Flower of Steel

“Marin, shall we go?”

Yes. Even if he did confess to me, let’s not interpret every one of his actions as having any meaning. This man is kind to everyone… He’s just habitually nice.

I suppressed my sighs while I walked with Rian’s escort. It might be possible that I have to ride the carriage with him as well. This is bad.

When I arrived at the central palace, the Crown Prince and his guards were waiting. As I walked towards them, the Crown Prince glanced at Rian, who was standing beside me and spoke with dissatisfaction in his voice.

“You’re late, Secretary Harrant.”

I glanced at the clock on the tower in front of the central palace, just to make sure I had done such a disloyal deed. To heck that I’m late! I’m actually about 20 minutes early.

“Your Highness, may I know when you arrived which made you say that?”

“About an hour ago. You dare make me wait. How disrespectful.”

That made me let out a sigh. What made this man have such a weird line of thought? Is he at the center of every standard?

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince grinned immediately at my answer as if he was waiting for it. My heart began to race, and my line of vision was suddenly fixated on his face. Then, I came to my senses and pressed my forehead. Ugh, I must be crazy for getting hooked on that smile. Even if he looks so splendid on the outside, he is crazy on the inside…

“So, you must pay the price for making me wait then, Marina von Harrant,” the Crown Prince replied.

‘He must want me to play chess or give him a doll.’

But his answer came unexpectedly. “You should get on my carriage and talk with me on the way.”

I became dumbfounded. How is that a punishment? I wanted to ask him until I realized that a mere officer riding on the carriage that only the crown prince or crown princess could ride on could cause a lot of problems. I would rather ride with Rian than that! Oh God, why do you have to give me such suffering?

“Are there any other choices?” I asked, giving up on it.

The Crown Prince grinned and offered his hand, “Didn’t I tell you already? This is the price you have to pay.”

That meant there was no choice. Daisy was going to have a hard time riding the carriage with Chelleno and Rey. But she has no choice. At least it’s going to be better inside the carriage than being outside.

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

As I held his hand, I felt something flutter within me that spread through my body. What was going on with me? But before I could think about that question, I think I felt the flutter coming from within my heart at the sight of the Crown Prince helping me get on the carriage.

As the Crown Prince got up, the door closed. I felt awkward while sitting at the corner of the giant and lavish carriage that is too much for just two passengers while glancing at the Crown Prince. That’s when I heard a kind and soft voice coming from him.

“You can be at ease. You can even get some shut-eye if you’re tired.”

When I glanced at him, I saw his purple eyes looking at me. My heart raced again, but I tried my best to reject that unfamiliar sensation and tried to think about various things just so I could get myself straight. That’s when the Crown Prince closed his eyes with a tired look. I had to swallow an empty throat at the sight of his long eyelashes from his closed eyes.