Chapter 221: Rinella’s Destiny is Her Own (14)

At my scolding, the princess immediately became disheartened.

Naturally, I didn’t want to diminish her efforts. Princess had even tried striking an adorable pose, imitating a puppy.

It wasn’t easy for a woman of noble birth to endure such humiliation.

It was truly a remarkable sight, a member of the royal family performing puppy-like actions in front of a low-ranking noble of the empire. Despite the clear disparity in status, the Princess was essentially sharing her endearing nature with me.

After all, puppies are creatures that instinctively crave human affection.

It’s fortunate that there weren’t any onlookers around. If this had occurred at the academy before the vacation began, Princess’s reputation would have undoubtedly suffered another blow.

The act of the Princess imitating a puppy carried significant weight.

To be honest, I had a hard time figuring out why Princess was doing this. But objectively speaking, the sight of a beautiful girl doing something cute did seem adorable.

If it hadn’t been for this morning’s incident.

With Senior Elsie’s declaration of being my pet already giving me a headache, and now Princess poking at that memory, there was no chance of me reacting positively.

When I didn’t react well, the Princess immediately lowered her head.

“I-I’m sorry… It’s just I heard that Sir Ian enjoys treating women like puppies…”

“Absolutely not!”

I inadvertently raised my voice in response to the ridiculous misunderstanding.

The Princess’s eyes widened in surprise and she stared at me blankly.

“That’s all just rumors. So, there must have been a misunderstanding…”

“…A-Ah!”

The Princess, who had been observing me intently with her gray eyes, nodded as if she had realized something.

“It was a secret! That’s reasonable. Then, impersonating a puppy is exclusively for when we’re alone…”

“Your Imperial Highness.”

The Princess tilted her head, puzzled. By then, my voice had turned cold.