Chapter 15
3.
A Cooling Heart
Prince Joshua hadn’t actually done anything yet.
Should I call this impressive, or what?
Perhaps sending Rosina had also been a calculated move meant to shake my emotional state.
A hollow laugh echoed inside me once more.
Stop it. Thinking like this will only tire you out.
Even without overthinking, there was already so much I needed to ask Prince Joshua.
And perhaps, in another sense, I was beginning to feel that it was a waste to let my heart ache like this over Lucas—someone who wouldn’t listen no matter how hard I tried.
Did he even know how I felt?
No—maybe even if he knew, he wouldn’t care anymore.
The thought stung my heart sharply.
Just then, Prince Joshua asked in a gentle tone,
“Do you like herbal tea?”
“…Pardon?”
“I brought you here hoping you would.”
This time, a laugh slipped out openly at his words.
After arranging all this, he says something so mild?
After sending Rosina with a dress perfectly to my taste?
And not just the dress—the café itself, and even the concert he had once invited me to, though it ultimately fell through.
True to his reputation as the “perfect prince,” he left nothing to chance even in meeting me.
As I accepted his escort and stepped down from the carriage, I deliberately replied sharply,
“It’s quite unexpected to hear Your Highness say something like that.”
Do you even have a conscience?
Talking about how I was exactly like people said—was that also something you deliberately let slip just to make me use my wind spirit?
Yet even at my complaint-laced remark, Prince Joshua seemed pleased for some reason, guiding me gently with an even softer smile.
“I’m honored, Lady Blante. It seems my preparations were worthwhile.”
…What is this?
If Lucas had caught the implication behind my words, he would’ve flown into a rage, accusing me of being rude.
Does Prince Joshua perhaps enjoy being insulted?
While I was still puzzled, he had already led me up to the second floor.
His courteous consideration—matching even my walking pace—made me feel genuinely strange.
As if I had become an especially treasured guest.
No… maybe that’s exactly what I am.
There had to be a reason Prince Joshua drove a wedge between Lucas and me—most likely the throne.
Spirit mages were rare in this country.
And among them, a spirit mage who could wield two spirits—according to what was publicly known—was uniquely me.
Of course, power was necessary.
A mere marquis’s daughter had enough value to turn a prince—handsome and passable with a sword—into a hero.
From Prince Joshua’s perspective, he would want to eliminate as many threats as possible.
Even while telling myself not to think this way, I habitually worked through brutal calculations in my head.
Even when I believed my feelings had cooled, emotions once cherished were frighteningly persistent—so tenacious that if even the smallest ember remained, they would wander restlessly, searching for something to burn.
Instead of a balcony, the café’s second floor had wide, open windows.
With summer approaching, Prince Joshua—perhaps mindful of the season—recommended a seat where the sunlight filtered in gently.
Truly, every detail of his consideration was beautifully done.
Whether he had ulterior motives or not.
Lucas, even with schemes of his own, could never manage things like this.
Was it innate? Or was Anita the Imperial Consort’s education simply exceptional?
As envy and quiet sighs mingled within me, Prince Joshua perfectly timed the moment and drew my attention to the menu.
“Is there a tea you particularly prefer?”
“…Could Your Highness choose for me?”
My runaway thoughts settled at the sound of Prince Joshua’s low voice.
No doubt the relaxed atmosphere unique to this second floor also played a role.
As my heart grew calm, I could hear street musicians outside the window, and the soft murmur of people chatting on the first floor.
“That would be my honor as well.”
At my request, the prince smiled brightly and rang the bell, smoothly placing the order.
While waiting for the tea, I simply enjoyed the silence.
Rather than forcing conversation out of obligation, Prince Joshua allowed me to fully savor the atmosphere.
When the tea arrived, I smiled softly at the yellow-hued rooibos tea placed before me.
The blended tea, scented faintly with vanilla, reminded me of my previous life.
Back then, I drank tea not for pleasure but for survival—gulping down cold iced americanos.
But when I needed a change of pace, I would sometimes choose vanilla rooibos.
In those moments, I felt less like an overworked office worker and more like someone who could afford leisure.
“I’m glad you seem to like it.”
“Yes.”
I answered honestly.
And so, this time, I decided to ask.
Because I felt ready to hear his answer.
Cradling the warmth of the teacup, I asked him seriously,
“Then, Your Highness… will you answer me now? How did you know that I’m a spirit mage?”
I had never told anyone. And even when I used spirit power, it only felt like a passing breeze—hardly noticeable.
Yet strangely, at my question, Prince Joshua’s ears flushed slightly red.
And then—
“Because I saw it.”
“…You did?”
Saw what?
Me using spirit power?
“I saw you forming a contract with a spirit, Miss Alisha.”
Tilting his head slightly, he spoke with a shy softness.
I could only blink.
He saw me… forming a contract with a spirit?
He saw it?
Confusion made my head spin.
I ransacked my memories, trying desperately to make sense of his words.
When I contracted with a spirit—was anyone there?
Wind? Light?
The wind spirit?
No, wait. Just now… didn’t His Highness call me ‘Miss Alisha’?
He had always called me Lady Blante.
Why would the prince address me with a form of address used for servants?
Why?
As dozens—hundreds—of question marks filled my head, Prince Joshua lightly tapped the table near my fingertips.
“I’m sorry. I suppose I allowed myself to hope, on my own.”
“…Hope? For what?”
“That this time, perhaps Miss Alisha might remember me.”
“No—no, Your Highness! Even that way of addressing me is too much—”
I didn’t know where to put myself!
Since being born as Alisha Blante, I had never been this flustered.
No matter how chaotic my thoughts and emotions were, I always appeared composed on the outside.
Even Lucas had never seen me this unsettled, blurting things out without restraint.
But as if he had anticipated my reaction, Prince Joshua gently tapped the table again.
“It’s alright. I’ll explain everything, one by one. Just as I promised that day—everything you’re curious about.”
He gestured for me to take a sip of tea first.
Why is this man—a prince, no less—so adept at comforting and reassuring others?
I had always thought princes were arrogant and self-centered.
Following his lead, I took a sip of the warm tea.
As the warmth spread down my throat, my racing heart and frantic thoughts gradually settled.
Seeing my breathing even out, Prince Joshua finally spoke.
“The first time I met you was seven years ago.”
“…Seven years ago?”
What happened seven years ago?
I had simply been living quietly in the marquisate then. And—
That was also the year I formed a spirit contract.
Joshua smiled softly.
“As you know, I traveled through many dangerous regions from a young age.”
“…Yes.”
Despite the resentment I held toward him as Lucas’s greatest rival, on this point I couldn’t help but feel sympathy.
The first child of the favored Imperial Consort Anita.
It sounded like an honor—but that was precisely why he became a victim of the emperor’s obsessive possessiveness.
Though he was his father, the emperor was jealous even of his own son. He disliked Joshua receiving Anita’s affection, and he despised the idea of him living comfortably as a prince.
So he sent him only to dangerous regions.
The more Joshua succeeded, the more perilous the assignments became.
A man unfit to be called a parent.
The emperor was equally cruel to both Lucas and Joshua.
“I was young back then,” Joshua continued. “In my rebellious phase.”
“…A rebellious phase?”
You?
When my disbelief showed plainly on my face, Joshua smiled again and nodded.
“I was fourteen. It was summer. I wanted to escape, even just a little, so I lingered near a marquisate instead of immediately carrying out His Majesty’s orders.”
“…Don’t tell me—”
“That’s right. It was the Blante Marquisate.”
Prince Joshua folded his hands carefully atop the table.
Between his long fingers, I caught glimpses of prominent knuckles and calluses formed from years of gripping a sword.
Even those elegant hands bore traces of hardship.
Though I knew that, I pretended not to.
Otherwise, I felt I might be swept away.
“Of course, I didn’t go announcing myself as Prince Joshua. His Majesty may be pleased when I stay away from the capital for too long—”
His springlike smile turned momentarily cold.
“But he becomes very displeased if I openly defy his orders.”
Typical behavior for that petty emperor.
As I nodded in agreement, a question suddenly arose.
Was it really alright for him to tell me all this?
Anyone could see I was Lucas’s childhood friend—on his side.
And surely, no one knew that better than Joshua himself.
Yet when I looked at him anxiously, Joshua Medelreik met my gaze with eyes soft as down and spoke gently,
“And that’s where I met you.”
He smiled.
“Miss Alisha—who loved flowers and grass so very much.”
