Flower of Steel

I didn’t understand his words, but it made me dive into my thoughts. What was it that made him say that?

“But if it were me, I would never let go. If I can keep thinking about it, then it must be important.”

Why was he going back and forth…? Such thoughts made me sulky, but strangely, looking at him and talking to him made me feel better. That’s when the Crown Prince suddenly walked up to me. I gulped as the purple eyes looked at me.

The Crown Prince then spoke with his unique and callous tone, “Let’s play chess.”

Weird man. He never gives up, even when he’ll lose anyway. Most people would be sick and tired and would never try.

“Hah… You’ve never won though,” I sighed and spoke arrogantly.

With a bit of a rebellious tone, he answered, “You don’t always need to win. I’m free to do whatever I want even if someone tells me not to.”

It was surprising, but his words stuck in my mind that you don’t always need to win. Him saying he didn’t care about winning when he was the crown prince was striking.

“…You’re very right”

“There’s no need to care about others. It’s me who lives my own life, after all. So, just go ahead and play.”

His aloof words made my frustration blow away and made me wear a smile on my face. Right. Who cares about others? All that matters is that I live doing whatever I want. Even if I regret it, I can still live on afterward. After all, I’m the master of my own life.

“But we’ll have to play next time. I’m quite busy.”

After coming back to my senses, I realized that I had loads of work on my hands. I realized that my word pace was considerably hindered while I was sad. Actually, I found it a bit annoying to play chess with the Crown Prince. Most of the time, he tends to drag on.

“…You’re good at making excuses. You just hope I’ll forget about it. Don’t you?”

I had to suppress my smile at his annoyed rambling. Am I crazy that I find him cute when he’s sulky like that? I was also thankful. His uncaring words reminded me about my promise to myself to not care about how others think about me.

“Maybe,” I responded.

“There’s no chance. I’ll never forget.”

The Crown Prince spoke with a meaningful voice, and I left the palace.

***

It was finally the weekend. I decided not to cower and went shopping with Daisy. After buying loads of stuff, I was about to go into an old bookstore located at the end of an unpopulated alleyway.

That’s when Daisy became serious, shook her head, and said, “Milady, we shouldn’t go there.”

I frowned at her unexplained words and asked, “Why? You suddenly find my hobby weird now?”

“No, it’s not that. However, we shouldn’t go in there.”

No one in their right mind would take such words seriously if they came out of the blue. I ignored her and opened the door to the bookstore.

“I’m going to be angry if you keep saying weird stuff. We’ll go home after that.”

As I entered, I was greeted by a quiet bookstore. Daisy, another man, and I were the only guests. The owner of the store stayed silently in his spot even when a guest walked in. I didn’t put much thought into it and began picking out books. Rose in the Night, Partner of the Successor, Butterfly and the Wind…

…Hmmm, I realized I only chose romance novels. Yeah, well, reality is filled with a*sh*les like Kyles, after all. It might be better if I enjoy romance by daydreaming with books!