The Lady is a Stalker

Chapter 4

The words I had heard from my previous life suddenly passed through my head:

The beast is said to be tamed by prey.

Looking up at the sky, I saw that the sun was setting. It took a lot longer to clean up than to cook.

Apart from their cynical feelings about me, everyone seemed satisfied with their meals. But the only person who praised my cooking out loud was the Deputy Commander, and even that was too vague to be called praise. Everyone grumbled for the sake of it, but I saw them all secretly hiding their smiles as they ate.

It was around noon that the Deputy Commander took me to the kitchen for the first time. And just for the record, cooking is 8th in my list of 105 specialties. For reference, 17th place is cactus breeding and 56th is imitating the sound of a siren. My cooking, especially, is the one to look out for.

Still watching the sky, I suddenly remembered someone I easily forgot… So in the end, the Prince didn’t touch my food at all.

Well, it’s well known that the Prince is a man of extraordinary power and that he can last days without eating or drinking. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel hungry though. I’m getting worried again. I’m starting to feel like an adult getting angry with a child.

“…”

I took out the cookies I made for dessert. Because I got hungry earlier, I snuck this out of the pantry.

I know that the Prince can’t be tamed by food, but I wanted to give this to him as an apology for what I did. Maybe the Prince won’t even accept it…

I simply wondered if he’ll think it’s poison again. Oh, but if he misunderstood my intentions again then it’ll all be useless. After all, it would be a problem if he still thought that I liked him.

In normal human relationships, if you do something for someone then they’ll appreciate it and your favorability rating will rise. The Prince and I, however, were in an inverse relationship. The more I try to be his friend, he’ll only hate me more thanks to his trauma.

It’s a small thing to simply hand out cookies, but a misunderstanding will surely arise when he would think my intention would be to manipulate him and he will hate me even more. Even if I don’t do anything at all, he’d still hate me. I’m stuck. The phrase troublesome child rose up and almost escaped my lips.

While I was brooding, someone approached. “What are you doing here? This place isn’t fit for a 16 year-old noble.”

“Good evening.”

I tried to sit properly but failed. The Deputy Commander looked at me like I was pathetic. Oh, I just realized I might’ve been lying too comfortably in my dress. I straightened out and sat in a proper position.

“Anyway, what are you doing in front of these sexually frustrated soldiers? Ah, are you deliberately trying to stir up trouble? You lewd woman.”

“Anyone who feels lust for me wouldn’t be in Distin.”

“They would feel horny from seeing worn-out boots. They’re all beasts,” he retorted in a cold voice.

“No they won’t. I heard it by accident. ‘No matter how beautiful she looks, she’s definitely a slut’… they said.” I must have had a silly expression on after repeating what I heard because he looked at me quite astonished.

“Are these children for real? Did you hear that and stayed still? Are you stupid? They’re only laughing it up because they can do it in front of the Commander.”

I don’t know if I made a mistake, but he seemed to be worried that I was hurt by what they said. “Didn’t you say they were beasts? It would be a different story if they were people, but all I heard was barking. What’s there to defend?”

“…”

And above all, I wasn’t hurt by them. After all, it’s not about me. Stories about the original Celebi feel like 100 million light years away from me, so even if I heard some rumors, I can pass them off like a story about someone else. I’m accustomed to dirty gossip anyway.

Besides, what they said weren’t true at all. In the novel, Celebi was a stalker who only looked at the Prince. When I think about everything she has done to the Prince, it was only her cute words that were grossly inappropriate for me. However, she was a girl who was more loyal than anyone else.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I have feelings towards the Prince.

“Anyway I’m off. The Commander summoned me.”

When I heard that, a good idea suddenly came to me. Hey, how about I just use him as a delivery man? He’s going to visit the Prince anyway. I grabbed him and turned him around. I, then, placed the cookies in his hand.

The Deputy Commander saw it and didn’t say anything for awhile. “…I’m sorry, but you’re not my type.”

What the hell is wrong with you?

I quickly spoke before the misunderstanding got deeper, “Give this to our boss and say it’s from you.”

He looked at the cookies with a distressed face. “Give these to him yourself. Even if he hates you now, he’s a good person. He will accept them and eventually start favoring you.”

That was his conclusion. And I agree, Prince Raven is a good person.

It wouldn’t make sense if the hero of the novel turned out to be a wicked person.