Chapter 128: Chapter 61.2

She was taken aback when he suddenly spouted something like that.

“I basically try not to break my deal with my fiancée… But if I’m dealing with a mere knight cadet, I’m not obliged to give that kind of consideration.”

W– You’re too close to my face!?

He tilted her face up with both hands, and when she looked into his eyes, his well-proportioned face drew closer and closer.

Arnold’s appearance was a work of art. No matter how many times she looked at it, it was almost poisonous to see at close range.

And this sensation, once before, somewhere…….

Along that thought, she suddenly remembered.

He had touched her on the cheek and raised her head up, then the moment when Arnold’s lips touched hers flashed in her mind.

The breathless sensation of that moment passed so vividly that her cheeks burned all at once.

“…!”

Arnold’s hands were pleasantly cool and chilly.

Did Arnold realize what she had recalled? With that thought in mind, she became even more reluctant to look straight into his eye.

However, Arnold had no mercy to such Rishe.

“Here. Don’t be so quick to argue with me.”

“Your Highness ……!　At first I thought you were angry, but actually you’re having a blast!”

“How? I’m not interested in playing with mere cadets.”

Having said all that, Arnold pressed his hands on Rishe’s cheeks. It was hard to speak well when her cheeks were all but squeezed, but that was when she suddenly noticed.

“Your Highness, you must leave!”

“No.”

“Because, someone’s coming…”

She heard footsteps approaching. Even Arnold must have noticed it, but he had no intention to stop.

“Hey, Lu? Lucius, where…”

It was exactly the person Rishe expected that set foot behind the training grounds. She clashed with his eyes head on and gasped.

It was Fritz, the same cadet, who appeared.

“Uh~”

And he witnessed it all.

Her current predicament, where Arnold has cornered her against the wall, wrapped her face in his hands and was looking at her up close.

“Ah, Prince Arnold?!”

Fritz who called him that without second thought hurriedly restated it.

“N-No, Your Royal Highness!! Uh-that-Why?”

“Fritz! It’s not what you’re thinking!”

Nothing could be done except play it off as a joke. She tried to rectify Arnold’s behavior before it was misunderstood, but Fritz shouted in a flipped-out voice.

“Sh-I beg your pardon!”

What?!

Before Rishe could say anything, Fritz sprinted off in a fluster.

“Wait, Fritz, wait ……!”

She called him to stop, but he ran straight through.

“Ah …… Your Highness Arnold!　Someone just saw us, clear as day!　He’s absolutely trustworthy, but depending on who you’re dealing with, you never know what kind of rumors you might start!”

“So what if rumors run the mill? What’s the problem?”

“There’s a lot!”

“Oh yeah? What’s the point?”

Even after Fritz’s arrival, Arnold never once took his gaze off Rishe. It was a huge difference from his behavior earlier in the training.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Ko….”

Rishe opened her mouth, feeling that she had to say something, but she felt shy for some reason.

“My fiancée, I believe, is here…”

“…”

Then Arnold stopped his hand with a snap.

A strange silence ensued, but what the heck was this moment? Then, a while later, Arnold said, “Well, aren’t you?”

“Y-yup, Indeed! So, in a place where trainees are…”

“Nonetheless.”

“Wap~”

A strange voice came out as her cheeks were squished once more.

“‘A mere knight cadet’ is speaking quite rudely to me here.”

“Ugugu~…”

With him saying that, Rishe resigned herself. She was sorry for her deal with Theodore, but she was at her limit.

“…. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know what you’re apologizing for. Tell me exactly what you did.”

“I- I dressed up as a man in secret to Your Highness and infiltrated the training of the knight cadets! I’m so sorry!”

“Good job.”

He immediately released his hands. When Rishe was finally freed, she hemmed and hunkered down in place.

“Nyahaha…”

It was strange to have Arnold’s hands wrapped around her burning cheeks. Even the coldness of his hands seemed to have remained there. She wrapped both hands on her cheeks and took a deep breath.

Arnold also thought he seemed to have overdone enjoying himself. Looking down at Rishe who seemed more worn out than when she trained, he asked, “So? What are you up to this time, dressing up like this?”

“It’s purely for fitness sake.”

“…”

“It’s the truth, you know?!”

She was offended by his suspicion. But she was the one trying to deceive Arnold, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Your Highness, why did you personally come to inspect the cadets?”

Arnold paused for a second at the question and then replied without batting an eyelid, “… I heard that one of the cadets this term was recommended under Theodore’s name.”

“!”

In other words, Rishe.

But what surprised Rishe was the fact that “Arnold was concerned about the person Theodore recommended”.

Although His Highness Theodore said that His Highness Arnold would never show up at a cadet’s training session…

That wasn’t the case at all.

Rishe was ecstatic, but at the same time she couldn’t wait to tell Theodore about this.

I wonder how Theodore will react.

“Let’s get back to the point.”

“!”

She tensed up.