With The Fifth Loop, The Third Prince Has Been Added To The Cast. - Chapter 2.1

“Franz, you’re lucky… You have a fiancée, so you’ll get one, right? “Yeah, I guess so.”

This was already the fifth time I had heard this same conversation between Lord Franz and his friend.

Today, the girls in my class were baking cupcakes in our home economics class. Each girl was allowed to take home two cupcakes she made.

The boys in school were very curious about where those cupcakes would go. Many of them hoped to get one if they were lucky.

Some girls gave one to the boy they liked.  Some girls ate both of them.

Others brought them home to share with their families.

But girls with fiancés usually gave their cupcakes to their fiancés. In all four of my past lives, I gave mine to Lord Franz. However, there was one clear difference between me and the other girls who had fiancés.

The boys who got cupcakes from their fiancées would usually invite the girl to eat them together.

They would go to the courtyard, the rooftop, or an empty classroom and eat the cupcakes happily with each other, but Lord Franz was

different. Even when I gave him both cupcakes, he never asked me to eat with him.

Except for the third life—when I kept getting in their way—he always invited Claire to eat with him instead.

And in the third life, even though he didn’t eat with Claire, he still didn’t eat with me. He ate with a friend instead.

Even though I had made cupcakes in this cooking class four times already, I had never eaten one myself. But the reason I still kept giving

them to Lord Franz again and again was because—just for that moment—he smiled at me.

That smile wasn’t because he was happy to get the cupcake from me; it was just a smile of pride because others didn’t get one.

Since my second life, I knew this, but still, just for that one smile, I foolishly repeated the same thing.

“This time… I think I’ll stop.”

As I held the two cupcakes in my hands, those words slipped out of my mouth.

I no longer wanted Lord Franz to notice me.  Even his fake smile didn’t matter anymore.

This was the fifth time I had baked cupcakes.

It should be okay if I ate them myself for once.

“Huh? Cheryl? ”

Just when I thought things would never change from my first life, I heard Prince Camus’s voice.

“Oh, right. Cheryl’s class had cooking today, right? The boys were all talking about it.”

Prince Camus looked at the paper bag I was holding. Inside, of course, were the cupcakes—but he couldn’t see them. He just knew because

of the bag. That showed how much attention the cupcakes were getting today.

“Did someone give you one too, Prince Camus? ”

“No way. Sadly, I don’t really have anyone who’d give me one.”

The way he said “sadly” made me think he actually wanted one. I only needed one to eat for myself. So maybe… I could give the other one

to Prince Camus to thank him for always recommending good books.

“Um… If you’d like… Would you like to have one? ”

“Huh?”

I nervously offered one to him.

But Prince Camus looked very surprised. He just stared at the cupcake and didn’t move.

Maybe this was too rude of me, even though we had gotten close through books.

I started to pull my hand back—but then, he grabbed both the cupcake and my hand.

“Really?! I can have it?! ”

His face moved suddenly close to mine. I tried to back away, but he was still holding my hand, so I couldn’t move well.

I was too shocked to speak.  All I could do was nod, over and over again.

“Are you sure? Are you really giving it to me? ”

“Y-yes. I don’t know if it tastes good, but… I wanted to thank you… for the books you always tell me about…”

Although I had never actually tasted one myself, neither Lord Franz nor Claire had ever made a face when eating the cupcakes to tell if it was good.

Maybe their happy expressions weren’t because they were tasty but simply because they were together. Still, since they didn’t grimace or complain, I figured they weren’t that badly made.

“I’m so happy! Thank you! But… it almost feels like a waste to eat it.”

Prince Camus looked like he could burst into dance when he received the cupcake from me.

It felt a bit exaggerated, but compared to how Lord Franz reacted, I felt so much better seeing how genuinely happy Prince Camus seemed. 

Unlike Lord Franz, his smile wasn’t about pride or showing off. It looked like he was simply glad to receive the cupcake itself.

“Ah, but… do you have one for yourself, Cheryl? ”

Even that kind of gentle worry—Lord Franz had never shown me anything like it.

Looking back now, I couldn’t understand why I had ever wanted so badly for Lord Franz to notice me.

“Don’t worry, I have one for myself too.”

To ease Prince Camus’s concern, I pulled out the second cupcake from the bag and showed it to him. 

Seeing him smile with relief made me feel calm too.

But just then, someone grabbed my arm from behind, tightly.