“Are you good at riding horses if you can take a leisurely stroll through the city on horseback?”
“If the deputy commander falls off his horse, he cannot lead the soldiers. …Have you ever ridden a horse?”
“Yeah. Actually, I saw a horse for the first time when I came down to the capital. Can I touch it?”
Asha asked in a slightly nervous voice. Karnov, who was looking down at Asha, suddenly asked.
“Are you cold?”
Asha said with an expression of realization, clapping her hands lightly.
“Now I know how strong Karnov is.”
“What?”
“You say whatever you want but no one has hit you so far, so Karnov must be really strong.”
“…”
“Isn’t that right?”
Karnov, with an embarrassed expression on his face, touched only the end of his bangs, took a deep breath, and then avoided Asha’s gaze.
“If you’re not cold… I mean, if you don’t mind, would Your Highness Anatasia like to ride a horse back to the palace?”
Asha inwardly chuckled at her success in making Karnov embarrassed, but she couldn’t help but have an awkward expression at his words.
“Um, yeah… isn’t it a little… hot?”
Karnov eventually smiled as he made eye contact with Asha at her clumsy answer.
After a while, Karnov knocked at the door of the carriage and asked for the princess’s coat. Lise was surprised, but calmly gave Asha’s jacket away, pretending not to be too surprised. However, the knights couldn’t do the same.
The knights could not ride a carriage even though the princess was riding a horse. So even if the princess dissuaded them, they also followed them, but the scenery they saw was…
“Step on it and go up.”
“But I’ve been walking in the forest and my shoes are covered in dirt.”
“Didn’t you go to a tea party? What the hell did you do to walk around the forest?”
“Natalya said she’d show me her cabin…”
“Natalya? Oh, Natalya Bagration. It doesn’t matter, so step on it.”
The girl put her foot on Karnov’s hand and carefully mounted the horse. As the girl said, the bottom of the shoe was covered with dirt, but Karnov didn’t seem to care at all.
With clean hands, Karnov held the reins of the horse and effortlessly mounted it, then held the girl in his arms. As the girl’s attention was drawn to the horse, Karnov pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the dirt from his hands, then held out the handkerchief to her.
“Hold onto the reins and lean your body back.”
“What? But Karnov is behind me.”
“Yes, but when I say lean, I mean lean against me, Your Highness.”
“That’s what you mean, Lord Karnov.”
Karnov playfully flicked the girl’s ribbon and then gently pushed her forehead with his fingertip, encouraging her to lean against him. The horse started walking neither too fast nor too slow, and the girl, riding a horse for the first time, looked around with wide eyes.
And a little distance away, Anne, who was following on horseback, muttered to herself.
“I don’t know what I’m seeing.”
“…”
At Anne’s words, Bethelnic couldn’t respond.
“It feels strange. Karnov Neustadter looks just like a normal fifteen-year-old.”
“…Yeah…”
As the war had been long, the Knight Order, which was obligated to protect the palace and the royal family, had been temporarily deployed to the northern region. Anne and Bethelnic had also been to the north.
There, Karnov Neustadter was like a god of the battlefield. No, he was the god of darkness, night, hell, silence and death. Bethelnic never imagined that he would hold a girl younger than him and put her on a horse, let alone be worried that she might be scared.
“I was actually curious. Whether it was true that Her Highness requested a knight to accompany her, and instead took Karnov Neustadter.”
“Haha.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? I think someone picked up a Weekly Vichegda trainee reporter’s memo.”
“Weekly Vichegda” was a gossip magazine that mimics “Monthly Vichegda,” the most famous magazine in the capital, and it had a notorious reputation for casually spreading baseless rumors about celebrities.
“I think it will really be featured in ‘Weekly Vichegda’ now.”
“I think so too…”
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
“Why did you go to the tea party? You said you didn’t like that.”
“I never told Karnov that I didn’t like it.”
“You told Alexei.”
“…I don’t hate it anymore.”
As Asha said so, a little chilly but pleasant spring breeze greeted her. But not long after enjoying the cold wind, Karnov flipped the hood of Asha’s coat over her head.
“Karnov, did you recommend a coat with a hood because of this? Was the plan to ride with me from the beginning?”
“Well, you could say that. So, was the tea party fun?”
“Yes. I became friends with Natalya, and I’ve made up with Dimitri.”
“Prince Dimitri? Did you fight?”
“No. I cornered him on my own.”
“…”
“Still, he forgave me because I gave him delicious food. He even invited me to the tea party he’ll be hosting with Ilya next time.”
Asha spoke with a grin, explaining even the parts Dimitri hadn’t confirmed. Karnov, who heard the name “Ilya,” smirked and tilted his head a little.
“Hmm. Are you going to corner Marquis Shapiroqin this time?”
He had already heard of the opera singer named Zoya who tried to sabotage her in front of the store through Alexei.
“How can I really harass my uncle?”
Asha spoke coyly, but she was smiling.
“Wouldn’t my uncle be thinking of placating his niece, though?”
“And if he doesn’t want to comfort you?”
“There’s a rule that if the uncle makes his niece cry, he’ll be punished by their grandfather.”
“Nice.”
Asha glanced up at Karnov, leaning her back in his arms. She could spy his jawline from the corner of his eye.
“Your Spirit… How’d that go? Are you okay? Have you gotten used to it?”
Karnov tilted his head when Asha whispered and asked.
“Mostly. So, there’s something I was able to figure out.”
“What is it?”
“That yellow chick, your spirit.”
Asha almost had a hiccup. Karnov continued, driving his horse carelessly.
“Did your spirit tell you about my spirit?”
“…!”
“Your spirit isn’t just the spirit of a bird, is it?”
“…!”
<Oh, my. He’s sharp.>
While Phoebe made a nonsensical remark, Asha’s body jerked.
“Kar, Karnov. Stay calm for now.”
“I’m calm.”
“About Karnov’s spirit…”
What should she say to overcome this crisis? However, Asha’s urgent worries did not last long.
From her back, a gentle, apricot-colored current flowed like fluffy cotton candy. The particles, without any sharp edges or corners, tenderly enveloped her.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone about your spirit? Are you afraid it would threaten Alexei’s position if it became known?”
With each question Karnov quietly posed, Asha felt her heart race, but she managed to regain her composure quickly. Karnov’s tone was inquisitive, but nothing threatening emanated from him.
Amongst the warm, apricot-colored particles, there were also streams of amethyst light. At first, it was difficult to even discern the fluctuations of emotions from Karnov, but now…
“…I-I mean, to be precise, it’s because I was worried you would hate me if you found out.”
“Why would I?”
“You were the one who gave me that look when we first met, right? I was hurt then.”
“…”
Karnov’s current surged again. Asha brushed her fingertips against the gentle particles swirling around her, dispersing them like delicate fragments of amethyst in the wind.
“…Karnov, because I kept your spirit a secret, you should keep mine a secret too.”
“Hmm… One secret for another?”
“Exactly!”
Asha lifted her head confidently. Karnov, who had been quietly observing, let out a short sigh.
“It can’t be helped if it’s the princess’s order. I have no choice but to accept it.”
“No, why are you calling it an order? It’s a… warm agreement between us.”
As Asha and Karnov bantered back and forth, a natural silence settled between them. Just as the reins were in Karnov’s hands, Asha lightly tapped his hand.
“Karnov, can I tell you another secret?”
“…As you wish.”
“Truth is, ever since I came to the palace, I only did what I wanted, you know? I didn’t want to study with Alyosha and I made a fuss to His Majesty about it. But there was one thing that I forced myself to do.”
“…What is it?”
“Attending Karnov’s inauguration ceremony~!”
Asha burst into laughter when she said so.
“…”
“Oh, I really didn’t want to go. It was because of Alyosha that I had to go reluctantly. Ah! I made a mistake. It wasn’t just one thing I forced myself to do, but two.”
“No way…”
“I went to the victory ball for Karnov!”
Asha burst into laughter like a waterfall, paying no attention to Karnov’s growling from above her head. After laughing for a while, her laughter subsided and she spoke in a barely calm voice.
“I didn’t force myself to do anything else aside from those two. I did what I wanted, without any reservations.”
“…Don’t read people’s minds so freely.”
“It’s because Karnov is worried about useless things.”
In that moment when Karnov seemed to be probing about Asha’s secret, the identity of the faint amethyst light mixed in with the particles became worry and concern.
Concern that Asha had decided to hide her spirit and its power, and thus the worry that she was pretending to be absorbed in something like baking against her will.
“Now that I’ve told you another secret, can Karnov grant me one favor?”
“Hmm. What favor is it this time?”
“I managed to obtain some incredibly sweet fruits from Marchioness Tataricha’s garden. They’re called shaslings. I want to make liquor with them.”
“I have no knowledge of liquor brewing recipes.”
“No, silly. I’m talking about putting them in an oak barrel and having Karnov speed up time. Then we can make a thirty-year-old fruit wine overnight, right?”
“…”
“If we use that in the cookies, the flavor will be amazing… Karnov? Why do you keep sighing above people’s heads?”
“…”
“Karnov?”
“…”
