CHAPTER 158…………………………………………….
The path where the sunset fell was quiet.
I kept my head low, staring at the ground as twilight deepened.
Did what I just say sound a little whiny?
“But… I’m the one who got confessed to, yet it feels like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what to do.”
It was the same when I talked to Lunai earlier, and even when I was eating my favorite cake.
“It feels like Ares has grown up so much, faster than me.”
That change made my heart flutter, but at the same time, it made me a little frustrated.
Because I wanted to see him as flustered as I was…
So, even though I felt utterly embarrassed, I kept going, determined.
“You… you said the words first, but I was the one who acted first.”
“……”
“Then… why, why aren’t you doing anything?”
At the very least, couldn’t he kiss me on the cheek as much as I did to him?
But Ares just looked at me and brushed the corner of his lips.
“Wow… ha…”
He silently brushed the back of his neck.
Finally, he seemed a little embarrassed too.
But soon, he smiled calmly and looked at me.
“If I were to press my lips to a princess who is still a minor, would I really get away with it?”
“……”
“How could you think about putting my family at risk right after we’ve just started?”
“Tch, you coward.”
The youngest one had left me speechless.
What he said was technically correct, but the lingering frustration only grew.
I grabbed his other hand and whispered.
“So… what if I order you?”
“Shion…”
“You still wouldn’t listen even if the princess ordered you?”
When I persistently insisted, he couldn’t respond.
How long had we stayed silent like that?
Ares slowly approached, and I swallowed nervously.
His face, lips barely parted, revealed nothing of his emotions.
But at such close distance, his body heat hit me overwhelmingly.
As I stared at him, my whole body tensed.
“W-wow…”
I had teased him to try my cheek, but… could it be that he might…?
“Maybe… somewhere else?”
Even thinking such an embarrassing thought myself was mortifying.
It was lucky the sunset hid me; otherwise, I’d be teased endlessly.
I panicked, thinking:
“Should I close my eyes now?”
No one keeps their eyes wide open when kissing, right?
Meanwhile, Ares’ face kept getting closer.
“Ah, forget it.”
I hastily squeezed my eyes shut.
My heart felt like it would explode.
But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel anything where I expected it…
Instead, a teasing voice whispered in my ear.
“Really unfortunate.”
“…!”
“I refuse that order, Your Highness.”
“Wha—”
I startled and opened my eyes. Ares was smirking mischievously, as if he had read every one of my embarrassing thoughts.
“You’re teasing me?!”
Realizing I had been so flustered, my frustration surged.
I struggled, shaking the hands he held and yelled:
“Wah! You really are a coward! Let go of me!”
“Can’t, that was unavoidable just now.”
“What do you mean?!”
“Well, if I had followed through, you’d really be dead in three seconds.”
“…What? Three seconds?”
Where did such a specific number come from?
Ares casually pointed behind me.
“Those two teachers are watching us like they’re going to kill us.”
“…? W-what?!”
By “those two teachers,” he meant the Epikus sisters.
“But there’s no way they could be here…”
I had left a ‘doll’ in the bedroom, and Eos would have been watching.
Still, I turned my head slowly—and cold sweat immediately formed on my forehead.
And when I looked at where Ares had pointed…
“Ah… Princess.”
“How could you…!”
Minte and Rete were quietly watching me.
Minte rubbed her brows, while Rete trembled slightly with her hands clenched.
Flustered, I pointed at Ares and asked:
“Both of you…! S-since when?”
“From the very beginning.”
“From the beginning…?”
Minte’s crisp answer left me speechless.
Had they been watching the moment I goofed around with Ares at the café too?
I looked up at Ares in a hurry. He showed no sign of embarrassment.
I whispered quietly:
“Wait… you knew?”
“Of course. I even gave you a hint with my presence.”
“If you knew, you should have said something!”
Then I wouldn’t have dared press my cheek against him!
Just then, Rete’s voice rang out, and my face heated with shame cooled instantly.
“P-princess.”
Rete addressed me clearly, with a smiling face.
But I already knew: Rete was far scarier than Minte, the hound knight.
“Let’s return to the palace now.”
“…Yes…”
“And you must review once again.”
I wanted to ask what I was supposed to review, but I didn’t.
Soon enough, I would be dragged to Persen Palace anyway.
…And I had to redo my sex education from the very beginning with Rete.
I had just been caught in a romantic situation by my sister, who was like a mother to me.
And now, I had to redo a sex education lesson I had once already received.
“You’re still only fifteen, Princess. You’re not old enough to kiss a prince!”
“…Yes…”
“Do you hear me? How improper this is!”
I was too embarrassed to meet her eyes.
Ares, annoyingly, just smirked and waved goodbye with a hand gesture.
‘He kept his distance, that’s it.’
But looking at the Epikus sisters’ reactions, they didn’t seem upset about the fact that we were together.
They were only worried that my young body might cross a line.
“…But Minte and Rete… weren’t surprised that I’m in this kind of relationship with Ares?”
The sisters exchanged a glance.
Minte smiled awkwardly, while Rete sighed deeply.
“Haha, I expected this day would come someday.”
“Phew… it’s too early, I’m worried…”
“And I was surprised that the princess was so proactive compared to the prince.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
In my previous life, I had never experienced this kind of excitement, so I couldn’t even claim it was out of giddiness.
‘Ha… okay, I’ll wait until I’m older.’
By the time I reached eighteen and had my coming-of-age ceremony, I could do more than just hold hands.
“Rete, I promise. I won’t do anything rash from now on.”
“You must promise!”
Only after linking pinkies with Rete was I finally released.
As I wearily headed to my bedroom, Minte followed.
“Your Highness!”
“Uh…?”
Minte awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“Do you know about Kalion, Your Highness?”
“Oh. Actually, I told Kalion first.”
Hearing Kalion’s name made me hesitate slightly.
His calm, smiling face… as if saying he understood even if two of us became special to each other.
“But he just said he understood, that’s all.”
“I see…”
“…What’s wrong, Minte?”
Minte parted her lips briefly, then smiled.
“It was just a false worry, Princess.”
“Huh? What kind of worry?”
“Ahaha… well, when Kalion and the prince were young, they fought so much.”
“Eh. Now that they’ve matured, they don’t do that anymore, right?”
I laughed heartily at Minte’s concern.
No more new records would be made on the ‘fighting board’ of the past.
Though they still spoke teasingly, they no longer crossed swords.
Minte smiled even bigger at my laughter.
“Yes, I suppose both have grown up now.”
Late at night, Minte left Persen Palace with a troubled expression.
‘I couldn’t bring myself to tell the princess…’
Human merchants occasionally came to Kalion’s mansion.
Even lower-ranking nobles socialized with him.
‘Up to that point, it could just be networking.’
Yet why did Minte feel like he was forming his own faction?
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Shion.
‘The princess is about to open her academy, so busy and looking so happy.’
For the first time, the princess seemed her age, rather than always immersed in duties.
And now she had to report suspicions about someone she had spent her life with like family.
Finally, Minte’s eyes shone with determination.
‘…I’ll investigate it myself.’
