CH 6

“What the hell is going on?”

Naturally, Claret did not understand this situation at all.

“Did you know my brother?”

“…”

“Pristin.”

“…Yes.”

Pristin answered at last. In fact, there was something deeper between the two of them to be saying “knowing each other.” But it was questionable whether that fact should be said here.

She made a temporary visit here. And she was going to leave again soon. Everything would return to normal, just like before. So why should Pristin bother telling Claret?

“I should be getting back now, Your Highness.”

“Go back? Where to?”

“The place I was originally.”

Pristin answered gravely.

“You mean you’re going back to that house, now?”

“Is there a problem…?”

“Of course there is!”

Claret suddenly grabbed Pristin’s hand.

“Don’t go, Pristin.”

“Princess…”

“I need you, Pristin.”

“You were the only one there for me in exile.”

Pristin gently released Claret’s hand.

Claret looked at Pristin with a devastated expression.

“Not anymore. His Majesty is here, and there are many servants around you who will support you…”

“But none of those people are you, Pristin.”

Pristin flinched for a moment as she included Jerald in the category of “those people.”

Tears welled up in Claret’s big eyes.

Pristin became more weak at the sight.

“I need you, Pristin. So don’t go, okay?”

“Your Highness, but I…”

“I know. Pristin can live well without me. You’re a strong person, unlike me.”

“You are strong too, Your Highness. You are a truly magnificent person.”

Pristin smiled and this time, she reached out and held Claret’s hand first. Claret stared at Pristin with tear-filled eyes.

“I’m not leaving because I don’t like you. I just… want to return to where I originally belonged.”

As she said that, Pristin’s heart ached as she remembered the memory of the past for a moment. However, she kept her composure and continued speaking.

“What I offered you, Your Highness, was just kindness, nothing more and nothing less. Please don’t consider it as something special.”

“But I doubt others would see it that way.”

“Your Highness, I…”

“Just stay by my side, Pristin. Please don’t go.”

Claret continued to persuade Pristin in a pleading voice.

“We’ve been together for a whole year. Are you really going to abandon me like this? Really?”

“…”

Abandon you? That’s an exaggerated metaphor. How could I, a fallen noble, dare to abandon the empire’s princess?

Pristin stared at Claret with a puzzled face. Jerald’s earlier appearance overlapped strangely from her pleading face.

…Was it because siblings were indeed siblings after all?

“Don’t go, Pristin. I can’t bear to part ways like this.”

“I will visit the imperial palace often.”

It was a lie. It took a very long time even by carriage to get from Pristin’s house to the palace. And the princess was not young and stupid enough to not know that. Claret cried, frowning.

“Don’t lie!”

Once again, it didn’t work.

“Live here, Pristin. This is a very, very nice place. The meals are delicious and warm, and there is plenty of beautiful jewelry too!”

Claret spoke enthusiastically at Pristin, who was in a hurry.

“You don’t have to go around collecting herbs every day like before. Pristin, you’ve taken care of me throughout my exile. You’ve done something important and remarkable. Brother will surely reward you. Definitely!”

“As I mentioned before, Your Highness, I don’t need any rewards. Besides, I prefer the simple life I had before.”

“Are you really going to continue like this?”

“When there is a meeting, there is also a parting, Your Highness.”

“I can’t give up on Pristin like this!”

“…”

The conversation seemed to be going in circles. Claret refusing to let go and Pristin determined to leave.

‘Actually, when it comes to not letting go, it includes His Majesty as well.’

Pristin had a feeling that the journey back home was going to be quite difficult.

“…Sigh.”

Suddenly, Claret began to shed tears like chicken droppings.

When the princess burst into tears suddenly, Pristin was naturally embarrassed.

Claret didn’t cry easily even in exile. Pristin hurriedly soothed Claret.

“P, princess. What’s wrong with you all of a sudden…”

“Pristin is leaving me behind… I can’t stand it because it is really sad and painful.”

After saying so, Claret began to sob much more sadly. The louder the cry from the princess’s mouth, the more embarrassed Pristin became.

She was naturally a woman who was weak to tears.

“I thought we had a very special relationship… I trusted and followed you like you were my real sister… sniff! Was it only me who thought that way? Was Pristin only precious to me?”

“Your Highness, that’s…”

“I never thought you would say that you were going to abandon me like this. I thought Pristin would be happy if I asked you to live with me… Waaah!”

Claret’s cry grew louder and louder. And Pristin’s heart began to weaken as she listened to Claret’s sorrowful sobbing.

In truth, during the year or so, Pristin had developed affection for Claret. It began with her thinking of her missing younger sister and wanting to take care of Claret. Without realizing it, Pristin had come to think of Claret almost like a younger sister.

Moreover, due to her naturally affectionate personality, Pristin found it increasingly difficult to resist Claret’s pleas.

“If you abandon me like this, sob sob, how am I supposed to live…!”

“P, Princess, please calm down.”

“When we were briefly separated, I was so sad… I really can’t do anything without Pristin…!”

“I understand, Your Highness. I understand.”

At that, Claret stopped crying as if she had never cried.

And with a flickering gaze, she looked at Pristin, waiting for her to continue.

Pristin sighed deeply, and then asked Claret.

“I can’t stay forever, but I’ll stay at the palace for a while. Just for a little while. Would that be okay?”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Until when?”

“Until Your Highness no longer likes me.”

Claret almost burst out laughing at that moment.

How could she stop liking Pristin?

‘That moment will never come.’

So if she was thinking about her stay at the imperial palace like that, it was not enough to say that she would live in this palace for the rest of her life. Claret asked with keen eyes as if she had never shown a vulnerable appearance.

“Can you take responsibility for those words?”

“Yes?”

“I mean, you’ll stay here until I don’t like Pristin anymore.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

Pristin answered without being able to read Claret’s dark intentions.

“If Your Highness no longer needs me, then there would be no reason for me to stay here.”

“Good. Let’s write a contract!”

“If you wish…”

In her naivety, Pristin simply thought that the princess was asking for a contract to easily dismiss her if her interest waned in the future.

Pristin was about to say, “If you wish, I will return to my place anytime, even without such a contract,” but she stopped herself.

“Good, good. Let’s write the contract!”

Claret recovered her original brightness so quickly that she could not believe that she had cried so far. She led Pristin to the reception table with a smile on her face.

While waiting for the pen and paper that she had instructed the maid to bring, Claret decided to ask about something she had been curious about since earlier.

“But, Pristin.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“There’s something I’ve been curious about.”

“Yes. Please continue.”

But immediately after this answer, Pristin regretted it.

“What’s your relationship with my brother?”

Pristin flinched unconsciously at the unexpected question. In fact, it wasn’t a surprising question, since Claret had already asked it once before.

However, it seemed that no matter how many times she heard the question, she couldn’t help but be startled. Pristin hesitated as she searched for an answer.

“As I mentioned before… we are just acquaintances…”

“It doesn’t seem like just acquaintances.”

Claret was young, but she was not naive.

She astutely grasped the nature of their relationship.

“Brother was a crown prince even before he became emperor. He held a very high status.”

Pristin silently nodded, realizing that she couldn’t hide the truth any longer.

“…”

“However, Pristin, you casually and unconsciously use my brother’s name so naturally. To the point where it seems almost second nature. That…”

“I apologize, Your Highness. It was impolite of me…”

“No, I’m not trying to nitpick about etiquette.”

Claret trembled slightly as she spoke, expressing what she wanted to say.

“In my opinion, the two of you seemed quite close.”

“…”

“Am I correct?!”

She was right, damn it.

Pristin intuitively sensed that the moment where she could no longer hide behind vague words was approaching. It was the moment where she had to open her mouth despite hesitating.

“Actually…”

–Knock, knock

Then, someone knocked on the door outside. Naturally, what Pristin was going to say was cut off. Claret frowned and asked.

“What’s going on?”

And what came next was quite unexpected.