She was bothered when she recalled the crown prince’s reassurances that he would do everything to make her relationship with Lard go smoothly.
‘No way! I hope not!’
Although she shook her head, she began to be consumed by ominous feelings.
Those were the words of the crown prince when he met her at Jerus Hall. Although she wanted to refrain from terrible speculation, his words were resounding in her ears ominously.
How could he present the title of baron as a reward for the hunting competition? Although she shuddered at the realization that she was entangled in the crown prince’s strange actions, she couldn’t just casually ignore his promise that he would support the union of her and Lard.
What if the prince really offered the title as a reward with her in mind?
Rise in status. To achieve it, her teaming up with Lard was almost the only chance. Moreover, Lard had already experiences of winning in the hunting contest.
“It seems like even the emperor has allowed his son to go ahead with this event as a reward for his decision not to stand on stage again. Besides, the emperor was happy about his full attendance at the cabinet meeting.”
“…I see.”
She swept her golden hair with her fingers as if she wanted to calm down and wished she was just paranoid.
“The prince asked me if you could ride a horse, I told him you rode very well. He asked me to come and see him with you before the contest. I don’t know why the crown prince is paying so much attention to you. Did you talk with the prince about something else? I mean, something that I don’t know…?”
When he said that, she avoided his eyes furtively.
When she explained to Lard about how she came to meet the crown prince in detail, she didn’t tell him that the prince showed too much interest in her relationship with him. She also didn’t tell him that the prince misunderstood their relationship, and that the prince even composed an impromptu song and played it for her. As such, it was natural that Lard came to be suspicious of the prince’s puzzling attitude and his real intentions.
But she had no slightest intention of telling him about that strange, unpleasant episode. In fact, she felt very uncomfortable about the fact that she was misunderstood in terms of her relationship with Lard. How could she tell him about it? She could never.
“Well, I don’t know. I can’t remember it well because I bumped into him by chance,” she said with a sigh.
She even assumed that the crown prince might be cooking up some plan to link her with Lard. She felt as if the prince wanted to watch Wendy and Lard like two main characters on stage as stage director after bolstering their relationship.
As her assumption was true, the script written by the prince would most likely turn out as a failure as soon as the performance began because Wendy was not interested in the baron title. Of course, when she was living at the earl’s mansion in the past, she once felt envious of a high social status. But now, she led a totally secluded life, hiding her past.
Baron? She didn’t miss nobility or want it. Besides, if she won the baron title at the hunting contest, she would be the hot topic immediately among those in the social circles in the capital. It would be a matter of time before Dylan Lennox and the members of the Earl Hazlet family became aware of her existence. In fact, taking part in the hunting contest was a big risk for her! She didn’t want to get caught up in such a troubling event.
“Giving the title of baron? How weird! It seems that the crown prince is really suffering from the effects of his retirement from the music stage,” said she, laughed bitterly.
After he accompanied her to the flower shop, he took out a golden envelope from his pocket. That was why he came to see her. The invitation to the hunting contest was stamped with the imperial seal.
“I will prepare your hunting costume on that day. I’ll send you the costume tomorrow. If you feel something is missing, you can order it from the person who is bringing you the costume. As for the horse you’re going to ride, I will prepare a good hunting horse for you, so don’t worry.”
Lard unilaterally talked about his plan as if he wanted to avoid shopping with her again like he did recently. She thought about opposing his plan for a minute, but this time she decided to give it a pass. Anyway, it was she who was responsible for the unique hunting event this time.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
After offering thanks to him out of courtesy, she became tense instantly when he looked at a couple of teacups on the table. She scoffed at him, thinking he would likely to ask for tea again, but she didn’t show her feelings. She vowed she would not be sucked in again. Her priority now was to divert his attention.
“…Well, I’ll send you flowers later. That’s all I can to show my gratitude for your considerations like this. ”
After moving her body a bit and looking at him, she talked with a softer tone. She had never been kinder to him than now. It was her new strategy that she would change her attitude towards him. She remembered that all the things she did with a mean spirit ended up bringing in bad results. He was the type of man who patiently challenged his opponent’s poor treatment of him but gave in when the other party showed hospitality.
‘If that’s the case, I will show you my best hospitality!’
She would lose nothing even if he would not like the flowers, complaining that flowers were not suitable as a gift to the knight. She was already well aware of the habits of the imperial knight.
“… If you would be kind enough to do so, I will accept. Thanks.”
When he gave her an unexpected response, she was shocked, but she urgently cleared her throat to stay calm.
‘Is he deliberately trying to put me into trouble on purpose?’
She scanned his face with a suspicious look, but he was delighted at her gift from the bottom of his heart. There was nothing like sarcasm or ridicule in his face.
‘Why are you smiling at me?’ She thought angrily.
When he smiled warmly at her, she had to turn her eyes from him and toward the pile of flowers under the display stand. His smile, which felt like spring sunshine, had a marvelous heat. The radiant heat from him came straight over her skin and embarrassed her. She had to turn away her eyes from him because she felt hot around her eyes, too.
“Which flowers would you want me to send you? ”
While she was at a loss about how to respond to him, she gave him the choice of flowers that he liked. She blamed herself for that, but it was too late.
“I love that flower over there. I like its light yellow.”
He pointed to a freesia flower inside a round glass jar. As he chose it with no hesitation, she looked at his face and the flowers alternately.
She was a bit surprised that Lard had something like a taste for flowers, but what made her upset all the more was the fact that she had no other choice but to send flowers to him.
As she felt under the weather, she didn’t even wonder why he liked the yellow freesia. She didn’t know why he made an ambiguous expression while looking at the freesia.
“…Okay. I will send freesia… ”
“Knight! Who did it best? Yeah? Just tell me the truth.”
“Hey, don’t you know it really? Think about who got my praise most. Didn’t you see me cut the rose branch with the sword? It’s completely cut off. Jerry, have you seen it? Huh? I showed you a little while ago, right?”
She couldn’t finish her words because the boys came inside the shop, chattering among themselves. They were making a big fuss as if they were satisfied with their sparring with Jean Jacque Simuan in the flower garden. They were literally walking on air.
“Hahaha, you guys are too greedy when you have only learned how to hold a sword,” Jean said with a hearty laugh.
When they looked up at his face as if they were captivated by his generosity, there was envy and yearning in their eyes. In particular, Benfork even tried to imitate the way he laughed.
“Hahahahaha.”
Jean laughed more happily at his imitation, but unfortunately, his happy mood was spoiled immediately when somebody called him sternly.
“Sir Jean Jacques Simuan!”