is also common for an Earl"s daughter like you, and there should be a girl with a fiancé among your friends, right?"
"Surprisingly, there is no one like that in my surrounding. I also don"t have a fiancé. So, it"s very fresh to me! Hey, if you don"t mind, can you tell me about it? What kind of person is your fiancé? Lily, what do you think about that person?"
"What do I think about him……"
My engagement to Al is to officially unite the King and my father, and that fact is not a secret either.
So, I don"t care about saying the name of the other party, but I feel troubled when I was asked about what I think of him.
"Uuh……my fiancé is His Highness the First Prince Alan. Um……we were only recently engaged."
"His Highness Alan! Wow! Then, Lily will be the Crown Princess, huh. How wonderful."
"That"s only if the engagement continues. But, I don"t know what will happen."
My engagement to Al only happened because he wanted to cooperate with me. If he doesn"t want it, I will accept the cancellation of our engagement, and if he told me that he likes other girl……I think I will accept gladly.
So, I tried to avoid thinking of him as 『my fiancé』 as much as possible.
Because, if I think of him like that, I"m sure that I wouldn"t want to give Al to anyone. Because even if I try to stop the cancellation, I know that he cannot obediently nod.
Even though at first I only like his appearance, it can"t be helped that I like him even more, he who takes care of me and advises me kindly many times so that I won"t become a 『villainess』.
I don"t want to hand someone I like to someone else. Besides, he"s my fiancé now.
I don"t want to let him go.
—It"s been a while since I last meet Al.
It can"t be helped because as the First Prince, he doesn"t have free time, but I still think about it. I would like to meet him and talk to him about Chloe. I had written him a letter talking about my first friend, but I"d like to talk to him directly.
"……Lily, you really like His Highness, huh. Right now, you have a very gentle expression."
"Eh."
Chloe told me while giggling. It"s true that I was thinking about Al, so I can"t say anything.
"I thought about what would happen to people who got engaged in a political marriage, but Lily seems happy. His Highness Alan must be a wonderful person, huh."
"Yes. He"s just like what the rumors say……no, he"s even better than the rumors."
"How nice. I also want to have a fiancé like that……no, I want to fall in love!"
Looking at Chloe, who looks happy and is putting both of her hands on her cheeks, I said.
"Um, Chloe has no fiancé……then, do you have someone you like?"
I heard a coughing noise from behind me, but I ignored it.
This should be the natural course of event. I also talked about myself, so she shouldn"t mind it if I asked.
Chloe who heard my question gave a bitter smile.
"I"m sorry, but I don"t have a fiancé or anyone I like. Someday, if possible, I would like to meet a good person."
"I see."
I have sensed it vaguely, but it seems that Chloe doesn"t see Luke as an object of romantic interest.
I feel sorry for Luke, but it can"t be helped.
I wonder if he"s going to work harder to make Chloe conscious of him or give up. That"s up to him.
While I was thinking such a thing, Chloe said with dreamy eyes.
"I"d like to meet someone who can have Lily"s expression from a while ago. I hope I could meet someone like that when I make my society debut."
"That"s right. There are a lot of unmarried men in the society, so I think there will be men who match your standard. But, there are also the worst kind of men who will get close to you even if they have wife and kids, so you have to be careful."
I haven"t debuted in the society yet, but I have heard about it from word of mouth.
There are many dukes and marquises who are looking for lover candidates.
I absolutely don"t want Chloe, who is my friend, to be caught in that kind of men"s clutches, so I advised her, but she told me with a laugh.
"I will be fine. I"m not interested in men with wives and lovers. For that kind of people, I think I want them to cherish their own precious people properly, so I will refuse."
Chloe distorted her face while giving a clear answer.
"In general, I don"t want to be someone"s second choice, and I don"t want to share a man with someone else."
"Yes, you"re right."
"Also, even if he says that he will part with his current lover to be with me……I can"t trust anything that man says. Someone like that will repeat the same thing over and over again. I would like to be the first woman he goes out with! I know that it is indeed impossible and I don"t want to expect anything, but I"d like to go out with a sincere person."
"Chloe, you are surprisingly firm, huh."
Hearing the kind of man she wanted, I was impressed.
Certainly, I thought that she was right.
I also don"t like to share the person I like with someone else, and I want to go out with a sincere person.
"Me too……I think that kind of person is good."
When I reflexively told her my real thoughts, Chloe widened her eyes.
"What are you talking about? Lily, you have His Highness Alan, right?"
"……right."
I nodded vaguely after hearing Chloe"s words.
I will be happy if I can become his partner, but the current me who is p.r.o.ne to become a 『villainess』, cannot become his partner. If, when I become a perfect lady, he is still at my side……if that kind of future arrives, if possible, I would like to say that I like him.
I wonder if he will choose me.
—Aah, not good.
I shake off my brooding thoughts.
I have no time to think about something like that.
First of all, I have to become a perfect lady. And then, prove myself superior to Prince Wilfred.
After achieving these goals, then I could consider the rest.
"What"s wrong? Lily."
I heard Chloe asked me with a concerned voice. I smiled and said, "It"s nothing," and changed the topic properly.