The red beets I had pulled and organized were all tied up high in the trees.

It was clearly the boy’s doing.

Since I wasn’t good at climbing trees, I couldn’t get those red beets down by myself.

I went looking for the boy while fuming and found him leisurely sitting cross-legged on Uncle Amrus’s rooftop, watching the clouds drift by.

And he looked down at me mockingly as I stood there seething.

That little…!

That night, I set up a trap in Uncle Famel’s armory.

So that if the boy tried to touch the bow again for his amusement, a bucket of water would pour right over him.

Sure enough, not long after, I heard the splash of water pouring down.

I rushed over there and had the satisfaction of laughing at the boy who now looked like a drowned rat.

The soaked boy glared at me with angry eyes, but I wasn’t afraid.

I won’t tolerate anyone who tries to ruin my Galnem village.

“Aaagh!”

And as soon as I returned home, I fell right on my bottom.

The whole house was slick with corn-scented oil.

He must have taken it from the village’s communal oil storage and poured it here.

After how carefully I had been rationing that!

Our war continued like this for several days.

Though I was getting tired, I couldn’t give up. The boy was maliciously destroying my precious Galnem, and I had to win this war to protect it.

That day too, I was returning after setting up a dust trap on the road.

When I got home, I noticed I was more out of breath than usual.

My head kept getting hotter, and my whole body ached as if I’d been beaten. Perhaps I was coming down with something.

The boy was, without fail, preparing to douse me with water in front of our house.

Fine, go ahead and splash all you want.

Though I had steeled my resolve like that, my vision was spinning.

And just as the boy was about to pour the bucket over me, his hand hesitated. Because I had nearly fallen over while stumbling.

I couldn’t even make it to the bed and slid down against the wall.

My head… was so hot. My vision was blurring and swimming.

“……”

The boy was watching me with eyes that clearly showed his usual dislike of me.

The only difference from usual was that he wasn’t immediately dousing me with water.

Unlike usual, the boy approached me as I leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

Splash-

He threw away the bucket he was holding into the yard.

Then he crouched down crookedly and wrote on my house floor with a rolling pen.

[Why are you so obsessed with this worthless land?]

Haa, haa.

I looked at the boy while breathing heavily and said.

“I’m not obsessed with the land, it’s the people who lived here that are precious.”

At those words, the boy continued writing.

[What if they abandoned you?]

Somehow those words seemed to mock me, but there was force in the boy’s hand as he wrote.

[What will you do then.]

Though those words stung my heart like thorns, I didn’t yield.

I used all my strength to reach out and grab the boy’s collar.

As I pulled, the boy suddenly lost his balance and tilted toward me.

At a very close distance, I gathered all my focus to meet his eyes.

“…!”

For the first time, seeing those black eyes wavering in surprise, I spoke clearly.

“It doesn’t matter. Then I’ll be the only precious person living here.”

Even if doubt and despair tormented me, I believed I could overcome it if I cherished myself.

“So, I won’t give up… for my own sake…”

From such a close distance, I could see turbulent emotions stirring in the boy’s eyes.

Slowly- my grip loosened.

With a soft thunk, my forehead gently bumped against the boy’s forehead as I lost consciousness.

……

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in bed with a blanket over me.

There was a medicine smell in my mouth. Could he have given me medicine while I was unconscious?

Thinking maybe he wasn’t such a bad kid after all, despite being so rude, I drifted back to sleep.

The next day, when I stretched my stiff body and went outside, the red beets that had been tied up in the trees were now down in the yard.

And I could see him sitting nonchalantly on a tree branch.

He looked me up and down with that same aloof and cold gaze.

As if checking if I was okay.

“…hey you.”

I pointed my finger at the boy and put strength in my eyes.

I saw his hand flinch slightly.

I slowly lowered my finger.

And then, grinning, I said to the boy.

“…Want to be friends?”

And that’s how this meaningless war came to an end.

***

Waking from sleep, I lay in my dim bedroom and recalled Briton’s wavering blue eyes.

“If the necklace makes you uncomfortable, I will take it back. But I don’t think I can give up on you.”

No, I mean, Briton.

What did I…

Even I felt like crying watching those desperate eyes.

“And if you find it difficult to accept me as your fiancé, I’d be happy to be just a friend or an acquaintance, just please don’t turn away from me completely.”

I’m not sure what I did to have such a big influence on him, but it seems that current Briton thinks of me as something like his destiny.

‘Maybe it’s the influence of puberty.’

In modern terms, he’s just entering puberty, an age when interest in the opposite s*x increases.

Since our engagement naturally coincides with this, his attention is focused on me, so this is a natural growth process…

Nod nod-

I nodded my head.

Yes, there’s no need to think too seriously about it.

We’re still elementary school age.

Well, there were friends who talked about confessions and dating even in elementary school, but feelings from that time rarely, if ever, lasted until adulthood.

Later, when he’s around twenty and naturally meets someone he truly likes, he might beg Parmes to break off the engagement.

By then, he’ll be grateful that I rejected the necklace.

I decided to take Briton’s feelings lightly.

“Of course, Your Highness. Even if we don’t marry, we’ll be good friends. And for today’s gift, I’m satisfied with having seen these beautiful flowers.”

I closed my eyes to go back to sleep.

But then, I heard something knock on the door.

Thinking it might be Mas, I opened my eyes and approached the window.

“……”

After confirming there was no one outside the window, I opened it slightly.

“…What’s this?”

Something was placed on the windowsill.

It was a small blue case.

After hesitating for a moment at the mysterious object, I wrapped my hand in elemental power and carefully opened it.

If there was anything dangerous, I’m strong enough now to protect myself with my elemental power.

Fortunately, nothing exploded.

Instead, what was inside was…

“…A coin?”

It was a gold coin with the faces of two singing angels stamped on it.

Given the Albreon language written on it, it’s definitely Albreon currency, but not one currently in use.

I carefully turned the coin over, examining both sides.

Manufacturing date from 400 years ago?

Who would leave this at my third-floor window?

‘Given the fierce dragon image on it, could it be… a declaration of war?’

Duke Guermont’s concerns couldn’t possibly become reality.

Thinking I should ask Adam about the coin when I woke up, I put it back in its case and placed it on the desk.

Then I lay back in bed and tried to sleep.

***

“This is… an extremely rare coin.”

The next day, when I showed Adam the coin that had been in the case outside my window yesterday, he examined it with surprised eyes.

“It looks like an old currency?”

“Yes. It’s an Albreon founding commemorative coin. Only a hundred were ever minted.”

Come to think of it, Albreon’s history is about 400 years old.

Before that, the Albreon territory was ruled by the Ramus royal family.

But legend has it that when the Ramus princess married a dragon with the surname Aslet, their child started a rebellion and overthrew the Ramus dynasty to become emperor.

Since then, the Aslet imperial family has continued until now.

“There are many counterfeits of this coin, so I’m not sure if it’s genuine, but if it is real, it would be worth an enormous amount.”

“…How much?”

“Well… perhaps not enough to buy an entire Marquis’s mansion, but maybe half of one?”

I gaped in shock at the value Adam mentioned.

Who would leave something so precious!

“…But who could have given this to me?”