Other students then began to approach with their own parents to greet the prince and princess and to chat with Amy, Tida, and me. They asked for my thoughts on things like the earlier match or the tournament, and I did my best to answer them politely. I did shut down any student who was clearly just trying to butter me up to get close to Amy or Tida, though.
And if I was getting that much attention, Amy and Tida were even more swamped. Tida was used to it and handled it like a pro, but Amy was clearly struggling. One guy even tried to pressure her into agreeing to something or other.
“Do you mind if I steal her for a second? Let’s go, Amy.” Luna stepped right between them and grabbed Amy’s hand.
The guy tried to stop Luna and told her that it was rude to interrupt a conversation.
“Don’t you think it’s even more rude to ask why a girl wants to step away? You’re forcing someone to stay and talk when they don’t want to.”
And just like that, Luna pulled Amy out of the room.
The guy in question got laughed at by his friends. His flustered parents pulled him away—they had been panicking as the scene unfolded while they’d been chatting with the prince. I had a feeling that either he or the princess had said something.
Luna had hinted that she and Amy needed to go use the restroom, but her real reason for dragging Amy away had been obvious—she’d wanted to get her away from that guy. Everyone who’d seen what had happened probably realized he’d embarrassed a girl, thinking that he was a blockhead who couldn’t take a hint.
“I can’t believe so much time has passed,” Prince Caesar said.
“That’s true,” his wife agreed.
The couple began quietly chatting to each other, making it awkward for the students and parents nearby who’d been lining up for a chance to speak to them. They couldn’t exactly interrupt the two of them now.
“Are you all right? Want me to grab you anything?” I asked.
“We’re used to this, Tenma, but you must be exhausted. We can have a waiter bring over some drinks,” Prince Caesar said.
“Yes, you’ve had a rougher time than we have. Some of these children don’t know how to read the room,” the princess said.
Now that the crowd had thinned out, I joined them for a bit. The princess mentioned that certain students and parents had been pestering me to introduce them to Amy or Tida, and she said that loudly enough for others to hear. Anyone who had been guilty of that quickly made their way to the opposite side of the room.
“That should take care of the worst of them,” Caesar said.
Princess Isabella sighed. “I certainly hope so.”
“There are probably still a few of them floating around, but there are definitely fewer than before. By the way, where are Tida and Gramps?” Caesar asked.
None of us had noticed them slip away, so I started looking around for them.
“Oh, Gramps is just getting more food, but Tida...”
“What’s he doing?”
“Didn’t Amy and Luna go that way?”
Tida was staring in the direction the girls had gone with a troubled look on his face.
“Well, at least all the annoying types are gone now. We can leave him be for a bit,” Prince Caesar said.
Princess Isabella agreed, and I decided not to worry about it either. Gramps came back a little after that with another mountain of food, and the four of us just stood around picking at it, chatting about nothing in particular.
“Hm? Looks like Amy and Luna are back,” Tida said with a sigh, looking visibly relieved. The two girls had disappeared about an hour ago now. “What took you so long, Luna?”
“We were just talking with some friends.”
Just as I’d thought, Luna hadn’t just taken Amy to the restroom—she’d wanted to get her away from that pushy guy. Apparently, she’d also promised her friends, meaning the ones from before Prince Caesar showed up, that she’d go see them at some point. She had initially planned on sneaking off alone, but since she had been worried about Amy, she’d thought she’d just take her along.
Amy said that Luna’s friends had been surprised to see her tagging along, but since they’d heard so much about her from Luna, they’d given her a warm welcome. They had asked her a ton of questions, though, and in the end, she’d wound up agreeing to tutor them sometime.
“But they were all really nice and easy to talk to,” Amy said.
They were all from noble families, but since they were friends with Luna, none of them were judgmental about that kind of stuff.
“Sounds like your underclassmen are pretty nice,” I said.
“They are!” Amy said with a broad smile, and Luna looked proud to hear her friends being praised.
Prince Caesar laughed. “Well, if that’s the reason you were late, I can’t get mad about it. I’m sure it was hard for them to relax with me and Isabella around,” he said.
Just as I thought the conversation was getting started since Amy and Luna were back...
“Amy, can I talk to you for a second?” Tida suddenly spoke up in a serious tone. He’d clearly been anticipating her return more than anyone else.
Amy looked a little puzzled, but she nodded and turned to face him. “Sure. What is it?”
“Is he about to confess?” Princess Isabella whispered to me.
“That’s what it looks like,” I muttered back to her.
“Wait, right here? Right now?!”
“Shh, he’s doing it...” Gramps said.
We were all talking quietly so Tida and Amy couldn’t hear us.
Meanwhile, Luna was clearly trying to interrupt the two of them, but Prince Caesar and Princess Isabella shot her with irritated looks on their faces to stop her in her tracks.
After a few deep breaths, Tida looked Amy in the eye. Then...
“Amy, will you marry me?”
Everyone in the room froze.
We had thought Tida was just going to tell Amy that he liked her. He had gone way beyond our expectations. We were all too stunned to speak.
Amy was the most shocked of all. She didn’t even blink.
Ugh, another guy’s hitting on Amy...
The moment some of the parents came over to retrieve their daughters—Luna’s friends—it gave a few others the excuse they needed to greet Mom and Dad. But really, they were just using that opportunity to push their sons towards Amy. Some of them even tried to nudge their daughters towards me. Since I was a prince, I was used to that happening at every party I went to. It wasn’t a big deal.
But Amy clearly wasn’t used to this kind of attention. I could tell that she was struggling to bring the conversation to a close.
I want to stay here and watch over her, but I can’t ignore everyone else because of all the noble faction politics, I thought.
I pondered what to do when a new student suddenly approached her. I could immediately tell this guy was way more aggressive than the others.
This isn’t good...
I was about to go help her when...
“Do you mind if I steal her for a second? Let’s go, Amy.”
Luna stepped in between the guy and Amy. He tried to argue with her, but she was smarter than him and successfully led Amy away. The crowd wasn’t impressed with him either. His friends laughed at him, and his dad dragged him away.
Wow, Luna was actually useful for once. And now that Dad’s scared off all the girls who were trying to talk to me, I can finally have a moment alone with Amy.
Since Luna didn’t say anything to anyone, I figured she was just using a trip to the restroom as an excuse for their escape, so I decided to wait. I’d find a chance to talk to Amy once they got back.
However, Amy and Luna were gone for a while.
“What’s taking so long?” I wondered. I was starting to worry that another guy had ambushed her when they had left the restroom. “Well, she should be fine since Luna’s with her. She’d never let that happen...”
Besides, if I went looking for her now... Even if everyone didn’t think I was being pushy like that other guy, Luna would make a huge deal out of it if it got back to her. In the end, I decided not to go, but I couldn’t stop worrying. I just kept kicking myself for not confessing to her before the party. But just then...
There she is! Amy’s back.
I studied her face and those of the people around her. Everything appeared to be fine.
“Good. No creeps got to her.”
I was happy that she was safe, but if I didn’t do something soon, I’d just keep feeling like this over and over again.
That’s when I heard Tenma say, “Sounds like your underclassmen are pretty nice.”
I knew that Luna was friends with some boys, but if she had met up with the friends she’d been with before Dad had showed up, she’d probably just been hanging out with girls this time. Still, I worried that connection could lead to more of the younger guys trying to get closer to Amy. And the moment that thought hit me, my feet moved on their own accord.
“Amy, can I talk to you for a second?” I began.
I knew if I didn’t do it now, someone else would beat me to it. But still, the words felt stuck in my throat. The longer I hesitated, the worse I’d look in Amy’s eyes. I just couldn’t let that happen, so I went for it.
“Amy, will you marry me?”
I confessed to her. But honestly, it hadn’t come out the way I’d practiced. But that didn’t matter—the most important thing was how Amy would respond.
At first, she said nothing. Was she that surprised? I stood there with my head bowed and my hand reaching out to her, silently praying that she’d take it.