Chapter 10

The prince smiled at Coco, who was still glaring at him with suspicion.

"You can react however you want. Even so, I genuinely have good feelings for you, both as a private individual and as a saint. I don’t want you to think I only came to see you to smooth the way for a political marriage."

The prince placed a package on top of Coco’s head as she tried to put some distance between them.

"What’s this? I’m a priestess who has to appear in public. I don’t need jewelry."

Coco sniffed it suspiciously, and Cecil feigned surprise.

"I thought you’d want anything valuable."

"There’s a limit. I can’t pawn or cash in anything from the prince."

"Don’t pawn things you get from men, not just me."

◆

After the prince left, Coco requested tea from Natalia again.

"Ah... I’m so tired."

Leaning her upper body on the tea table, Coco let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"You must be tired. It was intense... with so much unspoken tension between us."

Coco was tired, but Natalia, who had been dragged into the situation, was also completely drained.

Natalia, who had grown up far from politics, knew about the dirty details of political marriages as a noble lady. But she had always thought it was something her parents handled on their own. Watching the two parties probe each other’s intentions was mentally exhausting.

Coco, slumped in her chair, groaned.

"Damn, I can endure being a saint because I have a term. But if I became that guy’s wife, I’d be a caged bird for life. I’d definitely run away."

"I understand how you feel... It’s embarrassing to think how naive I was, thinking a marriage between a prince and a saint would be wonderful."

Hearing Natalia’s declaration of her coming of age, Coco suddenly sat up.

"Right, Natts. You don’t have a boyfriend, right? Why don’t you try seducing the prince a bit? I heard he likes big breasts."

"Are you trying to dump your troubles on me!? Please spare me!"

◆

After Natalia left, Coco lay down on her bed without waiting for bedtime.

"Damn prince."

To be honest, Coco didn’t dislike Cecil himself.

He was cunning but understood things well, and his quick mind made conversations with him quite enjoyable.

However, Coco, who was familiar with the common people’s way of life, wanted to live freely, and Cecil, above all, had to prioritize being a prince. She didn’t want to be used as a political tool for decades.

From the beginning, the paths Coco and he were walking were different.

Flipping over, Coco picked up the small box she had thrown earlier.

"He said it was food."

When Coco said she would return any jewelry,

"It’s something that disappears when you eat it. No bad feelings afterward."

Cecil had replied. If so, it was just a souvenir. So Coco accepted it.

She sat up and opened it. Inside were about ten small brown lumps, each about the size of a thumbnail. They had a faint, sweet scent of fruit and something else.

"What’s this? Mud balls... no way."

Looking at the short note that came with it, it seemed to be a rare delicacy from the southern countries.

"Um, chocolate... Can I eat it as is?"

Tentatively putting one in her mouth...

"Wow."

It was slightly bitter and sweet.

Coco carefully let one dissolve in her mouth, savoring the aftertaste.

"Sometimes he brings good things."

It was rare and delicious. At least, Coco had never seen or heard of it before.

While looking at the small, dark brown lumps, Coco suddenly had an idea.

Right, I’ll share it with Natts and the others!

Coco had no family. She had spent more time in the convent than living outside. She no longer envied letters from parents, but she felt uncomfortable every time the nuns she was close to shared supplies from home.

Coco, being frugal, was strict about lending and borrowing. Even if the others didn’t mind, being on the receiving end all the time was not good.

A foreign delicacy she had never seen before. The fact that it was given by the prince would be a big point with the upper class.

"Natts, Dorothy, Adel. The headmistress... probably won’t be swayed by a bribe, so I’ll skip her. How many can each person have?"

She would share it with four people.

Excitedly, Coco tried to count the chocolates, but her finger hit something metallic at the bottom of the box.

"What’s this?"

Using her thumb and index finger, she picked it up.

"That bastard."

It was a silver ring, dull and gleaming. Coco, who often examined coins to avoid counterfeit money, determined it was pure silver. The simple design was not flashy like gold, and its tendency to tarnish made it look old to the untrained eye. The setting was not for a gem but a thick medal with an engraving of a goddess.

"I see, to make it look like an ancient holy artifact... He really thinks of unnecessary things."

This way, if it were seen by chance, it would look like something a saint would own. If she wore it boldly, believers wouldn’t suspect it was a love token from a man.

Coco, who had been tricked by the prince, threw the ring on the bed and fell face down.

"Damn, you’re a sly prince, only caring about appearances!"

If he wanted a cut-and-dry relationship for political and domestic governance, he should say so.

If he wanted a saint with a title, he should say so clearly.

"To say things that make me expect something with that face..."

To be honest, Coco didn’t dislike Prince Cecil.

She couldn’t admit it to herself, but she didn’t dislike his unreliable, charming good looks or his casual, affectionate attitude.

...If he admitted it was all calculated, it would be a huge blow to her heart, so she didn’t want to believe it from the start.

With her face still red, she slowly picked up the ring again.

Her ring finger was too embarrassing, so she tried it on her middle finger. It fit perfectly.

"Come to think of it, he was touching my fingers a lot when he came last time."

The ring size wasn’t a coincidence. He must have been sure it would fit her ring finger, given her character.

"He really thinks of everything!"

...Maybe I can wear it sometimes.

Coco looked at the shining ring on her extended finger and thought absently.

◆

"Has Coco found it yet?"

Cecil gazed at the distant spire of the cathedral from the palace window and said with a smile.

"Your Highness, since you have such a good face, why don’t you try a more straightforward approach?" the knight who had arranged the actual production asked, frowning.

"That’s asking too much, Navarro. She’s a stray cat. If you try to pet her, she’ll slip away."

Cecil pinched his chin in thought and added,

"She looks bold but is actually timid."

Hearing the prince’s analysis, the knight sighed dramatically.

"Is she the only one who’s timid?"

"…What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, just that if you keep joking around, you might not be taken seriously when it counts."

"Hmm... As expected, a twenty-five-year veteran with no partner has a different way with words."

"I’m deeply grateful for your praise."

The tense conversation between master and servant ended there. After the attendant left, Cecil, who had fallen off the sofa when he stood up, kicked the cushion away and sank into the sofa, pouting.