“You know, Noel. If you have promises and secrets, you are best friends.”

“What? Who said that?”

“That’s what the people of the kingdom say.”

Noel was mildly irritated, almost blurting out the words ‘You’re applying the traditions of such a small country to the nobles of the empire!’

It was actually good that Rieta and Noel were such close friends.

There was no helping it.

Noel would also live in the Kingdom of Liz in the future, so he has no choice but to respect their customs.

“I can’t. Alright, we are best friends.”

“I didn’t say we were best friends . . .”

“So you plan to take anyone else to the kingdom other than me?!”

“Huh? No . . .”

She didn’t mean it that way.

Anyway, Noel seemed to have misunderstood something, so Rieta decided to change topics.

“Ah. That’s right, Noel.”

“What is it?”

“Have you completed step three of the puzzle?”

“Uhm . . .”

Noel hastily released Rieta’s hand.

Come to think of it, now was not the time to talk about the puzzle.

He threw the puzzle piece into the garden. Rieta would be very angry if she found out.

If so . . .

She may not take me to the kingdom!

Noel decided to try to buy himself some time.

“Well, that’s . . . I haven’t finished it yet.”

“Still? I thought it was going to be soon because you completed step two so quickly.”

“I, I thought so too . . . but it was so much more difficult than I thought.”

“Well then . . .shall we do it together from now on? I can help you with . . .”

“No!”

Noel almost screamed. He hurriedly began to back away.

“No, absolutely not. This is a matter of the pride of the Empire’s Duchy.”

“. . . Why is that?”

“Because I can’t lose in a brain battle waged between the Empire and the kingdom!”

He didn’t even say goodbye before running away with urgency in his steps.

“Noel is acting really weird . . .”

Rieta lightly rubbed the hand that Noel had been holding a moment ago against the hem of her robe.

Well, it seemed as though something had tickled her.

She doesn’t know what it was.

* * *

A few days later, the gardens of the Duchy of Mayer were all full of white snow.

Something very unfortunate had happened there that day.

Noel was frustrated as he looked down at a big snowball which had split into two halves.

“. . . Why the hell did this happen?”

He had a purpose.

The great purpose of making a giant snowman that matched the dignity of a Duke’s family.

The reason he made that decision was simple.

It was because of what had happened just yesterday, when Noel went to visit the County’s young master whom he often interacted with.

“Lord, how is the Princess doing?”

“Why is it that you ask about the Princess every time we meet?”

“Well, it’s because the Princess doesn’t do much outside activities. Actually, I have a mountain of desires to meet the Princess!”

“Why, why do you dare to harbor such a thought in your heart!”

Noel had let out a frustrated noise without realizing it.

He wanted to meet the Princess alone? How sly of him.

That wasn’t possible. Absolutely not.

She had sent the ugly Elisha to the academy dormitory, and now this boy was going to have some fun with Rieta?

“Oh, can’t I?”

“Hmph. Princess Rieta is not a free person. If you want to see her, you must have a good reason.”

“Good . . . reason?”

Noel had smiled scornfully and nodded his head.

The County’s boy hadn’t possibly been capable of suggesting such a thing.

“Ah, right.”

But the boy had clapped his hands as though he had remembered something.

“There is a big snowman I made. If I invite her to show it to her, won’t the Princess like it too?”

“Are you going to demand the Princess come all the way here for such a frivolous thing?”

“It’s interesting. His Majesty the Emperor also came to see me and praised me.”

“His Majesty, why did His Majesty come to see your snowman!”

“My father must have bragged about it. I made a snowman taller than an adult.”

Come to think of it, while passing the County’s Garden, Noel had also seen the magnificent snowman. He had even admired it, saying it was amazing.

He couldn’t lose.

As soon as Noel returned home, he put on his gloves and his hat and ran into the garden.

If Noel made an even larger snowman, the boy’s ‘reason’ would disappear.

However, it wasn’t easy to roll the snow into a beautiful shape.

Even so, he thought he had been working on it for a long time and had made it pretty big. He pushed with all his might, thinking to roll it one more time and . . .

The snowball split in half.

He was very frustrated.

“Noel, there’s no need to make it too big. Even a small snowman can be very cute if it is well decorated.”

Noel shook his head passionately at Rieta’s words.