𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?
“. . .Miss Claudia! I love you! Please go out with me!”
“. . .”
Behind the dimly lit school building. Not the usual second school building I go to, but the brick-built first school building.
The sun is always shaded behind this school building after school.
In front of me, a boy from my class is deeply bowing and extending his hand to me. His ears are turning red.
After a little hesitation, I opened my mouth.
・・・
『”𝐀𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦” – 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 “𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 “𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬”.』
・・・
The setting sun shines behind the second school building. Since it’s the furthest place on the school grounds, there are hardly any students who come here on purpose. It’s our usual spot where we can fool around without being found.
“. . .You were confessed to by a male student?”
With a slightly cracked voice, His Highness asks me with a twisted eyebrow.
When I nod, His Highness furrows his brow even more.
“. . .So, what did you do?”
“Well, I turned him down.”
“I see,” His Highness replies shortly, his expression still stern.
“. . .That guy, he confessed to you without being influenced by your charm magic, right?”
“――Y, Yes, probably.”
“That’s good.”
The day of the physical measurement was a big fuss, but since that day, my magic control has greatly improved. According to His Highness, the experience of “unleashing magic of a fool’s scale and forcibly converging it” must have paid off.
There’s probably no one in this school who is under the influence of my charm magic anymore.
. . .So, yes, I think the boy who confessed to me yesterday wasn’t influenced by my charm magic, but he must have liked me from his own heart and confessed to me.
But, the moment I was confessed to, my mind went blank.
“I, to be honest. . . I don’t. . . really understand. . .”
“. . .”
“I was happy to be confessed to. But, that happiness wasn’t because he confessed to me, but because he said it without being influenced by my charm magic. As for whether I like him or not, I don’t think so. . .”
“You, are you planning to talk about love with me?”
“Eh, no, um. . .”
His blue eyes glare at me.
I was relaxed because it was His Highness, but when I think about it calmly, His Highness is the prince of this country. It’s certainly a bit, well, disrespectful to say “but, but” while fidgeting with my index finger in front of such a person.
“. . .I’m sorry.”
“Hmph, you can’t help it.”
When I honestly bow my head, His Highness sighs and looks away. As His Highness moves, his cloak sways, and the Evil-Banishing Items underneath it makes a noise.
“You turned him down. Is there anything else to worry about?”
“. . .Well. . . yes. . .”
“. . .If you’re worried, it’s not too late. You can go see him and say you want to be friends~”
“No, no, that’s not it.”
“People in free love are all like that. It’s not unusual to try dating.”
I wonder if that’s true. Most of the students at this school are engaged, and I’ve only recently started talking to my friends of the same age, so I don’t quite get it.
“Is that the case with you, Your Highness?”
“. . .”
“By the way, Your Highness. How’s the search for a bride going? The influence of my charm magic is almost gone now.”
“It’s going well.”
(. . .Is it not going well?)
Whether the search for a bride is going well or not, His Highness, who seems to laugh “Hahaha!” unexpectedly gave a bland answer, and I tilted my head.
“You know, liking someone. . . it’s difficult. I. . . when I was pouring out my charm magic, I was approached almost every day. . . but to be liked by someone, and to like someone. . . I still don’t understand.”
“. . .I see.”
His Highness’s reply is still bland. . . but his narrowed eyes seemed to have a hint of kindness. Hmm, I wonder if I look like a child to His Highness. Actually, His Highness is one year older than me.
(. . .His Highness is. . . really. . . kind, isn’t he.)
Looking at his face, I think again. Until I started training with His Highness almost every day, my impression of him was that he was a handsome, blond, tall, flashy type who always wore a cape and seemed arrogant. He was arrogant, exceptionally handsome, and tall. Also, I assumed he was smart because he had excellent grades.
But even without that visual impression. . . I think His Highness is cool. His attitude, too, is due to his always standing tall with confidence. People who have confidence and stand tall are cool.
As I was deeply thinking about how cool and kind His Highness is, the Evil-Banishing Items under his cape suddenly exploded with a force that blew away my calm feelings.
“Whoa, Your Highness?! Your accessory is exploding with incredible force?!”
“Hmph. . . Don’t worry about it.”
His Highness hurriedly adjusts his cape.
“No, no, no. . .?”
Don’t worry about it. . . It was not a situation to be ignored. . .
It was the most explosive it had ever been.
“. . .”
For some reason, His Highness’s face was bright red. His expression looked angry. . . but it wasn’t scary.
As I stubbornly stared at His Highness, he cleared his throat several times and finally opened his mouth heavily.
“. . .So, you. . . you like me, don’t you?”
“Huh.”
At his unexpected words, my eyes widened.
――I like His Highness?
Me? You mean. . . me?
Before I could react, His Highness was shouting rapidly, as if he was letting out everything he had been holding back. His face was bright red.
My brain couldn’t keep up.
“You can’t control it at all! Your power that has always controlled everything around you! Now, with all your power, you are trying to. . . seduce me!”
“What?!”
His Highness pointed his index finger at me.
For a while, I stared at His Highness, who was panting heavily with a red face from his rage. I was still confused and couldn’t say anything, just standing there.
In the meantime, His Highness seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and he let out a big sigh and lowered his pointed finger.
Then, he muttered quietly.
“. . .I can’t be by your side.”
“Your Highness. . .”
His Highness turned his back to me.
“. . .I’m sorry. But. . . I’m lonely.”
“. . .”
A word slipped out of my mouth without thinking.
I was surprised at my own spoiled words, but His Highness stopped in his tracks.
Then, His Highness turned on his heel and took one step, then another step towards me.
When His Highness came close enough to reach out and touch, another one of His Highness’s Evil-Banishing Items exploded with a bang.
“Your Highness. . .”
His Highness’s face is always perfect, but his face now. . . was so serious it was almost heart-stopping.
“Do you want to be by my side. . . no, do you want me to be by your side? If so, work hard. More than now.”
“Your Highness. . .”
His Highness’s unusually gentle, low voice echoed in my ears.
“You’ve done really well. The charm magic that was uncontrollably affecting everything is no longer being deployed. Now it’s only activated towards the person you like. . . me. If you can even control this, you will no longer be able to spill charm magic.”
“. . .”
I clenched my hands tightly in front of my chest.
“Thank you, Your Highness. . . It’s all thanks to you that I became aware of my charm magic and gained the power to control my magic as I do now.”
His Highness may be arrogant, haughty, and condescending, but he always faced me sincerely. If it weren’t for His Highness, I would have lived my life conveniently due to the charm magic I was unconsciously scattering. In that process, there would surely have been people who became unhappy because of me, and unwanted disputes would have been born.
“I, I also. . . want to be able to face you, Your Highness, properly! So, I will do my best to become that way. And then. . . I want to talk to you again.”
“. . .Ah.”
The prince’s expression softened.
His kindness overflowed in that expression.
(Ah,)
At that moment, it felt like something was about to spill out from my chest.
Underneath the prince’s cloak, the Evil-Banishing Items made a particularly loud noise and exploded.
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