"You"re explaining it to the wrong person." Their difference in status didn"t faze Riol in the slightest—
"—…so cool."
"Please shut up."
"Okay~"
With a face suggesting he had swallowed something bitter, the attendant turned towards Sharina.
"I"m sorry… Regarding this uncouth behavior, I beg for your forgiveness, Lady—uhm…"
"—uh, it"s okay for you to speak now."
Sharina, whom was finally granted permission to speak by Riol, a.s.sumed that the attendant asked for her house"s name.
"Ah, it"s Clydea—my name is Sharina Clydea."
"…Lady Clydea, again, I"m sorry about this."
"It"s fine, after all, it was just a misunderstanding…"
While bowing, we apologized to each other.
…this development was kind of unexpected, however, it seemed that everything would finally settle down—
"—are you not done yet?"
The Prince—scratch that—the Root of All Evil who didn"t even bother stepping out of the carriage the whole time his attendant was busy covering him, complained.
"Oi, Black Rat. This time, I"ll forgive your rudeness. I did this for that Uniquely Furred Cat"s sake—keep in mind that you"ve just narrowly escaped death."
After the distasteful remark, the carriage loudly left.
"Haaa…—"
Once the carriage couldn"t be seen anymore, Riol collapsed onto the ground.
"—that was my lifetime"s worth of shouting… I don"t want to talk for a while."
"Riol—!! Riol—!! What you did just now, it was really awesome!!!"
"Did you not hear what I"ve just said…?"
Sharina cheered as she gleefully clung to his back.
"—you"ve done yet another thing that could be labelled "insane". You"ve just turned down a Prince"s invitation, and became "that one lady who refused His Highness" invitation"—are you aware of this? Do you realize the consequences?"
"Yes?"
Sharina innocently nodded—it could be said that she was more focused on enjoying Riol"s voice rather than taking in his words.
Be it the difference in status, course, etc.—it was irrelevant to Sharina. All that mattered to her was that they were all the students of the same school. Hence, even if Riol hadn"t intervened back then, Sharina would have still refuse him with all her might.
…without knowing that her stubbornness would attract enemies from all sides…
"T-then, what"ll happen to you, Riol?" Sharina"s face grew pale in an instant. "If the attendant were to say anything about you…"
Instead of her, Riol became the one who took the fall instead—he could be charged with the crime of disgracing the Prince…
"It matters not. Which attendant would dare to spread word about their Master being accused of trying to flip a woman"s skirt? The Prince would lose face for sure."
"Oh, there"s that, too…"
That it was just a misunderstanding wouldn"t matter—some people would surely be misled. After all, there was no smoke without fire.
"Truly… if you chose to ride the carriage from the start, then I wouldn"t end up this tired…"
"…I"m sorry."
Realizing that she was being foolish, Sharina became downcast—
—at the very least, when turning him down, I didn"t have to be that disrespectful…
Riol"s favorable impression of her must had disappeared by now…—all that effort down the drain…
"I just wanted to go to school together with Riol… I"m really sorry…"
When she involuntarily shed tears while apologizing, Riol seemed taken aback.
…is he disgusted of me now?
"…it"s fine. You"re still the victim, here. Come on, if we don"t hurry, we"ll be late. You said it yourself, didn"t you? That we"ll be going to school together."
"—!! Yes—!!"
—even if all that was true…
Riol stood up and dusted off some soil from his clothes—
—he…
—then, he gently extended his hand towards Sharina.
…stayed kind to me.
"Thank you, Riol. I love you."
"I already told you to not say that sort of thing so easily like that…"
…it had only been 10 days since they had first met—
—and yet, she kept falling in love with him, over and over.
Swallowing her love, Sharina gladly took the man"s thin hand.
◆◆◆◇◆◆◆◇◆◆◆◇◆◆◆
"What is this?"
"It"s a sandwich~"
"If it requires two hands instead of one, then it doesn"t certify to be called a sandwich…"
—backyard, during lunch break.
At first, Sharina was worried that Riol wouldn"t come there anymore. However, she was relieved to see the mop of black hair sitting under the tree"s shade. As usual, she sat next to him, opened the lunch box, and presented it to him.
"Well, you"re right. But I guarantee the taste! The bread is handmade, just so you know!"
"The bread is—!?"
Sandwiches was designed to be eaten with one hand. If the size made it so that it couldn"t be eaten without using both hands, the name would lose all significance…
"So a n.o.ble lady that"s willing to knead the dough herself exists…"
"Albeit the hamburger was prepared by my chef…"
"No, I didn"t mean to make you feel bad…"
"—not to mention, the fried egg came from my house"s beloved chickens. It isn"t an exaggeration to say that I loved the egg as if it"s my own child…"
"—you"re exaggerating."
Riol left the book open on his lap, and held the sandwich. He took a small bite and nomed it, before muttering "delicious".
"What a relief! No problem, I"ll make it again—this time, the hamburger too, will be kneaded with my own hands!"
"I"m starting to worry that the vegetable, too, will be grown from scratch…"
"Oh, right! That also count as "handmade"!"
"No, stop, don"t turn your dorm into a farm …although, I feel that it"s already way too late to say this—after all, you"re already kneading bread…"
Sharina also ate the sandwich (pseudonym). For a while, there was only silence—
—however, there was no awkwardness, only a small happiness…
"—Ho, Uniquely Furred Cat, this is where you spend your time? Ah, Black Rat, you"re here, too?"
…which was ruined.
"…His Highness."
While hiding her fed up expression, Sharina lifted her face.
"The smell from this morning, I still remember it—which one do I get?"
A certain blond, blue-eyed, Cookie Thief stood in front of her with a smug face—
—I want to beat him up!!!
**T/N : Aaaaaah this story is so fluf–BakaOuji b.u.t.ts in and popped the bubble in an instant*
THIS IS A CRIME
DISTRUPTING A FLUFF SCENE DESERVES A CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
I DONT EVEN CARE IF YOU ARE A PRINCE
Next chapter>
~a budding translator~