“It is quiet today.”

The one who had been bothering her continuously these past few days was, for some reason, keeping still.

Every time the library door opened, her head turned toward it naturally, so it was not as though she had failed to notice.

“Has he finally given up?”

It was now time to close the library.

The paperwork was all finished. There were no remaining students, and unusually for today, there were no overdue books either, so it was a day when leaving ten minutes early would have been perfectly fine.

Yet Jane’s feet would not leave the library. She stared blankly out the window and muttered.

“Was I too harsh?”

As the memories of herself getting angry came to mind, Jane squeezed her eyes shut. Even so, she should not have been that cruel.

‘I should finish tidying up.’ She rose from her seat with an uneasy heart.

At that moment, a man of enormous build appeared in the distance.

“Well, of course.”

Jane rose from her seat, wondering how she would snap at him this time. But contrary to her thoughts, the corners of her lips were slightly lifted.

Before Charles could even reach for the library door handle, Jane opened it wide first and said curtly.

“Hmph, what is it this time?”

Charles, without showing any sign of surprise at the door suddenly opening, held out something he had in his hand.

“Wh, what is this?”

“Flowers.”

Jane had eyes of her own. So the fact that Charles was holding flowers was something she naturally already knew.

Jane let out a long sigh as though exasperated, and spoke again.

“So what I am asking is, why have you suddenly come with flowers.”

“Women……”

“Yes?”

Charles glanced behind him. There stood the indifferent Adele and the enthusiastically cheering Vincent.

His newfound friend, with whom he had not yet properly introduced himself, had said he would rest and had not followed along, but he was surely cheering him on in spirit.

Looking at the children, and recalling his friend’s kindness, he drew courage and looked directly at Jane again.

“I was told that women like flowers.”

Jane’s eyes went wide and round. Those did not seem like words that would come from Charles’s mouth.

Charles’s large hands, belonging to someone whose face looked completely fearsome. He was holding the flowers with extraordinary care, as though worried they might be damaged.

When Jane looked down at Charles’s hands, he smiled with embarrassment.

“Flowers are very delicate. I only just learned that they must be held this way.”

Had he been someone who could smile this gently? It was the first time she had seen him smile. She had thought he only knew how to keep his mouth firmly shut.

Jane had been viewing everything Charles did with a crooked eye, but this time she found herself wanting to listen to what he had to say.

The firewood splitting in front of the library had been a shockingly frightening incident. After that, when he had come saying he would help, she had driven him away with harsh words even though he had not made any particular mistake.

By that point, she could not help but think, ‘Does this person have feelings for me?’

The person who had been bothering her for days on end had not shown his face even once all day today, and she had found herself strangely preoccupied with that……

‘And now he comes with flowers like this.’

Jane barely composed her expression and spoke with deliberate coolness.

“You are only realizing that now?”

At that, Charles laughed with awkward embarrassment.

Come to think of it, this person. Despite looking the way he did, she had never once seen him get angry.

“Leave the flowers here. The fragrance is lovely, so I will use them to decorate the library.”

“You will accept them?”

“Only the flowers. Take care on your way.”

Jane slipped the bouquet from Charles’s hands and closed the library door. Pressing her ear to the door, she heard the sound of Charles leaving.

Once it seemed he had completely gone, the corners of Jane’s lips slowly rose. She closed her eyes and breathed in the floral scent deeply.

It felt as though she were standing in an open field.

And when she opened her eyes again.

She saw something strange before her. A marble was rolling along the library floor. There was no one around, and the windows were closed, so there was no way the wind could have blown.

What was strange was that the marble was gradually growing larger.

Startled, Jane squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.

When she opened her eyes, the marble had already disappeared. It was a situation that was far more startling than when the marble had been rolling.

Jane immediately ran in the direction the marble had disappeared.

“I am fairly certain there was a golden marble here.”

But no matter how much she searched, she could not find the marble.

Jane shivered, feeling a chill for no particular reason, and then the bouquet Charles had given her caught her eye. Her heart settled and her unease subsided.

It must have been a trick of the eye. Jane shrugged her shoulders and hummed to herself.

The fragrance of the flowers Charles had given her filled the library.

– – –

Today was the day of the tea party that Layla Camel had worked hard to prepare.

The only attendee was Rohide alone, but all the ladies-in-waiting cheered her on and lent their support to her efforts.

Layla had also woken up early in the morning, laid out all her jewelry, and deliberated again and again. She would look pretty in anything she wore, but the child’s eyes were very serious.

No matter how taciturn the prince was, could he really ignore even such an adorable gesture? Without knowing the little lady’s inner thoughts, it was a tea party where the adults were more excited than anyone.

Rohide’s attire upon arriving at the Camel estate was perfect. He was the very image of a prince from a fairy tale, and so the ladies-in-waiting began their fussing all over again.

Lately he had not been showing his prickly side, so was that not proof that he was gradually opening his heart to the young lady?

The ladies-in-waiting held back their desire to burst out laughing at the good sign and guided the prince to his seat.

The prince behaved courteously without showing any sign of discomfort.

When he held out a necklace saying it was a gift, the ladies-in-waiting barely managed to hold back their urge to cry out.

But Layla looked anxious, glancing across at Rohide.

It had already been a week since she had seen the prince acting strangely. He had not shown any particular reaction since then, but it was plain to Layla’s eyes.

The fact that Rohide was deliberately being conscious of her.

Worried, she had confided her concerns to her mother.

But her mother had said that a man paying attention to a woman was a very good sign.

That it was the beginning of love, or so she had said.

Layla narrowed her eyes and observed the prince. No matter how she looked at it, Rohide did not appear to have anything beginning just yet.

‘Is this really a good sign?’

Layla had tried to love Rohide as the adults around her said.

In accordance with the conduct expected of a lady, who must always be devoted and demure.

Of course…… it could not be helped that tears welled up in a way unbecoming of a perfect lady.

In any case, not today. Layla, having resolved never to cry again, smiled brightly.

“Your Highness, please try this as well.”

“Thank you.”

Rohide accepted the biscuit Layla held out without a single unpleasant expression and ate it quietly.

Separate from her worries, she rather liked the way Rohide was being mindful of her.

She had been ignored all this time, so when else would she get a moment like this? But the truth was that something felt off.

It seemed like he had become even more taciturn than before, which was not quite what she would call love blooming.

‘Then again. Lately he has not been pushing my hand away.’

Young Layla was still confused.

She bit into a biscuit alongside him and gazed at Rohide.

If things continued like this, would what the adults called true love really come about?

Was this person really going to suddenly change into someone as warm as a kind father?

If the adults’ predictions were completely wrong, and the grown-up Rohide acted exactly the same as he did now?

She knew from fairy tale books that a prince was someone who absolutely never acted taciturn, but the unease was unavoidable.

‘Hah, why does having someone treat me well make me worry even more? Is this the fate of all ladies?’

In every fairy tale book, the main characters went through trials both great and small. Perhaps the emotions she was experiencing right now were all part of those trials.

After overcoming all manner of hardships, the prince and she would share a kiss and hold their wedding ceremony at the end.

Thinking of it that way, her mood lifted instantly.

‘Kyaa! Oh my! A kiss with the prince and me!’

Layla suddenly kicked her dangling legs wildly and giggled. Her heart tickled and she felt a strange, giddy sensation.

The lady-in-waiting looking down at her from the side also smiled warmly, finding her adorable.

Our young lady is having one of her cute little daydreams again. It was not the first or second time Layla had been like this, but it was endearing every single time.

Even so, Rohide showed no reaction and quietly drank his milk.

Exuding the fatally charming atmosphere that Adele had cursed.

‘The mysterious child who created wind with her small fists.’

How was the little one who had boldly deceived him by claiming to be of the Grey family doing right now? And…… would he be able to meet her again?

He was holding himself back for now out of worry that the adults might find out, but someday he would absolutely go to meet her.

Rohide’s long eyelashes trembled faintly.

At that fatally charming sight, Layla’s mind went blank as though struck by a hammer.

Now the image of a kiss with the prince had been completely erased from her mind.

The prince had been by her side from the day she was born until now. So Layla knew Rohide better than anyone. Even to the extent of knowing what would make him angry.

But she had never once seen this side of him.

Even so, the expression on the prince’s face was familiar. The face she saw when she looked in the mirror after spending time alone in her room, longing for someone.

Rohide was longing for someone.

“Your Highness, who are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Adele Gr…… No, I was not thinking of anyone.”