Chapter 132: 132

“Here, is milk tea okay?”

“Ah, thank you.”

I took out two cans from the vending machine set up by the gym and handed one to Kayone.

Kayone took it apologetically.

It was my treat for Kayone, who had left her wallet in the classroom and had no money.

She was so agitated and cried so much that her voice was raspy.

“Shall we go back to class after finishing this?”

I opened the pull tab of my coffee and asked Kayone.

“I understand. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you. I’ll pay you back in class, okay?”

“I don’t mind. It’s a small price to pay for information.”

“No, that’s not possible.”

You’re so persistent. I don’t need it, so why don’t you just obediently receive it?

You’re a serious person.

“So what are you going to do with the prince when you get back?”

You rushed out and left him there.

It seems that one of Utai or Kayone must be by the prince’s side.

I wonder how they are doing now.

“This kind of quarrel has always been common. I don’t think His Highness is that bothered by it, so I think it’ll be normal.”

It’s a good idea to have a little remorse and apology for making a girl cry. It’s not as if Kayone was at fault.

Well, that’s impossible.

The prince is too abject.

“It’s been a year since he came to Japan, right? He should have recovered a bit.”

I think it’s amazing that he’s been living in this high school for a year, and he’s been sulky like that this entire time.

Isn’t that a little too introverted?

“… I’m the reason.”

She grasped the can with both hands and looked down.

“You?”

“Yes. It was me and the Inteira household.”

She rubbed her reddened eyes once and looked at me.

“As His Highness said earlier, I was not meant to marry into His Highness’ family from the beginning.”

“Well, that’s…”

“I wonder if it’s the brother the prince was talking about. He said he was in Tokyo.”

I honestly don’t remember which brother he is. I mean, there are so many siblings in their stories that it’s hard to remember their names.

There’s no way I can remember the names of people I’ve never even met. Ahem.

“His Highness, the Seventh Prince, Tetol Ketsa Coateau Dailan-sama. His Highness Atol’s brother who shares the same mother.”

“Huh.”

In all honesty, I don’t know why she explained it to me.

I don’t even think we’ll ever meet each other.

“… From a very young age, His Highness Atol and my marriage was almost a done deal. However, due to the recent succession rights to the throne, Utai and my grandfather, the patriarch of the Inteira household, was desperate for a connection to the royal family, so he broke it off and forced His Highness Tetol and me to get married in order to maintain our connection to the royal family.”

“Forced?”

Even though it was in another country, I wondered if it was possible to be so forceful.

Well, that’s something that I can’t help, even if I worry about it.

“My parents and most of my family were against it. His Royal Highness Prince Tetol is indeed a man of great character, and even though he is a student, he is expected to be a politician, but we, the entire Inteira family, had been watching Prince Atol’s efforts for many years. It would be a terrible thing to give up on His Highness, wouldn’t it? I’m close to His Highness Tetol to a certain extent, but I’ve never even considered marriage.”

… No, but you’ve thought about marrying Prince Atol?

Hmm. I wonder if he knows.

It’s like she’s revealing her fondness for Prince Atol to me.

“His Highness already has three fiancées, and he doesn’t see me as one of them. That’s why His Highness Tetol turned my grandfather down, but… my grandfather wouldn’t give up.”

“Even though he refused?”

How can you not know when to give up.

You can’t expect it to go well when not only your family members but also the other party refuses.

“It is my grandfather’s fault that once he has made up his mind, it is hard to make him give up. That’s why, or perhaps worst of all, my grandfather directly asked His Highness Atol to break off the engagement… to the prince in secret from our family, even lying to him.”

Instantly, a large crease appeared between Kayone’s eyebrows.

She gripped the aluminum milk tea can she was holding so hatefully and so forcefully that the can cracked and crinkled.

As I watched that, I felt a familiar chill and backed away.

It’s the kind of emotional outburst that Aoi and Mikuma sometimes get, the kind that’s unique to girls. Kayone also emitted the same aura and oppressive feeling, which was honestly very scary.

Aren’t the girls around me too scary lately?

“Oh, oka…”

“There’s no way I’m going to ask to break off my engagement to His Highness! What’s more! I’m not a loose, light-headed woman who would enter into a marriage with your brother right after breaking off our engagement! The only connection between me and His Highness Tetol was that we were seniors and juniors at the academy, and he is also His Highness Atol’s older brother! Even if that’s not the case, we only see each other a few times a year, and our words don’t go beyond seasonal greetings and the courtesies of a vassal! What reason is there for me to propose an engagement to His Highness Tetol! You’re the one who believed Grandfather’s inept lie! I’ve been with you for so long, since you were wearing diapers! You should know everything about me! We even bathed together when we were younger, and I was the one who held you and comforted you when you cried because you had wet your bed! We have nothing to hide, as we’ve already played all kinds of embarrassing games, from playing house to playing doctor. What the hell is Atol-sama thinking?”

“Stop! Stop, Kayone! You’re saying things you’ll regret later! You’re letting your momentum get the better of you.”

Come back before you can’t take it back!

“… I’m sorry. I lost my composure.”

“A-ah, I feel it’s a little late for that. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you.”

“My loud voice brought her back to herself, and Kayone’s tanned skin heated up to the point where I could tell at a glance.”

Holding the now compact aluminum can, Kayone squirmed, ashamed of herself.

The black wings on her back were moving loudly as if to hide her embarrassment or something, and kicking up dust in the space in front of the vending machine.

What an annoying way to hide your embarrassment. If you do this during the pollen season, you’ll get complaints from the people around you.

“So, what happened? Does the prince think you broke off the engagement?”

Is that why he’s sulking like a child?

What’s with him? How dumb.

“…I can’t even begin to understand how he felt. It must have been a shocking experience for him, and he must have been desperate. The only people of his age who were close to him were myself and Utai, so he must have felt betrayed.”

Kayone’s voice trembled as her downcast eyes clouded over.

You really can’t stop yourself when it comes to the prince, can you?

I don’t know if it’s okay to expose your true emotions to someone you’ve only known for a short time, like me.

“At first, I tried to deny it gently. But His Highness wouldn’t listen to me at all, and that made me sad, so I started to speak more and more strongly, and now I’ve been abusing him like that, and saying things I never thought I’d say.”

Ah, what the heck.

So that was the reason for Kayone’s poisonous attitude and words towards the prince.

“But that’s still a bit much, don’t you think?”

Like trash bug, incompetent…

It wouldn’t have been strange to get punched.

“… His Highness, who threw everything away and gave up, is angry with me.”

“Yes?”

I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.

“His Highness, who was so apathetic when he was back home, responds to my words. Even if it’s anger or frustration with me, it brings a little bit of energy back to His Highness.”

Uh…

What are you trying to say?

“You’re saying that if you make him angry, he’ll respond to you, and that makes you happy, so you’ve been hurling insults at him?”

“Y-you…”

That’s a little perverse, isn’t it?

Even if that’s fine with you, won’t that prince be in a bad mood because of your words and become sulkier and sulkier?

No, Kayone is probably aware of this.

“That’s a little…”

I was kind of scared of Kayone, so I slowly moved away from her.

What’s scary is that Kayone knows about this negative spiral and hasn’t stopped it.

She can’t stop it. She’s sick.

“A-are you guys okay…?”

The darkness in the prince’s heart may be quite deep, but Kayone’s sickness is also very serious.

She loves him too much.

It’s too deep, too heavy. What is this?

“That’s why! I’m also at fault for what happened in the classroom! Let’s go back like normal! Normally!”

Kayone must have noticed that I was taken aback because she hurriedly raised her head and acted cheerfully.

“Oh, if you say so.”

Turning around, Kayone heads for the corridor that connects the gym to the school building.

I followed after her.

“Somehow, I don’t like it…”

My mumbled words were drowned out by the sound of the wind.