A cold breeze blew past through me as I felt my eyes closing. Just when I was about to fall asleep, it seems like I have gotten popular as I felt someone was coming from behind me. I didn't bother opening my eyes, but instead I focused on the sound of footsteps coming closer.

The one who found me was surprised and stopped. I wanted the person to hurry up and leave but he seemed stuck in place as if he saw a ghost. I was getting sleepy, can't this person just leave already?

Contrary to my wish, the footsteps which had stopped for a while came closer and closer until they stopped right beside me. I felt a stinging gaze looking down at me from above. It was so intense that my face started to tingle.

What a rude person.

It started to become a problem when I felt p.r.i.c.kly all over from his glare. Since I have a strong desire to live, I gently opened my eyes to that murderous gaze.

“…”

“…”

Oh, it's just the Prince.

Alright, time to brace myself.

When I met eyes with him, his eyes grew in astonishment. After my harmless joke yesterday and getting kicked out for it, I haven't seen him in a while. So why was he staring at my sleeping face?

As I blinked with bewilderment, the Prince stood firmly as if he made up his mind and backed away. He gave me a wary look. Perhaps he seemed alert because he thought I would attack him.

I didn't follow him, strictly speaking he's the Prince of this nation. I understand why the Prince is so cautious with me, but when I get misunderstood this much I can't help but feel unhappy. When I didn't do anything like he thought I would, he carefully relaxed his guard.

… He was like a small animal.

I wonder what was going on in his head after seeing that reaction. This guy has a lot of doubts about me. I didn't do anything to you.

He hesitated and muttered in a small voice, "…I thought you were dead."

I heard wishes of death many times before. Maybe the Prince came by because of his desire to see me dead. 

'I thought you were dead' sounded more like 'Who cares if you die right here?'

Unfortunately, I have no intention of satisfying his desire. I didn't turn my gaze away from the Prince who looked at me with distrustful eyes and answered blankly, "I was only starving for a day… People don't die from that…"

"Huh?… Ah." After he recalled what happened the other day, he spit out, "What a joke."

For a long moment, the Crown Prince frowned and then he carefully opened his mouth, "… I was doing something really useless."

As he said that, his face seemed lighter. He really was worried about the possibility of me dying it seems.

“…”

However, after thinking about it for awhile, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Anyway, the Prince's feelings were already made known. His distrust in me was not easy to break down.

Even if I was dying, I definitely wouldn't be lying here as my final resting place. Anyway, now that the issue was settled I believed the Prince would soon leave so I closed my eyes again. But after a while, I didn't hear him turn around. I looked back up in wonder and saw him looking down at me with his arms folded. He had an uncomfortable look on his face as if he was wearing something that didn't fit him. I sighed internally. Why is he still here…

"I heard from Damian that you received a uniform. I didn't think that you would wear one."

"You told me to fix my appearance," I replied with a disgruntled face at his words. I continued to wear the uniform instead of a dress, what's wrong this time? But when I looked at him, I could see a small smile on his mouth.

What, why?

"Until recently, you said that as a n.o.ble wearing that uniform would be too dirty. That it didn't fit your aesthetic. Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

"…"

Without a word, I groggily raised myself from the floor.

If I was correct, the Prince had always been struggling with Celebi.

For a long time, the Prince who hated the old Celebi would always ignore her words and attempts. It was a wise choice from the Prince who realized not to add more fuel to the fire.

I couldn't figure out why his sudden att.i.tude changed. Did he feel lonely after suddenly being ignored?

He told me to fix it so I did. I didn't do it to be praised and I minded my own business for the most part to cook.

I didn't give him any chances to ridicule or insult me. The more I talk to the Prince, the more exhausted I feel.

But if I were to guess… In a nutsh.e.l.l, I could only think of the Prince as acting out. He seems more emotional than the opposite s.e.x which was different from his usually wise and cool behavior.

I don't know what was going on inside his heart, but he seems like a child seeking attention. He wasn't really playing fair. I won't confront him too harshly about it, but I can't ignore what was going on.

"Why the h.e.l.l are you still complaining?"

"Why am I?" My question went straight through his head as if he didn't understand. I just want to get some sleep.

It seemed that he wasn't aware of what he was doing. It might've been mistaken, but he almost seemed to be enjoying .

He doesn't want to get involved with me, but he still does it. Was he just more aware of me now that I don't have time to cling to him? Well I wasn't going to point that out though.

"Normally, you don't care what I wear."

The Prince in the novel was depicted to always give Celebi the cold shoulder whether she was beautiful or not…

Generally, you can catch the eyes of a man if you spend more time together, but it seemed the opposite was true for the Prince. If I was a child at his age, maybe my curiosity would be strong too. Was he maybe just interested in women? No, I'm too young for that.

The Prince became frustrated at my question, "You're the one who's always pretending and pulling tricks. Don't act like you don't know…"

"…"

"Coming here pretending to listen to me, pretending to worry about me. You can't say that there's no ulterior motive for your sudden change in behavior. Tell me what you're after," the Prince spoke calmly in the beginning, but finished his speech angry at the end. He seemed to be even more angry than the time he told me how the old Celebi broke into his bedroom.

"What? Is that it? I haven't done anything special. This is all just a misunderstanding."

The Prince responded shocked, "Do you really not get it? So all of a sudden you decided to cook and went into the kitchen you have never stepped foot in and wanted to wear our uniform after only wearing dresses your entire life?"

"Yeah. I suddenly had a change of heart."

"…"

The Prince's jaw dropped to the floor at my answer. It was a little impudent, but I had nothing else to say except for that. He wouldn't believe me even if I told him that I was actually from another world. I might even be taken into Moon Tower for research.

I'm also not good at lying either.

Besides the Prince seems really angry and might find some contradiction in my words that I have missed. Saying that I changed my mind would be the best answer without getting caught.

Then again I might need to give more of an explanation since he is the Prince. Even if I were to ignore him now, I would still have to watch out in case that backfired on me and he pays even more attention to me.

To the Prince who was standing idly by I added, "…and it's natural for me to want to be seen by you. I want to look good in front of you."

That should be a good enough reason. The old Celebi was always pining after the Prince after all.

Translator: Cenetta

Proofreader: Arie Bee

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