As weekdays passed and the weekend came, the monastery became relatively quiet.
Test takers who lived close to home would go to see their families, and some would go out to buy necessary items in the royal capital.
Of course, some test takers, like Noah, preferred to stay quietly in the monastery.
While taking a quiet rest or continuing their study.
Meanwhile, on weekend mornings, Clarisse would return to the royal capital with Valentine in the carriage sent by the royal family.
The situation was no different this week, and when the morning of the weekend came, Clarisse immediately got into the carriage that had come to pick her up.
After going for about thirty minutes, she arrived at the third wall.
“Prince.”
Clarisse called Valentine.
“Why?”
He got off first and was a few steps ahead, but he just turned his head and answered.
“Were there any winter flowers in the prince’s garden?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Oh, then I’ll go out and look for a florist.”
“Why do you need flowers?”
“That’s.”
Clarisse talked about the plans she had made in her mind for this weekend.
She told the Duke and Duchess that she was planning to visit the Marchioness Curno, and that she was going to visit her.
“It was my first time visiting another noble family, so I looked at the etiquette book at the monastery again and it said that it was good to bring alcohol or flowers.”
However, buying flowers in this winter was only possible if Clarisse had to spend all of her emergency fund.
“So you’re going to steal flowers from my garden?”
“What do you mean by stealing!”
Clarisse often ran to his side and shouted angrily.
“I just wanted to lean on the prince’s kindness a little.”
“The way you use your friends is very calculated.”
“Whether it is calculating or altruistic, the prince doesn’t have flowers anyway.”
When she turned her head with a huff, he grabbed the top of Clarisse’s head and forced her to look back at him.
“Do you not know who I am?”
“….?”
“I lived on the third wall for over ten years. No way, do you think I don’t even know where to find a flower in winter?”
“Is this a place where it won’t be a problem if I pick flowers?”
“If that were the case, we wouldn’t have even talked about it in the first place. Speaking of which, do you want to go see it now?”
“Really? You just need to tell me the location…”
“What do I do if a prisoner like you wanders around alone and gets in trouble? In times like this, the royal watcher should be right next to you.”
“That is absolutely true.”
Clarisse looked up at him with her hands clasped together in emotion.
“Thank you so much.”
“Of course you should. I hope you will repay my passionate friendship someday.”
He swept his hair away and tried to act normal.
Normally, Clarisse would have responded, ‘Prince, don’t be so condescending.’ But today, she responded to their friendship by clapping her hands passionately.
And fifteen minutes later.
Clarisse thought that if she could turn back time, she would take back all the praise she had given to Valentine.
There were things she needed to get back.
Best friend, beautiful friendship and touching sacrifice.
Valentine was a person who couldn’t have such nice words.
“Got it? I’ll be watching from here, so you can grab whatever you like from there.”
Now they were in a greenhouse run by the royal family.
Valentine had sneaked in through the small exit where the servants came and went, and was urging Clarisse to quickly steal the flowers.
“…Prince?”
“Even if you don’t like something, don’t be picky and just pick roughly.”’
He hid in the bushes, occasionally raising his head high to watch for anyone approaching.
So, so to speak, they became a pair of flower thieves.
“This is a crime. The royal greenhouse is not just a place created for beauty. It is maintained through taxes for species protection and research.”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, this is a boring place where they only plant flowers for the royal men.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“As proof, my brother also picks flowers here every day and gives them one by one to the maids.”
“That’s a lie! The king is already married. But why would he give courting flowers to other women?”
It was obvious that Valentine was lying, so Clarisse spun around and tried to go back out through the small door they had entered through.
Fortunately, there was no one there yet, so she thought she could return quietly.
Clarisse is a prisoner, and she didn’t want to add to this the crime of stealing flowers.
“Hey.”
But Valentine wrapped his long arms around her neck and pulled her back.
“….?!”
In the midst of her moment of surprise and panic, she was completely dragged backwards and hit the back of her head against his chest.
“Ugh.”
She groaned.
Valentine almost dragged Clarisse over to the other side of the bush.
He moved very cautiously and quickly.
Clarisse now knew that someone had entered the greenhouse.
They also seemed to have entered through the servants’ entrance they had used a little while ago.
‘Who is it?’
The only thing that could be seen was the legs due to the abundance of leaves, but Clarisse quickly realized that the opponents were a man and a woman.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come in here?”
The woman who looked around in wonder seemed to be of lower status than the man.
“Well… How can it not be possible? I said I miss you.”
And the man’s voice she heard is…
“…!”
Clarisse looked back at Valentine in surprise.
“H, His Highness is here.”
He smiled and answered the whispered words. He still held her close, wrapping his arms around her neck.
“I told you so. This is where they plant flowers for the royal men to attract people.”
Clarisse cried at the words he whispered in her ear.
“It’s too much…”
The king already had a beautiful wife. No one in this world can seduce someone else while having a spouse…
‘…So it’s not like that.’
When she thought about it again, the king was the only exception to the common sense of monogamy.
Although she rarely thinks about it anymore, Clarisse’s father was like that too.
The queen’s power was so strong, and Clarisse’s mother died while still serving as a royal maid without being able to become the concubine….
Anyway, in the history she learned, the king had at least two women as wives.
There were many reasons.
For the balance of power, to produce many royal families, and to facilitate diplomacy.
So Clarisse couldn’t criticize Lysander’s courtship behavior.
In the first place, it wouldn’t even be a topic since she was a prisoner whose life was saved by his grace.
“Spread your eyebrows, why are you making such an ugly face?”
Valentine was still pulling Clarisse’s face, rubbing her forehead.
“Why are you getting worked up about my brother’s relationship in the first place?”
Clarisse didn’t give up and answered the question he asked with an irritated look on her face.
“I didn’t get worked up.”
“….”
He didn’t answer any more.
The hand that was pressing the forehead stopped, and now all she could do was look at the face from close by.
‘Anyway, seeing the prince face to face in such a shady place, for some reason…’
It reminded her of her childhood.
It was a time when they sat close to each other and played in a dark waterway.
If she thinks about it, Valentine still had this sulky expression on his face most of the time while playing.
‘It’s really the same as back then.’
For some reason, Clarisse smiled, feeling both fun and nostalgic.
* * *
Valentine was a little surprised.
He didn’t expect Clarisse, let alone anyone else, to look so hurt by his older brother’s love affair.
No matter how handsome his brother is, isn’t he just a 30-year-old man from Clarisse’s point of view?
｢I didn’t get worked up.｣
Even when she says that, why does the corner of her lips tremble…It seemed like she was holding back some kind of emotion.
What on earth is she thinking?
Could it be something like that?
Something like love for the big man who generously supports her?
‘It’s not even funny, really. This little thing.’
He tried to intimidate Clarisse by telling her to reveal her true feelings right away.
Since they are close friends, wouldn’t it be possible for him to make such a threat?
And if Clarisse holds on that ungrateful love…
‘Ugh, it’s frustrating. Are you really going to get hurt when you realize it?’
While he can’t do anything about his angry complaints.
Why did Clarisse, who had been making a pouty expression the whole time… suddenly smiled?
And that too while looking at his face, very intently.
‘What is…this again?’
What’s so pretty?
Valentine was staring blankly at that face without realizing it, and for a moment he forgot about the problem he had been thinking about a moment ago.
Valentine couldn’t believe this situation.
He was finally meeting the children of noble families little by little, and among them were several beautiful girls who were known to dominate the social world with their beauty.
It was true that he was excited as an ordinary boy at the fact that he would meet such famous girls.
However when he actually met them, he just felt like they were ‘ordinary people.’
Valentine had no idea what it was about them that made other boys so excited.
Isn’t it just a normal face with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth?
If he wants to find beauty, it would be quicker to look at his own face in the mirror.
‘But why am I so fascinated by faces like Clarisse?’
That’s right, Clarisse is just an ordinary pretty.
She’s pretty, but in his eyes she’s not a girl, she’s just…
‘A tomboy who licks stones.’
To be captivated by such a girl’s smile was something Valentine’s pride couldn’t allow.
‘I am prettier than anything else.’
So, what happened a little while ago was like an accident.
It was the same as failing to stop a suddenly approaching carriage.
“That’s a relief, Prince.”
Just as he was about to come to a conclusion, he heard Clarisse muttering.
Before he knew it, she dared to take her eyes off his beautiful face and look over the bushes.
‘How dare you take your eyes off me? Even though you saw me from this distance, you still aren’t mesmerized by my beauty?’
It may not have been because he thought this, but Clarisse’s eyes turned to him again.
“I guess they’re gone now.”
Why, with that smile from before.
“…”
“Prince?”
“Ah, another damn carriage.”
Valentine muttered that without realizing it.
As weekdays passed and the weekend came, the monastery became relatively quiet.
Test takers who lived close to home would go to see their families, and some would go out to buy necessary items in the royal capital.
Of course, some test takers, like Noah, preferred to stay quietly in the monastery.
While taking a quiet rest or continuing their study.
Meanwhile, on weekend mornings, Clarisse would return to the royal capital with Valentine in the carriage sent by the royal family.
The situation was no different this week, and when the morning of the weekend came, Clarisse immediately got into the carriage that had come to pick her up.
After going for about thirty minutes, she arrived at the third wall.
“Prince.”
Clarisse called Valentine.
“Why?”
He got off first and was a few steps ahead, but he just turned his head and answered.
“Were there any winter flowers in the prince’s garden?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Oh, then I’ll go out and look for a florist.”
“Why do you need flowers?”
“That’s.”
Clarisse talked about the plans she had made in her mind for this weekend.
She told the Duke and Duchess that she was planning to visit the Marchioness Curno, and that she was going to visit her.
“It was my first time visiting another noble family, so I looked at the etiquette book at the monastery again and it said that it was good to bring alcohol or flowers.”
However, buying flowers in this winter was only possible if Clarisse had to spend all of her emergency fund.
“So you’re going to steal flowers from my garden?”
“What do you mean by stealing!”
Clarisse often ran to his side and shouted angrily.
“I just wanted to lean on the prince’s kindness a little.”
“The way you use your friends is very calculated.”
“Whether it is calculating or altruistic, the prince doesn’t have flowers anyway.”
When she turned her head with a huff, he grabbed the top of Clarisse’s head and forced her to look back at him.
“Do you not know who I am?”
“….?”
“I lived on the third wall for over ten years. No way, do you think I don’t even know where to find a flower in winter?”
“Is this a place where it won’t be a problem if I pick flowers?”
“If that were the case, we wouldn’t have even talked about it in the first place. Speaking of which, do you want to go see it now?”
“Really? You just need to tell me the location…”
“What do I do if a prisoner like you wanders around alone and gets in trouble? In times like this, the royal watcher should be right next to you.”
“That is absolutely true.”
Clarisse looked up at him with her hands clasped together in emotion.
“Thank you so much.”
“Of course you should. I hope you will repay my passionate friendship someday.”
He swept his hair away and tried to act normal.
Normally, Clarisse would have responded, ‘Prince, don’t be so condescending.’ But today, she responded to their friendship by clapping her hands passionately.
And fifteen minutes later.
Clarisse thought that if she could turn back time, she would take back all the praise she had given to Valentine.
There were things she needed to get back.
Best friend, beautiful friendship and touching sacrifice.
Valentine was a person who couldn’t have such nice words.
“Got it? I’ll be watching from here, so you can grab whatever you like from there.”
Now they were in a greenhouse run by the royal family.
Valentine had sneaked in through the small exit where the servants came and went, and was urging Clarisse to quickly steal the flowers.
“…Prince?”
“Even if you don’t like something, don’t be picky and just pick roughly.”’
He hid in the bushes, occasionally raising his head high to watch for anyone approaching.
So, so to speak, they became a pair of flower thieves.
“This is a crime. The royal greenhouse is not just a place created for beauty. It is maintained through taxes for species protection and research.”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, this is a boring place where they only plant flowers for the royal men.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“As proof, my brother also picks flowers here every day and gives them one by one to the maids.”
“That’s a lie! The king is already married. But why would he give courting flowers to other women?”
It was obvious that Valentine was lying, so Clarisse spun around and tried to go back out through the small door they had entered through.
Fortunately, there was no one there yet, so she thought she could return quietly.
Clarisse is a prisoner, and she didn’t want to add to this the crime of stealing flowers.
“Hey.”
But Valentine wrapped his long arms around her neck and pulled her back.
“….?!”
In the midst of her moment of surprise and panic, she was completely dragged backwards and hit the back of her head against his chest.
“Ugh.”
She groaned.
Valentine almost dragged Clarisse over to the other side of the bush.
He moved very cautiously and quickly.
Clarisse now knew that someone had entered the greenhouse.
They also seemed to have entered through the servants’ entrance they had used a little while ago.
‘Who is it?’
The only thing that could be seen was the legs due to the abundance of leaves, but Clarisse quickly realized that the opponents were a man and a woman.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come in here?”
The woman who looked around in wonder seemed to be of lower status than the man.
“Well… How can it not be possible? I said I miss you.”
And the man’s voice she heard is…
“…!”
Clarisse looked back at Valentine in surprise.
“H, His Highness is here.”
He smiled and answered the whispered words. He still held her close, wrapping his arms around her neck.
“I told you so. This is where they plant flowers for the royal men to attract people.”
Clarisse cried at the words he whispered in her ear.
“It’s too much…”
The king already had a beautiful wife. No one in this world can seduce someone else while having a spouse…
‘…So it’s not like that.’
When she thought about it again, the king was the only exception to the common sense of monogamy.
Although she rarely thinks about it anymore, Clarisse’s father was like that too.
The queen’s power was so strong, and Clarisse’s mother died while still serving as a royal maid without being able to become the concubine….
Anyway, in the history she learned, the king had at least two women as wives.
There were many reasons.
For the balance of power, to produce many royal families, and to facilitate diplomacy.
So Clarisse couldn’t criticize Lysander’s courtship behavior.
In the first place, it wouldn’t even be a topic since she was a prisoner whose life was saved by his grace.
“Spread your eyebrows, why are you making such an ugly face?”
Valentine was still pulling Clarisse’s face, rubbing her forehead.
“Why are you getting worked up about my brother’s relationship in the first place?”
Clarisse didn’t give up and answered the question he asked with an irritated look on her face.
“I didn’t get worked up.”
“….”
He didn’t answer any more.
The hand that was pressing the forehead stopped, and now all she could do was look at the face from close by.
‘Anyway, seeing the prince face to face in such a shady place, for some reason…’
It reminded her of her childhood.
It was a time when they sat close to each other and played in a dark waterway.
If she thinks about it, Valentine still had this sulky expression on his face most of the time while playing.
‘It’s really the same as back then.’
For some reason, Clarisse smiled, feeling both fun and nostalgic.
* * *
Valentine was a little surprised.
He didn’t expect Clarisse, let alone anyone else, to look so hurt by his older brother’s love affair.
No matter how handsome his brother is, isn’t he just a 30-year-old man from Clarisse’s point of view?
｢I didn’t get worked up.｣
Even when she says that, why does the corner of her lips tremble…It seemed like she was holding back some kind of emotion.
What on earth is she thinking?
Could it be something like that?
Something like love for the big man who generously supports her?
‘It’s not even funny, really. This little thing.’
He tried to intimidate Clarisse by telling her to reveal her true feelings right away.
Since they are close friends, wouldn’t it be possible for him to make such a threat?
And if Clarisse holds on that ungrateful love…
‘Ugh, it’s frustrating. Are you really going to get hurt when you realize it?’
While he can’t do anything about his angry complaints.
Why did Clarisse, who had been making a pouty expression the whole time… suddenly smiled?
And that too while looking at his face, very intently.
‘What is…this again?’
What’s so pretty?
Valentine was staring blankly at that face without realizing it, and for a moment he forgot about the problem he had been thinking about a moment ago.
Valentine couldn’t believe this situation.
He was finally meeting the children of noble families little by little, and among them were several beautiful girls who were known to dominate the social world with their beauty.
It was true that he was excited as an ordinary boy at the fact that he would meet such famous girls.
However when he actually met them, he just felt like they were ‘ordinary people.’
Valentine had no idea what it was about them that made other boys so excited.
Isn’t it just a normal face with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth?
If he wants to find beauty, it would be quicker to look at his own face in the mirror.
‘But why am I so fascinated by faces like Clarisse?’
That’s right, Clarisse is just an ordinary pretty.
She’s pretty, but in his eyes she’s not a girl, she’s just…
‘A tomboy who licks stones.’
To be captivated by such a girl’s smile was something Valentine’s pride couldn’t allow.
‘I am prettier than anything else.’
So, what happened a little while ago was like an accident.
It was the same as failing to stop a suddenly approaching carriage.
“That’s a relief, Prince.”
Just as he was about to come to a conclusion, he heard Clarisse muttering.
Before he knew it, she dared to take her eyes off his beautiful face and look over the bushes.
‘How dare you take your eyes off me? Even though you saw me from this distance, you still aren’t mesmerized by my beauty?’
It may not have been because he thought this, but Clarisse’s eyes turned to him again.
“I guess they’re gone now.”
Why, with that smile from before.
“…”
“Prince?”
“Ah, another damn carriage.”
Valentine muttered that without realizing it.
