Chapter 21
“Alright. I brought all of this to give to Rio anyway.”
“Thank you.”
Lionel took out a handkerchief, carefully wrapped the cookie, and put it inside his jacket pocket.
Seeing that, I was startled and tried to stop him.
“If you do that, it’ll all break. And crumbs will stay in your pocket. I’ll give you the case. Put it in here.”
“No. It is safer here.”
“It doesn’t look safe at all…”
I felt uneasy, but since the cookie was already in his pocket, it was awkward to take it back, so I just let it be.
Still, why is he taking the cookie today?
Was the raspberry cookie that delicious?
Or maybe it didn’t suit his taste? Maybe he’s taking it to throw it away later.
As expected, I should send out the blue bird again today. If it doesn’t suit his taste, he should just say so honestly. If he does something that trashy, I will never forgive him!
“It’s already this late? I should start heading back.”
“Yes.”
Maybe because I didn’t say he didn’t need to see me off today, Lionel stood up and held out his arm as if to escort me to the carriage.
I was about to reflexively say that seeing me off wasn’t necessary, but since his arm was already extended, I held it and went outside with him.
“Please wait a moment.”
After coming outside the building, Lionel told me to wait briefly, then picked up a flowerpot placed where the sunlight was good and returned to me.
“It’s a gift.”
“A flowerpot?”
I looked at the pot in slight surprise and examined the flower closely.
Is it a cattleya?
…Contrary to my expectation, sadly, it was not a cattleya.
The petals were not large or flashy.
This red flower was rather small and cute.
So, the name of this flower is…
“Begonia? Am I right?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Because my mother liked tending the greenhouse and I often helped her, I knew quite a few kinds of flowers. But I didn’t know all of their meanings.
“What is the meaning of this flower?”
“Kindness.”
“Ah, kindness… hmm.”
Not pretty, cute, or beautiful—
but kindness?
“Because Cecile always treats me kindly. I wanted to give you this flower.”
“Me?”
I wondered if I had really done anything kind enough to deserve a flower with that meaning.
He’s probably thanking me for baking cookies.
“At first, I was going to make a bouquet, but the flowers are small, and I thought they would live longer planted in a pot, so I chose this instead.”
“That’s true. A pot is better than a bouquet.”
Thinking about it, it felt a little unexpected.
Anyone could think of giving a bouquet.
But to go one step further and give a flowerpot instead—because it might live longer.
If this is acting… no, would someone usually act this far?
To pretend to be a decent person, a bouquet would have been enough.
Ah, this is confusing.
At this point, I wondered if I was strange for continuing to doubt this man, or if the novel I read and this world were actually different.
“…Do you not like the flower?”
It seemed my expression while looking down at the flowerpot wasn’t very bright.
I shook my head at Lionel, who asked carefully.
“It’s just… how should I put it. I suddenly feel a strong responsibility to keep this flower alive for a very long time.”
“I did not mean to pressure you like that. If this flower withers, I will give you another one.”
“Then what flower will you give me next time?”
“I do not know yet.”
That made sense. He was still studying the flower encyclopedia.
Remembering Lionel sitting upright at his desk late at night, diligently copying the contents of the flower book, made me feel like teasing him a little.
“Then may I recommend one? How about a forget-me-not?”
“Do you like that flower?”
“Not exactly. The petal color looks like my eye color.”
I smiled brightly to show there was no other meaning.
“Or a purple flower similar to your eye color would be nice too. For example… something like a cattleya?”
Lionel’s eyes widened.
Did he not expect the word cattleya to come from me?
“When you see me, do you also think of a cattleya, Cecile?”
“Huh?”
Also?
Wait. Don’t tell me…
“Who said that when they see you, they think of a cattleya? Who?”
“Well…”
Lionel looked troubled for a moment, covering his beautifully colored lips with his hand as if trying to answer.
Then he lightly shook his head.
“I was mistaken.”
“Mistaken…”
Don’t tell me the one you misunderstood was the blue bird that entered your bedroom yesterday?
The words rose to my throat.
But I couldn’t say them out loud.
If he asked how I knew, I would have no answer.
It wasn’t that the flower reminded me of you! It meant you should give it to me!
How could he misunderstand it that way?
Don’t tell me he couldn’t connect the word beautiful with me?
Even though in the future he’ll kidnap and imprison me and do all sorts of things all night!
“Cecile? Why does your expression look like that?”
“What does my expression look like?”
Maybe because he asked, my eyes narrowed and my lips pouted on their own.
Lionel stared at my face without even blinking and said,
“You seem angry.”
“Why do you think I’m angry?”
“I do not know.”
“Then homework. Try to guess why I’m angry.”
I handed the flowerpot I was holding to Eunice behind me, then gracefully spread my skirt with both hands.
“Thank you for escorting me this far, Your Highness. Until next time.”
“…Yes. Until next time.”
Lionel naturally kissed the hand I offered, and even after I boarded the carriage and left, he stood there with a calm face.
I quietly hoped that beneath that peaceful face, a storm was raging.
After the carriage carrying Cecilia disappeared from sight, Lionel turned and went back inside the palace.
Because their conversation took place outside near the waiting carriage area, many people had heard it.
One of them—Maximus, the chief aide, who normally didn’t want to interfere between a man and a woman but felt sorry for Lionel, who was clearly inexperienced in such matters—quickly followed behind him.
“Your Highness, do you have any idea why the duke’s daughter was angry?”
“None at all.”
“Shall I give you a hint?”
Not noticing the pity in Maximus’s voice, Lionel shook his head firmly.
“Homework must be solved by one’s own strength.”
“Well… usually if you don’t know the homework, you ask the teacher…”
“Before that, one should first give an answer alone, even if it is wrong.”
“….”
It was such a correct statement that Maximus had nothing more to say.
Since the person he served spoke that firmly, Maximus simply nodded.
Probably the only person who doesn’t know why the duke’s daughter was angry… is His Highness.
Maximus’s guess was exactly right.
The servants and maids of the Second Prince’s palace, who had already heard the conversation, were whispering among themselves.
“His Highness is really dense. If my fiancé went somewhere and heard another woman say, ‘This flower reminds me of you,’ I’d be angry too.”
“Why? I honestly don’t understand. Is that something to be angry about?”
“Imagine this. You have a beautiful fiancée. Then you witness some guy giving her a fancy rose and saying the exact same thing.”
Some random bastard giving my fiancée a flower and saying the rose reminds him of her…
“…Y-you damn playboy!”
After understanding why the duke’s daughter of Lohaim was angry, people’s curiosity soon turned elsewhere.
Then who in the world was the one who told the Second Prince he was like a flower?