novelraw Chapter 302
Chapter 302
In the case of Eric Seincle.Royal Academy. Behind the school building after classes.
In a quiet corner of the garden, Crown Prince Eric Seincle was facing a female student.
"Prince Eric... please accept this!"
"Thank you. I'm very happy."
The female student, blushing furiously, held out a gift.
Eric accepted the neatly wrapped package with a gentle smile.
"Th-thank you very much! Um, I'm cheering for you!"
Letting out a bright voice, the female student who gave the gift walked away.
Eric continued smiling as he watched her back.
"Good grief... I didn't expect it to go this far. So this is the 'Valentinus Festival'."
Once he confirmed the girl had completely left, Eric slumped his shoulders with a troubled expression.
His face was far from cheerful. Even though he had just received a gift from a girl on Valentine's, he didn't look happy at all.
"Here, take care of this."
"Understood. I will hold onto it, Your Highness."
The one who received the gift from Eric was a boy of the same age.
That boy was the child of a retainer serving the royal family. He worked as Eric's attendant.
As the crown prince, Eric was usually accompanied by attendants and guards.
Within the academy, to avoid making it difficult for other students to approach, they usually kept their distance... but today, unusually, he was standing nearby.
"As expected of His Highness the Crown Prince. That makes thirty gifts already, doesn't it?"
The paper bag held by the attendant was stuffed with presents. All of them were gifts from female students.
Eric had the handsome features of a noble youth. On top of that, he held the lofty status of crown prince.
It was only natural for female students to be enamored with someone like Eric. He received a mountain of gifts for the 'Valentinus Festival'.
"No matter how many gifts I get, if they're from people who don't mean anything to me, they're meaningless... Looks like I won't be getting one from Reina after all."
Eric gazed up at the school building with a melancholy look.
His eyes were fixed on the window of the cooking room. He had heard rumors that Reina was making sweets there after school.
"I was hoping I might get something, even if it was just out of obligation... but it doesn't look like that's happening. Just as I thought."
He had probably known it was hopeless.
But... being reminded again that it was hopeless still hurt.
"Your Highness... is it about Saint Reina, after all?"
"Don't say it. I know it's wrong."
Shaking his head, Eric pulled out a wrapped small box from inside his coat.
Unlike the other gifts, this one had been kept separately. It was a present from his fiancée, Carrot Laurel.
He couldn't treat a gift from his fiancée the same as the others.
"Carrot will surely make a fine queen. I have no complaints. Even so... I can't forget about Reina..."
It wasn't logical. Eric had truly fallen for Reina.
No matter how hard he tried to erase those feelings, they wouldn't go away. In fact, they only grew stronger.
As the crown prince, there was no one among the humans who could treat Eric carelessly.
And yet, Reina didn't show the slightest interest in Eric. She treated him as if he were just anyone else.
(To fall for someone who treats me so roughly... I must have a twisted sense of taste. And yet, Carrot still hasn't given up on me. She really is amazing.)
"Well then, let's go home for today. Check the contents of those gifts and make a list. Prepare returns from the social budget. I'll personally handle the one for Carrot."
"Understood. I'll also perform a poison check."
It was rude to the girls who had given him gifts... but Eric would likely never eat their sweets.
There was no way he could eat something that might contain poison or an aphrodisiac.
"By the way... I've been wondering for a while now—why do some of the gift tags say 'Prince Eric (Straight Hair)' or 'Prince Eric (Afro)'?"
"............Who knows."
In response to Eric's question, the attendant boy quietly averted his gaze.