My heart kept faltering lately!
This was no good, I told myself, shaking my head. No good at all.
This was weird. I wasn’t the type to be easily swayed like this.
“Huh? You’re married! Isn’t it a bit too late for that?”
“Don’t say it’s ‘too late,’ Maria!” I snapped, glaring at her. She frowned and backed off. “I want to make him speechless.”
“You could just ask him to not speak,” she suggested.
“That’s not what I mean! That’s not what I mean at all, Maria!”
“I’m sure he’ll listen to a request from the future queen. You could even ask him to spin around three times and bark.”
“I will not ask him that. I will definitely not ask him that.”
“What a pity...” Maria murmured. She seemed really disappointed. This girl was really something. I mean, I knew that, but still!
“Anyway, that’s not what I meant! I meant I want to surprise him.”
“Surprise him, you say?” Maria asked, making a cute, pensive gesture, as if she hadn’t just made a horrible suggestion seconds ago. The difference between what she looked like and what went on inside her head was staggering. After a moment, she let out a cheerful “Oh!” and continued, “You should tell him you don’t like him!”
“I should what now?”
“He’ll definitely cry.”
“Cry...”
He would...cry. I couldn’t even picture him crying.
“He will for sure. He loves you, after all, Your Highness.”
“Maria, if Prince Louis told you he didn’t like you, would you cry?”
“Not at all.”
Poor little prince. He should try a little harder to be liked.
I looked at Maria’s confident face and groaned.
✦ ✦ ✦
I mean, why not try, right?
Resolute, I stood before Lord Clarke’s door. We might have been married, but, at my insistence, we still kept separate rooms.
I knocked.
“Yes?”
“It’s me, Leticia.”
The second I uttered my name, I heard the loud sounds of his feet thudding against the floor as he rushed to yank the door open.
“L-Leticia?!” he exclaimed in shock.
“Um, yes,” I replied. It was the first time his reaction had unsettled me a little.
Lord Clarke stared at me for a moment, his cheeks blushing a faint pink. “I-It’s the first time you’ve come to my room...”
“Huh?”
Was it? I couldn’t remember. I tried to recall, and realized that it was true—even back when we were little, I’d never come to his room.
Which reminded me that, since we’d married, I still hadn’t been to his room, but he kept coming to mine. I wished he hadn’t.
Lord Clarke brought a hand to his mouth, quivering. Was he cold?
“Y-You came to my room... I’m so happy...”
Oh. He was trembling with joy.
“Um, may I come in?” I asked. It would’ve been awkward to just leave him shaking at the door.
“Oh, sure,” he replied, guiding me into the room.
The prince prompted me to sit, and I did so without hesitation.
“Did something happen?” he asked, unable to hide his nervousness. Usually he was a little calmer than this, but now his heart was on his sleeve.
“Um, er...”
“Hm?” He wasn’t suppressing a smile like he normally did. He seemed genuinely happy.
“Uh, it’s...”
“Yes?” he asked, tilting his head to the side, still happy as a clam.
“Uhh...”
“Lettie?”
Lord Clarke looked so happy that if he’d had a tail, it would’ve been wagging. My words died in my throat as I pictured him like that.
Now what? I asked myself, stealing a glance at him.
He looked so happy.
“You see...”
“Yes?” he repeated. I wished he’d stop smiling so innocently.
“I...”
“You?”
“I don’t...”
“You don’t?”
Stop repeating after me!
“I don’t...like...”
I lifted my head at those words, and noticed his earlier expression shifting to one of despair.
Oh.
Ugh, whatever!
“I don’t, like...not like you?”
“Oh, Lettie!”
Dammit!
Immediately, his face lit up, and he beamed widely. I could’ve sworn I really did see a tail wagging behind him.
Dammit!
Accepting defeat, I smiled back at the joyful Lord Clarke.