Chapter 7
“Hello! Prince Luciano!”
My voice was more cheerful than ever because I was full of confidence.
A grin formed out of nowhere.
I wonder if my youthfulness was too much, Prince Luciano gave me a colder gaze than usual.
“What’s going on?”
“I brought you a present.”
When I answered with a smile, he just stared at me indifferently.
Nowhere in his face showed the slightest hint of anticipation.
I would be exhausted if I expected a response, so I held out my basket first.
“Here you go.”
Prince Luciano only looked at me with his arms folded and had no intention of receiving it.
But it was okay.
That expressionless expression would change to ecstatic soon!
“Ta-da!”
The cloth covering the basket was removed, revealing a bunch of puffy orange colored muffins.
Prince Luciano stared blankly at the muffin, then looked at me and frowned.
Seeing the look on her face that seemed to ask
‘What is this?’
, I smiled even more broadly.
Even though he looked indifferently now, I never doubted that Prince Luciano would be pleased with this ordinary gift.
The Prince Luciano in the original story was a person who didn’t really like anything.
He was always nervous and took everything negatively.
The only thing he said was good and liked was this cheese muffin.
「”Luciano, try this.”
Brianna suddenly stuck out a muffin.
“I’m fine.”
As soon as he checked it, his words of refusal came out.
Luciano didn’t like sweet things.
It was trivial, but he stayed away from those little things because he felt like it made him weak.
He suffered from assassination threats from an early age, and he shouldn’t show a soft and weak appearance in order to survive.
He had to be cool and shrewd all the time.
So he stayed away from relaxing the slightest bit.
He always led a restrained life and was careful about what he ate.
In particular, sweet desserts and drinks were not even touched.
Sweetness was perfect for hiding poison.
One of the things he learned as a child was to beware of those who offered sweet things.
Such people underestimated young Luciano and thought that such things would make him easy to deal with.
So, he stayed away from a person who gave him something sweet.
Even now, if the person who brought out the muffins had been someone else, he would have thrown them away for bringing something useless.
“Don’t be like that. It’s a cheese muffin I made myself for you.”
But Brianna no longer spoke outrageously.
Strangely, when he stood in front of her, the sensitive feeling calmed down.
As he glanced at the muffin, Brianna’s hand holding the muffin gently shook.
“I made it not too sweet, so you can eat it too. Don’t you like it?”
He couldn’t refuse Brianna’s repeated offer.
It was never because she raised her head cutely.
Luciano accepted the cheese muffins.
The warmth remained as if it had not been long since it had been baked.
It was warm and fluffy. Just like Brianna.
It was just a food that didn’t pose any threat, but he hesitated to put it in his mouth.
He couldn’t move strangely as if he had a fear of what he was going through for the first time.
“Are you going to just look at it? Try it now.”
When he couldn’t eat and just held it in his hand, Brianna urged him.
He couldn’t ignore her expectant gaze any longer, so he slowly put the muffin into his mouth.
Cheese’s unique savory and salty taste with sweetness were felt.
The remaining warmth and soft texture filled his mouth and disappeared gently.
As soon as he swallowed it inside my throat, he heard Brianna’s excited voice.
“How is it?”
The muffins he ate for a long time had a tingling taste on the tip of his tongue.
A thrilling taste different from poison.
It was a taste he had never tasted before and hard to explain.
He couldn’t ignore Brianna’s sparkling eyes with anticipation, so he answered.
“It tastes good.”
“I knew it!”
Then a bright smile appeared on her face.
The expression that revealed complete joy was sweet enough to melt his heart.
Yeah, it was the first time he felt the sweetness.
It was a calming and happy taste that he didn’t want to miss again.」
I remembered the text clearly.
Since then, cheese muffins have become the only dessert that Prince Luciano has eaten.
Although the taste may not be the same as what the female protagonist made.
These were cheese muffins that I got from a famous baker in the capital.
It was a taste I didn’t want to miss again, so I was sure Prince Luciano would like it too.
“It’s a cheese muffin. I brought it to eat with you.”
Prince Luciano looked at the muffins and my face alternately.
A strange displeasure was seen in the calmness that wasn’t like a child.
‘Are you upset because I brought it when you didn’t eat dessert?’
I just grabbed one and held it out.
“Come on, try one. It’ll be delicious.”
To make the conditions as similar as possible to the original, I’ve been baking cheese muffins just before I came.
Thanks to that, I could still feel the warmth at my fingertips.
The savory and salty smell of cheese spread throughout the drawing room.
No matter how much I thought about it, Prince Luciano had no choice but to like it.
All he had to do was take a bite.
Then, the situation would be reversed!
To Prince Luciano, who gave me a cold glance, I consciously smiled and offered a cheese muffin.
“It’s not that sweet. The prince will be able to enjoy it.”
In order to persuade him to eat it somehow, I borrowed the female protagonist’s lines.
I smiled and shook my hand softly as a sign for him to eat it quickly.
‘Even if I couldn’t imitate it perfectly, the situation is similar, so even Prince Luciano will pretend he can’t win, right?’
However, as if breaking my expectations, Prince Luciano’s expression grew colder.
I had a hunch that something was wrong in his eyes that were beyond coldness and close to contempt.
“Well, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t like it.”
I had to do my best to be an ignorant sunshine, so I took a step back.
“What made you think I was going to trust you and eat?”
But I guess it was late.
Prince Luciano’s cold question was full of hostility.
In the meantime, whenever I was shamelessly approached, he treated me coldly.
Even so, it wasn’t to this extent.
‘You looked at me like I was an annoying person, but why today ….’
His gaze was so fierce that I felt like I had to answer anything.
“Uh, I thought it would be fun to share ….”
In embarrassment, not only my voice but my body also trembled.
I couldn’t make eye contact with him because his stinging eyes were scary.
“Who told you to bring something like this?”
It was unfair because I couldn’t understand why Prince Luciano was acting so sensitively.
“It’s just a gift.”
“How do I know if it wasn’t poisonous?”
A cold voice fell sharply.
The shocking words I had just heard made me stunned.
Poison?
‘Did you suspect I would have poisoned the muffins?’
Of course, there was no room for trust to build between us.
But I’ve been using the sunshine tactics so passionately!
How dare you take my favor like that!
“It’s not poisoned!”
I cried out, feeling unjustly. But his attitude didn’t change at all.
Rather, he only grew colder.
“I don’t carelessly eat food given by others. The only ones who gave me food were incredible people.”
Prince Luciano poured out coldly.
Belatedly, I seemed to understand why he hadn’t served me a cup of tea for over a year.
He was wary of the act of ‘eating together’.
Because he never know when his opponent would poison him
Even though I was a child, he wouldn’t let his guard down.
Come to think of it, I had forgotten that in the original story, Prince Luciano suffered from the threat of poisoning when he was young.
To be precise, I was aware of it, but I took it easy because it was said that he was just suffering from the threat of poisoning.
Now this was the exact childhood.
What if he was currently suffering from the threat of poisoning at times?
So what if it was a situation where no one could be trusted?
At the peak of his vigilance, I pulled the trigger.
Only then did I realize my mistake.
“N-no. It really wasn’t poisoned.”
Even with my excuses, Prince Luciano just stared at me coldly.
A chill ran down my spine.
I thought things would be easier if I became the main character.
Because the original novel had a happy ending despite the ordeal.
Especially when possessed by a novel, things would go smoothly as if the probability has been rolled up.
I took Prince Luciano’s reality too lightly because I thought it was a novel.
“Don’t ever come back.”
He stood up as if he didn’t want to deal with me anymore.
My heart sank as he turned around coldly.
It couldn’t be like this.
If I went out like this, there would be no chance again.
It was not a calculated mind to get closer to Prince Luciano.
I felt sorry for him and didn’t want to end up hurting him.
I had to resolve the misunderstanding somehow.
“I’ll prove it!”
He stopped when I shouted urgently.
“What?”
“If I eat all of this and nothing happens, it’s not poisoned. Then, trust me.”
At my insistence, Prince Luciano stared at me as if it was not even worth responding.
I know this was an unwise response.
However this was the only way I could think of right now.
I hurriedly took the muffin to my mouth.
The muffins made by a famous baker, which should have been very delicious, felt dry.
But I didn’t stop eating. I really felt like this was my last chance.
While I ate one, Prince Luciano just stared at me.
I barely swallowed one and picked up another muffin, just then Prince Luciano opened his mouth.
“What are you doing?”
The crooked gaze indicated that my actions weren’t taken lightly.
I swallowed the muffins that filled my mouth and managed to answer.
“I’m going to prove it.”