Chapter 20

“······Is that so?”

After receiving Princess Rebecca’s permission to feed her the ice cream I brought, I finally felt a sense of success and let out a sigh of relief.

‘We did it, Dorothy.’

Honestly, if this hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do next. If even this method hadn’t calmed the princess’s anger, I would have been out of options.

Using ‘strawberry’-related food to soothe Rebecca’s anger was a last resort, something I didn’t want to use unless absolutely necessary. As I mentioned before, in the novel I transmigrated into, [The Crown Prince Wields a Sword], the idea of using fruits to make food didn’t exist. I didn’t want to create something that wasn’t in the original story. If I introduced something that didn’t belong here, who knows what kind of chaos it could cause in the future?

The butterfly effect, they call it. The theory that a butterfly’s small flap of wings could eventually lead to a massive typhoon. The message was clear: even small changes could lead to significant consequences later. While fruit recipes might seem trivial, there was no telling what impact altering the story’s details could have.

Moreover, changing the original story’s content would be a fatal blow to my mission of altering Rebecca’s future. Except for the ‘strawberry cake’ I made for her, I hadn’t done anything else related to the original world. That’s why I refused her requests to make more strawberry cakes. It hurt to see her pout every time, but it was all to protect the Valencia family from being accused of treason and destroyed in the future.

Perhaps, when the time comes to explain all this to the princess, she’ll understand.

Of course, that’s just my small hope.

“What are you doing? You said you’d feed me.”

Seeing Rebecca, who couldn’t wait for me to finish my thoughts and urged me on, made me doubt whether the future I hoped for would ever come.

‘It might take a while…’

I sighed softly at the thought of a future that seemed impossible to reach.

“······I’ll feed you now. Open wide.”

“Ah–”

*Munch munch.*

As I scooped up some strawberry ice cream with a spoon and offered it to her, Rebecca happily accepted it. Her expression, which had been sulking just moments ago, now looked like the happiest in the world.

‘······Was I tricked?’

I started to feel suspicious. It was similar to the time I made the strawberry cake before. Could it be that all of this was Rebecca’s scheme to get me to make strawberry-related food? She knew I wouldn’t make it no matter how much she asked, so she pretended to be upset to force me into making it again. It was a plausible theory.

Even though I gave Rebecca a suspicious glance for a moment, when I saw her genuinely happy expression, all my doubts vanished. If the result was the princess’s happiness, did the process really matter?

Making the strawberry ice cream, worrying about all this—even if I felt tricked, it was all to see my beloved fiancée, Princess Rebecca, happy and not upset. In the end, it didn’t matter, right?

“Princess.”

“Yes?”

“But…”

“May I ask why you were upset?”

“······.”

This was one thing, and that was another. I needed to know why I ended up making ice cream, something I never thought I’d do. It wasn’t because I thought the princess had tricked me and wanted revenge. Absolutely not.

*

“······May I ask why you were upset?”

“······.”

When I asked why she was upset, Rebecca hesitated, avoiding my gaze as if she really didn’t want to answer.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll take the ice cream back.”

“······Fine, I’ll tell you.”

She had no choice but to surrender to my threat of taking the ice cream away. She looked like she really didn’t want to say it, but the thought of losing her strawberry ice cream scared her into answering. It showed just how much Rebecca loved strawberries.

“So, what’s the reason?”

“······.”

“What exactly made you so angry that you didn’t even want to see me?”

“It’s because of you······.”

In response to my question, Rebecca blushed deeply and spoke in a voice softer than an ant’s footsteps.

“Huh?”

With my not-so-great hearing, I couldn’t catch what she said.

“I didn’t hear you properly. Could you say it again?”

“······I already said it…”

Rebecca looked genuinely wronged, as if she had already answered. That expression would have convinced anyone else, but after three years by her side, I wasn’t fooled.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll take the ice cream.”

“······Fine.”

“You didn’t······come.”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t come to see me!”

*Thud—*

Rebecca, realizing she had spoken too loudly, covered her mouth in shock. Meanwhile, I was dumbfounded, processing what she had just said.

‘Because I… didn’t come to see her?’

So, the reason Rebecca was upset was because her fiancé, me, hadn’t visited her for over a week?

“······Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, even though I didn’t want to.

“Why are you laughing?”

Rebecca glared at me, thinking I was mocking her, but my laughter wasn’t out of mockery.

‘······She’s cute.’

The fact that the princess had gotten upset over something so trivial was adorable. That she was upset because her fiancé hadn’t visited for eight days was just too cute. The simplicity of the reason made it impossible not to smile.

“So, you were sulking?”

“······I wasn’t sulking.”

“Because I didn’t visit for a week, you felt neglected?”

“······I wasn’t sulking.”

Even as she pouted and denied it, how could I resist teasing her? Seeing such a cute Rebecca, no one in this world could resist teasing her. Unless they weren’t from this world.

“Since my beloved princess felt neglected because I didn’t visit, I sincerely apologize.”

“I wasn’t neglected.”

“Understood. Now, let’s eat the ice cream.”

“······.”

Though I clearly didn’t look convinced, Rebecca still glared at me. But when I offered her a spoonful of ice cream, she happily accepted it.

As I fed the princess, who insisted she wasn’t sulking, strawberry ice cream for a while…

“······So, why didn’t you come for a week?”

This time, it was Rebecca who asked the question.

“······.”

“······Hello?”

This time, I was the one at a loss for words.

‘How can I tell her it’s because I kept remembering the moment we kissed?’

I couldn’t tell her the real reason I hadn’t visited the Valencia Duchy. If I did, Rebecca would immediately figure out my feelings.

“?”

Especially since, judging by her confused expression, she didn’t even seem to remember what had happened that day. How could I tell her I was too preoccupied with that moment to visit?

“······I was busy with swordsmanship training.”

So, instead of telling the truth, I made up an excuse about swordsmanship training. It wasn’t entirely a lie—I had been training hard for the past week. I felt justified.

“Swordsmanship training?”

“Yes. I felt like I’d been neglecting it lately.”

“······.”

Though, judging by Rebecca’s piercing gaze, she didn’t seem to believe me at all. But since it wasn’t a lie—I really had been training hard—I felt confident.

However, my relief at not being caught for the real reason I hadn’t visited was short-lived.

“Is that so?”

Suddenly, Rebecca smirked, and I immediately sensed something was wrong.

“If you’ve been training so hard… maybe it’s time for a sparring match with me?”

“······.”

“Come on. To the training hall.”

“······I’m not at a level where I can match you yet······.”

I realized too late the mistake I had made and tried to backpedal, but it was no use.

“No excuses. Let’s go. Now.”

Rebecca’s cold smile made it clear she wasn’t buying it.

In this situation, all I could do was…

‘······Mother, Father. It seems your son might not return in one piece today.’

I could only think of how to apologize to my parents.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll go easy on you… probably.”

“······.”

Rebecca’s unbelievable words were the final nail in the coffin.