Was that really something to be so surprised about?
Prince Luciano’s reaction was more intense than I’d expected.
I was genuinely embarrassed to hear it.
After gauging his mood for a moment, I decided to just keep pushing.
“Let’s just keep things casual between us.”
For the first time in a while, I flashed my signature sunny heroine smile.
At that, Prince Luciano seemed to snap out of his shock and fixed his gaze on me.
I quickly flashed another bright smile to urge him to decide.
A short while later, he slowly nodded.
“Alright.”
“Wow, you’re actually going along with it.”
I’d suggested it myself, but I hadn’t expected him to really agree, so I said it out loud.
Prince Luciano looked at me as if I were being absurd.
Then, shaking his head as if to say he couldn’t win, he let out a small sigh.
“Speaking of which, you’ve changed your attitude quite a bit yourself, Espin.”
“Wow! You called me by my name!”
He’d switched it up in a hurry, but the change in how he addressed me was clear.
I clapped my hands at this monumental moment.
Prince Luciano let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“How far do you plan to take this change?”
What was he talking about?
“This is just the beginning.”
“!”
He really didn’t get it.
Friends and romantic interests were obviously different, weren’t they?
‘There’s no need to act like a sunny heroine in front of you when you’re not even a candidate for my man.’
“You’ve already seen me at my worst, so why act all surprised now?”
“……I never dreamed you’d have this kind of personality.”
Somehow, it felt like he was sighing in regret over our decision to become friends.
That would be a problem.
Prince Luciano had been weighing me for over a year, so it wasn’t like I could just accept him as a friend right away.
For me, this was only the start.
* * *
“Espin.”
I looked up at the call, pulling me from my focus on the tea.
“Did you call me?”
Prince Luciano had called me but now just stared at me silently.
His expression suggested he had a lot to say.
“What is it?”
“You should sit properly to read a book.”
Apparently, it bothered him that I was lying on the sofa on my stomach, reading.
“This is more comfortable.”
“……”
Prince Luciano just sighed and let it go.
* * *
“Checkmate.”
Luciano’s queen captured my poor king in one swift move.
We were already on our tenth game of chess, and I’d lost all ten in a row.
I couldn’t take it anymore!
“Take it back!”
“What?”
“This isn’t fair! That was a mistake. It’s not your turn, Your Highness. Hurry and take it back!”
At my unreasonable demand, Luciano sighed and moved his queen back.
“Two moves ago!”
With another sigh, he moved his hand once more.
* * *
“Stop right there!”
I grabbed Luciano’s hand as he drew a card and shouted.
He looked at me, puzzled, as if he had no idea what was going on.
I glared at him with wide eyes.
“Ah-ha! How dare you draw from the bottom during a sacred card game!”
“……You’ve been drawing from the bottom all along.”
“Oh, you noticed?”
Ah, I hadn’t realized I’d been caught.
‘I thought my hands were faster than lightning since he hadn’t said anything.’
At my sheepish attitude, Prince Luciano sighed again.
* * *
“Let’s make a bet today.”
“A bet?”
“We’re too young to wager money, so how about a flick on the forehead? What do you say?”
“What’s a flick on the forehead?”
I curled my middle finger into a circle, pressed it with my thumb, and flicked it out to demonstrate.
“Like this. It’s hitting someone on the forehead.”
“……Are you sure that’s okay?”
After watching my gesture for a moment, Prince Luciano checked to make sure it was really alright.
That arrogant attitude!
It was all because he was too talented.
His genius shone through even in games.
We’d played quite a few different kinds, but I rarely beat Prince Luciano.
Even though he didn’t know the rules at first, once we started, he’d win every time.
Each time, I’d tremble with frustration.
Prince Luciano knew full well how competitive I was.
‘And yet he never lets me win, which shows how ruthless he can be.’
Anyway, he was asking if it was okay to bet when I’d been losing every time.
“I’m confident.”
This time, I was sure I’d win.
Why?
Because this was a game that didn’t exist in this world!
Despite my overflowing confidence, Prince Luciano accepted the bet.
“Fine.”
He’d regret that agreement!
Today, I’d finally win!
“Bring the chessboard.”
While Prince Luciano fetched the chessboard, I untied the pouch I’d prepared.
Clatter.
They were pebbles I’d gathered from our backyard.
Ten pebbles about the size of a finger joint—five close to white and five close to black.
“Pebbles? What are you planning to use those for?”
‘Heh heh heh.’
“Have you ever heard of flicking marbles?”
In my previous life, I was known as a master at it.
Even if they weren’t actual Go stones, I had no doubt in my victory.
That was just ten minutes ago.
“Want to play another round?”
I couldn’t hide my despair at Prince Luciano’s suggestion.
This couldn’t be happening.
‘To lose at flicking marbles, too.’
“Then let’s stop and do something else.”
Seeing me stunned in shock, Prince Luciano started to tidy up the pebbles.
“We have to do the forehead flick.”
As frustrating as it was, a promise was a promise.
I lifted my bangs with my palm, exposing my forehead.
“It’s fine.”
Prince Luciano dismissed it casually, but I wasn’t okay with that.
“No. A bet’s a bet. Come on, flick me.”
He stared at me for a moment before moving.
I closed my eyes tightly as his hand approached my forehead.
It’ll hurt, right?
No, maybe not, since he didn’t even know what a forehead flick was.
But it’s Prince Luciano.
A genius at everything.
‘He’s probably a genius at forehead flicks too, so it’ll hurt a ton.’
I trembled, praying he’d just get it over with.
But no matter how long I waited, the sharp pain never came to my forehead.
I peeked open one eye and glanced at Prince Luciano.
“I’m not going to do it.”
“How can you say that? Flick me.”
When I insisted strongly, Prince Luciano gave me a strange look.
“You want to get hit that badly?”
No, why did it come out like that?
“That’s not it!”
“I’m saying it’s fine, so why do you keep insisting I flick you?”
“Obviously because I want to flick you too!”
He didn’t know my bigger plan for next time.
Prince Luciano looked at me in disbelief.
“Fine. Here.”
I lifted my bangs again, closed my eyes, and waited.
When was he going to do it?
Come on, if you’re going to flick, do it quickly.
Why drag it out?
It was making me scared.
I tensed up so much my body trembled.
Then.
Tap.
An unexpectedly gentle touch brushed my forehead.
I opened my eyes wide.
Prince Luciano’s blank face came into view.
“Why?”
“Was that a flick?”
“Yes.”
He was completely nonchalant.
“Really, truly a flick?”
“I said yes.”
So Prince Luciano had something he wasn’t good at?
“Great! Let’s play another round!”
I shouted excitedly.
* * *
Over the next few meetings, I tested how far Prince Luciano would tolerate my attitude.
I tried being cheeky, threw in some unreasonable demands.
I’d even done things that I thought were over the line.
‘But his tolerance seems broader than I expected.’
He sighed at most of what I did but still took a “do as you please” stance.
As if making up for the past year, Prince Luciano accommodated everything for me.
He seemed extremely cautious about letting people into his inner circle, but once he did, he was endlessly lenient.
Objectively, he was an indifferent person, not exactly ideal friend material.
He didn’t explain things properly, and he was incredibly stoic.
In many ways, he wasn’t the easiest personality to get along with.
‘But if he’s willing to match my behavior to this extent, being friends might not be so bad.’
Having reached my conclusion, I declared it to Prince Luciano.
“Alright. I’ll accept you as a friend.”
Prince Luciano froze as if he’d heard something unbelievable.
When I stared at him, urging him to say something, he finally spoke.
“That sounds incredibly shocking……. You’ll accept me as a friend? Then what have we been doing all this time?”
Well, we had been hanging out a lot over the past few months, and he’d put up with plenty of my nonsense.
I could understand his bewilderment a little.
“Up until now, it was a probation period to see if you were suitable as my friend.”
“I’m surprised I didn’t know I was on probation. And now I’ve passed?”
“That’s why I’m saying it.”
Prince Luciano let out a disbelieving laugh, as if my answer was outrageous.
“You’re truly incorrigible.”
“Come on, let’s be good friends now.”
I smiled brightly as I declared it, and he shook his head in resignation.
Whether he did or not, I stood tall.
In all fairness, I’d only judged Prince Luciano for about three months.
He’d watched me for a whole year.
‘This is more than fair!’
And so, I accepted Prince Luciano as a friend, and we grew close rapidly.
* * *
Today, my stomach was especially ravenous.
“I’m hungry. Don’t you have anything to eat?”
Clutching my empty belly, I boldly demanded that Prince Luciano bring something out quickly.
“Wait.”
Prince Luciano looked at me for a moment before leaving the room.
It suddenly occurred to me that while I always received tea service, we’d never eaten a meal together.
I’d been visiting the palace often, but since I didn’t stay long, there hadn’t been a need for shared meals.
Before I knew it, Prince Luciano returned with two apples in hand.
“Here, eat.”
He held out the apples to me, whole and round.
Still with the skins on, just as they were.
“You said you were hungry.”
When I hesitated in surprise, Prince Luciano shook his hand as if to say hurry and take it.
“I didn’t expect you’d give them to me raw.”
Didn’t they usually eat only the finest things in the palace?
‘This is too raw and unprocessed.’
“I usually eat them like this.”
When I didn’t readily accept, Prince Luciano tossed out the words.
His face showed a hint of displeasure, and I belatedly realized my mistake.
‘He’s sensitive about food because of the poison.’
“You’re saying you won’t even peel it for me?”
I quickly took the apple.
Truthfully, I wasn’t that picky myself.
I rubbed it against my clothes and took a crisp bite.
It was sweetly tart and tasted good.
As I chewed, I glanced at Prince Luciano, and he started eating his too.
Even while eating, a question nagged at me.
When he said “I usually eat them like this,” did he mean snacks?
Or all his food?
Logically, it should be the former, but somehow I had a foreboding feeling it was the latter.
After all, he’d been so sensitive even about a simple muffin.
“You don’t eat meals like this too, do you?”
Prince Luciano’s chewing jaw stopped.
Then he stared at me silently.
His crimson eyes turned cold.
The expression alone told me the answer, and my breath caught in my throat.
As my anxiety grew, Prince Luciano finally spoke.
“Cooks are easy to bribe.”
It meant he hadn’t eaten a proper cooked meal in a long time.
Not for health reasons, but for survival—he lived on raw foods.
My insides churned with emotion.
I’d been foolish again.
I knew he worried about things like this, so I should have been more attentive.
I never imagined the situation was this dire.
And he was my friend!
I bolted upright.
“We can go out, right?”
