Arnold felt momentarily caught off-guard when she asked with sincere wonder.

“I thought that maybe you said it to encourage my “idle life as the Crown Princess… Rather than doing so out of indolence, it would be more convenient if Your Highness were to keep me under house arrest or the like. But I can’t imagine Your Highness going out of your way to tell the Order about it.”

“…”

“So, for the time being, I decided to jump on Your Highness’s bandwagon… I have no idea what your motives are, but you wanted to keep it ‘this way’ for the Bishop, right? I thought it would be more convenient for me to play the lousy wife who never doubted Your Highness and mistakenly believed that you love me.”

The more she elaborated, the deeper the wrinkles on his brow.

Rishe realized why he was resistant from the start.

His Highness must have sensed my presence.

Although she stood in a blind spot at the corner of the corridor, he must have picked up whiffs and footsteps.

Thus, he must have a motive for stating such claims under the circumstances.

It was for this reason she retreated to the middle of the corridor and played the role of an unknowing fiancée, pretending that she had just arrived at this place.

Arnold looked bitter for a while, but eventually spoke.

“I don’t think you were playing ‘lousy wife’ the way you behaved earlier.”

“Huh?! Have I probably failed?!”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Then he turned around and muttered after a sigh.

“You could have punched me in the face.”

“Eh?”

Rishe was frankly surprised to hear this unexpected statement.

By any chance, is he feeling guilty about me…?

That said, if Rishe appeared there as normal, it would have been meaningless for him to lie to Schneider.

“I would be much better if you could tell me what your intentions are instead of beating you up.”

“…”

“But don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to tell me. ―― More importantly, Your Highness’s dinner.”

The priests would prepare the meals for them while they were in the Grand Shrine. Since she was drinking tea earlier, the kitchen fire might not have been put out yet.

I wonder if I can ask Oliver-sama to deliver the dinner now.

As she was thinking, Arnold suddenly spoke.

“I don’t trust people who say anything like that.”

“―― ……”

Rishe blinked and replayed the words that rang like a warning.

Perhaps it was the lighting in the hallway, but Arnold’s sea-blue eyes smoldered with a somewhat gloomy glint.

“Nothing has changed. I’m just using you for my own purposes.”

“Your Highness…”

Rishe looked him straight in the eye and replied without skipping a beat.

“It takes more than just words to trust someone.”

“What?”

Arnold probably didn’t realize it.

His behavior so far was sufficient proof of his trust.

“Didn’t I tell you on the balcony of the cathedral during the day? I believe that there’s always a reason when you pretend to be mean.”

Once there, Rishe put an end to it and smiled.

“I won’t go so far as to say you can trust me too, Your Highness… But please bear in mind, I’m not someone who would easily falter when pushed away a bit!”

“…”

Arnold’s eyes widened subtly.

Then he sighed softly and muttered to himself, keeping his eyes down.

“That much, I already know.”

“!”

She was glad to hear him say that.

Arnold, on the other hand, looked into her eyes again and said.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you. What do you want from me?”

“There’s no need to apologize. Besides, I don’t intend to be a fiancée of convenience, so no worries about that!”

“…?”

Her beaming smile alarmed Arnold a bit.

Pfft, you’re probably feeling an ominous premonition, but I’ll take advantage of the guilt you just showed me!

The best time to negotiate was when the other party apologized to you.

It was one of the things she learned in her merchant life, and it was surprisingly effective.

“First things first. I would like to help Myria-sama prepare for the festival, so please give me your permission.

“Help with the festival?”

Arnold looked as if he’d just had something terribly bad thrown into his mouth.

“Did the Order ask you to do this?”

“Don’t mind the details. I also have one more favor to ask.”

“…”

“No, I will add two more. If something crops up, I’ll discuss them with you in due course!”

“…”

In the end, Arnold acquiesced to Rishe’s stubborn request.