“Hello, Prince Luciano!”
Brimming with confidence, my greeting rang out more cheerfully than ever before.
A grin spread across my face all on its own.
Perhaps my exuberance was a bit much, because Prince Luciano regarded me with an even cooler gaze than usual.
“What do you want?”
“I’ve brought you a gift.”
I replied with a beaming smile, but he merely stared indifferently.
There wasn’t a trace of anticipation in his expression anywhere.
Knowing I’d only tire myself out waiting for any enthusiasm from him, I thrust forward the basket I’d brought.
“Here you go.”
Prince Luciano kept his arms crossed, simply gazing at it without any intention of accepting.
But that was fine.
Soon, that blank expression would transform into one of utter delight!
“Ta-da!”
As I whisked away the cloth covering the basket, a pile of fluffy, orange-hued muffins came into view.
Prince Luciano stared at the muffins impassively, then looked at me and furrowed his brow.
His face seemed to ask, “What is this?” and I smiled even wider in response.
He might be looking at it so indifferently now, but I had no doubt he’d adore this ordinary gift.
In the story, Prince Luciano was someone without any particular likes.
He was always on edge, interpreting everything in the most negative light.
The one thing he’d ever admitted to enjoying was this very cheese muffin.
『”Luciano, try this.”
Briana abruptly held out a muffin.
“I’m fine.”
The refusal slipped out the moment he saw it.
Luciano didn’t like sweets at all.
It was a small thing, but he avoided anything that might make him seem weak.
From a young age, he’d been plagued by assassination threats, and to survive, he couldn’t afford to show any softness or vulnerability.
He had to appear cold and unassailable at all times.
So he steered clear of anything that might relax his guard even a little.
He lived a life of constant restraint, careful even about what he ate.
Especially sweet desserts or drinks—he wouldn’t touch them.
Sweetness was the perfect mask for poison.
One of the lessons he’d learned as a child was to beware of those offering sweet things.
Such people underestimated the young Luciano, thinking they could easily manipulate him with treats.
So he kept his distance from anyone who offered sweets.
If it had been someone else handing him this muffin now, he’d have dismissed it as pointless and waved it away.
“Don’t be like that. I made this cheese muffin just for you.”
But with Briana, his usual sharp retorts no longer came so readily.
Strangely, standing before her calmed his prickly mood.
As he stared at the muffin, Briana’s hand holding it swayed gently back and forth.
“I didn’t make it too sweet, so you should be able to eat it. Don’t you like it?”
He couldn’t refuse her repeated offer.
It absolutely wasn’t because of the cute way she tilted her head.
Luciano accepted the cheese muffin.
It seemed freshly baked, still warm to the touch.
Soft and warm.
Just like Briana.
It was merely a harmless food, yet for some reason, he hesitated to bring it to his mouth.
He felt strangely immobilized, as if facing a new experience with fear.
“Are you just going to stare at it? Hurry up and eat.”
When he couldn’t bring himself to eat and just held it, Briana urged him on.
Unable to ignore her expectant gaze any longer, he slowly took a bite.
The nutty, salty flavor unique to cheese mingled with a subtle sweetness.
The lingering warmth and fluffy texture filled his mouth before melting away softly.
No sooner had he swallowed than Briana’s excited voice rang out.
“How is it?”
The muffin, tasted after so long, left a tingling sensation on his tongue.
A thrill unlike any poison.
An indescribable flavor, one he’d never experienced before.
Unable to disregard the sparkle of anticipation in Briana’s eyes, he answered.
“It’s good.”
“I knew it!”
A radiant smile bloomed on her face.
Seeing her expression of pure joy made a sweetness rise within him, melting his insides.
Yes, it was a sweetness he’d never felt before.
A peaceful, happy flavor he never wanted to let go of again.』
I remembered that passage vividly.
After that, the cheese muffin became the only dessert Prince Luciano would eat.
Though, since it wasn’t made by the heroine, it might not taste exactly like that one.
But these were cheese muffins I’d sought out from a renowned baker in the capital.
Since it was a flavor he never wanted to lose again, surely Prince Luciano would love them.
“They’re cheese muffins. I brought them so we could eat together.”
Prince Luciano glanced back and forth between the muffins and my face.
Amid his unchildlike composure, a faint displeasure flickered.
‘Is he upset because I brought dessert when he doesn’t eat it?’
I quickly picked one up and held it out.
“Here, try one. It’ll be delicious.”
To replicate the original story as closely as possible, I’d baked the cheese muffins right before coming.
Thanks to that, a warm heat still radiated from my fingertips.
The nutty, salty cheese aroma wafted through the drawing room.
No matter how I looked at it, this was a situation where Prince Luciano couldn’t help but like them.
He just needed to take one bite.
Then, everything would turn around!
Facing his icy glare, I consciously flashed a bright, beaming smile as I offered the cheese muffin.
“It’s not that sweet. You should be able to eat it just fine, Your Highness.”
To persuade him to eat somehow, I borrowed the heroine’s lines.
I kept smiling, even gently waving my hand to urge him to try it quickly.
‘Even if I couldn’t imitate it perfectly, the situation is similar enough that he’ll pretend he can’t resist and eat it, right?’
But shattering my expectations, Prince Luciano’s expression grew increasingly frigid.
His gaze shifted from mere coldness to something bordering on contempt, and I instinctively sensed something had gone wrong.
“Um, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.”
Even sunny persistence needs to know when to back off, so I quickly retreated a step.
“Did you really think I’d trust you enough to eat something from you?”
But it seemed too late.
Prince Luciano’s chilling question brimmed with hostility.
In all the times I’d brazenly visited before, he’d been cold, sure.
But never to this extent.
‘He used to just look at me like an annoying intruder and brush me off, so why today…’
His piercing stare was so fierce that I felt compelled to say something.
“Uh, I just thought it’d be fun to share and eat together…”
Flustered, not only my voice but my body trembled too.
His glaring eyes were too scary to meet.
“Who asked you to bring this nonsense?”
I felt wronged, unable to understand why Prince Luciano was reacting with such heightened sensitivity.
“It’s just a gift.”
“How do I know there’s no poison in there?”
His icy voice dropped sharply.
I went blank at the shocking words I’d just heard.
Poison?
‘Is he suspecting that I put poison in the muffins?’
Of course, there hadn’t been time for trust to build between us.
But I’d been so fervent with my sunny approach all this time!
To interpret my goodwill like that!
“There’s no poison!”
I cried out in indignation. But his attitude didn’t soften at all.
If anything, it only grew colder.
“I don’t carelessly eat food given by others. Everyone who’s ever offered me food has been untrustworthy.”
Prince Luciano poured out his words coldly.
It dawned on me belatedly why, in over a year of visits, he’d never once offered me even a cup of tea.
He’d been wary of the very act of ‘eating together.’
Because he never knew when someone might slip in poison.
He hadn’t let his guard down even though I was a child.
Come to think of it, I’d forgotten that in the original story, Prince Luciano had been plagued by poisoning threats as a child.
More precisely, I’d acknowledged it but glossed over it, since it was just vaguely described as enduring assassination attempts, and I’d taken it too lightly.
This was exactly that childhood period.
What if he was currently facing poisoning threats at every turn?
If he was in a situation where he couldn’t trust anyone?
Then I’d just ignited the fuse when his vigilance was at its peak.
Only then did I realize my mistake.
“Ah, no. Really, there’s no poison or anything.”
Even with my excuses, Prince Luciano just glared coldly.
A chill ran down my spine.
I’d assumed things would go smoothly because I was the protagonist.
After all, novels always ended happily, even with trials along the way.
Especially in romance fantasy possession stories, things tended to unfold smoothly, logic be damned.
Thinking of this as just a novel, I’d viewed Prince Luciano’s reality too lightly.
“Don’t come here again.”
He rose as if he couldn’t be bothered to deal with me anymore.
My heart sank at his coldly turning away.
This couldn’t end like this.
If I left now, I felt like there’d be no more chances.
It wasn’t a calculated desire to get close to Prince Luciano.
I felt sorry for him, and I didn’t want to end things after hurting him so thoughtlessly.
I had to clear up the misunderstanding somehow.
“I’ll prove it!”
As I shouted desperately, he paused.
“What?”
“If I eat all of this and I’m fine, that means there’s no poison, right? Then, please believe me.”
Prince Luciano stared at me as if my claim wasn’t even worth responding to.
I knew it too—that this wasn’t a wise response.
But it was the only method I could think of right now.
I hurriedly brought a muffin to my mouth.
The muffin, which should have been incredibly delicious from a famous baker, felt dry and tough.
Still, I didn’t stop eating. This felt like my absolute last chance.
While I finished one entire muffin, Prince Luciano just watched me silently.
As I barely swallowed it and reached for another, he finally spoke.
“What are you doing?”
His skeptical gaze made it clear he didn’t approve of my actions.
I gulped down the dry mouthful of muffin and managed to reply.
“I said I’d prove it.”
