Muyoku no Seijo wa Okane ni Tokimeku

Chapter 48: Albert can't stop thinking about Leonora. (1/2)

"That's the fourth one."

*Clink*

Accompanying those words was the delicate sound of a porcelain tea cup, which brought Albert back to reality.

"Thank you... what's the fourth one?"

"The number of times you sighed." – Said Natalia; she had a concerned expression on her face.

"......I... see...."

Aside from those simple words, Albert didn't say anything. He just grabbed the tea cup and leaned back into the couch.

The two of them were in the student council room, a place located at the top floor of the academy.

The student council room was big, like a huge party hall. There was a beautiful and expensive chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the windows were big and a lot of sunlight illuminated the place. There was also a pair of comfortable couches, with a small coffee table in between them, in one of the corners of the room.

But although the place was far from looking like a normal office, Albert's desk was, as usual, packed with documents, which showed that this was indeed the student council room. However, he was the exception. All the other student council member's desks were clean... they had already finished their work.

"What's wrong, Albert? You were absent minded throughout the whole day... and you looked a bit depressed...." – Said Natalia, as she poured a cup of tea for herself and sat beside Albert.

"It's just... I can't concentrate today... that's all...." – Said Albert, with a smile, as he tried to gloss it over.

But that didn't work on Natalia, after all, she knew why he was like that–

"–I see... so it's about Leonora, isn't it?"

Albert didn't say anything to defend himself. He just kept quietly sipping on his tea as he looked the other way. However, he was going against his cousin, and to her, that was the same thing as admitting that she was right.

Few things could make Natalia's perfect cousin lose his concentration... and Leonora was one of them.

"Albert, you know you can rely on me, right? So please, tell me what's going on." – Said Natalia, gently grabbing Albert's hand.

"I already said it's nothing... you don't have to worry about me...."

"If it's nothing, then why are you so depressed?"

Albert had a lot of responsibilities.

He had to act the part of an outstanding student council president and an even more outstanding crown prince. But he wasn't very good at expressing his emotions when he was sad; his repeated sighs were a clear sign that something was wrong.

That's why Natalia would sometimes sit down and make him talk. Otherwise, he'd just bottle things up, which wasn't a healthy thing to do.

With a sour look on his face, Albert returned the tea cup back to the table, then he said–

"–I'm not good enough for her."

"You're not good enough? What do you mean by that–?"

Albert was one of the most handsome and intelligent men of the whole empire, so it was a bit surprising that he, of all people, would be having problems with love.

"–You're the Crown Prince of the Weiz Empire and the best student council president that the magic academy ever had. The nobles and the commoners love you. And you also have enough spirit power to be a Child Loved by the Spirits. Isn't that good enough?"