“E-Enough about my past. I’m not trying to win by disqualifying my rival. I’m going to win legitimately by collecting more flowers than her.”
It was Leonardo and Dion’s turn to be silent, and they exchanged a look.
“Haven’t you heard? Miss Elizabeth’s storeroom is pretty much already full,” Dion said.
“And yours is mostly empty,” Leonardo added.
Tiberio had been working harder at collecting the artificial flowers that Elizabeth had. With the low cost of producing a lot of flowers through the factory, Dion was correct when he said that Elizabeth was in the lead.
“Elizabeth’s storeroom is filling up, which means that her budget is also running quite low. It’s all going according to plan—I still have a good chance of winning. Not only will my storeroom be full, I will have more flowers than it can hold,” Westalia said confidently. Neither man looked convinced. “In any case, there’s no need to worry.”
Dion raised his eyebrows. “Why don’t you stop being evasive and just tell us your plan?”
“No. I don’t want to talk about my plan while it’s still in motion. You’ll just have to wait and see,” Westalia replied with a mischievous laugh. What she had to focus on now was exposing the true nature of Elizabeth Pink in a way that would be easy for people to understand. She had no chance of winning if the truth didn’t come out in full. She had to overcome the Reyns for Paige as well as herself, and so she couldn’t afford to be afraid. Westalia was also certain that she wouldn’t be able to become a great empress without overcoming this obstacle. It was surely another test for her in order to become her ideal self.
“Sheesh, you’re always so reckless,” Leonardo said in an exasperated voice.
“I don’t know any other way to live. I make mistakes and fall down in the mud and just have to get back up again and keep going.”
“Whenever you fall down, I’ll help you back up,” Leonardo said.
“Well, that’s reassuring.”
“I don’t know what your plan is, but I believe you can win.”
Leonardo’s words encouraged Westalia more than anything else had. They smiled at each other. Then Leonardo told Dion to go wait for him at the carriage. Westalia was on guard again when it was just the two of them left.
“Are you being so cautious because of that promise you made me?”
Leonardo was referring to the time that he had asked her to kiss him each time they saw each other, in exchange for his help in finding Daniel’s daughter. Westalia’s face grew stiff as she took another two steps away from him.
“I-I don’t think it’s fair for you to ask for compensation when you haven’t given me anything,” Westalia said.
“I’m the one who got the documents. I also have a lead on where we might find Remilena. She’s been spotted in what used to be the Lanchesters’ territory.” Leonardo was usually fairly unexpressive, but he approached Westalia with a strange air of joy around him. Westalia sensed the danger that was about to befall her and continued retreating backward.
“W-Wow, you work so fast, it’s uncanny,” Westalia said. “I would expect nothing less of the crown prince. You used to be my stalker, so you must be a pro at finding people. In fact, that would be a promising career path for you.”
“Why are you running away from me?” Leonardo asked.
“Because you’re getting closer to me! Now that we have a lead, we have to follow up on it immediately. Let’s talk and figure out a plan so that we can— Oh!” Westalia’s back hit the wall of the administration building. Leonardo put his hands against the wall on either side of her, successfully trapping her there. His deep-green eyes made Westalia feel like she’d been swallowed up by a forest, and even though she had seen them many times at this point, she still couldn’t look away.
“Yes, let’s make plans for seeing Remilena. I’ll go with you. It just so happens that she’s been sighted numerous times near the Elizabeth Pink factory and apparently has a rash all over her body.”
“So you think she works in the dye factory?”
“We won’t know until we go. When are you free?”
“Wait a moment. I’ll check my schedule book. In the meantime, why don’t you step back?” Westalia asked.
Leonardo didn’t grant her wish. He brushed one of her cheeks lightly with the pad of his thumb. He was being very gentle, as if he were handling something fragile.
“You always look like you’re having so much fun when you tease me,” Westalia said.
“That’s because I am,” Leonardo replied.
Westalia was silent.
“You don’t like it when I touch you?” Leonardo asked. His expression turned sad. “I’m a man, you know. I want to touch and be touched by the person I love. But I don’t know much about the female psyche. If you don’t like it, just say so. In truth, I didn’t originally intend to help you because I wanted something in return. I really just wanted to support you in your endeavors.”
“I know that...” Westalia said. Even though he teased her sometimes, he was a genuinely kind person. Westalia’s heart started beating faster at his earnest words. She felt her face grow hot. “I just... I lived such a sheltered life for so many years, you know? This is the first time I’ve had someone that I love and I’m... I’m full of...”
Leonardo’s eyes glistened as Westalia’s face grew redder. “I’m your first?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I don’t have any experience. I’m just not used to it, but... I don’t hate it.” Westalia didn’t want him to stop touching her. She did, actually, want to be wanted and desired.
“I understand. I’ll take good care of you,” Leonardo said, his happiness pushing away his earlier slump. Westalia let out a small sigh and moved the prince’s hand away from her cheek. She maintained her grip on his hand and looked down at it. His hand was calloused and almost twice as big as hers. It was warm, and just touching it like this was enough to make her feel a thrill. She swept her own fingers over the pad of his thumb and cautiously brought his hand toward her lips.
“My lady!” Paige called, running up to them just as Westalia was about to place his hand against her mouth. Westalia and Leonardo both jerked in surprise, distancing themselves from each other.
“Are you okay? This man hasn’t done anything to you, has he?” Paige asked, pushing herself between the two and glaring at Leonardo.
“No, Paige. We were just fooling—er, playing around,” Westalia replied.
“Playing? Like kids?”
While Westalia was trying to come up with a good response, Leonardo took his leave. “We’ll continue this another time,” he said, making Paige even more suspicious.
“I will erase his entire existence if he does anything bad to you,” Paige said. She’d said that any number of times, but Leo was still the crown prince. If Paige did anything to him, it would come at the price of her own life. However, she was just as reckless as Westalia.
“I’ll be counting on you, then,” Westalia said, smiling at her friend. “So, did you learn anything about your father?”
“Yes. It seems like before he got caught up in the corruption case, he’d gone around the army telling everyone to get rid of anything they owned that used Elizabeth Pink.”
“I see. So that’s how he came to Tiberio’s attention.”
Tiberio knew about Elizabeth Pink’s toxicity, and yet he’d been pushing for its use to spread. Westalia’s expression grew grim as she looked down, taking pity on Gasparo, who’d been eliminated simply for revealing the truth.