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SARA stood in front of the same door she had walked out of nearly an hour before. She was here, of course, to see Richard, who was still in his study on the other side of the door.
Daniel said Prince Richard had been depressed about how he acted, but…
Sara put her hands against her cheeks and groaned.
Was it really okay for her to go into his study? She did have the pretext of clearing away the tea set, but it might just make Richard even grumpier…
But Daniel and Claire both helped me get here… Running away now would just be embarrassing.
After steeling herself, Sara knocked on the door.
“…Daniel?” she heard Richard ask.
His voice sounded listless and slightly dejected. As soon as Sara heard it, her wildly beating heart suddenly calmed, and her wavering sense of duty hardened.
“No, it’s Hermine. I’ve come to retrieve the tea set.”
This was met with a short stretch of silence.
“Come in,” he eventually said.
“Pardon me,” Sara said as she opened the door.
Perhaps some part of Richard had expected this to happen. As Sara slowly entered the room, she noticed he had already put his white mask on. There was an empty teacup at the front of his desk. He seemed to have finished all the tea.
It was impossible for Sara to read the subtle changes in his facial expression under his mask, but his elbows were propped up on his desk and his fingers fidgeted restlessly. His face was turned slightly away from her, as if he were avoiding her gaze. He seemed fine with Sara coming into the room but didn’t seem to know how to broach the subject with her, or perhaps how to phrase it.
I should probably wait for him to say something…
As Sara waited, she checked that the teacup, teapot, and plate were all on the tray. Then she went to fold the paper that his pastry had been wrapped in, but it had already been folded into a small, tidy shape. Richard seemed to have an attentive, earnest side to him.
“…You,” he eventually said.
“Yes?” Sara asked, looking up.
Richard’s hands were now neatly clasped on the desk. Their eyes met (at least, they probably did).
“I…apologize for my behavior before. You brought me my tea utensils out of the kindness of your heart, and I raised my voice at you.”
Sara was too stunned to speak.
“I know this is just an excuse, but…I don’t like to show my real face very much. I’ve been wearing a mask for so long, and the only people besides my family who I interact with are my servants, so… I panicked and was sharp with you. I’m very sorry.”
Richard’s head sank further with every word. When he had finished, Sara walked up to him.
“Your Highness… I’m fine,” she said softly.
With how she stood over him, she could see the top of his head. His fluffy, wavy slate-gray hair looked soft to the touch.
“I was the one who didn’t even consider your preference for avoiding people and tried to rudely force my way into your heart. I deserved to get scolded for that.”
“That’s not true. I… I wasn’t scolding you. I was just taking my frustration out on you.”
Sara blinked in surprise.
Richard would probably have felt less awkward if he had argued, as she had, that he had scolded her, and that it was her fault. After all, even she knew that her own actions had been the catalyst for this mess.
But instead, he made the uncomfortable admission that he had just been acting out and apologized for it…
Daniel was right—Richard was honest, kind, and probably a very sensitive person. Most people would be far too proud to admit they had been thoughtlessly venting, but Richard didn’t seem to be.
Sara felt a strange fluttering in her stomach. At the same time, she mysteriously felt like crying. Heat pooled at the outer corners of her eyes.
“Um… Your Highness?”
“What?”
“If that’s what you think, then I will accept your apology. But…”
Richard looked up.
Sara spoke slowly and clearly so that, nervous as he was, he could hear every word from behind his white mask.
“I did rope Daniel and Claire into this, and my visit was a surprise attack, so there’s a lot I regret as well. I will never do something like that again.”
An unintelligible sound came from his direction.
“Pardon me?”
“…It was nothing.”
Sara thought Richard had said something under his breath, but he didn’t seem inclined to repeat it.
For a while, the silence hung heavily between them.
Then there was a thmp at the window. The two turned their heads toward it at the same time and saw a small shadow moving around on the other side of the curtain.
“A bird?” Sara asked.
“…They come here a lot. But it will fly away as soon as I open the curtain.”
“I see… Do you like birds, Your Highness?”
“…I don’t dislike them. Do you?”
“Yes. I love all sorts of animals—dogs and cats and birds… They’re all so sweet and cute!”
“I see…”
They didn’t speak any more about animals after that.
But oddly enough, the subsequent silence didn’t feel awkward or unpleasant.
“You…,” he addressed Sara again.
“Yes?”
“If you have any business with me in the future, or anything you’d like to tell me…tell Daniel or one of the other servants before coming here.”
Sara’s eyes widened.
Apparently he’d seen her reaction through the eyeholes of his mask—he cleared his throat loudly before crossing his arms and quickly turning his head to the side.
“Just, please, no more surprise attacks. If you let me know beforehand, however, I won’t mind. But then, well, I suppose you probably won’t have any business with me, but…just in case. Right… Just so you know.”
A quiet giggle escaped Sara’s lips.
“What?” he asked.
“No, it’s nothing. I understand, Your Highness. I’ll be more careful about that from now on.”
Sara had sensed the flash of a glare at her laughter.
But…she was happy.
There was a “future” for them.
And in the future, as long as she got his permission first, she could go see him.
And that made her incredibly happy.