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Chapter 17
“Please, sit somewhere comfortable.”
I set Popo down and pointed toward the small tea table in the corner of the bedroom. Come to think of it, there was some jerky Bessie had brought me. I should at least offer him that.
I walked over to the bed to grab the jerky hidden beneath my pillow, and the moment I turned around with it in hand—
The man I thought would already be seated at the tea table was standing right behind me.
“Goodness! W-What is it?”
His eyes were fixed on my cheek.
The moment I noticed his gaze, my face suddenly felt hot. Right… the place Father hit me. Now that we were somewhere brighter, the swelling must have become visible. This was bad.
“Who… hit you?”
The man carefully brushed his fingers against my cheek.
In a small voice, I answered,
“It’s the other side.”
At my words, he awkwardly lowered his hand.
“I avoided touching it because I thought it might hurt.”
Yeah. Of course.
I quickly turned away and headed back to the tea table with the jerky. Honestly, I didn’t want him seeing me like this.
“You keep jerky under your pillow? Is that a tradition of the Bartoli Marquis family?”
As if that could possibly be a tradition.
“Yes. They say it tastes better if you leave it under your pillow.”
“Like some kind of jerky fairy? I heard the tooth fairy exchanges teeth left under pillows for money.”
“Fairies are vegetarians, so they don’t deal with jerky.”
Though I guess the tooth fairy doesn’t take teeth because she eats them.
…Or does she?
While we traded nonsense back and forth surprisingly well together, the man followed after me with Popo in his arms, persistently asking,
“So, who was it? The person who did that to your cheek, my lady.”
I gave a vague excuse.
“Thunderroot… hit me by accident.”
The man’s eyes flashed sharply.
“Then tomorrow morning, I’ll make sure horse meat is served.”
“No!”
I slammed the horse jerky down on the table.
Why was he trying to turn Thunderroot into meat?!
“I was obviously making that up. If he had really hit me, I’d already be dead.”
“I believe every word my lady says. I meant your words, not the horse called Thunderroot.”
“Please believe in Thunderroot too.”
The man sat down across from me and asked once more,
“So, who was it?”
Honestly, by now he might already have figured it out. Who else in this household could hit me besides Father? Unless my position had fallen so low that even the servants beat me.
But saying it aloud myself felt strangely pathetic. Like running to someone else to tattle about family matters.
“Why don’t you figure it out yourself? Aren’t you supposed to be a thorough man?”
“Understood.”
For a moment, I remembered him calling himself a serious man earlier, but I quickly shoved the memory aside.
“Where is the ointment I gave you?”
“Oh, it’s beside the bedside table. Should I bring it?”
The moment I stood up, the man swiftly rose first and firmly pressed both hands onto my shoulders.
“Please stay seated.”
Did he get hurt climbing up here or something? Honestly, who climbs up a rope barehanded like that?
While waiting for Glenntino to return, I looked over the bouquet on the tea table.
The bouquet he’d brought was mixed with white and pink flowers. Lisianthus flowers that looked like a blend of roses and carnations.
The same flowers I had admired in the Glentino Duchy gardens last time.
The moment I realized that, something warm spread quietly through my chest. As I touched the soft petals, I asked,
“What are the flowers for?”
“How could I visit a lady empty-handed?”
He answered casually as he walked back toward me, and for some reason, it made me feel strangely emotional.
Arnold, who had always been so obsessed with manners, had never once brought me something like this.
Why was it only after my fiancé died that I entered that household, and only now, from my late fiancé’s older brother, receiving flowers for the first time?
There happened to be an empty vase on the table. While I arranged the flowers into it, the man dragged his chair closer and sat beside me.
“Now then, show me your face.”
“Huh? My face?”
“Yes. Didn’t I tell you to use the ointment generously?”
I thought he was looking for the ointment because he’d injured himself, but he wanted to apply it to me?
‘I could apply it myself…’
But I didn’t want to reject his kindness.
At this point, reacting dramatically every time this handsome man showed inexplicable tenderness was exhausting. Honestly, aside from not understanding his intentions, it didn’t feel bad at all.
I adjusted my chair so he could see my cheek more clearly.
Being this close felt embarrassing somehow, so I sat upright, staring straight ahead while waiting for him to apply the ointment.
But even after about thirty seconds, the man still hadn’t done anything.
“Is it still not—”
As I started turning my head—
His lips landed against my cheek.
Soft, warm lips touched the space between my lips and cheek, and the bridge of his nose brushed lightly against my cheekbone before pulling away.
“……”
I sat there blankly, unable to process what had just happened.
After a moment, I stammered,
“Did you… just kiss me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?!”
As if asking such a thing was strange, the man answered plainly,
“Because you’re pretty.”
Ha.
This man was a criminal. A walking inducement to crime.
With that face, saying things like that— even Zenut, goddess of marital fidelity, would abandon her husband Billik and fall into an affair.
Whatever expression I made, the man suddenly began hurriedly explaining himself.
“Ah, I absolutely do not think lightly of you, my lady, or— what was it again— anyway, it’s not like that. I simply thought that even if I were beaten to death here by you, I still had to kiss you.”
“You really didn’t have to go that far…”
“It’s rather nice. Since it was my first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was very soft and pleasant. The only disappointing part is that it was too short.”
My face burned all over again at his blunt review. With that lazy expression of his, there truly wasn’t anything he couldn’t say.
Wait.
“First time!? Y-You mean kissing someone on the cheek?”
“Yes.”
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of deceit on his face as he answered confidently.
And after spending several days around him, I’d learned one thing about Prince Glenntino— he never said things he didn’t mean.
So shocked that I lost all sense of manners, I blurted out,
“What have you been doing for twenty-five years of your life?”
“Well…”
The man thought for a moment before answering.
“I suppose I was waiting for you, my lady.”
Good heavens.
In so many different ways, this man truly knew how to leave me dazed with those lips of his. Those beautifully colored, soft lips.
Meanwhile, he had already calmly opened the ointment jar again.
“If you’re not planning to hit me, I’ll apply the ointment now.”
Well, it wasn’t like I wanted to hit him…
How should I even describe this feeling?
Like even if I exploded in anger, it wouldn’t affect him at all. Or maybe because I honestly wasn’t angry enough to hit him.
“Good grief…”
In the end, I obediently offered him my cheek.
Could someone really be born this naturally capable of taking control of the mood? Being beside this man made me feel like I’d end up dating him, marrying him, and even raising children together before I knew what was happening.
Prince Glenntino’s fingers were long and beautiful too.
With surprisingly delicate movements, he dabbed ointment onto my cheek and gently spread it across the swollen skin. The cool sensation was honestly quite pleasant.
While we sat quietly together, Popo slowly padded over.
Then she climbed onto my lap and began acting cute.
After I rubbed her belly a few times, Popo licked my hand before hopping onto Prince Glenntino’s lap instead and curling herself into a little ball.
Come to think of it, he’d been holding Popo earlier too. Normally, Popo never acted this friendly toward strangers.
“Popo really likes you, Prince. She’s usually scared of large men.”
The man asked curiously,
“Why is she afraid of them?”
Ah. If he asked that, then I’d have no choice but to mention Father again.
I awkwardly dodged the question.
“Who knows. Maybe she had some bad memories.”
“I see. Even so, the reason Popo is still so cheerful must be because you cherish her greatly, my lady.”
Oddly enough, those simple words increased my affection for him more than anything else he’d said.
It made me feel unexpectedly shy.
“It’s nothing… I receive a lot of comfort from Popo too.”
“And how does Popo comfort you?”
He sounded genuinely curious. It seemed he had finished applying the ointment and was closing the lid.
I picked Popo back up from his lap and gently stroked her as I answered.
“Popo understands my feelings well. When I seem down, she comes over and acts cute beside me. Though sometimes she just comes because she wants attention. And her fur is soft, so touching her feels nice. She listens to me well too…”
I trailed off briefly and glanced toward him. I’d only answered casually, but maybe I’d rambled too much.
But Prince Glenntino was listening to every word with an unusually serious expression.
As I quietly stroked Popo in my lap, the man met my eyes and asked,
“If I also understand your feelings and act cute for you… will you cherish me too, my lady?”
