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He
occasionally squished her cheeks or played with Candice's hair with his
fingers while lying on the sofa; he had many mysterious behaviors.
However,
the squishy texture unique to children feels nice, so she could well understand
Valentin's desire to touch Candice's cheeks. Besides, unlike
boys, girls have softer muscles and perhaps finer skin texture, giving them a
smooth, squishy feel like a marshmallow.
Comparing
them to Arthur's or Luca's cheeks makes the difference quite
obvious. Moreover, with meals managed by the chefs and her skin maintained by Eva
and Rose, Candice's skin was in perfect condition.
（Come to think of it, the cushions
placed on this sofa are also soft and pleasant to the touch…… could it be that
Otou-sama likes soft things like this?）
When
she sent a gaze to Valentin, who was poking Candice's cheek
again, wasn't he looking this way with an incredibly scary expression!
（Th-There's no way that's the case!）
As
Candice was playing with a cushion while telling herself that, Hugo
said to Candice, 「That costs five hundred gold for a
single one, you know.」 Hearing such an exorbitant amount, Candice
was surprised and immediately let go of the cushion.
「Kuku……」
「Hugo, stop scaring me!」
Hugo, too, was laughing every time Candice
did something. While puffing out her cheeks, Candice carefully returned
the cushion placed on the long sofa to its original spot. And, thinking she
wanted to return to the White Palace soon, she called out. However, this
was the most nerve-wracking time. Floating an adorable smile, Candice
asked.
「Your Majesty the Emperor, may
I head to the White Palace soon?」
「………」
Looking
bothered, Valentin sat up with a heave and sent a fleeting glance at Candice.
「……Come tomorrow too.」
「hk!?」
Thinking
that she had to spend time with this sense of tension tomorrow as well, Candice
became teary-eyed.
（Uu…… why do I have to go through
this……）
However,
unable to refuse, she would end up making her way to the Violet Palace
once again. Expressionless, Valentin was poking Candice's cheek
once again.
Hearing
the sound of Hugo bursting into laughter with a 「Pfft」 from the side, Candice puffed out her cheeks.
Because her cheeks puffed out, Valentin, unable to poke them, was
showing his dissatisfaction. Candice thought this cheek-poking action
was also some kind of trial.
Whether
he knew such feelings or not, Valentin turned his back to Candice
and stood up.
「……If you're taking them home, do as
you like.」
「…………!」
Leaving
behind those words, Valentin left just like always. As if to supplement Valentin's
words, Hugo added, 「From now on, it seems you can take
sweets home to distribute to everyone.」 Recently, Arthur had been
looking forward to the sweets Candice secretly brought home by asking
the maids after her visits to the Violet Palace.
However,
because it was only a small amount, she was a little dissatisfied that there
was no share for Jeanne, Eva, and Rose. She had planned to
ask again today after Valentin and Hugo left, but it seemed she
had been found out.
The
maids of the Violet Palace, whom she had gotten close with, carefully
wrapped the sweets while saying, 「That's wonderful, Imperial
Princess-sama.」 It caught her attention that Hugo
said 『everyone』
rather than Arthur.
（I wonder how he knew…… even though
we were properly eating them inside the room so we wouldn't be found out.）
However, thinking that the Violet Palace maids must have informed them, she didn't pay it any particular mind. She reported today's harvest to Eva and Rose, who were waiting outside the door.