Chapter 21

"......I'm sorry, my hand slipped."

Ralph hurriedly picked up what seemed to be a fallen box of sweets and said, "I'll bring a new one," then turned and left.

Judging from his reaction just now, he must have heard what I just said.

Still, I'm sure Ralph understands that I'm just going along with the story. At least, I hope he does.

"Rizette-sama, that face is too cute, it's unfair...!"

"......"

"You there, call the best painter in the country right away."

"Stop it."

I could feel the heat gathering in my face, so I covered both cheeks with my hands. Nadia, sitting next to me, was saying something incomprehensible to the maid.

The other young ladies were saying things like, "What a lovely sight" and "How adorable," and giving us affectionate looks, which made me even more embarrassed.

"......Ralph isn't coming back, is he?"

"It will probably take a while. Hehe, I've never seen you with such a face, brother."

Nadia giggled and continued, "Say, Rizette-sama, could you go to brother's room?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, he really likes these sweets. Could you deliver them to him?"

And so, I was handed the beautifully wrapped sweets from the table. Delivering them at this moment would be too awkward.

"He'll surely be happy. Okay?"

When asked like that, I couldn't refuse. I greeted everyone and, despite being sent off grandly, I headed to Ralph's room.

When I arrived at the door to Ralph's room, I took a deep breath, knocked, and called out, "It's Rizette." The door opened instantly, and I met Ralph's puzzled gaze.

"......What happened?"

"Well, Nadia said Ralph likes these sweets and asked me to deliver them..."

Saying it out loud made me realize how unreasonable and embarrassing the reason was. This is something a maid could do.

"I'm happy. Thank you for going out of your way."

But Ralph smiled happily and immediately invited me into the room. Part of the room, which was neatly organized the last time I visited, was now messily scattered.

Moreover, his clothes and hair seemed a bit disheveled.

"Um, did something happen?"

"......I just fell a few times."

"Huh?"

It's hard to believe that Ralph, of all people, fell multiple times between the garden and this room. Could it be because of what I said?

When I pointed out his disheveled appearance, Ralph quickly took off his jacket and hurriedly fixed his hair. His face was red, and he looked cute.

He then offered me a seat on the sofa, poured a drink that seemed to be chilled into a glass, and placed it in front of me.

"......"

"......"

Now that I'm here, I don't know where to start. While thinking about this, I took a sip from the glass.

"......I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I made you feel uncomfortable with my reaction. You're just pretending to be my fiancée, and I'm really sorry."

"......I, "

"Still, I couldn't help but be incredibly happy. It felt like a lifetime of happiness was packed into those words."

You must think I'm an idiot, I'm sorry, he said with a troubled expression, and my heart ached. Before I knew it, the words "That's not true" spilled out of my mouth.

"I really like Ralph's kind side."

When I said this, his eyes wavered. ...There it is again. Ralph looked like he was about to cry.

"I'm really, really happy. Thank you. I can only be kind to Rizette-sama."

"......Okay."

"You are the most important and special person in my life, my everything."

Hearing those words, my heart leaped again. Even though I think it's an exaggeration, most of my heart was filled with happiness.

Seeing that I couldn't find the words, Ralph looked troubled again.

"Did you enjoy the tea party?"

"Yeah, it was really fun and refreshing."

"That's good. I can have Nadia host one every day."

"Wait."

Ralph is really extreme. Of course, I'm happy, but... The word "from now on" he just said stuck in my mind.

– If I could live past the age of 20. How would I spend the rest of my life?

I used to want to fall in love and get married like everyone else, but now it doesn't feel right.

"......Do you have any plans for the future, Ralph?"

When I asked casually, he smiled gently.

"I want to be with Rizette-sama forever."

Faced with Ralph's unwavering answer, I couldn't brush it off lightly as I used to.

◇◇◇

A few days later in the morning. Ralph wasn't in the morning garden, so after walking with Nadia, I headed to the dining room. Ralph, who had arrived earlier, was dressed in something like a knight's uniform.

"Good morning, Rizette-sama."

"Good morning. Are you working today?"

"Yes, it's a bit far, so I might stay overnight. Please feel free to spend your time in this mansion."

"Okay, I understand."

After seeing him off to work and Nadia to school, I returned to my room to read. When I opened the door, I almost screamed.

"Hey."

"......W-Why are you here?"

To my surprise, there was a mage named Melvin in the room. As I backed away, he smiled wryly.

"I won't do anything, I promise. Beverly wants to see you."

"......The Saintess?"

"Yeah. She wants to talk to you when Ralph isn't around."

Was this about her saying she would call me again the other day? But why when Ralph isn't around?

Even though he mentioned the Saintess, I still couldn't trust him, and he made a troubled face and even clicked his tongue.

"If I do anything to you, Ralph will definitely kill me. I really won't do anything. Come on, let's go."

He walked up to me and grabbed my arm. At the same time, a bright light flashed before my eyes.

A few seconds later, when I slowly opened my eyes, I was in the same room in the temple as before, and the Saintess was smiling beautifully.