Chapter 70…………
“…Your Highness…?”
Huh.
I turned to look at the boy staring at us with an expression that screamed he couldn’t possibly trust us.
Since he was reacting like that, I instinctively hunched my shoulders — which must have made me look even more like a confirmed offender.
The boy — Richard — fixed his gaze, eyes flashing as if ready to tear someone apart.
…On to Jeron, who was wearing the expression of a concubine who had just borne me a son.
“Jealous?”
“Shu— …shut up.”
“Envious?”
“….”
“Sometimes, I envy myself too. Well then, shall we go? Princess?”
Uh… sure.
I was terrified of the storm that would come later, but for now, we were on our way to meet the head of the Kven Guild. We had to hurry.
But soon, I felt someone’s presence on my previously empty right side and turned my head to see who it was.
“….”
I stayed silent, but Richard, catching my gaze, smiled brightly and kissed the back of my hand.
“I’m good at keeping secrets too. You know that. Like when we snuck out together.”
He was talking about the time we went to see my maternal grandfather. I was going to refuse, but his eyes were so desperate that my resolve softened. I turned to Jeron and said:
“Bring him. The young duke is trustworthy.”
Jeron’s brows immediately furrowed deeply.
“Jealous, are we?”
“….”
“Envious, maybe?”
“….”
“I mean, I was the princess’s very first secret friend.”
No, that was Jaister.
Thinking of the blonde kitten, I let out a deep sigh.
How did it come to this…
To back up a little — the day to meet the Kven Guild’s leader was approaching.
We’d decided to bring Cecil along, so getting permission to go out wasn’t a big problem. The real problem was that, among all the things I was currently up to, I hadn’t told her about any of them.
After much agonizing, I decided to confide just a small part of it to her.
— That I was getting help from the young marquis to keep my personal funds and whereabouts untraceable, and that I’d found a distributor for orichalcum.
“When did you start preparing all this?”
“From the day I visited the young marquis’s estate…?”
“The young marquis must be quite remarkable, to be acquainted with every guild leader.”
That was probably because he was actually the ruler of the underworld. The thought sent a chill down my spine — I might have picked up a more dangerous dog than I thought.
While I was awkwardly smiling, Cecil spoke up:
“Well, if you’re going to meet a merchant group willing to distribute orichalcum, I have no objections. But I will be reporting separately to His Majesty.”
“Sure.”
And so, we went out.
Jeron and I had agreed to meet at 3 p.m. in front of the fountain on Arendry Street, and we managed to meet up without issue.
But then… we ran into an unexpected person.
That left us with an awkward one-hour gap before meeting the Kven Guild leader.
I gave Jeron a questioning look — it wasn’t like him to get the time wrong. He calmly replied:
“I must have misremembered the time.”
Well… if he said he messed up, what could I do?
We decided to pass the time by exploring Arendry Street. There was a large shopping center, so we went inside to browse the various goods.
And then… just as it was almost time for our meeting, we stepped out of the shopping center and…
“Well, well— I mean, when did Your Highness get so close to Young Marquis Idrea…?”
I hadn’t expected to run into an abandoned puppy like this either.
Avoiding Richard’s gaze like a guilty wife caught cheating, I said:
“The young marquis is introducing me to an orichalcum distributor. In return, I’ve agreed to maintain friendly relations.”
“You could have asked me. I could have introduced you to somewhere even better…”
The House of Duke Elliette was the only one in the Empire that exported pink diamonds.
Because of that, they had extensive foreign trade — honestly, if I’d just left this matter to Richard, it might have been more convenient.
But just as I was tempted, Jeron reached out his arm to block Richard from me.
That left me leaning against Jeron’s chest, and in an instant, Richard’s face twisted like he’d bitten into something vile.
…Huh. Haven’t I seen this before?
Déjà vu.
Jeron smiled pleasantly.
“What are you whispering to the princess about, barging in uninvited like this?”
“None of your business.”
“Isn’t it, though? If I hadn’t brought the princess out to Arendry Street, you wouldn’t have gotten to see her today. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”
“I’d rather disembowel myself than owe you anything.”
“Haha, what a coincidence. I was just thinking the same — the idea of you thanking me makes my skin crawl.”
Ah, right — now I remember. This felt just like the first day I met Jeron.
Back then, they’d also fought because of me.
The difference was that, last time, Jeron was just using me to get under Richard’s skin… but this time, they were actually arguing over me.
Guess I really have messed with the future a lot.
The pure goodwill these two boys showed me was honestly overwhelming. Uncomfortable, I bent my knees and slipped out of Jeron’s hold.
That left the two of them standing so close their noses could touch.
“Ugh!”
“Gross!”
They jumped back in unison — Jeron first, then Richard — putting more than a meter between them with lightning-fast reflexes.
I looked at them with exasperation and muttered:
“Keep your distance.”
“….”
“….”
Phew. Now I could finally walk in peace.
