“Huh…?”

Noah was also surprised by the sudden encounter. But he soon got up with an expressionless face and dusted off his pants.

“Yeah. But move aside.”

Noah tried to walk past Lucilia.

He had already made a bouquet for Her Highness the Crown Princess, so now he needed to quickly return to the Duke and meet the Princess.

This unfamiliar girl wasn’t important.

However, Lucilia had never been treated as an unimportant background character before.

“What? Move aside?”

SNAP. A vein popped on her forehead.

“Do you dare speak to me like that knowing who I am!”

Noah slowly tilted his head to one side.

He looked up at Lucilia with expressionless green eyes.

“Do I need to know?”

“…!!”

What, what, what kind of kid is this! Looking so cute but being so impudent!

Lucilia, who was already in a bad mood, became even more furious.

“How insolent! What kind of education have you received?”

“…Why are you angry?”

“You don’t even understand that much? Are you stupid too?”

Lucilia snorted and grabbed Noah’s arm. Then she practically threw him out of the greenhouse.

“Get out of here. This is not a place for someone as vulgar as you.”

“…”

Suddenly pushed away, the flowers fell from Noah’s hand.

But Noah quietly picked up the fallen flowers without showing any sign of anger. He was already immune to this kind of treatment, so it wasn’t anything new.

That’s when it happened.

Above Noah’s head, Lucilia’s mockery could be heard.

“Looking at you, I can guess what kind of person Calliphe Offensa is without even seeing her. Probably just as vulgar as you, unable to understand her place.”

Noah’s hand stopped abruptly.

Lucilia continued sharply.

“Her supposedly being good at riding griffins must surely be some kind of trick. How could a noble lady who has never experienced hardship possibly—huh?”

Lucilia’s eyes widened.

Noah, who had risen to his feet, threw the flowers he was holding at Lucilia.

Fragrant, colorful petals fluttered down, landing on Lucilia’s cheeks and shoulders.

“You… just… threw that? …At me?”

“Yes, I threw it.”

Noah said with an angry face.

“Don’t speak carelessly about things you don’t know. You stupid idiot.”

“…?!”

She was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t speak.

Noah glared at Lucilia for a moment longer, then turned away sharply.

Seemingly remembering something, he turned his head back and said.

“And Lady Calliphe being good at riding griffins isn’t a trick. It only took her 30 minutes to ride a griffin.”

“What? Don’t lie!”

“It might sound like a lie to you. Because you can’t do it.”

HMPH. Noah gave her a haughty side-eye before turning away again and leaving.

“What in the…!”

Lucilia fumed as she removed the flower petals stuck to her cheek.

“Everyone else is busy offering me flowers, yet he dares to throw them. Isn’t he afraid of the consequences?”

She should have him captured and punished for being disrespectful to the Crown Princess.

But on the other hand, it seemed ridiculous to be seriously angry at a child who was a head shorter than her.

Besides, it was somewhat refreshing.

She had never met someone who expressed their displeasure so honestly.

‘Even when I disguised myself and went outside, everyone was intimidated by me.’

This was because her ingrained elegance and manner of speaking made everyone assume that Lucilia was of high status.

The main reason was actually the pressure from the royal guards who secretly followed and protected Lucilia, but she didn’t know that.

“But really… tamed a griffin in 30 minutes?”

That’s impossible.

Lucilia immediately abandoned her plan to walk around the greenhouse and rushed to her griffin.

True to its nature as a powerful monster, the griffin had already recovered and looked fine.

Lucilia called out the name she had given to her griffin.

“Yvonne II! Get up!”

Yvonne was the name of an imperial female knight she admired. She had given this name without knowing that the griffin was male.

“I said get up! That woman did it in 30 minutes, why can’t you do it!”

“GROWL.”

The griffin opened just one eye to look at Lucilia, then closed it again. It was ignoring her.

The palace mage who had come along for safety shouted.

“What an insolent monster! Your Highness, we must teach this beast a lesson right now!”

Appearing to understand those words, Yvonne II suddenly stood up and tried to attack the mage.

“GASP!”

Fortunately, thanks to the shackles on its legs, the mage was safe.

The terrified palace mage used a shield spell and quickly protected Lucilia. Standing far away from the griffin, he pleaded.

“Your Highness. Handling a griffin is indeed too dangerous. It would be better to change to another event, even now.”

“…”

Lucilia bit her lip.

After checking her griffin again, she fully grasped the reality of the situation. But she couldn’t easily bring herself to say that she needed to go to Calliphe Offensa.

Because she didn’t have a proper excuse.

That’s when it happened.

“Your Highness. I found this in the greenhouse…”

The head butler approached and showed her a small shoe on a handkerchief.

“It appears to be the shoe of the child who accompanied Duke Ortega today. Shall I send someone to return it?”

“This?”

The shoe of that annoying black-haired kid?

It must have come off when they bumped into each other and fell.

“Just send someone to… wait!”

Suddenly, Lucilia’s expression brightened considerably.

“No, no! Give it to me. I’ll go myself.”

“Pardon? There’s no need for you to personally handle such a matter…”

“Such a matter? The child who lost this shoe is also one of my subjects! How upset must they be?”

Yes. If it’s just returning a shoe, there’s no problem, right?

And if she ‘happens’ to see how that woman tames griffins while she’s there, that wouldn’t be a problem either.

Lucilia smiled with satisfaction.

“I’ll visit Lady Offensa first thing tomorrow.”

* * *

I removed my hand from the griffin’s wing.

“Finally found it.”

The location of the core hidden inside the griffin’s body.

It was in a position that would be impossible to find unless someone pointed it out directly.

Of course, the magic penetration method to tame griffins was also my own invention, known only to me.

“Even if the Crown Princess comes looking for me, she definitely won’t ask for help first. Maybe she’ll ask me to demonstrate while trying to secretly steal a glimpse?”

It’s so predictable. Having dealt with her many times in “Marino,” it was easy to anticipate.

What to do about this? This isn’t something you can learn just by watching.

In the end, it’s already decided who will have to bow their head.

“Hehehehe…”

The tuition fee: three humble visits.

I wasn’t going to pass on my knowledge until she bowed her head to me three times.