“Wow… a carnation?”
“Yes.”
Receiving the bouquet from the attendant, Lionel examined it closely as if checking what was hidden among the flowers, then handed it to me.
“I looked it up. Pink carnations symbolize gratitude, apparently. So I prepared this.”
“What are you even thankful to me for?”
It couldn’t be repayment for the fountain pen… He had already properly received that the last time he visited.
And I had only baked cookies today, so it couldn’t be thanks for that either.
“I’m not entirely sure myself.”
“Pardon?”
I had seen plenty of people apologize without knowing what they did wrong—but this was the first time I’d seen someone express gratitude without even knowing why they were thankful.
“For now, I suppose I’m just grateful you baked cookies for me yourself. It’s my first time experiencing something like this.”
“Your first time?”
For someone like me, who had grown up eating cookies my mother baked since before I could even read, that was a surprising statement.
But considering Lionel’s mother was the Empress…
‘…Yeah. It probably is his first time.’
There was no way the Empress would personally bake cookies. And even if she did, they would all have gone straight to the First Prince.
Feeling a little sorry for him, I hugged the bouquet tightly and said,
“I’ll bake them for you from time to time. But… aren’t they too sweet?”
“They are sweet.”
“…Does your stomach not feel weird?”
“Not particularly. Though I think I can skip dinner.”
As if it were a convenient excuse, Lionel’s gaze shifted toward the desk behind him.
There was quite a stack of documents there, and I couldn’t help frowning.
“I know you’re busy, but you shouldn’t skip meals.”
Then I glanced at the cookie case now reduced to crumbs and spoke almost reflexively.
“Next time… I guess I should make them less sweet?”
“Either is fine.”
“Is there anything you can’t eat? Anything you dislike, or that gives you allergies?”
“Nothing in particular.”
“Then what do you like?”
“Nothing in particular.”
He shook his head lightly, and I clapped my hands once.
“Alright. Then I’ll bake different kinds, so try them all and figure out what you like most.”
“How many kinds does ‘different kinds’ mean?”
“Well… I’ll have to check what’s in our kitchen.”
It was the duchy’s kitchen—rumored to be the wealthiest in the empire. At minimum, there had to be more than ten varieties.
“I’m curious how many I can make myself. I probably can’t do it alone, so I’ll bake them with the head chef. Let’s try them together and decide which is best.”
“Then please prepare three types, two pieces each.”
“Three types… two each?”
“Yes. After today’s experience, six seems like the appropriate amount.”
A laugh escaped me.
‘He has a cute side after all.’
The cookies I brought today were eight or nine pieces, and it seemed six had been his limit.
‘Then I’ll just save the remaining ones for later.’
Maybe it wasn’t about quantity, but sweetness. Still, at least he was clear, which made things easier.
I nodded.
“Instead, you should prepare tea that goes well with cookies. Several kinds.”
“Understood.”
Even as he answered, his expression remained unchanged.
Talking to him could be frustrating in many ways, but at least he always answered properly—which was something.
Afterwards—
“Well then, I’ll be going. You seem busy, so you don’t have to see me out.”
“Yes. Please take care on your way back.”
After Cecilia left with the bouquet in her arms, Lionel returned to his desk and resumed his work.
He had already given his attendants a break, so he was alone in the office.
A short while later, the head servant who had escorted Cecilia to the carriage returned and, seeing no one else present, asked:
“Your Highness, is it true that the young lady of the ducal house personally baked cookies?”
“Yes. It is true.”
“And those cookies…?”
“They’re gone.”
“…Ah.”
The servant looked at the empty case with a troubled expression. He had been given a separate order by the First Prince.
—
“If Cecilia brings anything to the Second Prince’s palace again, report it to me immediately.”
—
If he reported it, the next order would surely be to retrieve it.
But unlike objects, food like cookies could not be secured once eaten.
“Um… Your Highness, perhaps next time—”
The servant hesitated, unable to finish.
Asking him to leave cookies behind… or to request more from the young lady of the ducal house… neither was something a servant could say to a prince.
Though it was well known that Lionel was treated coldly by the Empress, he was not merely a discarded prince.
—
[He would ascend to the highest throne regardless of his own will.]
—
He was the undeniable future crown prince.
“…Never mind.”
Glancing at the discouraged servant, Lionel lowered his gaze to the documents.
It wasn’t his concern who pressured whom.
“If there’s nothing else, bring me some tea. Earl Grey would be good.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will prepare it immediately.”
After the servant left, Lionel swallowed repeatedly, disturbed by the lingering sweetness clinging to his tongue and molars.
Having eaten several sweet cookies at once, his stomach felt heavy.
And yet, he did not find those sensations unpleasant.
Because the empty case, left entirely by his own actions, felt oddly satisfying.
Meanwhile—
Though she didn’t really know what he was thankful for, Cecilia had chosen pink carnations to express gratitude.
Returning home while holding the bouquet, she asked Eunice to bring a vase.
“Are you going to decorate your bedroom?”
“Yes! It’s the first time I’ve ever received flowers from a man!”
While arranging the flowers herself, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘No matter how I look at it, Lionel doesn’t seem like someone who would kidnap and imprison a person.’
Not in the sense that he wasn’t capable of wrongdoing…
Rather, he didn’t seem like someone who could form that kind of deep, possessive, sticky obsession toward another person.
There must be a trigger. Something that changed him so drastically he became a different person.
“Hey, Yuni. Do you think a person’s personality can change in an instant?”
Eunice tilted her head.
“What do you mean by ‘instant’?”
“I mean… like someone who feels like an emotionless doll suddenly kidnaps a noble lady and locks her somewhere no one can find her.”
“I’m not sure people can change that drastically… but if I had to choose, there are two possibilities.”
“Two? What are they?”
Eunice first explained the first possibility.
“Someone with normal morals wouldn’t actually commit something like kidnapping and imprisonment, no matter how twisted their personality becomes. So in that case, they were always a terrible person, just hiding it well.”
“Oh… that makes sense.”
Cecilia thought for a moment.
‘Is Lionel actually a psychopath hiding his true nature?’
But that felt unlikely.
She didn’t remember the novel very clearly—it was something she had read in her past life, over sixteen years ago—but whenever she thought of the future Lionel in the story, one thought always surfaced strongly.
—
‘He wasn’t like that originally.’
—
That had probably been her impression back then, and she still felt the same now.
“What’s the second possibility?”
“The person experiences something so shocking that it completely shatters their worldview. In that case, it wouldn’t be strange if they lost their mind.”
“Ah… I get it.”
Like losing family in a sudden accident, or everything one had built collapsing overnight due to someone’s malice.
If that kind of tragedy occurred, even a normal person might pick up a blade.
‘If I consider Lionel’s case… it actually fits.’
Then maybe she should stay close to him so he wouldn’t feel like he lost everything even if he was pushed out of the crown prince position?
‘Ugh, I don’t know.’
She didn’t know enough about him yet.
“Yuni, I have a favor to ask.”
“Yes, my lady. Anything.”
“Your father is the head of our family’s intelligence division, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then you probably know how to contact the underground information brokers, don’t you?”