As Her Fiancé
Francesca first looked up towards her little bro, and decided to pacify him first.
“Sorry Graziano, you must have been shocked right? I simply took a bite from Leonardo’s ice cream, and it happened to have little bit of alcohol in it that’s all.”
“You don’t know if it really was alcohol or not. This man might have mixed some weird drug in it or something as well.”
“Hey!”
In the first place, Leonardo was already eating that ice cream so the chances of that are quite literally zero. But just as she said that, Francesca realized her own mistake.
“……….In the first place, why were you having ice cream with this guy of all people?”
(aah, now I’ve really done it……!)
She had kept it a secret from the members of the Calvino family that her [friend] was in fact Leonardo.
The reason behind that was simple. It was because of something Francesca had said to her father during dinner a couple years ago.
[Francesca, if you ever make a ‘male friend’ you must report it to me first and foremost.]
[A male friend………]
Francesca hadn’t had a single friend since the day she was born. So she really didn’t understand the meaning behind splitting your friends by their gender like that.
But, she convinced herself that that was all because she was an [amateur at making friends] and so simply nodded.
[ummm……..sure Papa. I’ll work hard to make some and tell you if and when that happens okay!]
[……..you don’t need to work hard’ for it, just be yourself. And don’t worry…]
While moving his knife and fork, her father stated so.
[I’ll be sure to check the background of every single rat that tries to get close to you in the name of friendship and keep you safe.]
[Eh……….]
[Any man that wants to be your friend will have to prove themselves worthy by passing the tests set up with the full strength of the family.]
Hearing that proclamation, the young Francesca turned pale.
[And if I deem them unworthy, we’ll appropriately have them pay the price for it. We’ll make sure that all the [male friends] that remain with you are safe and trustworthy people, so go ahead and freely make as many friends as you wish.]
[ya, yaaaaaay……!!]
With a stiff smile, Francesca tightly gripped her glass.
[th…..Thanks, Papa………!]
[This much is not even worth mentioning. To let worthless men come close to you is a problem that I will simply not allow to ever happen.]
(Forget fiancé or a boyfriend, he’s like this even about just normal friends……….!?)
Recalling this past conversation, Francesca sighed.
(Seriously, Papa. [Scheming men who’d use friendship as an excuse to get close to me] isn’t really something that’ll happen to me in real life anyway………)
After all, even after that conversation, many years had passed and she still only had one single friend.
(That’s why I didn’t even tell anyone that I finally got a friend to anyone other than Graziano. And even to Graziano, I didn’t explain that the friend was a guy, and that it was Leonardo himself, and kept it all a secret but………)
But, due to Francesca’s slipup, Graziano was directly staring at Francesca.
(wh, what do I do? If they find out that my friend was Leonardo, he’ll definitely report this to Papa as well……….!)
Graziano was a loyal and faithful servant, but his real master wasn’t Francesca, it was her father.
Her little bro would often try and take her side but, if he deems that something was necessary to keep Francesca safe, even he would instantly run to her father’s side to report.
“Leo……….Leonardo and I were eating ice cream together because…….”
At this point, she had no other choice but to tell him the truth.
Just when Francesca was about to tell everything.
“Why, of course…”
Leonardo gently grabbed Francesca’s hand that was resting on the bed sheet.
And then looked at Francesca, as if he was looking at something he dearly loved.
“——it’s because me and Francesca are engaged to each other. Shouldn’t that be obvious?”
“!”
Hearing Leonardo’s words, Francesca eyes opened with surprise.
And of course, Graziano scowled again and glared at him.
“You, the hell are you saying……….”
“Well, she is my future bride. Of course, we’ll go out on an after school date once in a while—-….”
(DATE!?)
Francesca was stunned. But, Leonardo shot her a quick glance and showed a teasing smile, which made Francesca realize his true intentions.
“My dear Francesca happened to be sad that her plan with her [friend] got cancelled, so I decided to take her out as a substitute instead.”
(………He’s trying to keep up the lie I made.)
As their fingers intertwined, she was filled with happiness.
“Thanks, Leonardo…….”
“Of course. Why would I not come to help you?………to save you from your [boredom] that is.”
Francesca’s thanks was obviously not for the [afterschool date], and he definitely understood that as well. Regardless, Leonardo pretended to act all gentlemanly as he lightly kissed the back of Francesca’s hand.
It was like they really were lovers.
Sensing that, she ended up feeling a bit more nervous than usual.
(Even if it is simply an act, it’s kinda hard to stay calm………)
She didn’t understand. Why was her heart beating so fast?