The Demon Prince goes to the Academy - Chapter 264 Part 1

The meaning of this flower makes it a very uncomfortable gift.

Since I couldn't put it in my pocket, I carried the single Pansy with me. Charlotte saw me doing this and told me to just throw it away. I couldn't tell if she thought it looked pathetic or if there was another reason.

I really threw away the pansy she gave me away into the midst of the other flowers in the field.

"Wow... You really threw it away."

Charlotte seemed a bit stunned.

"...You told me to throw it away, didn't you?"

"But still, even if it's trash, it's a gift I gave you."

"I just prioritized the princess's orders."

“You are really something. Why do you act like that?"

"Are you upset? If you're upset, I'll just carry it around again."

"You know, Reinhardt. I told you to throw it away, and since you did, it’s already too late."

"I made a mistake."

"At times like this, It's better for you to not say anything, okay? And I hate myself more for actually saying to throw it away."

"Alright, I get it!"

"Hmm."

Charlotte shook her head, looking tired.

There was another reason I threw it away, but I didn't mention it.

It's just like how Charlotte couldn't tell me why she gave me the pansy.

No passerby recognized Charlotte, perhaps because of the perception interference magic.

I only met Charlotte at the beginning of this year, but it feels like a long time ago.

A girl dying in a prison.

I didn't know who Charlotte was. When I found out she was a princess, I thought it was troublesome, but in the end, I was able to reach the capital because of that.

If I hadn't met Charlotte, would I have been able to escape the Demon King's castle safely?

If I hadn't come to the capital, what would have happened to me?

These thoughts were meaningless, but I couldn't help but ponder what would have happened if things had turned out differently.

I could only imagine living a meaningless life or wandering in the wilderness until I died.

It all started when I met Charlotte in prison.

Charlotte is my beginning.

"...Your eyes look like an old man's. What are you thinking about while looking at me?"

"I never did such a thing!"

Charlotte's expression soured as she looked at my eyes. hgfdWhile looking at flowers, Charlotte spoke as she walked.

"You've always been strange, but lately, you seem even stranger."

"...What do you mean?"

"You seem precarious, full of anxiety and impatience."

I'm different from Charlotte.

I'm not good at managing my facial expressions. So if something happens with Ellen, the kids find out, and if I'm worried, the kids try to cheer me up.

"I don't know what's making you so anxious, but how about relaxing your shoulders a bit?"

Charlotte worries about me.

Even though she has her own problems to deal with, she thinks about me.

Is this the time for me to worry about her?

You have something going on, don't you? I hesitated between asking what was wrong or keeping quiet, torn between concern and discretion.

"Why are you tensing up even more when I tell you to relax?"

Charlotte sighed deeply. Charlotte walked a little ahead of me. It hadn't been long since the class ended, so it wasn't sunset yet.

Charlotte's platinum blonde hair shone brightly in the autumn sun.

Charlotte, who was once pale, seemed to have regained her health now. Of course, it looked much better this way.

"Yikes!"

Suddenly, Charlotte, who was admiring the flowers, grabbed my arm without warning.

"What, what's going on?”

“Because of the bee. Phew..."

-Buzz....

Charlotte's surprise was due to a bee.

It wasn't even a wasp, just a honeybee. The honeybee buzzed around and disappeared.

"I don't see why you made a big deal about it."

"What! You really... Sometimes I think you forget that I grew up delicately."

Charlotte glared at me.

Delicately grown.

She is too modest to say that in the first place. A princess saying she grew up delicately is already cute.

She's a person who has grown up so delicately that even saying that is a bit of a stretch. She's had a rough experience, though.

"...No, but if you like flowers, why are you afraid of bees?"

If you like flowers, you naturally see bees, right?

"...There's no bees like that in my garden."

Regardless of whether it is possible or not, the palace garden's plant ecosystem is controlled down to that level?!

Nevertheless, compared to the hardships she's experienced, isn't a bee not even worth dirt on her feet? Charlotte stuck out her tongue.

"You really don't see it. Bees are an unknown fear to me. I've never been stung in my life, so it's natural to be scared of something I don't know, Okay?”

"I can tell that you at least talk a lot."

"Is there really anything this princess cannot say?"

Charlotte laughed as if she couldn't believe it.

However, she seemed to be in a good mood.

Charlotte loves flowers.

But she is scared of bees.

I realized it again. There were beautiful flowers along the river, but as soon as Charlotte saw the bees, she is keeping a slight distance from them.

Charlotte must have lived in a garden with only butterflies.

Sometimes I forget how precious she grew up, but at times like this, I feel it.

Charlotte laughed weakly, thinking it was silly that she couldn't approach her favourite flowers because of bees.

"Reinhardt, have you ever been stung by a bee?"

"Yes, I have."

"How much did it hurt?"

"It hurt like hell."

"That much?"

Charlotte widened her eyes and stared at me.

"But, it's not like it's going to kill you. It just hurts for a while."

There are cases of anaphylaxis or some kind of shock, which would be dangerous, but it was just painful.

"Should I try getting stung?"

She said so and tried to approach the flowers.

"Why would you do that on purpose?"

"Is it so?"

Charlotte scratched her cheek and smiled foolishly. She watched the bees buzzing among the flowers from a distance.

"The unknown is scary, right?"

"…Yeah."

There are things that are scary on their own, but not knowing is just as scary.

Charlotte keeps her distance from the bees. She doesn't want to get too close to them.

Charlotte was afraid of something.

"Reinhardt."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for playing with me today."

Charlotte's words were strange.

I was the one who asked Charlotte to play.