Chapter 39 – If It’s You
The moment Gia voiced that question, Violette felt the air froze for a moment. Claudia and Mirania were surprised to hear their name suddenly mentioned. Even Violette was surprised. Above all, Yulan’s pink atmosphere immediately turned gloomy.
As anyone could see, it would be better if no one touched on that topic. Yet, Gia asked the question as if it was only natural for him to feel curious. Those two people gathered at the same table as Violette, but they didn’t interact with her at all. Not to say, they knew each other unilaterally. Their position, gender, age; they didn’t have many similarities with Violette.
“Rather than acquaintance… Well…”
They were her acquaintances. But from Claudia’s perspective, he classified Violette as someone he didn’t want to interact with.
And Violette understood that well. It was easy for her to nod, considering that it was the truth. Yet, to be honest, she wanted to say that they were strangers. Violette’s eyes wandered, not knowing how to reply.
Before Yulan could open his mouth to help Violette, the person concerned opened his mouth.
“She’s an old friend. Most of the students at this academy have known each other in social circles for a long time.”
Claudia didn’t look at them. He focused on eating his meals as he answered, but his answer wasn’t as harsh as Violette expected. She was a little surprised by his unexpected response.
Gia looked like he was convinced with that explanation. He didn’t dig any further and answered with a weak reaction before he started stuffing his cheeks like a squirrel.
“Rather than that, I’m more surprised that you know each other.”
“My first meeting with Vio-san is just a few days ago. I know Yulan from middle school.”
“…Now that you said it, you came to this academy at middle school, huh?”
Violette wondered if Gia’s easy-going attitude was due to his personality. Or maybe, the environment where he grew up raised him into this kind of person. She didn’t mind since he was Yulan’s good friend, but should he talk like that to the prince, who unmistakably had a special position?
Vio was worried that Claudia might scold or even threaten him. In the end, it was all needless anxiety. Claudia didn’t look reluctant to pardon Gia. He simply accepted his friendly tone. It seemed like not only Violette was surprised with this.
“Claudia, do you know him?”
“A few times in diplomatic gathering. He’s Sina’s prince.”
Sina was Gia’s country of origin. He was the third heir to the throne… in other words, he was a prince.
The island country consisted of varied sizes of islands surrounded by the sea. Even so, the citizens only lived on the island with the largest area. Therefore, there was a lot of untouched nature—a treasure trove of rare flora and fauna.
Sina’s people were known as lively. Long ago, they used to be a small ethnic group who loved hunting. Both men and women had tanned skin, plus silver hair, blue eyes, and green eyes were common there. It was a perfect match for Gia’s appearance. Since he was attending this academy, it was natural that he had a decent social position… but they never thought that he would be a prince.
Violette and Mirania raised their eyebrows in bewilderment. Both of them felt like they could understand Yulan’s feelings. Most likely, he was also surprised when he knew Gia’s identity during middle school.