The boy, who was desperately trying to regain his breath, said intermittently.

He probably ran all the way there, looking at how hard his shoulders heaved.

“Eh? If it isn’t Rime… why are you here?”

“When I looked at the courtyard from the window of the school building, I could see the flower bed that contained this green lily, and also the other withering flowers…”

It was none other than Cranbellica’s childhood friend, Rime.

“Uh, uhmm…”

“Ah, pardon my rudeness, Princess Stroberyl! I did it without thinking because you might injure your finger if you carelessly touch this flower!”

“You don’t have to be so formal, Rime. After all, Raspberryna is my friend, there’s no way this kind of thing would anger her—hmm? ‘Injure’? What do you mean?”

Cranbellica reassured Rime, whom was already apologizing and ready to kneel down. But she heard a word she couldn’t ignore.

“I said it’s a cannibal lily…—look.”

To answer said question, Rime took out a sandwich that would be the remainder of his lunch from his bosom, took a pinch, and threw it—at that moment,

“Kyaaa—!?”

The tightly closed bud of the green lily popped open and swallowed the piece of bread in an instant. Inside the petals were dense, tooth-like, spines.

“It’s quite a rare, but it happens. Accidentally mistaking the bulb of a colorful lily with the cannibal lily’s. There’s almost no difference in appearance until the flower blooms, and since there are cannibal lily enthusiasts, those bulbs were probably handled by the same vendor…”

“I see, there are times when accidental mistakes like this happen during purchasing and shipping… thank you, Rime, you’re a savior.”

Cannibal lilies don’t bloom at the flowering time—that was the only way to distinguish a regular lily from a cannibal lily.

Rime said he thought it was strange that the other flowers weren’t in bloom.

“Um…”

At that time.

Raspberryna, whom had been silent for a long time, opened her mouth.

Perhaps, she was stunned due to being really terrified of the cannibal lily…

“You, you’re called Lord Rime, right?”

“Eh? Yes, my name is Rime Green…”

“What a wonderful name, it suits your deep, calm, green, hair and eyes very well…”

“Huh?”

Raspberryna was behaving weirdly.

She was supporting a dreamy look and a blushing cheek that Cranbellica had never seen before.

“Um… Princess Stroberyl?”

“Please, just refer to me as ‘Raspberryna’! Lord Rime, I owe you my life!”

Rasbperryna grabbed the back of Rime’s hand.

“N, no… even though it’s called a cannibal lily, the worst it can do is graze your finger… it can’t kill you, saying that you owe me your life is an overstatement…”

“It’s quite possible that the wound would bleed heavily and get me killed! Please, I have to thank you, do you have any free time during lunch break tomorrow!? Would you please spend time with me? I shall prepare lunch for you, Lord Rime!”

“R-Raspberryna? What happen to you, oh, Raspberryna?”

Cranbellica was thoroughly confused by the transformation of her friend.

However, Rime was even more puzzled.

“What’s your favorite food!? How about your favorite drink!? What do you like as your post-meal fruit?! Please enjoy the berries that are the specialty of my kingdom!!”

“Um… a sandwich that can be eaten using one hand, I guess? If it’s drinks, I like some strong coffee that can wad off sleepiness, and if it’s fruit… nothing too sweet, I guess?”

“Sandwiches, coffees, and fruits that aren’t too sweet! I’ve memorized everything!”

Raspberryna’s eyes gleamed brightly while Rime became completely nervous.

“Eh, wait, what happened to you, seriously, Raspberryna?”

Raspberryna, the princess of the neighboring kingdom who didn’t know and didn’t have the slightest interest about love, and also didn’t have any qualms regarding political marriages—

—it wasn’t long before she discovered that she had apparently fallen for Rime at first sight.

　◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

“This… this development, is just too similar!”

Angelica read the final chapter while feeling a strong sense of familiarity.

The story ended with a luncheon scene consisting of Cranbellica and Lemonado, and also Raspberryna and Rime. Raspberryna kept recommending Rime this and that, to Cranbellica’s amazement. Then, the curtain closed.

“Raspberryna and Shari… do resemble each other.”

That was right—it seemed that Angelica had forgotten. Although Rime Green may had lost his spotlight after the second volume, he appeared again in the last part of the third volume.

Other than that, he had a few sporadic appearances throughout the other volumes.

“Rime, you’re always so cool, huh…”

Not only was he smart, he never lost his cool—he also rushed in when Cranbellica and the others were in pinch… it could be said that he indeed had saved them.

Why would Cranbellica choose the prince over her kind childhood friend, whom had apparently loved her all that time?

During Angelica’s first read, she certainly didn’t realize the goodness of Rime Green. She even sneered at Raspberryna’s newfound love—“Huuuh, you acted like such a formidable love rival all this time, but your taste in men is disastrous~!!!”

That was probably the author’s intention all along. The last scene was even written comically.

“Riol-ku… I mean, which other volumes sported Rime Green’s appearance?”

She inadvertently made a mistake, thus needing to rephrase her sentence…

She closed the book she had read, forgetting altogether her intentions to separate the books, and reached for the next volume.

***T/N: ///le me when I thought this is merely a Cranbellica x that narcisshit twat romance story///: this is exactly the reason why I loathe some of those shoujo, I would never buy or even touch this book if I ever see it–

///me after Raspberryna and Rime appeared: THREE OF EACH VOLUME, PLEASE.

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