“Furthermore,” he continued, “there’s a chance that the fifth princess isn’t a Saint.”
“By that, you mean…?”
“I still don’t have any conclusive evidence, but people are likely getting the wrong idea—no, she’s likely making them believe it with the power of that necklace. If it’s possible to prove that she isn’t a Saint, she wouldn’t have the grounds to interfere with my betrothal to you. Let’s go with this plan. If it doesn’t work, we’ll use the other method available to us.”
Now that he mentioned it, Amelia recalled a couple of timelines when Prisca hadn’t been hailed as a Saint despite turning back time. She hadn’t questioned it at all, thinking that it was simply how the plot unfolded in those routes, but Luke had opened her eyes. So there’s a chance she isn’t even a Saint at all!
However, she hadn’t a clue how she would go about proving Prisca wasn’t one. She also wondered what the other method Luke mentioned was.
Curious, she waited for Luke to continue. He scrunched up his brows a little, as if troubled, and softly patted Amelia’s hand. “This has to do with a piece of information that I haven’t confirmed yet, and if possible, I don’t want to make it public, so I’ll only use it if things don’t go smoothly.”
“Got it. If that’s what you say. I trust you, Luke.”
Amelia couldn’t come up with any strategies at all. Furthermore, she knew Luke was a dependable person, which was why she declared she’d go along with whatever he decided.
To her surprise, his eyes of liquid gold grew moist in a flash. “Thank you…”
“Um… Why are you crying?”
“I’m not,” he insisted. After wiping his tears with the handkerchief, Luke raised his head and stared straight into Amelia’s eyes. “We’ll head immediately to the Klein estate. After changing clothes, let’s head to the royal court together. “
“Why the royal court?”
“I’ve been summoned,” he explained. “I’ve already gone to my father and persuaded him time and time again to entrust this matter to me. We’ll confront them directly.”
By all rights, he should have followed the directions of the duke, but he actually stood his ground and negotiated with his father? On top of that, he was prepared to resist and fight for Amelia’s sake. Just those words were enough to make Amelia’s heart feel full and warm.
She looked back to meet his gaze. “What can I do?”
“Smile by my side.”
Amelia frowned. “I can’t just stand there.” It would be horribly irresponsible to leave everything to Luke while merely watching on with a smile.
“Then give me an exceptionally delicious strawberry, will you?” He paused. “A special strawberry…that’s full of your feelings for me.”
“Of course!”
Full of vigor, Amelia summoned a strawberry onto her palm. Luke picked it up with his fingers and took a nibble. She’d assumed he might say it was a waste again and want to store it, but he’d eaten it right away, much to her surprise and delight.
The next moment, he pulled out something from the rest of the strawberry. Amelia leaned forward and muttered, “Huh? Another gemstone?”
A translucent gem with pale scarlet deposits within gleamed between his fingers.
Amelia had a flash of inspiration. “Oh, I get it now. The other method is selling my strawberry quartz to earn money and provide for you.”
“I know I’m repeating myself, but you don’t have to sell your strawberries. I’ll provide for you, Amelia.”
“But you can’t manifest strawberries, though.”
“Come on, stop trying to make a living with strawberries already.” He sounded exasperated as he stashed the strawberry quartz into his pocket.
“Ah, I almost forgot.” Amelia glanced at him. “Was the strawberry nice?”
She’d invested quite a lot of effort to meet his request for an exceptionally delicious strawberry, but she was worried that creating the gems might have taken away the fruit’s sweetness.
“Yes. It was incredibly sweet and tasty.” He paused. “Hey, Amelia.”
“Yeah?”
Before she could even ask him what it was about, Luke stuffed the strawberry into her mouth. She chewed on reflex, and a heavenly sweetness melted on her tongue, alongside a delightful aroma that filled her nose.
“See?” Luke smiled cheerily. “It’s sweet, isn’t it?”
He seemed casual, but Amelia’s mind wasn’t as composed. Was that possibly…what they call an indirect kiss? On top of that, Luke had even fed her, meaning that they’d even unlocked the achievement of a couple feeding each other romantically at the same time.
As that realization sank in, Amelia’s face rapidly reddened enough to rival a strawberry. She was overjoyed, but it was also embarrassing. That said, Luke might have simply shared the strawberry with her out of goodwill. In that case, Amelia was the one making it awkward with her indecent thoughts, getting all excited by herself over things like indirect kisses and romantic interactions. Though after hearing his feelings for her, should she still doubt that stuff?
Calm down, Amelia. You need to calm down before anything else, she told herself.
As he watched Amelia, who took furtive, deep breaths, Luke grinned with amusement for no apparent reason.
She gave him a questioning look. “What’s the smile about?”
“I love you, Amelia.” The moment those words left his mouth, he reached out and patted her head before pressing his lips against her forehead.
Excuse me, sir. I’m trying to calm down and deal with the indirect kiss right now. How could you kiss me and hit me when I’m down like that?
…You’ll make me explode with happiness!
Amelia couldn’t bring herself to get mad at him. That said, it wasn’t like she could cheer with joy either. She could only tremble minutely and flush.
“I won’t hand you over to anyone else, and that’s a promise,” Luke muttered before leaning in to kiss her forehead again.