🐾🐱🐾
I might have had a heart attack if this had gone on any longer!
Just when Amy couldn’t stand watching anymore, the semifinals came to a close.
With their shoulders heaving from exertion, both Edward and Harold looked at the sword that had fallen to the ground.
A look of disappointment and understanding came to Edward’s face. After storing his dual blades in their sheaths, Harold offered him his hand. The handshake they exchanged looked firm even from a distance, each giving praise for the other’s efforts.
A short distance away, Alexander and Kevin were clapping each other on the shoulders. The venue, which had fallen into a hushed silence the moment the match had been decided, was now shaking with thunderous cheers.
As Amy clung to Tigger, she found herself on her feet before she knew it.
It had taken every last bit of her willpower to watch the match until the moment Edward’s sword had left his hand—after that moment, her face had been pressed hard against Tigger.
When the referee announced the official victory call, another thundering wave of applause filled the stadium as both teams left the stage.
Harold’s team had some time to rest before moving on to the final match. He waved a hand briefly toward the staff viewing room before heading straight to his waiting room in the back.
Several figures, however, were heading right toward where they were sitting.
“Amy, look!”
Isabelle tried to bring this to her attention, but Amy, still hiding her face in Tigger’s fluff, just shook her head.
“I-I can’t take this anymore! Hal is such an idiot!”
“You think so? I’m perfectly happy with how things turned out. I’ve always wanted to go up against Hal.”
“Wha— Alec?!”
Amy looked up in surprise and saw the three young men that had just been battling on the stage.
Alexander stood right in front of her. His handsome face was quite dirty, and his clothes were torn and ragged. But Amy’s heartfelt relief at the expression on his face—one of complete bliss.
Alexander nonchalantly brushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen out of place. The sunlight created a natural glittering effect around him, and it looked exactly like a screenshot taken from an otome game.
That’s certainly fitting.
But the momentary distraction had brought her senses back to reality, and Amy felt herself calming down a little bit. She was belatedly trying to find the right words to praise them for their good fight, when—
“Oh my word, that was so inspiring!”
“Sir Riley! Tough luck out there!’
“Eeek!” Amy squeaked.
A massive wave of excited knights came spilling in like a Tokyo train during rush hour. In the bustle, Amy stumbled out of the massive window-door opening onto the grounds.
With both of her hands occupied holding Tigger, she very quickly lost her balance and felt herself stumble.
And suddenly she was caught.
“Are you okay? That was close.”
Naturally, Edward had been the one to save both Amy and Tigger from crashing onto the ground. He led her away from the chaotic scene wrapped in his secure arms.
When Amy looked back, she saw Kevin surrounded by a large crowd.
“That match was really something else!”
“Taking on two people at once! The skill!”
“It was so awesome how you deflected that spear!”
“Please…” Kevin said, sighing. “Could you guys be a little quieter?”
Kevin looked totally exhausted and like he’d rather not be dealing with the crowd of hyped-up military guys pressing in on him.
Alexander shrugged his shoulders, looking exasperated. Edward smiled awkwardly.
“They caught him good,” said Alec.
“Kevin’s adored by his subordinates too,” said Edward.
“They’re more like his fanboys, if anything.”
Amy suddenly remembered that Kevin had worked behind the scenes for the tournament. It made sense why there had been so many staff in the viewing room for the match.
Amy wondered if it was okay that they were just ignoring the Third Prince and the son of a duke, but then again, the boys probably wouldn’t want to be smothered by that stuffy crowd, either. In fact, she felt like Alexander and Edward were trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.
When the enthusiastic fervor around them abated slightly, Amy, still in Edward’s arms, looked up at him.
His breathing was back to normal, but he looked as tired as might be expected of someone after a hard-fought battle. She was viscerally reminded of when he had ridden back to the royal capital on horseback.
Edward may have lost the match, but he looked surprisingly relieved. He must have given the fight everything he had.
“Oh! Sorry. I’m getting you all dirty, aren’t I?” Edward took his arms off her, worried about his dirty clothes rubbing off on her.
“No, you aren’t,” said Amy, shaking her head.
Even at a time like this, Edward was concerned about Amy. Thinking back on it, he had always shown concern for her.
“I wasn’t able to really show you what I’m made of,” he said.
“That’s—”
That’s not true. You were so strong.
That was what Amy wanted to say, but the words didn’t come out.
Instead, tears spilled from her eyes.
“What? Amy?”
“Oh!” said Alec. “I’m going to head back, Ed. Catch you later.”
“W-Wait! Alec!”
But just as Edward shouted to him, Alexander turned on his heel and walked away, brushing off the other people calling out to him as he went.
As Amy watched Alec walk away, she realized she had been so timid she hadn’t even been able to congratulate him properly, and she started crying again.
“Um… Don’t cry, Amy.”
Edward, who was three years older than her and always so calm, clearly didn’t know what to do. He put a hand on her shoulder to try and soothe her and looked at her with an anxious, panicked expression.
But Amy still couldn’t stop the large tears from spilling from her eyes. She used everything she had to choke down her watery, wavering voice as a few tears dropped onto Tigger’s long fur.
“Ed…” she said.
“Yes?”
Amy finally looked up, and Edward was looking at her with a slightly relieved expression on his face. Fresh tears immediately made it look blurred.
“Ed…did you…get hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”