After Asha’s birthday, a rare cool breeze blew in, albeit in June. Prince Nothea’s departure from the empire was the last day of such a pleasant breeze.
The kingdom’s carriages were much simpler than they were when they came. Prince Nothea, standing in front of the carriages, looked around.
“Is Duke Sedvoyer not here?”
Asha, opposite Prince Nothea, smiled apologetically.
“Ah! Karnov has something urgent to deal with right now, he’s been busy for the last few days. He asked me to tell you that he’s really sorry.”
“Haha, ‘Sorry’…”
Prince Nothea mumbled something unclear and stopped speaking when he saw Alexei, who was standing silently behind Asha. Asha didn’t catch his muttering properly and tilted her head.
“Have you been resting well during your stay?”
“Yes, thanks to Your Highness, I’ve gained some weight.”
Prince Nothea pouted, rubbing his own arm, indicating that it had become softer.
“I brought more snacks, but if you don’t need…”
“Don’t say that.”
Prince Nothea quickly reached out his hand as he said so. Asha smiled bashfully and placed a navy box, beautifully tied with a bright yellow ribbon, on his hand.
“The journey will be long.”
“If we take the train, it won’t be long. Oh, and I had a good conversation with Lady Lyudmila. She seemed like an interesting… person.”
Prince Nothea’s face was slightly grim as he mentioned that conversation. He and Lady Lyudmila had initially discussed business matters with enthusiasm, but then decided to meet separately to talk.
Thinking about Lyudmila’s excited face when she returned from her meeting with the prince, Asha almost burst out laughing.
“And I’ll proceed with the contract regarding the rights of the novel we talked about earlier.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“I’m sad that I won’t be able to see it made into an opera.”
“I know. You won’t come all the way here anymore…”
“Phew. You prefer that I don’t come, right?”
“Oh, I got caught!”
Asha closed her eyes and laughed. Prince Nothea couldn’t help but smile back. Asha’s words were ambiguous. After he ascended to the throne, he would never be able to come to another country again.
The last of the luggage was loaded, and the words of farewell were almost ready. As Asha prepared to wave, Prince Nothea hesitated as he climbed into the carriage.
“…Your Highness.”
Lorenzo, who stood behind the prince, called out to him in a low, rebuking voice.
“Prince Nothea?”
Asha tilted her head and looked at the prince. The prince clenched and stretched his fist and smiled with a rather awkward expression.
“Do you remember what I told you the other day?”
“Well, we spent more time together than you’d think, talking and playing, didn’t we?”
“Hmmm. What I had said while playing games. What I want.”
“What do you want? …Ah.”
Asha blinked. When she said that, she remembered, but wasn’t it already past?
“What?”
Prince Nothea, however, had a warm and shy color. Cream, apricot, pale peach, and light green, which resembled sprouts, were the air currents of light that blended like cotton candy.
Asha blinked and panicked. It was the first time she had seen this color of light leak out from Prince Nothea, but it was a particle of light that was not very unfamiliar to Asha.
Because it’s always…
“There’s no room for reconsideration, is there?”
“Ah…”
Prince Nothea waved his hand quickly, as if Asha’s brief pause was due to the difficulty of answering the question.
“No, no, I just wanted to ask, I enjoyed my stay in the capital. I don’t know if I’ve been too much trouble, but I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Prince Nothea bowed exaggeratedly, like a jolly actor. Then he extended his hand toward Asha.
“May I have your permission to greet you?”
Asha took Prince Nothea’s outstretched hand and shook it cheerfully. Prince Nothea grinned in defeat.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“What was Prince Nothea’s wish?”
“Huh? Oh, to marry him… Let’s do it… No, Alyosha! That, that, arranged marriage, arranged marriage!”
Asha stumbled along under Alexei’s tilted parasol, flailing her arms in surprise at the chill she felt in the air beside her.
“You do realize that’s even worse, don’t you, Asha?”
“Oh, I said no. Prince Nothea also sincerely… I don’t think he meant what he said… I don’t think so.”
Asha stuttered and denied. She felt as if she was lying because she had seen the color leaking from Prince Nothea. Alexei squinted as if there was something on his mind, but Asha shook her hand and turned the subject.
“More than that, Karnov… Is Karnov very busy?”
“Hmm. You were hot from the sun as you were seeing off Prince Nothea.”
Alexei did not respond to Asha’s words, but waved a hand toward the back, ordering a servant to bring ice to Asha’s room as he approached, then tilted the shades to further protect her from the sun.
“No… It’s not hot. The wind was cool… I’m really okay…”
Asha fumbled with her hands outstretched in an attempt to dissuade the servants from moving in unison – though she couldn’t help but blush at the thought of Karnov – and finally gave up and slumped her shoulders.
Alexei answered Asha’s questions only when she arrived in the room as he fanned her by the ice pillar.
“I got an urgent message from the Sedvoyer estate. He seems a little busy dealing with it.”
“What’s going on? I thought he had a problem a while back, and he said it was resolved…”
“It’s been a few years since Karnov became a duke. Things happen.”
Asha caught a glimpse of Alexei’s usual kindness. She knew that look well. It was the look Alexei used to give her whenever he wanted her to see only beautiful things. This time, Alexei was the first to change the subject.
“More than that, Asha, the chefs did a great job at this banquet. Have you thought about how you’re going to honor them?”
“What? Oh, they were delicious, yes, they were.”
Asha cupped her cheeks and nodded. One of the few things that stood out at the banquet was the food and beverages. They looked beautiful and tasted amazing, and everyone was in awe.
“I didn’t even see desserts like that at grandfather’s birthday party.”
Asha laughed at Alexei’s teasing remarks. Alexei looked relieved as he swept Asha’s cheek, which seemed to be hot, with the back of his hand.
“Jeez. I didn’t get hot.”
“I almost got mad at Prince Nothea for not letting you go.”
“…!”
Asha’s eyes widened at that. Phoebe, who had been snoozing on Asha’s shoulder, almost rolled over, but then she bounced up and landed on her shoulder again.
<Oh my gosh! What is it? What is it?>
‘Alyosha almost got mad!’
<Oh~!>
“Alyosha, really?”
Alexei glanced at the squeaky Phoebe cutely and smiled.
“It’s your matter, of course.”
“Did you want to burn something?”
Alexei tweaked the tip of Asha’s nose as if he thought she was joking with her eager question.
“Do you want me to set off fireworks or something?”
“Oh, no, not that…”
Asha inwardly pitied Fafnir, who was probably squirming in the candlestick in Alexei’s office. It would be a while before Alexei would talk to Fafnir. Phoebe, who was chirping so excitedly that it was almost scary to think about, took flight and flew out the window. She was there to tease Fafnir.
“Later, when the sun goes down, bring the chefs in to honor me. Don’t worry, I’ll arrange for the reward.”
“Now that’s something I can handle.”
“You haven’t finished filling the button box yet.”
“No, that’s for the defense of my management rights…”
Alexei chuckled at Asha’s unnecessary embarrassment, and then ripped a button off his sleeve and thrust it into her hand.
“I’m your brother, so you don’t have to worry about the management.”
“Alyosha is definitely on my side! Asha’s side!”
Alexei smiled at Asha’s words.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha had called Pavel and Fjord over to talk to them, but she hadn’t expected them to tell her what she wanted to hear, so she was still trying to figure out what to do.
“Uh… really? Is that it?”
“Yes!”
Fjord nodded enthusiastically. He even invited outsiders for her birthday party this time, and it was to his great credit: his wish was to see Princess Anastasia up close and personal. Asha nodded, even though she was unnecessarily embarrassed.
“Then sometime…”
“Perhaps today… Maybe not now…”
“Now? Are they here right now?”
“Actually, he’s waiting outside the door. If the princess is willing to let him in, he’ll come right now…”
“Well, in that case, he should come in with you. Tell him to come in.”
Asha gestured in surprise. Fjord pushed past the servants and left the room, announcing that he would fetch him, while Pavel, pale as a sheet, steadied his breathing with a small whimper. Asha narrowed her eyes. But before she could say anything to Pavel, Fjord entered the room with someone else.
Asha’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“…Huh?”
The person being led by Fjord was a bit nervous and had his head bowed low, but Asha recognized him from a glimpse of his face and his ears. The sound that came out of her mouth startled the other person, causing him to raise his head and open his mouth.
“Greet the princess. This is Fedin, the pastry chef who organized the dessert at your birthday party.”
Asha stared at Fjord, surprised to recognize a face she’d seen before, and pointed to him and herself.
“We’ve met before. I was at the cafe the other day and Fedin was the pastry chef there. This time, I’m meeting him at the palace.”
“Oh! I see.”
Fjord chimed in cheerfully.
“And the pastry chef, uh, his name was Fedin. Fedin, did you have time to leave the café and come to the palace to work? Isn’t that a bit much for your busy schedule?”
“Please don’t say that. What greater honor could there be than to help with the imperial banquet?”
Fjord glimpsed Fedin and said triumphantly. Asha looked both embarrassed and pleased.
“I didn’t expect to see you like this. I was so surprised!”
<Aren’t you being too much? Anyone can tell that he’s much more surprised than you are.>
Phoebe flew up and made her way to Fedin. Despite the chick flying near his face, Fedin was staring at Asha with a dazed face.
<This one looks like it’s going into cardiac arrest>.
“Phoebe! Come here.”
<Don’t call this body like a puppy!>
Phoebe flew over with a squeak and sat on Asha’s shoulder. Asha smiled with an apologetic expression. It seemed that Fedin was so severely surprised.
“Last time, I wasn’t in a position to give my name outright. Here… I hope you can understand…”
<He doesn’t seem to be in the right frame of mind to understand, maybe a slap on the wrist will do the trick.>
Phoebe hopped up and rubbed her wings against Asha’s head. Asha swallowed a sigh.
‘Hitting him there won’t wake him up, it’ll knock him out. Please stay still…’
<That’s how the eyeballs are going to fall out.>
‘People’s eyes don’t fall out that easily.’
