45
It was The day after I spoke with Remias.
The class had ended and the students were preparing to leave.
I was taking out a bag of snacks that I had made yesterday from my locker.
Today's snack was rice crackers.
It was seasoned with salt as I had no soy sauce.
This was quite well in itself, but I have recently begun to crave soy sauce.
I was thinking of inviting the prince, who also appreciated Japanese snacks, so we could all have a tea party together.
There was so much on my mind recently, and I was unable to have tea with them. And so I had baked a ridiculous amount of crackers in order to make amends.
Hehe. I do hope that they will be happy.
I will wrap some up to give as a present if they are too busy to come.
It was with much excitement that I went over to the prince's chair.
"Prince Leonhart. Do you have a minute?"
I call as he was about to stand up.
"Ah, Cosette. I am sorry, but I have some business today. Is it urgent?"
"Huh? Uh, no… I would not say that it is…"
"I see. Excuse me then."
"Ah, um, crackers…"
"I am sorry, but I am in a hurry."
"Oh…"
The prince left me there without even turning to look back.
I stood there in shock and with a sense abandonment.
We had played together for years since we were children, and yet he had never rejected me so rudely. And so I was taken aback.
And we had never talked before without our eyes meeting.
It must have been quite urgent.
But in the first place, it was silly for me to think that his highness the prince could always come to my tea parties.
He would be too busy with his other duties.
But he had always come anyway, up until now. He had never rejected an invitation.
Then it hit me.
I realized it.
That he had always participated in my tea parties in spite of being the crown prince.
There were times when a servant would call for him during the parties, but he never declined to come from the beginning.
And so I had believed that he would always come.
How impudent of me…
Regardless of how close we were, a daughter of a mere count should not act like she owned the prince.
I was assaulted by such a strong sense of embarrassment that I thought I might faint.
The bag of rice crackers I was holding suddenly looked very miserable.
What worthless snacks these were.
I felt as if the other nobles around me were laughing.
So she finally sees it.
Just how shameless she was…
Hehe…hehe…
I could bear to be there no longer, and so I escaped from the classroom.
Before I knew it I had arrived in the courtyard.
The same place that we always took tea.
There was nobody here now.
For some reason, tears were streaming from my eyes.
I didn't know why I was crying.
It was obvious that the prince would be busy, and it was silly for me to cry because of this.
These tears were so shameful. I was embarrassed that I was acting so hurt by it all.
How long did I stay like that?
Perhaps it was not so long.
I heard voices buzzing near the entrance of the courtyard, and I looked up.
And there was Angie, her pink hair swaying, and…the prince, who was facing her and talking.
I could not see his expression from here.
But that beautiful silver hair was unmistakably the prince's.
His hands held a bag that was not typical for a man.
That…
I remember.
It was the homemade sweets that Angie made for her love interest.
The scene from the game that my daughter played appeared in my head.
I felt so helpless then, that I tried to throw my own bag to the ground…but I could not.
That would be a waste.
I could not waste food.
And so I nibbled on them by myself.
The tears kept flowing, and my mouth was dry from all the crackers. It was tragic.
"Cosette…?"
I turned around and saw Remias and George.
I must have looked terrible.
They both looked worriedly at my face, their eyes were wide with surprise.
"I'll bring a wet towel!"
George said as he ran off.
Remias pulled out a clean handkerchief and wiped my mouth.
"Cosette, I have never seen you cry before. Are you okay…? Here, drink some tea."
Remias took out a bamboo container and poured some tea.
"Ohhhh…I ate too many rice crackers. They got stuck in my throat and made me cry."
Even I knew that this was a silly excuse.
But I did not know either, why I was crying.
I drank the tea so quickly that it caused me to cough.
"Ugugegahh."
"Cosette!"
Remias slapped me on the back.
I was so sorry…
I felt like an old woman as I looked up. My eyes locked with the prince's.
He was still there…what was he doing?
As I stared dumbly, he looked away, and this time, left the academy.
With Angie tightly wrapped around his arm.