Alicia-sama looked at Adry-sama and let out a sigh.
â⊠I accept your apology, but please donât bring these kinds of things to me in the future.â
âA, alright!⊠Ah, lizardsâŠâ
âI hate lizards too, okay!?â
âNo, I mean, on your shoulderâŠâ
Looking at Alicia-samaâs shoulder after Adry-sama pointed it out, I saw a little lizard.
Alicia-sama also noticed the lizard on her shoulder and clung to Adry-sama.
âTa, take it off, please! Quickly!â
âAh~ maybe that snake from earlier was chasing after this fellaâŠ?â
Adry-sama quickly caught the lizard and released it into the bushes, away from the direction of the snake, and it quickly ran away into the bushes.
âLook, Alie. Itâs gone.â
Alicia-sama seemed to realize what was going on, and she quickly moved away from Adry-sama.
âI, I, I just lost my mind for a little because of fear, do, donât misunderstand!â
Her face turned bright red, and she excused herself to me.
âŠâŠ No, yes, that was exactly it, yeah?
â⊠You donât understand, do you!?â
âEh? You are talking about your fear of snakes and lizards, arenât you?â
âUgh⊠t, thatâs right! I havenât said anything else!â
Alicia-sama turned away and resumed collecting herbs, so we also resumed with a strange atmosphere.
â⊠Hey you, there is a limit to being dense, okay?â
As I was collecting plants nearby with Mariel-chan, Ruby came up to me and spoke to me in a whisper while lightly bumping into me.
âEh? What do you mean?â
âDonât âwhat do you meanâ me. So you have no clue, after all.â
âCristea-san⊠itâs about Alicia-sama.â
Mariel-chan pointed out to me, also showing an astonished expression.
âAlicia-sama? Everyone is poor with anything, so Iâm not really judging her or anythingâŠâ
âThatâs not it! Oh sheesh, this child is seriously dense!?â
Isnât that too rude, Ruby!?
âCristea-san⊠I agree with Ruby.â
âYou see, Mariel told me that this girl has been hostile to you for some time now. And the reason for it.â
Being the prospective fiancée of His Highness Raymond.
I didnât want to get entangled like that with her, but it was a complete misunderstanding⊠ah.
âAre you saying that maybe she thinks I have an advantage over her now that I know her weakness?â
â⊠Are you really saying that?â
âEh? Iâm not thinking of using it against her, though? As I said before, everyone has something they are poor with, so Iâm not going to use it against herâŠâ
âThatâs not it at all, okay? She embraced that Adry boy, but it wasnât of her fancy of him, so she doesnât want you to go tattling to His Highness that those two are in love.â
Ruby was so irritated that he stomped on the ground.
âAh⊠ahh, I see! So itâs like that.â
Iâm not that close to His Highness Raymond, and Iâm not aiming to be his potential fiancĂ©e or anything like that, so I didnât even think of telling on her or anything like that.
I had heard that Alicia-sama and Adry-sama had known each other since childhood, so I just thought they were very close.
When I told this to Ruby and Mariel-chan, they both let out sighs⊠in defeat.
âI didnât expect her to be this⊠to think she would be so desperately fighting a girl this dense, Iâm starting to feel sorry for herâŠâ
âW, well, this is how Cristea-san is, soâŠâ
âArenât you two too heartless!?â
I was more hurt by Mariel-chanâs follow-up than Rubyâs words.