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~Chapter 26~
I hurriedly spoke up to the princess.
“Y-Your Highness! This clause about the maintenance allowance…!”
“Why?”
She tilted her head curiously.
“Is the amount too small?”
“No! It’s too much! I mean, the fact that you’re giving me a maintenance allowance at all is just…!”
The princess responded seriously, almost sternly.
“What do you mean ‘too much’?”
“Huh?”
“I refuse to let anyone look down on you anymore, Lady Ansi.”
She crossed her arms and continued with a shrug.
“Even if we’re contract friends, you’re basically my only friend now, aren’t you?”
“B-But still…”
“If someone disrespects my friend, that’s the same as disrespecting me.
And giving gifts all the time would just be annoying.”
She shrugged again.
“Anyway, don’t worry about the amount. I’m giving it because I can.”
“Even so, it just seems…”
“Ugh, are you going to make me say the same thing over and over?”
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“So… You don’t have any other complaints about the contract, right?”
Overwhelmed by her confidence, I nodded before I realized it.
Honestly, anyone might have a passing thought like, “Is she trying to buy a friend with money?”
But I knew the princess didn’t mean it like that—there was no malice at all.
It was a huge relief not to have to second-guess her words or intentions.
Unlike when I was around Seraphina, always wondering what was hidden behind her smile…
Then, the princess pointed her chin at the contract.
“Then go ahead and sign it.”
“Ah… okay.”
Like I was under a spell, I signed my name on the contract.
“Hmm.”
The princess nodded, then picked up the pen and signed her name next to mine.
She held out her hand to me.
She was asking for a handshake.
“Looking forward to being friends, Lady Ansi.”
“……”
Something swelled up in my chest.
That pale, delicate hand—
It didn’t judge me, pity me, or look down on me.
Even if this was a contract-based friendship…
It felt sincere.
She was the only person who treated me as an equal.
Not as a tool, a servant, or a background character—just as a friend.
I gently took her hand.
“I’m looking forward to it too, Your Highness.”
Hearing that, the princess beamed.
It was a bright smile—like sunlight on a spring day.
