Magic Gems Gourmet Chapter 178

Chapter 178

T/n: Chronologically, this side story takes place after Ain’s conversation with Tigre.

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 178 – [Side Story] A Night in the Castle Town with You

“…Your Highness?”

Krone turned to Ain with a stunned expression.

Ain immediately came to Krone’s office, and he invited Krone as planned. But…

“Could you repeat that?”

Oh, she probably got angry.

Krone sorted through a pile of papers, then looked at Ain with a very charming smile.

“W-well then, Krone-sama. We’re off…”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

The female civil servant said this and bowed to Ain with an indescribable expression on her face before leaving the room.

It’s okay. Even if she’s angry, she’s still Krone. With a big smile, Ain also waved goodbye.

“――Good luck.”

Ain mumbled a small “thank you” as he received her support as they pa.s.sed each other.

“…What was that? You were whispering.”

He thought he was acting in a way that made it hard to understand, but it seems that Krone also noticed the exchange as they pa.s.sed each other.

Then, she spoke to him in a tone that clearly showed her dissatisfaction.

“Good luck… is what she said.”

It would be wrong to hide it.

He simply tells her the content of their exchange to a Krone who looks cute and dissatisfied.

Ain approaches Krone happily, thinking she was jealous.

“So, do I have to say it again?”

“…Yes, please. What does Your Highness the Crown Prince want at this busy time of the year?”

“Well, I told you to go on a date with me.”

Ain answered in a carefree tone.

While the conversation about the Heim continued, Krone also had a lot of work to do.

Of all the people she knew, Ain was probably the one who was the busiest with work, so she never thought he would say something like that about going on a date at a time like this.

“Hey, Ain…”

She sighed deeply and then spoke quietly as if to remind herself.

“You’re busy too, right? Look, I’ve got a lot of work piling up on my desk, too. I’m really glad you asked me out, but I guess it’s hard right now.”

“I know that too, but I’ll come anyway. I’ll take half of it.”

“Ah… W-wait, what are you doing all of a sudden?”

As he approached the desk in front of Krone, Ain picked up a bundle of papers and walked over to another table with them in his hand.

Then he took a pen from his breast pocket, checked the contents of the doc.u.ments, and signed them.

“I’ll do half of it. It’ll be done at night, and it’s not bad to get out in the dark once in a while.”

“Are you serious?”

“Haha… I am serious; that’s why I’m helping you.”

“B-But you still have some work to do, don’t you?”

Who do you think was helping the Crown Prince?

It’s none other than herself, so she knew how much work Ain had to do.

That’s why she wanted him to finish his own work instead of helping her with hers.

But once Ain made up his mind, he was a man of action.

“I finished what I had to. I’ve already given it to Warren-san, so it’s not a lie I made on the spur of the moment.”

“Y-You’re lying. I’m sure there was a lot…”

When they went to Baltic, she clearly felt proud that she had done better than Ain.

And yet she was surprised by Ain’s energy.

While she was stunned, Krone’s pen also stopped moving.

“So? The only reason Krone refuses is because she’s busy, right?”

“――Y-yeah. That’s it…”

“So, when we’re done, we can go outside. Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve walked around the castle town together at night, right?”

“…Won’t there be guards following us?”

“No, I don’t think there will be any visible guards. I think Warren-san’s subordinates will follow at a distance.”

“That’s too careless. I don’t mind going on a date, but you must have a bodyguard.”

Ain continued the conversation while putting away the doc.u.ments.

In the end, Krone agreed to go on a date with Ain, but she was reluctant and said that a bodyguard should be provided.

“Do you know anyone stronger than Lloyd-san, Krone?”

Of course, you’re stronger.

She wanted to say that out loud, but Ain’s words… she felt that the true meaning was something else.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Krone replied with a lack of confidence.

“…I think there are probably no monsters here.”

“Haha, I see.”

Then Ain seemed satisfied with Krone’s answer, nodding and answering in a good mood.

“Then it’s okay. You might think I’m careless, but there’s no one who can kill me.”

＊＊＊

Ain ended up wearing a rather rough outfit, but he couldn’t hide his presence.

He put on a pair of cotton pants and a white s.h.i.+rt.

Maybe because he was in a good mood, he rolled up the sleeves to cool down his slightly flushed body.

As usual, he wore Marco’s sword at his waist, but if you just looked at him, it didn’t really stand out.

The only problem was the presence of the person wearing the clothes.

By the way, when Krone put on a slender dress, she tied a string around her waist like a ribbon.

She draped a wide shawl over her shoulders to keep warm.

It also helped ensure that she didn’t show too much skin.

This was a type of clothing that the August Trading Company handled, which meant it was sold in regular stores. In other words, it wasn’t a very conspicuous outfit.

But there was also the problem that the person wearing it had too much going on.

“It just stands out in a normal way. Why?”

“…..There’s no way it doesn’t stand out.”

The people of the royal capital immediately noticed the two of them, who clearly had a different air about them.

Although they didn’t casually call out to them or approach them, there were many people who bowed to them or talked about Ain and Krone.

“So if you don’t want to stand out, you should wear a robe or something…”

“Hmm… I don’t think that’s quite right…”

“――Is that so?”

She tilted her head and looked at Ain.

The two of them continued this conversation as they changed direction and entered a street with little foot traffic.

This neatly organized street was lined with shops for n.o.bles―in other words, high-cla.s.s shops―and there was little foot traffic.

“That doesn’t feel like a date. It feels like we’re sneaking around, which is not what I had planned.”

“…There are so many things I want to point out, but I’m surprised His Majesty agreed to this.”

“Hmm? If it was grandfather, he would have tried to give me some pocket money, but…”

“His Majesty…”

Krone felt the freedom of royalty and held her head in her hands. She wondered if she was thinking too much and became a little confused.

However, in the case of Sylvird, she was somewhat optimistic, partly because she knew about the situation with Ain (the Demon King).

There was no point in worrying about what would happen if the Red Fox attacked the royal capital.

After all, if they got that far, the guards would be useless to begin with.

“I have my own money, so I didn’t take it. But when I refused, Grandfather looked a little sad.”

“…If you get the chance again, you should take it. And then we’ll buy a souvenir for His Majesty, okay?”

Thinking of Sylvird, who looked sad, Krone felt sorry for him and suggested this idea.

“Oh, I see. That way, there won’t be any hard feelings.”

Ain seemed to have learned something and nodded with a smile.

Considering Sylvird’s daily hards.h.i.+ps, it seemed to be a shame to deprive him of the luxury of giving his grandchildren pocket money.

Seeing that Ain had understood, Krone smiled as well.

“By the way, what’s going on all of a sudden?”

“What do you mean, suddenly?”

“You know what I mean. You came into my office all of a sudden. At first, I thought there was some kind of emergency, and I was really nervous, you know?”

“――I feel bad just barging in like that.”

He laughed awkwardly and looked up at the sky, embarra.s.sed.

“So, what’s the matter? Did you want to be with me so badly?”

It was just a prank.

If Ain panicked, so be it. This was the kind of exchange she had expected, but today, Ain answered her directly.

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I hurried to invite you.”

“――!”

If she had something to complain about, she would ask not to be taken by surprise.

Krone’s heart wanted to continue the conversation from before. Of course, she didn’t want to do that in the middle of the castle city, so she had to hold back.

Her anger was irrational, but when she closed her mouth tightly to suppress those feelings, she furrowed her brows with sad-looking eyes.

“…You idiot.”

“H-huh… Did I just get called an idiot?”

He looked at Krone in surprise, but she turned her head away.

“…You stupid idiot.”

“H-hey! Look at me! And you definitely said idiot again, right?

As she ignored him with a sulky expression, she twirled her hair with her fingertips.

Ain saw this gesture and realized that Krone wasn’t in a bad mood.

He didn’t know why she looked so unhappy, but he decided that she was probably just a little annoyed.

“Look. You just cleaned it up, so if you mess it up, it’s ruined, you know?”

He grabbed the finger Krone was playing with and turned it around a little forcefully.

“Ah… G-geez…”

It was a little sad to think that she was getting used to being treated like this, but there was nothing she could do about the fact that Ain made her heart flutter.

In fact, there was a part of her that was happy to be flattered, and she was also aware that her feelings for him continued to grow.

“Really, Ain has grown up so much.”

“No, no… If I stay small forever, I won’t look good, will I?”

“Ara, it’s okay to be small. You were cute, and your cheeks looked soft.”

“Hahaha… As a man, there are feelings that don’t allow me to be happy when I’m called cute.”

“Is that so? It’s okay if you’re cute. ――Speaking of which, there was something I wanted to do a long time ago. …Now it’s impossible, though.”

“What did you want to do?”

Ain and Krone walked side by side in high spirits.

Perhaps because they had avoided the main street, no one was paying attention to Ain and Krone, and the two of them acted more freely than ever.

“Yes. I wanted to hold little Ain in my arms like a doll.”

“I see… It’s definitely impossible now.”

When she said something so bold, Ain flinched for a moment.

“Just to be clear, I don’t dislike you now or anything like that. You see, there was a time when, because you were the Crown Prince, I had to hold back and be reserved. That’s why I couldn’t fulfill those desires.

When she said “reserved,” Ain remembered the day he met Krone again.

Thinking back, he must have been sitting on her lap when they met again. In fact, he felt he would have liked to be held in that position…but he didn’t say so because he’s embarra.s.sed.

The line between embarra.s.sing and non-embarra.s.sing words. It’s so vague that it’s hard to deal with.

“――But if I do it now, it’ll change the meaning.”

She chuckled and looked at Ain as if she had let something go.

“Well then, Your Highness. If you don’t mind, would you be my escort?”

As Krone said this, she gently held out her right hand, which she had been playing with.

Well, there weren’t many people around, so she thought she could be forgiven for that.

Ain immediately took her hand and held it in the current.

Their fingers intertwined naturally, and even the way their hands were connected showed how much they understood each other.

“Hey…”

“Hmm? What?”

“You’re the Crown Prince. I suppose it’s not surprising that you’re a little used to this kind of thing, but aren’t you a little too used to it?”

“Eh?”

“No, I mean, aren’t you a little too used to escorting people around?”

That was the kind of day Krone was having today.

Although there was a feeling that it was troublesome, there was no way that she would not feel troubled by the fact that the other person was Ain.

However, she seems to be optimistic about the idea that there might be days when she would be spoiled by Ain.

“Well, if it’s something like that, then you’ll get used to it if you do it every time you go to a party.”

“――When did you start doing this to a n.o.ble girl?”

“Well, I think it’s something like what Krone is thinking about.”

Looking at Ain, who was smiling, Krone tightened her grip on his hand.

The two of them could feel every single finger, and the warmth and texture of their touch was strong.

“So, what do you mean by escorting someone?”

“You know what I mean, Krone. In my case, the person I escort is my mother. And sometimes I escort… Katima-san.”

Ain hid his near slip of calling Katima a bad cat.

Normally, Krone would have given him a hard time, but today, Krone was more interested in Ain’s situation.

“O-oh, so it was about Olivia-sama…”

A relieved Krone squeezes Ain’s hand tightly as if to express her relief.

Ain squeezes back gently as well, giving Krone a sense of calm.

“…I’m so glad.”

“Krone, did you say something?”

“No, nothing!”

Krone, who had murmured a small “I’m glad,” answered Ain’s words with a happy smile.

Then she wrapped her arms around Ain’s hands and spoke.

“Speaking of which, is there anything you would like to see? Will you come with me?”

“Of course. As long as time allows.”

Krone’s touch was transferred to Ain’s arm, but when he saw Krone walking happily, Ain also took wider steps.

Holding Ain’s arm lovingly, Krone moves forward with a light step and is in a good mood.

“Well then…! Let’s go this way first!”

“Haha… Please go easy on me.”

It was late when they left for the castle town.

Perhaps because of this, the time they spent together pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye.

However, it goes without saying that this day was also a day they would never forget.

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