Chapter 13
“Oh my… carnations?”
“Yes.”
Lionel received the bouquet from the steward. He looked closely between the flowers, as if checking what was inside, and then handed the bouquet to me.
“I looked it up, and pink carnations mean gratitude. So I prepared them.”
“What are you thankful to me for?”
It couldn’t be a return gift for the fountain pen… I had already properly received the pen he prepared when I visited last time.
And I brought the cookies only today, so it wasn’t thanks for the cookies either.
“I’m not sure either.”
“Pardon?”
I had seen many people apologize without knowing what they did wrong, but this was the first time I saw someone say thank you without knowing why.
“For now, thank you for baking the cookies yourself. This is my first time having such an experience.”
“Your first time?”
Since I had eaten cookies baked by my mother since before I could even write, his words felt strange.
But considering that Lionel’s mother was the Empress…
‘Of course it’s his first time.’
The Empress would never bake cookies herself, and even if she did, they would all go into the First Prince’s mouth.
Feeling a little sorry for him, I hugged the bouquet tightly and said,
“I’ll bake them for you often from now on. But isn’t your mouth too sweet?”
“It is sweet.”
“…Doesn’t it make you feel sick?”
“It doesn’t make me sick, but I think I can skip dinner.”
Lionel said it as if that was convenient and glanced toward the desk behind him.
There were clearly many documents piled up there, so without realizing it, I frowned and let out a small groan.
“I know you’re busy, but you still shouldn’t skip meals.”
I looked once at the case that now had only crumbs left and spoke without thinking.
“Next time, something less sweet would be better, right?”
“Either is fine.”
“Is there anything you can’t eat? Something you dislike, or that gives you a rash?”
“Nothing in particular.”
“Then what do you like?”
“Nothing in particular.”
As Lionel lightly shook his head, I clapped my hands with a sharp sound.
“Good. Then I’ll bake many different kinds and bring them. Try them all and think about which one you like most.”
“How many kinds do you mean by ‘many’?”
“Well… I’ll only know after I check what’s in our kitchen.”
It was the kitchen of a ducal house rumored to be the richest in the Empire. Surely it would easily exceed ten kinds.
“I’m curious how many I can bake too. It’ll be hard to bake them all alone, so I’ll bake them with the head chef. Then we can taste them together and see which is best.”
“Then please bring three kinds of cookies, two of each, at a time.”
“Three kinds, two of each?”
“Yes. After trying them today, six seems appropriate.”
A small laugh escaped me without realizing.
‘He has a surprisingly cute side.’
I had brought eight or nine cookies today, and it seemed he felt full around six.
‘Then he can save the remaining one or two for later.’
Maybe the problem wasn’t the amount but the sweetness, but since he explained it so clearly, it made preparation easier for me, so I nodded.
“Instead, Rio, you prepare the tea that matches the cookies. Many kinds.”
“Understood.”
Even while answering, his face remained expressionless.
Talking face-to-face with this man could feel frustrating in many ways, but at least he answered well, and that was something to be thankful for.
* * *
“Then I’ll be going now. You seem busy, so you don’t have to see me off.”
“Yes. Please return safely.”
After Cecilia left with the bouquet in her arms, Lionel sat back at his desk and resumed work.
He had given the aides a separate break, so he was alone in the office.
After a while, the head steward, who had escorted Cecilia to the carriage, entered, confirmed no one else was present, and asked,
“Your Highness, is it true that the young lady baked the cookies herself?”
“Yes, it’s true.”
“And those cookies…?”
“I ate them all.”
“Ah…”
The steward looked at the empty case with a troubled expression.
This was because he had received a separate order from the First Prince.
“If Cecilia brings anything to the Second Prince’s palace again, report to me immediately.”
If he reported it, the next order would obviously be to bring it.
But unlike objects, food like cookies disappeared once eaten, so it was hard for the steward to secure them.
“Th-then, Your Highness, next time…”
The steward hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.
Asking him to leave some cookies, or to request the young lady to bring more—
either way, those were not words a mere servant could say to a prince.
It was true that Lionel was neglected by the Empress, but he was not just a bullied prince.
[Regardless of his own will, he will rise to the highest seat.]
He was the certain future Crown Prince.
“…It’s nothing.”
Lionel glanced at the disappointed steward and lowered his eyes to the documents.
Who was pressuring him and how was none of Lionel’s concern.
“If you have nothing else, bring me some black tea. Earl Grey would be good.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will prepare it right away.”
After the steward left, Lionel swallowed dry saliva several times, uncomfortable with the sweetness stuck to the tip of his tongue and inside his molars.
He didn’t particularly like sweet cookies, and eating several at once made his stomach heavy.
But the sensations did not feel very unpleasant.
Because he liked the empty case—emptied by his own hands.
* * *
I wasn’t sure exactly what he was thankful for, but he had personally chosen pink carnations to express gratitude.
Holding the bouquet, I returned home and asked Eunice to bring a vase.
“To decorate it in your bedroom?”
“Yes! It’s my first time receiving flowers from a man!”
While arranging the flowers myself in the vase Eunice brought, a thought suddenly came to mind.
‘No matter how I look at it, the current Lionel doesn’t seem like someone who would kidnap and imprison a person.’
It didn’t mean he wasn’t evil enough to do something bad.
More precisely, he didn’t seem like someone who could feel the deep, sticky emotions—obsession or possessiveness toward another person—strong enough to commit such an act.
There must be some trigger.
Something that suddenly changed his personality as if he became a different person.
“Euni, do you think a person’s personality can change in an instant?”
Eunice tilted her head at my question.
“How much change do you mean by ‘in an instant,’ my lady?”
“Well… like someone who was like an emotionless doll suddenly kidnapping a lady and locking her somewhere no one can find…?”
“I wonder if a person can change that much… but if I had to choose, I think there are two possibilities.”
“Two? What are they?”
Eunice explained the first possibility.
“A person with normal ethics, no matter how twisted their personality becomes, usually cannot actually commit an inhumane act like kidnapping and imprisonment.
So it would mean they were originally broken inside but hid it well.”
“Oh… that makes sense.”
I thought for a moment.
Was the current Lionel a psychopath hiding his true nature?
‘But that seems unlikely.’
I had read the novel in my previous life, sixteen years ago from now.
Honestly, I didn’t remember the details clearly.
But whenever I thought of the future Lionel from the novel, a strong thought pushed into one corner of my mind.
‘He wasn’t like that originally.’
Maybe it was just my impression when I read the novel back then, but even now, it still felt true.
“What’s the second one?”
“If someone experiences a shock so great that it shakes their entire life, I think it’s natural for them to go mad.”
“Ah… I think I understand.”
Like losing family or a loved one in a sudden accident,
or losing all the wealth or career built with their whole life.
And if the cause wasn’t an accident but someone’s malice,
even a normal person might pick up a knife.
‘In Lionel’s case… some parts do fit.’
Then should I stay right beside him so that even if he’s pushed out of the Crown Prince position, he won’t feel like he lost everything?
Would that stop his dark transformation?
‘Ugh, I don’t know.’
For now, since I still didn’t know Lionel well,
I thought I should start by learning about him properly.
“Euni, I have a favor to ask.”
“Yes, my lady. Just tell me.”
“Your father is the head of our family’s intelligence division, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then you… must know how to contact an information broker in the underworld, right?”
