The Villainess Enjoys Her Seventh Life as a Free-Spirited Bride (hostage) in a Former Enemy Country
chapter-v4ex1-30041322

　In this continent, when royalty and nobility attended ceremonies, both men and women wore jewelry.

　Of course, weddings, where the bride and groom were the main protagonists, were no exception. In other words, Arnold also needed to choose earrings and rings for the ceremony that was coming up in about a month and a half.

　One afternoon, Rishe visited Arnold’s office and asked him while sitting across from him on the couch.

“What kind of jewelry does Your Highness wear?”

　Arnold, who was reading a document, merely gave Rishe a glance. He then returned his gaze to his work on hand and responded indifferently.

“I’ve left the choice of that kind of preparation to Oliver.”

“…I must confess that Oliver-sama has asked me for advice. He said that there were too many options for Your Highness to choose from and that he wants to narrow it down somehow.”

　That confession earned raised eyebrows and a click of tongue from Arnold.

“Did he involve you in this?”

“No way! I asked him if I could help.”

　Rishe leaned forward to Arnold with sparkling eyes.

　She also presented the jewelry box in her hand.

“What’s this?”

“I’ve found a few accessories that might suit you from what I have on hand. Would you please try them on?”

　Rishe couldn’t contain her excitement as she said this.

　It was something Oliver had asked her to do, and it was for a good cause: in preparation for their wedding.

　But more than anything, Rishe herself would love to see Arnold wearing jewelry.

“…”

　But Arnold only frowned.

“D-Don’t you like it?”

　She couldn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to do, so she gently withdrew it.

　Arnold said quietly as he opened the jewelry box on his lap.

“…I don’t mind it.”

“Eh!”

“However, I will not be wearing it myself.”

　Then he rested his cheek on the armrest and grinned at Rishe.

“If you want it, you’ll have to put it on me.”

“…?!”

　This was how Rishe ended up sitting next to Arnold with a jewelry box in her hand.

＊＊＊

“E-Excuse me…”

“Sure.”

　Arnold started reading his documents again and replied absent-mindedly, as if to say, Do what you wish.

　From what she could see from earlier, he was dealing with a lot of paperwork. Nevertheless, he was poking fun at her despite being really occupied.

　Trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, Rishe took a deep breath and picked up the earrings to start with.

　Instead of putting them on Arnold right away, she held them close to his ears.

　She first chose a hoop-style. They were very simple earrings, but Rishe quickly withdrew them.

“…I see.”

“What is it?”

“Your Highness would do well to avoid simple jewelry.”

　While putting it back in the jewelry box, she continued her explanation.

“Even if you do wear them, the appeal of the accessories will be lost.”

“Lost? To what?”

“That is, of course, for the sheer power of your face!”

“…”

　She was deadly serious, but Arnold looked at her suspiciously.

“Oh! You’re giving me a look that says, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’ I swear, I’m feeling crushed out of the blue! I can’t compete with the beauty and perfection of your face at all!”

　Oliver usually selected Arnold’s clothes. Rishe now understood why Arnold, who preferred simple clothes, chose clothes with a certain amount of flamboyance.

　She selected a pair of long earrings from the jewelry box this time.

　She chose one with drop-shaped rubies connected to a thin chain, and another with three strands of large sapphires. She decided to put it on Arnold.

“Now, your ears…”

“…”

　With her prompt, Arnold combed his fingers through his black hair, which hung slightly over his ears, and exposed his ears to Rishe.

“Mmm.”

　And then he closed his eyes as if to encourage her.

　His gesture exuded a touch of sensuality, making Rishe gulp.

“…”

“…Rishe?”

“Ye-yes! Now if you’ll excuse me!!”

　Rishe put the ruby earrings on Arnold’s ears, while trying to cover up her nervousness.

“Wow…Lovely, it looks great on you.”

“…”

　Arnold looked down, seemingly disinterested, and the jewels shook with each thin chain.

　Sure enough, a piece of jewelry with an overpowering presence befitted Arnold’s face well.

　The bright red color that shone through his black hair was a beautiful contrast to his white skin. It was in perfect harmony with his laid-back profile.

“Now let’s try this sapphire next…Aahh, this one’s good, too! Colorful opals, these are lovely too! Black hair and a pair of diamonds, and then, if not gold, then silver!!”

“…”

　While Arnold seemed to be seriously unconcerned, Rishe burst with excitement. Arnold looked great on any piece of jewelry, as long as she chose something with large gems.

“I can see now why Oliver said he couldn’t choose. If you look so good on everything, it’s really hard to choose the right one…”

　Once she had decided on one piece of jewelry, all the other jewelry seemed a perfect match. However, deciding on one was a terribly difficult problem.

“Do you have any stones in mind, Your Highness?”

“No.”

Yeah, of course!

　His answer was as expected.

　Rishe gave up honestly and then resigned herself to it. That being the case, she would have to make a thorough selection of jewelry since there was not much time left before their wedding.

　Just then.

“If I must choose…”

“!”

　Arnold raised his voice with his eyes still fixed on the document.

“Let’s try to emulate your standards here.”

“Mine?”

　Rishe was flabbergasted at his remark.

　The ring that Arnold had given Rishe, shone shone on her left ring finger. She agonized over the gem for a long time, but finally decided on a sapphire.

　For Rishe, Arnold’s eyes, which were the same color, was the most beautiful color in the world.

“All right! Let’s go for sapphire. It will match Your Highness’ eyes. I think it will suit you very well.”

“…”

“Uh? Change it?”

“Change it.”

　The expression on Arnold’s face when he looked at me expressed disgust.

　He raished his left hand off the document and reached for Rishe, tucking her coral hair behind her ears before caressing her cheek.

　Then he squinted and looked closely at Rishe.

“Emerald. ―― Light, beautiful green ones.”

“…..!!”

　Rishe’s eyes widened.

　She blinked and blinked again, blinking her own emerald eyes.

　After a few seconds of silence and understanding the meaning of what he had said, her cheeks flushed all at once.

“Whoa…”

　―― My eye color.

　She swallowed these words and covered her lips with her palms. She couldn’t look directly at Arnold’s grinning face and hurriedly got up from the couch.

“I-I-I-I’ll go fetch it!!!”

“What? Haven’t you already got them here?”

　That was a given. A stone that matched one’s eyes was the first gem that a noblewoman would buy.

　However, Rishe was afraid that if she explained that to him, she’d give away that she was conscious of the kind of gem Arnold had requested.

　But Arnold must have known it beforehand.

　Truth be told, his tone was laced with a hint of teasing.

“I have, too, but…”

　So Rishe looked back at Arnold and said, brushing off her beet red cheeks.

“They’re all very cute, in the shape of flowers and hearts!”

“…”

　After returning tit for tat, Rishe hurriedly fled his office.

　She must head upstairs to her room and pick out some emerald jewelry.

Come to think of it, I think it would suit His Highness Arnold just fine.

　And indeed, the emerald accessory that Rishe had brought looked wonderful on Arnold.

　Although Oliver burst into laughter the moment he entered the room and saw Arnold, it was good to know that the jewel for their wedding had been decided.