*sneakily add her fanart of Sharina:
**T/N: That"s all for now!!! *scurry off
Once that voice entered her ears, Sharina"s murderous intent rose exponentially—
—suffice to say; her urges to kill someone had never been that high.
…what have I done—!? I spoke of the devil—!!
"I came to offer my grat.i.tude for the sandwich. Unfortunately, I didn"t catch you yesterday, after cla.s.s."
Riol, whom was about to stand up, was immediately stopped by That—by Leonardo.
"Don"t be that cautious, Black Rat. I didn"t come today to inquire about that cheap amulet trick of yours." Prince Leonardo waved his hand casually with an adamant smile.
…where does that confidence of his come from?
Between him and Riol, he suffered more defeats, so how could he be that confident?
—or, does he just possess a hairy heart[1]? Sharina pondered so.
"Yesterday, I was going to take you to a store. It was sudden, I know, but I ordered for them to prepare for my visit. However, it"s quite saddening that I didn"t meet the Cat it was meant for."
Leonardo took a small, white, box adorned with silver decoration from his pocket. The small box bore the stamp of a famous jewelry store in the capital city.
"Here, take this."
"I can"t receive that."
Sharina refused to. She stood up instantly and stare straight at the Prince"s eyes.
"An equivalent of jewelry—such a sandwich, I don"t recall of ever making that. Or, if I were able to, if I could, I would already be millionaire now."
"…Ho."
The price of what he offered as token of grat.i.tude was incomparable to what he had received. It was to the point that Sharina honestly thought he was making a fool out of her.
Moreover, rewarding her with such expensive jewelry spelled "showing off his wealth" on his part rather than earnest grat.i.tude for a mere sandwich.
Besides that, jewelry was something to be worn. Even more so when it was given by the Prince—was there even an option to not put it on?
If she were to accept it, she would not only be forced to put it on, but also relish the unpleasant feelings it brought through the memory of receiving it.
…I don"t need it. I REALLY don"t need it.
Heck, he could even bestow her a gift of c.o.c.kroaches, and she would still be grateful at this point—
—at the very least, c.o.c.kroaches could still be mercilessly crushed without hesitation.
"Is that so? That"s a shame. Let"s do this another way, then. The sandwich was very delicious, I want to thank you for that—so what can I give you as a thanks?"
"If it"s a thank you, your words of grat.i.tude are enough."
…Because she could forget them right away. No hard feelings.
"Khu …hahahahahahaha—!! Up until now, only your hair color was considered interesting by me—but now, I can see it—!! You are interesting—!! You truly are—!! I like that—!!"
"…Huh?"
She was relieved …too early. Until a second ago, she thought he was finally backing away—however, Leonardo burst out laughing.
"Staring right into my eyes; recognizing the royal crest stamped upon the jewelry box—and still not even a slight of doubt in your eyes! I hesitated showing this to you at first because I thought you might freak out—but you didn"t! You truly are something else! This is the first time I have ever met a woman like you!"
…I, I just said "I don"t need" towards something I don"t need…?
"I was thinking that if you accepted it without a thought, that would be it for me…"
…I"m telling you! I only said so because I truly don"t need it!
"—but now, I"ve decided. Uniquely Furred Cat—I"ll make you mine."
Sharina, too shocked, finally opened her mouth.
"…You, jest…"
…You couldn"t seriously mean that right—!?
Otherwise, you TRULY are wrong in the head—!!!
Do you need me to wrap my hands around your neck so I can shake your head to the maximum—?!
"…Be prepared. In my dictionary, there"s no "give up"."
Leonardo turned his back on the two, leaving swiftly after achieving his goal. Behind him, were two stunned people.
"…Riol."
"…yeah."
After the Prince"s back completely disappeared, Sharina slowly turned behind her.
"…Hey, if That won"t give up until the end, does that mean I can stay with Riol until the end, too?"
"…Don"t encourage him—!?!?!?!"
"Shari—! Shari—! Great news—!"
Once lunch break was over, Sharina returned to the cla.s.sroom. Angelica raised her voice while rus.h.i.+ng towards her.
Apparently, there was no teacher. It seemed that the afternoon cla.s.s would be self-study.
"What"s wrong, Ange? Ah, this is the second time I"ve said this today."
"It"s about His Highness!! His Highness Leonardo will be attending the dance party next month!!"
"…eh?"
Angelica was excited about getting a new dress tailored, but at the same time, also worried whether or not it would suit the Prince"s taste.
"Uhh, is it hosted by the academy? Can the new students attend too?"
"Absolutely! After all, it"s a welcome party for new student!"
Not just Angelica, other girls were also excited. The topic in the cla.s.s that day centered on Leonardo.
"But wait… the fact that His Highness would also be there at the party, how did Ange know?"
"When the lunch break was about to end, His Highness was invited to a birthday party hosted by other seniors. However, he refused because he said he was going to attend the school party! Someone overheard that and the news was spread instantly."
The dance party hosted by the school …certainly, it was briefly mentioned during her orientation. Sharina could still faintly recall it.
All students were free to partic.i.p.ate, however, most of them sat it out unless their grades were involved.
"What about you, Shari? What dress will you be wearing?"
It seemed that the news of Prince Leonardo—the fourth grade student—attending the party was a huge news for the first graders.
"Un, I might consider not partic.i.p.ating…"
For Sharina, the news was both big and sad. Especially when she remembered the Prince"s ultimatum. She could already imagine him asking her to dance upon spotting her at the party.
"Eeeh—!? Why—?! This is your chance to see His Highness—!!"
"…Not like I wanted to, anyway."
"Ugh—! Do you even dream—!?"
…Or rather, it would be better if my situation stayed a dream…
"But… there"s also a rumor that a certain freshman caught the Prince"s eyes. I also heard that the Prince is going to invite that freshman! If the Prince were to be that freshman"s escort for the whole party, then there"ll be no chance for us…!"
"…yes…"
Hearing Angelica"s words, Sharina stiffened.
…How could I not think of that—?
Without attending the party, she surely wouldn"t be asked for a dance—but, what if the Prince personally invited her…?
In the unlikely event Prince Leonardo would go out of his way to invite Sharina, Sharina—a mere count"s daughter—wouldn"t be able to refuse him. It was a whole different story than merely refusing his unsuitable gift.
The only reason someone would turn down an offer like that was because they"re dissatisfied with the partner. That would count as insulting the Prince. She was also confident she wouldn"t be able reason her way out of it.
In other words, if he did invite her—it"s game over.
"But, we mustn"t give up hope—!! After all, this is only the beginning—!! For all we know, the freshman His Highness is looking for could be one of us—!!"
"Eh, ah, uh, yes, we mustn"t give up, indeed…"
—how?
How do I avoid this?
The dance party was scheduled for the beginning of next month.
Sharina considered not stepping a foot out of her dorm for the next 20 days or so…
"Indeed! It"s too early to give up! There aren"t any student wearing blue and gold rose accessories yet, so we still have hope!"
"Yeah, the blue rose—rose? What are you talking about? Aren"t we talking about His Highness?"
"Eh, Shari, you didn"t know? It"s one of our academy"s dance party traditions."
Sharina pretended to be ill so she couldn"t quite catch her mean.
"A boy gives a flower accessory to a girl he wants to escort. The girl who receives it will wear said accessory until the day of the party. Basically, it means you already have a partner so no one else would invite you."
…that"s a first I"ve ever heard of this…
"Then, to inform everyone who gave it to you, the boy will give you flowers that match the color of his hair and eyes. His Highness has a wonderful blond hair and blue eyes, and Elgacia"s national flower is rose. So, if His Highness were to invite you, he"d probably give you a gold leaf and blue rose ornament."
"Hee…"
A flower accessory of the same color as the giver"s hair and eyes served as a sign that the girl already had a partner.
"Black… and dark green…"
"Eh?"
…if she were to be invited by Riol, she was likely to receive an accessory of those colors…
But, in the first place, Riol didn"t seem to be one who would be interested in attending that kind of party…
Jet-black like the darkness of night; a really immersive deep green that could sink someone all the way to the bottom…
They would surely make a nice flower accessory… Sharina exhaled.
[1] "In the modern wizarding world, to say that someone has a “hairy heart” means that they are an unfeeling person."
***T/N :
///Le Prince Jamamono: “–I"ll make you mine.”
///Legit me: Oh, f.u.c.k.
Next part>
~a budding translator~