Chapter 40
“……”
What am I looking at right now? There’s no way that the sight of someone putting food into their mouth could look pretty. That would be true no matter how handsome or beautiful a person was. So…
When Ephinia’s eyes began to sparkle as she tasted this and that, apparently liking the food, he found that he couldn’t look away.
‘Damn it, why is she cute! Is what she’s doing something that should even be considered cute?!’
When Ephinia, who had been chewing, seemed to glance his way, Kasselard abruptly turned his head. Ephinia, who had let her guard down for a moment because the food was delicious, tilted her head to the side in confusion.
‘What was that? It felt like the Crown Prince was glaring at me with a very dissatisfied expression… was I mistaken?’
If her guess had been right, her sensitive stomach might have twisted up already. Ephinia glanced cautiously at Kasselard, then moved her fork again.
Since he seemed to have come back to his senses, she thought there would probably be no next invitation to dine together. So it would be fine to enjoy the meal while she could.
‘The food at the Duke’s residence was good too, but this is something special.’
The flavors were deep and rich. It tasted like the work of a highly skilled chef, so Ephinia carefully chewed each bite. With a man like that sitting nearby, it would be a waste to upset her stomach and miss out on such good food.
‘Ah, damn it!’
The way she ate cautiously while still keeping her guard up, like a squirrel in winter finding and carefully eating its hidden food, looked cute. He didn’t know why it was cute, but he felt like patting her head and praising her for eating well.
‘No! No, this is wrong! My head, get a grip!!’
If there had been a pillar nearby, he felt like slamming his head into it. Ephinia glanced at him suspiciously, wondering why he wasn’t eating and was instead grabbing at his own hair. Asking about it fell to his aide.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Your hair doesn’t look fine, though.
Of course, since Transcendents’ hair roots also seemed to surpass those of ordinary humans, he had never seen one go bald with age. In the first place, once someone awakened as a Transcendent, they only aged until their mid-twenties, and after that, aging no longer progressed.
‘It’ll grow back anyway.’
Christian dismissed his concern and glanced at Ephinia, who was seated across from his lord. Then he suddenly felt a piercing gaze.
‘Your Highness?’
Why? He had only looked because he wondered if she was eating well in such an atmosphere. Because she was the person who would become the Crown Prince’s Guide? Though she already seemed like one?
But Kasselard’s stare at him was anything but ordinary. Christian felt wronged.
He says he won’t make her his Guide, yet look at him.
The Emperor, an A-Class Transcendent, was not particularly possessive, but Transcendents who found someone they considered their Guide were known to become extremely possessive. Many couldn’t tolerate members of the opposite s*x near their Guide, and some even disliked them just being in the same room as people of the same s*x.
While Christian, the Crown Prince’s aide, was silently expressing his grievance through his expression, a servant cleared the empty plates and brought dessert. When ice cream appeared, Ephinia’s eyes lit up, forgetting the situation.
‘Ice cream!’
Because this cold dessert required magic to make, she had only heard about it in stories before awakening as a Guide. After tasting it for the first time at the Duke’s residence, Ephinia had come to like ice cream very much.
Of course, given her position, she had never taken the initiative to ask for it.
‘I remember being quite surprised when I learned you could just buy it at a café if you paid.’
When she worked at the Caneze Viscountcy, it had been something she could never even dream of, since she hadn’t been paid wages anyway.
There was no special reason ice cream was served for dessert. Kasselard had simply asked for something cold because his body felt hot.
While Kasselard drank a beverage with ice in it, Ephinia carefully scooped up the ice cream and brought it to her mouth with a blissful expression.
“…Is it that good?”
“Yes!”
Ephinia answered brightly without thinking, then flinched. There was a mischievous glint in Kasselard’s blue eyes as he looked at her.
“Then give me a bite.”
Die.
Ephinia didn’t let the word that rose in her mind slip out. Silently, she considered which would be more appropriate, eating the ice cream quickly, or hitting him on the head with the spoon.
“Please do that with your lover.”
“Haven’t we already done things more intimate than that?”
This was a world where contraceptive magic tools were well developed. It might have been something that could be brushed off lightly… if the imperial family weren’t already watching them so closely, hoping to tie them together.
“Your Highness.”
Ephinia looked at Kasselard with a serious expression.
“Just as Your Highness does not wish to be entangled with me, I also do not wish to be entangled with Your Highness. Please refrain from making remarks that could stimulate people’s imaginations.”
You jerk! I just want to beat you to death with this spoon!
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.