“I’ve never heard such a comment, not even from my own mother,” Lehart said, laughing heartily. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his finger, as Etienne found it increasingly difficult to manage her expression.
Ideally, a polite laugh and moving on would have sufficed, but the crown prince laughed so hard and so long that Etienne had to stand still for an equally extended period. If the prince’s knight hadn’t suggested moving elsewhere, they might have stood there even longer.
Sitting at a garden table and sipping water, Etienne glanced at the prince. Although he had been amusingly funny, she thought their first meeting went rather well. However, she wondered if he was always this humorous.
In her memories, the crown prince was not someone known for his laughter.
‘I haven’t faced him alone much before…’
Previously, her interactions with him were mostly due to family matters, and she often accompanied Fernando. Even when she faced the prince, she wasn’t the one engaging in conversation.
‘I often just listened to Fernando and the prince talk.’
During those times, Etienne was too preoccupied admiring Fernando to pay attention to the prince, who always seemed serious and unapproachable.
‘Is this the real side of the prince?’
Etienne thought quietly as she watched him still laughing. Eventually, she had to stop him.
“I just meant you were cute.”
“I sometimes feel the same when I see babies with chubby cheeks. It must be something like that, right?”
“Something like that.”
“So, I had chubby cheeks back then?”
Lehart pondered, touching his chin, as if recalling his past. Watching him tap his cheeks, Etienne debated whether to speak her mind but then decided against it.
“Do you have something to say?”
Lehart, quick to notice, expected her next words with anticipation.
“When I first saw Your Highness, it wasn’t so much about having chubby cheeks…”
Cute, indeed, but…
“You resembled the angel statue on the fountain.”
“The angel statue?”
Puzzled, Lehart tilted his head, then paused as he realized what Etienne meant.
“That peeing statue? That one?”
“Yes, you looked like its face.”
“…”
While the pose of the statue was somewhat embarrassing, it was just for the water jets of the fountain.
Etienne awkwardly extended her arms to mimic wings.
“An angel, you know. With wings…”
Seeing the prince’s expression not recovering from its bewildered state, Etienne internally shook her head.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.’
No matter what the prince thought or said next, she decided to let it be. Instead of watching him, Etienne slightly bowed her head to look into her teacup.
The hot day made her prefer cold drinks, and she hadn’t yet poured any tea. A cool breeze began to blow as the sun set, making her crave a warm tea.
Noticing Etienne’s focus on the teapot, Jen moved to assist, but someone else grabbed the pot first.
Lehart himself was tilting the pot over Etienne’s cup, seemingly intending to pour the tea himself.
“Sometimes I infuse it with flower petals. When I want something sweeter than bitter, when I want to see beautiful colors rather than just green.”
The color of the tea pouring from the teapot was a bright yellow. Etienne looked at Lehart. Had he pre-ordered this particular tea? However, he had only been laughing so far, without making any other specific requests. That meant the tea must either be his favorite or prepared to suit his mood.
“Poison is often green in color, isn’t it? This one is a pretty yellow. I steeped marigolds in it,” Lehart said, winking at her as he offered her the tea. He poured himself a cup as well and tasted it.
“I often drink flower teas when I’m alone.”
Watching Lehart savor his tea, Etienne slowly lifted her cup. Unlike regular tea, the subtle fragrance of flowers tickled her nose first. Just as she was about to sip, she suddenly widened her eyes.
‘The crown prince’s death.’
It abruptly crossed her mind. As usual, after finishing lunch and drinking tea, the prince had gone horseback riding and suffered a fatal fall.
‘The tea…’
The prince was an excellent rider. Yet, he had suddenly fallen. The royal court, finding it unbelievable, had sought the cause of his fall, inspecting everything from the food and tea he consumed that day to the events of the previous morning and night.
However, nothing suspicious was found, and so the prince’s death was quickly concluded. People deemed it a tragic accident due to a fall, leading to a broken neck, and the topic was soon not mentioned again.
In the meantime, the second prince quickly filled the vacant position, ending all matters before any further suspicions could arise.
Etienne looked down at the tea in her cup.
“Have you always liked flower teas?”
“Hmm… Yes, I think I have since I was about ten.”
“I didn’t know you had such a taste.”
“It’s a secret I don’t often share. There’s no benefit in rumors that the crown prince enjoys flower teas.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
