Early the next morning, Liliana boarded a coach and departed the estate. Her handmaiden Marianne was staying behind, replaced by two escorts hired by Liliana’s father.
The estate, located on the outskirts of Hudore, the royal capital, had once been the residence of Liliana’s uncle, who had died young. It remained uninhabited for years after his passing, but when Liliana turned two and became a candidate for the crown prince’s fiancée, it was refurbished as her new home.
Liliana’s father, Duke Clarke, moved frequently between his mansion near the royal palace and his various domains. Her mother and brother lived in an estate in the Duchy of Fortier. Her uncle had owned many estates but had little taste for luxury, which was evident in their design. Liliana’s was the plainest of them all, though even it dwarfed the homes of barons and viscounts.
This is such a pain... Liliana lamented, gazing forlornly through the gaps in the curtains of the coach window. The sky was so clear that she could almost feel it mocking her. If she made even one wrong move, her escorts would surely report it to her father. He treated her like a tool, while her mother outright loathed her. How could she ever find comfort in such a family?
Despite her lack of appetite, Liliana nibbled on the sandwich Marianne had thoughtfully insisted she bring. It would see her through to the evening, even if no refreshments were served during her audience with the crown prince.
It was afternoon by the time the coach reached the palace. After crossing several moats, it passed through the gate and came to a halt at the restricted disembarking area. Liliana greeted the familiar palace guards, signaled her escorts to wait, and let one of the maids lead her to the parlor.
“Please wait a moment,” the maid said, bowing gracefully.
As the first maid left, another arrived with snacks and tea for two, setting them neatly on the table. Liliana couldn’t touch any of it until Riley arrived, so she waited, gazing at the beautiful courtyard outside. Flowers of every season bloomed across the grounds, and a fountain rose at the center. Every now and then, a bird took flight, breaking the stillness of the peaceful scene.
Though it couldn’t be seen from the parlor, the courtyard also housed a conservatory filled with medicinal herbs. Entry required advance permission, and even then, one had to be accompanied by its custodian. Liliana had visited it once before.
Hold on...
Liliana cocked her head. She hadn’t noticed it before she started practicing magic, but there was a barrier deployed in the courtyard. While its reinforcement around the conservatory came as no surprise, the area around the fountain was just as well protected.
One needed a certain amount of mana and sufficient magical knowledge to see barriers. The one in the palace was especially elusive, thanks to the advanced level of the spell used and its enhancement with an illusion. Only the top few percent of mages in the Kingdom of Slivegrandia—mostly those in the Ministry of Magic—would even have noticed its presence.
I wonder why the barrier is reinforced around the fountain as well as the conservatory.
It seemed suspicious, but Liliana had no time to investigate. She turned her gaze from the courtyard to the hall, and from around a corner appeared the people whose approach she had sensed not long ago: Riley and his chamberlain.
The crown prince was a handsome boy with blue eyes and golden hair, as if he had stepped straight out of a fairy tale. A smile spread wide across his features the moment he saw Liliana. His beauty surpassed his years so much that it was the talk of high society—yet it did nothing to make Liliana’s heart flutter. Nonetheless, she returned his smile and dipped into a refined, ladylike bow.
“At ease, Lady Liliana,” Riley said. “It’s been a while. How have you been? I was told the epidemic didn’t spare you.”
Liliana merely nodded in response, wondering whether the crown prince had yet to learn she had lost her voice.
Riley smiled in relief and invited his guest to take the seat across from him. While a maid poured their tea, Liliana drew a slip of paper from her hidden pocket and handed it to the prince. It explained her condition and apologized for her inability to converse.
Riley read the message at once, then met Liliana’s eyes again. “Think nothing of it. If anything, it is I who should apologize for summoning you in such a state.”
Liliana shook her head. There was no need for Riley to apologize—not when her father, Duke Clarke, had requested the audience in the first place. She produced a pen and a blank sheet of paper, then set both on the table in preparation to reply.
“You have such smooth penmanship,” the prince remarked as he watched her write. “Do you practice often? I recall you’ve sent me quite an abundance of letters.”
Perhaps he had assumed Liliana hadn’t written them herself—but she had, ever since she’d learned to write presentably. Explaining that by hand felt too laborious, though, so she only nodded, eliciting an awkward smile from Riley.
“I see. I’ve been practicing as well, but I can never quite balance certain characters.”
Liliana quickly wrote, “You have beautiful writing too, Your Highness,” and passed the paper to the prince.
Riley looked momentarily surprised, then beamed. It was the first time Liliana had seen a genuine emotion cross his face.
“I see you, too, are familiar with shorthand,” he said.
“I only started recently, so mine still needs work. Please forgive me if I make any clumsy mistakes.”
Riley shook his head, signaling she had nothing to worry about. He hadn’t yet learned to write in shorthand, so he seemed genuinely impressed that a girl younger than him had taken the first step.
“I admire how your writing flows even when using shorthand. It makes me want to work hard on it myself.”
“I hardly deserve such praise.”
“I mean it, though.”
Liliana’s humility left Riley at a loss. He acted more mature than most others his age, thanks to his education as crown prince, but he was still only a child. He couldn’t find the words to praise someone so modest.
Then he realized something. His eyes moved from the pen in Liliana’s hand to the snacks meant to accompany their tea. How could she eat if she had to keep writing responses? He chuckled and shook his head again.
“If all we do is talk, we won’t get to enjoy any of this food. Let’s help ourselves.”
Liliana nodded. She waited for Riley to pick up a fork, then followed suit, skewering a small morsel of what appeared to be a muffin and bringing it to her mouth. Its unexpected taste prompted a look of surprise, then a grin—there was dried fruit inside.
“It’s from my aunt, who married someone in the Empire of Yunatian,” the prince explained, bright-eyed as he watched Liliana savor the taste. “She said it’s a local specialty.”
Liliana had never met Riley’s aunt, though she knew her by name. She had married Duke Blomberg in the neighboring empire and sent snacks home whenever she could, evidently still doting on her nephew.
Their one-sided conversation passed peacefully, with Riley sharing snippets of his private life. It was the first quiet moment they’d shared since Liliana became a candidate for his fiancée.
As their teatime came to an end, Liliana felt someone watching her. She looked over Riley’s shoulder and saw two figures in the hallway across the courtyard. One was Malvina, daughter of Marquess Tanner. Her pretty face contorted with hatred as she met Liliana’s gaze. The other was a maid.
House Tanner ranked beneath House Clarke, but its members were loyal subjects who had served the royal family for generations. Malvina’s parents and grandparents were pleasant and dependable, to be sure, yet she and her older brother were rumored to be ambitious. Malvina probably sought to become Riley’s fiancée to strengthen House Tanner’s position in the kingdom and expand its influence, though she also seemed to harbor genuine feelings for him.
She flaunts her contempt for me at every opportunity. Even if I were no longer a fiancée candidate, I doubt that would change; she’d start looking down on me and making all manner of snide remarks.
Liliana stifled a snicker behind a perfect smile. When she turned back to Riley, she saw him enjoying his tea, evidently none the wiser. Liliana was glad, though she also feared he might not be perceptive enough for a future king.
He is just a child, I suppose. What matters is the effort he puts in from now on.
In the game, Riley was a boy with firm beliefs. He was also a philanthropist with few fixations, which had made him prone to giving up—at least before his encounters with the main character.
Come to think of it, Lady Malvina never appeared in the game. I wasn’t mute either. How could I have regained my voice? Did a mage treat me, or was it my own doing?
“Lady Liliana?” Riley asked, pulling her from her musings.
Liliana smiled reassuringly, and the prince’s ears turned red—if only briefly. She finished her snack, then casually glanced back at the hallway across the courtyard. Malvina must have gone home, for she was nowhere to be seen.
“Would you care to stroll through the courtyard with me?” the prince asked. “I’ve had some new flowers planted.”
Liliana nodded, finding no reason to refuse. As the crown prince escorted her to the courtyard, she stole a closer look at the fountain. There really was a potent barrier around it.
Riley stopped, drawing Liliana’s gaze from the fountain to the flower bed in front of them. “The new ones are just over there,” he said. “Do you like flowers, Lady Liliana?”
She nodded, earning a fond smile from the crown prince.
“Would you mind telling me your favorites?”
Liliana paused in thought. The prince’s question was one she had never considered before. She scanned the flower bed, filled with all manner of species, to see if any caught her eye. Soon, she pointed modestly to a gorgeous flower in full bloom, its dainty blue petals nestled closely together.
“That’s a pretty one,” Riley said. “Larkspur, was it? It reminds me of you.”
The compliment took Liliana by surprise, though she masked it with a thankful smile. No longer was she the small girl who took flattery at face value. She knew she would eventually lose her status as a fiancée candidate, so she didn’t want to develop feelings over such a trifle.
Judging by his look of relief, Riley had no idea what Liliana was thinking. The two resumed their leisurely stroll through the garden and soon entered an area where flowers bloomed more profusely than anywhere else, with golden poppies, clematises, and other blooms swaying in the breeze as their only company.
The prince stopped. Perhaps he had something else to show her, Liliana thought. Instead, he withdrew the arm he had used to escort her and turned to face her directly, openly nervous.