Asha opened her eyes wide. The dark green eyes of the man looking up at her glistened.
In that moment, amidst the heavy gusts of wind rushing from behind, between Karnov and Alexei, and the buzzing noise in her ears from Phoebe – how dare that little troublemaker be so insolent to you! – Asha involuntarily staggered, surprised. But before she could comprehend, Karnov and Alexei grabbed her on either side.
As her hand, which was being held by the prince, naturally slipped away, the deputy envoy standing next to the prince hastily intervened.
“Your Highness, even if you are surprised by the beauty of the princess, you mustn’t act as you would in your kingdom. Your Highness, please forgive the impertinence. In the southern lands…”
Alexei raised his hand coolly, interrupting the deputy envoy.
“It seems that the prince is feeling quite exhausted due to the sudden schedule. It appears that Prince Nothea is unsure whether this is the Imperial Palace or the royal palace of the southern lands.”
The deputy envoy’s face turned pale. Prince Nothea hastily spoke up.
“I have been excessively familiar. I know it’s an excuse, but you look so much like an angel I’ve only seen on posters, I mistakenly thought you were her. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
For a moment, Asha struggled to control her reddening face. She seemed to know what angel from the poster the Prince Nothea was referring to.
“Hmmm. I think the prince is prettier than the angel. His hair is like flower petals, and his eyes are like leaves. But normally… don’t startle me like that.”
At those words, Prince Nothea blinked in surprise at first, but then quickly nodded. Alexei put his arm around Asha’s shoulder.
“Asha is my only sister, so it would be best if the prince treated her as he would treat me.”
Though his tone was gentle, the meaning was clear. Just as the atmosphere was becoming stiff, the chamberlain bowed and gestured toward the direction of the palace.
“A welcoming reception has been prepared for the evening. Until then, please unpack and rest.”
“I’ve made a mistake, yet you still extend such hospitality to me. I’m at a loss for words. Ah! The carriages behind contain books of our kingdom that have been translated into the imperial language and some paintings.”
Asha, who had expected that the carriages behind would be filled with Prince Nothea’s attendants, widened her eyes at the unexpected gift.
“I heard that His Highness has a keen interest in culture and the arts. You may not like it, but…”
In the meantime, the attendants meticulously unloaded what the prince had mentioned from the carriages. Several chests were lined up neatly. The chests themselves were finely crafted and exquisite. Prince Nothea, looking at the procession, sighed.
“My brother wanted to come personally, but I ended up taking his place. I hope His Highness won’t be upset…”
“Huh? Then, are you sad that it’s not my brother’s birthday party but mine?”
“Oh, no, no! How could that be?”
Prince Nothea jumped up, perhaps genuinely surprised by the words. Alexei smiled subtly.
“Asha, don’t tease the prince.”
“I wasn’t teasing…”
Alexei gestured to the steward. The steward and his attendants made respectful gestures toward the Kirelete royal envoy and began to lead them inside.
Prince Nothea, perhaps forgetting the earlier reprimand, flashed a cheerful smile at Asha and followed the steward’s lead with brisk steps.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Wow, that was hectic.”
Asha remarked while glancing briefly at Karnov, who walked beside her. Karnov had not uttered a single word since they started welcoming Prince Nothea.
The silence continued on Karnov’s way to Asha’s room. Asha thought Karnov’s purple eyes seemed to have gotten darker. Prince Nothea’s casual behavior did not seem to appeal to Karnov.
“Hmm, it seems the south has a more free-spirited atmosphere.”
“…Free-spirited?”
And finally Karnov opened his mouth. Asha looked up at Karnov with her eyes wide open. With one hand on his waist, Karnov sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair.
Then, he bit his lip and gestured outside toward the courtyard, where a small fountain was placed. Asha followed Karnov silently. Karnov seated Asha on a bench and immediately removed her lace gloves before dipping her hand into the fountain water to wash it.
“Karnov, what are you doing?”
Despite Asha’s soft laughter, Karnov silently repeated the process of wetting and wiping Asha’s hand. Karnov seemed genuinely displeased with Prince Nothea’s behavior.
“Oh, my.”
Karnov, who even wiped Asha’s hand with a handkerchief, packed Asha’s gloves separately.
“I’ll get you a new pair of gloves.”
“I don’t really mind, it’s okay. It wasn’t a big deal, just a slightly overzealous greeting.”
Asha waved her newly refreshed hand back and forth, causing Karnov’s eyebrows to twitch.
“I mind. And it wasn’t nothing… Just a greeting?”
Karnov’s eyes stared at Asha. Asha gulped down her dry saliva.
“Kar… Karnov!”
Only after Asha screamed did a smile return to Karnov’s face. Karnov had kissed Asha’s hand several times, as Prince Nothea did a while ago, before letting go.
“Nothing? Try saying that when you refuse to hold my hand because it tickles.”
“Karnov! It’s different from that!”
“What’s the difference? You said it’s nothing.”
Despite Asha swinging her fists, Karnov effortlessly avoided them. When Asha persisted, Karnov casually swept her hair aside and responded.
“Hmm. I see now. I guess I don’t like free spiritedness after all.”
“What are you saying? Are you saying you prefer restraint and oppression, Lord Karnov?”
“Restraint and oppression? No. I mean, I prefer manners and procedure, Your Highness.”
Karnov suppressed a laugh at Asha’s glowering gaze.
“Gloves make a difference because they complete the outfit.”
“Well then.”
Karnov took off his gloves and put them on Asha’s bare hands.
The gloves, which were much larger than her hand, were loose on the outside. Asha smiled while holding and stretching her gloved hand.
“I’ll take these gloves as a token of promise, Lord Karnov. The left glove is your trust, and the right glove is your faith. If you want them back safely, you’ll have to bring back a pair of lace gloves beautiful enough to make my eyes sparkle.”
“I will make sure to prepare the most beautiful lace gloves in the world.”
“You’ll probably ask Joel anyway, won’t you?”
“…”
“Joel only takes commissions from your and Dimitri’s requests. He could become rich just from that.”
“There’s Natalya, too.”
“Ugh.”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
The aftermath of the intense first greeting with Prince Nothea spread to the emperor’s office.
“What? As soon as he saw her? That’s a bold man.”
The emperor checked the report and winked slightly and subtly gestured. His granddaughter, who had come to his study a little early to accompany him to dinner, was sitting by the window with a cushion, flipping through a Kirelettian language conversation book. The soft breeze gently tousled her hair.
It was difficult to determine whether the soft wind was just Shamal caressing the girl out of affection or Shamal listening to what he wanted. Suddenly, the girl’s mouth pouted. Then, she glanced at the emperor with a look that was hard to decipher, filled with either concern or suspicion.
“Grandfather, did you say anything else to Prince Nothea?”
“What else?”
“Like, ‘Treat our Asha well,’ or something?”
“Do you think I’d say something like that, with the dignity of the Imperial Emperor?”
It was hard to phrase it differently. For him, showing kindness, soft words, and warm greetings to others meant bestowing favor. He had lived his whole life that way.
Now, simply because he wanted to see a sparkle in his granddaughter’s eyes and because he didn’t want to incur her displeasure, openly expressing affection was not easy.
To say that no one could compare to her, to dare to utter such absurdities – such words didn’t come easy. The emperor pursed his lips and coughed unnecessarily.
“And what if I had said something like that behind your back, only for you to hear about it and make a fuss?”
“I… I didn’t mean it like that.”
The steward standing behind almost inadvertently chuckled before quickly composing himself. After feeling embarrassed for a moment, his granddaughter closed the book she had been examining and asked, somewhat intrigued.
“Then why did you send an invitation to the Kingdom of Kirelete?”
Mikhail finished the final document confirmation and signed it, then slowly put down his pen and smoothed the wrinkles around his mouth.
“You have several friends around you, but they’re all girls, aren’t they? The only boy you have is Karnov Neustadter.”
“There’s Alyosha and Dimitri and Ilya too…”
“They are your cousins.”
Mikhail buried himself deeper in his chair, observing Asha’s slow acceptance of his words.
“Perspective isn’t something that just appears out of nowhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“Stubbornly fixating on one thing without realizing what’s good or bad about it is common. You need to see many different things regularly to learn.”
As the emperor’s answer seemed to slightly confuse the girl, the steward quickly intervened.
“His Majesty means that he wants to introduce you to friends from diverse backgrounds, Your Highness.”
Mikhail cleared his throat and brought up another topic as a justification.
“Do you know what I value most among the things brought from the Kirelete Kingdom? Its wine.”
The girl’s eyes widened, and when she saw the steward bringing a bottle of wine wrapped in cloth, she immediately stood up from the window and approached the emperor.
“It seems they even have a royal winery. This wine is made there.”
“Oh! But there was no wine in the chest you gave me!”
“Do you think I’d give alcohol as a gift to someone who isn’t even seventeen yet?”
As the girl reached out her arms with shining eyes, Mikhail snatched the wine from the steward’s hands.
“Grandfather!”
Sometimes, seeing her look unfairly wronged as if she had been teased made his heart ache. The expression that said it was natural to be loved by her grandfather was eloquent.
There was no time for distrust between them nor the need for proof.
