I answered calmly so as not to let my excitement be heard.
“It’s a secret, but… His Royal Highness helped me make a wish for a week, so I should tell you especially.”
I was planning to say that I made a wish to live happily with the person I love.
Of course it’s a lie. It has never been like that.
When I was a child and folded a thousand cranes, my wish was to be able to buy the entire library in front of my house.
‘From then on, my dream was big.’
The owner of a 4-story building.
But now was the time to delve deeper into emotions rather than the building owner.
But before I could even open my mouth, Klaus’ voice broke in.
“Why do you keep trying to act? Did you ever dream of becoming an actor when you were young?”
no. I tried to scam you, I’m sorry… … .
‘I guess it’s not a green light after all. ‘Let’s not fuss.’
I once again pushed Geumsapa in my heart into a deep prison.
“Oh my, girl, is that really true?”
It was Bell who opened the prison door where Geumsapa was imprisoned.
“Yes! Your Highness first invited me to have dinner with you.”
“Even so, there are a lot of rumors among the palace maids. These days, His Highness Klaus is enjoying some intimate time alone with a young lady from the Sebes family. Do you know how much I want to boast every time that she is our young lady?”
“Ahaha, what are you bragging about? But did the rumor really spread like that?”
“Yes. It’s the maids’ hobby these days to guess whether His Highness Klaus has feelings for the young lady or not!”
“Where did you hang the bell?”
“Of course I bet on ‘I have a heart’!”
“It’s Bell after all!”
I was hanging out and chatting with Belle in my room.
Indeed, the imperial palace was a place where rumors spread quickly.
The story of Klaus and I being locked in a room and giving up studying suddenly turned into a believable love story.
Moreover, looking at the maids’ word of mouth, it didn’t seem like it was very likely.
I don’t really want to turn it into a love story, but how can I make it seem like that?
I was very satisfied. I wondered why I was so lost when life was so satisfying.
Please remember this in case you become possessed. This is why it’s so important to find a male protagonist and cling to him!
The painful experience of failure in the past had not disappeared from my mind, so I cautiously asked Belle.
“But does it seem to you that His Highness Klaus really has feelings for me?”
“Of course, miss! What kind of girl are you?”
“Aren’t you looking at it positively because it’s the girl you serve? Objectively, isn’t there a possibility?”
In response to my question, Belle shook her head firmly.
“Miss, it’s because you don’t know who His Highness Klaus Ertikef is.”
“What kind of person are you?”
“When he has no expression, he looks like the most stoic person in the world, but the moment such a cold man smiles once in a while, it all goes away! In one word, you could say he’s an unconscious libertine.”
Hey, what a libertine! Isn’t this a general admission ticket?! Isn’t that the right choice of words here?
“I’m a libertine?”
“However, His Highness Klaus, who stole the hearts of many women with just his smile, surprisingly did not let any women get close to him. El Fes, a magazine that captures all the scandals of upper-class nobles, attempted to conduct in-depth coverage for nearly a year, but in the end, they were unable to uncover any information.”
That’s not just paparazzi… … ?
I was looking at Belle with mixed feelings, but she seemed to have interpreted my expression differently.
She approached me with unprecedented spirit.
“Do you understand, miss?”
“What, what?”
“Even El Fes couldn’t find a scene where His Majesty Klaus was alone with a certain woman. But now she even received an invitation to dinner with His Majesty. What does this mean?”
“Second, I was invited…?”
“Oh my, my lady. I should have known when I only looked at Duke Bruedel for several years, but he is strangely naive.”
Belle hit the ground and clenched her fists.
“I like it!”
“Ho, crush?”
“Of course! Your Majesty clearly has feelings for you.”
“Does it really look like that?”
“sure!”
Belle nodded her head at the speed of light and held my hand tightly.
I am Belle, who can recite things like ‘If you make an appointment with His Highness Klaus, please tell me’, ‘I will make the young lady more beautiful than anyone else in the world’, ‘I should get some jewelry in advance’, ‘Let’s take a rose water bath now’, etc. faster than anyone else. I smiled slightly while looking at it.
Yes, let’s be confident.
It felt strange because he wasn’t my partner for a while.
Seeing as Bell said this, does that mean there is definitely a possibility?
But in the original novel, did people around you give dating advice this well from the beginning?
I immediately erased the ominous question that arose in my mind.
And in its place, I filled in a small wish.
‘Please make my love life go well!’
The next day, my feet were lighter than anyone else’s as I walked to the living room where Klaus was waiting to fold the crane.
What I wore today was a light scarlet pink poplin dress, and the intricate decorations were kept to a minimum, giving it a neat yet cute feel.
Also, what about your hair?
Her thin braided hair was tied up in a half ponytail so that the side hair was wavy and flowing down.
Lastly, flower decorations were used to create a bright and elegant look.
No matter how you look at it, it looks like it was decorated, but according to Bell’s claim, it was a style that made it look like it wasn’t decorated.
With Bell’s support, my arrogance was higher than ever.
In fact, Belle used her crazy skills to raise the shade on her nose by five levels, so her nose looked sharper than ever.
If anyone sees it, it is obvious that they are wearing special makeup.
Still, it doesn’t look awkward, so your skills are amazing.
‘Shall I ask you to teach me some makeup skills later?’
With that in mind, I opened the door to the living room, and Klaus, who was folding his crane, waved his hand.
“Ah, young lady. Welcome.”
“Hello, Your Highness. I see you were folding it first?”
There were already five ugly paper cranes in front of Klaus.
Klaus spoke to me as he fidgeted and folded the sixth paper crane.
“I’m here just in time. I was waiting for you.”
“Me?”
Ah, it’s a bit unfair to say that you were waiting for me with such a pleasant voice.
I held down my pounding heart and walked towards Klaus.
“What are you waiting for?”
“The wings are not pulled out in a balanced manner like the lady made them. How do I get them to look like the lady made them?”
Ah, it’s about folding cranes.
“Please show me where.”
I stood close behind Klaus.
As I bent down, I could smell Klaus’s faint scent.
It smelled like clear water.
“Here, we need to fold both sides in a balanced way. If we do this, this part becomes wings, right?”
Klaus quickly took my advice.
“You mean like this?”
“Yes, you are correct.”
“Ah, good. The young lady is good at explaining things.”
Klaus smiled satisfied. I looked at him for a moment.
Is there anything else?
“Why are you making that face?”
“Huh? What is it?”
“You look like you’re wondering if there’s anything else?”
“……Isn’t that what it is?”
I hurriedly shook my head at Klaus’ words.
But I was embarrassed.
what? Is it possible to read people’s minds?
Klaus Ertikev You fool! Klaus Ertikef you idiot! In fact, Klaus Ertikev wears insoles under his shoes!
I did this, but seeing no reaction, I don’t think he can read minds.
I shook my head lightly.
‘okay. You can’t fill up after the first drink.’
Belle also said that Klaus might have a crush on me, but she didn’t say that she thought she was already in love.
Now, wouldn’t the love story be determined by what I do?
Just as I was about to convince myself and sit down, Klaus turned to me.
“Why do you look at it like that?”
I looked at Klaus with slightly expectant eyes.
It was time for Belle’s hard work from this morning to be rewarded!
I looked at Klaus with sparkling eyes.
My gaze met Klaus’ half-elegantly folded eye smile.
And Klaus whispered.
“There’s something on your cheek.”
I hurriedly ran to the mirror hanging on one wall of the living room.
There was unidentifiable soot on the rosy cheeks that Belle had painstakingly painted.
‘… … what’s this?!’
Klaus Ertikef’s expression reflected in the mirror was full of playfulness.
Looking at it like this, it seemed like it was laughing at me.
Did you just say it was an elegant smile? That’s cancelled, canceled!
I scrubbed the dark stain with my hand, but it spread bigger and bigger.
“Is it trendy these days to paint your cheeks black?”
“Your Highness, I guess you haven’t heard me say that men who criticize makeup are unpopular.”
“Thank you for the good information. I’ll make sure to remember it when I want to become more popular.”
Ugh, this is disgusting!
I glared at Klaus, who was casually throwing a folded origami crane without changing his complexion even once.
“Come here.”
“why.”
“If you don’t want to, I guess I’ll have to go.”
Saying that, Klaus got up from his seat and came towards me.
With the mirror behind me, I blinked and looked at Klaus approaching.
Klaus’ shadow covered my body.
“Why, why?”
“Shh.”
Instead of explaining, Klaus stretched out his hand.
I reflexively closed my eyes.
‘… … uh?’
A soft touch touched my cheek.
