ORHML 35🔒

ORHML

Chapter 35

“Are you crying?”

He turned his head away sharply, but our eyes met—his eyes were red again.

“N-no, I’m not.”

Worried, I reached out and brushed away the hand covering his face to see it properly—but he suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.

“Why are you crying?”

“Why are you suddenly pushing me away? Is it because you’re going to marry Duke Russell and you need to get rid of someone like me? If that’s it, then why did you… why did you allow me?”

Ah, great. There’s something I don’t know again, isn’t there?

What did I allow this time? I’m going to lose my mind.

“Sir Francis, I really don’t remember much right now, but what exactly did I ‘allow’ you to do?”

“You allowed me to kiss you… and now you’re pushing me away. Why?”

Huh? That wasn’t a kiss!

Hey! How can you call that a kiss?! A kiss is—well—that thing! The adult thing! There has to be—uh—negotiation! Physical negotiation!

“When did we ever kiss?”

“Your Highness, really… how could you… uh…”

Because he was still holding my hand, he couldn’t wipe away his tears. I felt bad for him. But honestly… he looked even prettier when he cried.

I’d meant to stay stern, but somehow, the way he cried so delicately—it was dangerously charming.

“Oh, wait. Are you talking about that peck from before?”

“Huh?”

“That wasn’t a kiss.”

Now that I think about it—

「▼I’m upset with Princess Gracie.」

“You brushed my hair back that time, remember?”

So that’s what this is about?

“Yes. I thought… if I did that, maybe Your Highness would look at me again.”

Ah, he’s talking about that rainy day. His hair kept getting in his eyes, so I brushed it back for him.

“I look at you all the time anyway. You’re the one who’s been cold to me since the day you were with Adrian.”

“I was trying to hold myself back.”

“Hold back from what?”

I gently freed my hand and wiped his cheek. Princess Gracie wasn’t exactly small, but Francis was huge—it wasn’t easy to reach his face comfortably.

“I don’t want to say. But Your Highness, why have you been so cold to me?”

“Because you wouldn’t tell me anything. I had to hear from Adrian what I did to you.”

“Ah…”

He blinked, and crystal tears rolled down like glass beads.

Honestly… you’re at your prettiest when you cry. What do I do with you?

My heart was pounding like I’d just sprinted a mile.

So I changed the subject out of nowhere.

“Wanna make a bet?”

“A bet, Your Highness?”

“Yeah. Whoever wins gets a wish granted.”

If I win, I’ll return your marquis title and let you leave the palace.

And when that happens, I’ll apologize properly.

Apologizing now, with no memories, would just sound insulting to him.

Even if it’s Princess Gracie’s mess, if it needs cleaning up—I can at least do that much.

Better than forcing him to stay.

“Then if I win, please kiss me.”

“What?”

“I don’t really understand much. So if I win, please kiss me.”

Ah, so this is because I said that earlier thing was just a peck, huh?

Wow, he’s so devoted to my sister that he’s ready to offer up his first kiss? Not that I’d complain. He’s handsome and cute.

And when he cries, he looks downright seductive! His chest isn’t bad either! But whatever—since I’m going to win, it doesn’t matter!

“Fine. But if I win, you have to grant my wish without complaint.”

“Understood.”

So I grabbed one of the documents I was about to discard and handed it to Francis.

“Let’s see who can throw this farther!”

I’m amazing at paper airplanes, by the way.

I’ve never lost before. I folded it neatly, creased the wings just right, and held it ready to launch.

“Whoever flies it farther wins?”

“Yep!”

Francis had stopped crying now and was watching my paper airplane intently.

“I’ll go first.”

“All right.”

He hadn’t even tried folding one himself—it was obvious he didn’t know how! Ha! That means victory is mine! I’ll give you freedom! Dobby is free!

With confidence, I threw it as hard as I could.

The breeze caught it just right—it soared from the second floor all the way to the greenhouse in the distance! I’d never seen one fly that far before.

“See? Your turn now, Sir Francis!”

“Understood.”

Then he crumpled his paper into a ball and threw it like a baseball pitcher.

“No way!”

His paper wad flew past the greenhouse and landed in the rose garden beyond it.

“I win.”

The same guy who was crying a moment ago was now smiling.

Hey! Didn’t your mom ever tell you not to laugh right after crying—you’ll grow horns on your butt!

“Gracie?”

I looked down and saw a familiar voice calling up—Clayton!

For the first time ever, I was actually glad to see him.

“Clayton?”

“Can I come up?”

His dark hair shimmered under the sunlight as he smiled and waved.

“Sure. But not through the door.”

That was my polite way of saying don’t come up here, but he just smiled even wider.

I glanced at Francis—he was smiling the same way, maybe because he was still riding his victory high.

“I won, so I’ll collect my reward later.”

Damn it.

“Haha… sure.”

I sighed, and he slowly approached. His hand brushed my cheek—I looked up to see his tear-stained face gazing down at me.

Don’t cry again. You’re way too enchanting like that.

“I’m here, Gracie.”

“What—how did you—?”

Before I could finish, his arm wrapped around my waist, making me flinch. I smacked Francis’s hand away, and he blinked, looking past me toward Clayton.

“This is the second floor.”

“Yeah, and how did you get up here?!”

“It’s easy.”

I looked down—there was a tree whose branches reached near the terrace. Wait…

“You didn’t climb the tree, did you?”

“Yup.”

I tried to pry his arms off my waist, but he only hugged me tighter. What, was he trying to crush my organs?! I pried at his fingers one by one, but every time I loosened one, the others tightened.

“You maniac!”

“So Francis Patel can touch you, but I can’t?”

“Correct.”

Francis just stood there watching us, looking unsure if he should separate us or stay still.

Hey! Rescue me!

Then again, in this situation, he probably wouldn’t. So I had no choice.

“Oh, uh—let me see your face!”

“Huh?”

He immediately let go. Damn, I should’ve said that from the start.

“Really?”

As soon as I said it, Francis’s face fell again. Great. I shouldn’t look at him. You two used to get along fine—what is this tension now? I’d rather deal with Adrian and Joshua together than this mess.

“Why’d you come up here?”

I turned to Clayton, who was smiling shyly like a blushing bride. No, wait—he’s the groom type, isn’t he? Still, what’s with the lack of awareness? Or is he pretending?

“I wanted to take a walk in the imperial garden with you. And I have some good news you’ll like.”

“Just say it here. I’m too lazy to go.”

Why does he cling harder the more I push him away? Shouldn’t his feelings have cooled by now? Or maybe Francis’s fading affection for my sister is affecting him too?

“You got hurt again, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

I sighed.

“I was too harsh. I’m kidding. Let’s go to the garden together.”

“…”

“I actually wanted to see you.”

“Really?”

Of course it’s a lie. You and Francis together terrify me. One looks ready to snap my neck, and the other looks ready to break my spine.

Just remembering last time makes my life flash before my eyes.

“Yeah.”

Still, I couldn’t refuse when he smiled and took my hand, sunlight glinting on his dark hair and those blue eyes full of warmth.

“But why are you going toward the railing—hey!”