Chapter 5: A Slight Change in Plans
EDWARD was supposed to come back to the royal capital tomorrow… So why is he here now?
Before Amy could wrap her head around the situation, Edward’s guard finally arrived behind him. Darios dismounted from his horse, his traveling suit of armor clanging with every movement. His face looked quite intimidating on a normal day, but now Amy could clearly see annoyance in his expression, too.
“Your Highness…” he started.
“Oh, Darios! Ventus was a little fast, huh?”
“There wasn’t anything ‘little’ about it! Not to mention you going down those deserted back-roads you seem to know so well…”
So Edward hadn’t come by the main roads… Amy was relieved he hadn’t bulldozed through the main street of the royal capital on his way here, although she knew he wasn’t the type of person to do something like that anyway.
She had also been worried about his security, but with Darios following him like this, it had probably been fine.
As Amy pondered all this, Edward turned toward her again.
“Anyway, you were just about to head home, weren’t you, Amy? If you wait just a moment, I can accompany you on the ride.”
“But you just got here!”
“Yeah. I’m not fit to ride in a carriage with you looking like this, of course,” said Edward, shrugging. “So I’ll just need to quickly change clothes.”
Looking over him again, Amy realized he certainly did look shabby, caked in dust and sweat. As a prince, he normally looked so tidy and put-together—it was the first time she had seen him looking like this.
He must be so exhausted after such a long ride. But…just how hard did he push himself because he wanted to see me? Amy wondered.
The correct response would be to thank him, politely refuse his offer, and tell him to get some rest. Amy logically knew this, but words of refusal didn’t leave her mouth.
“It’s all right,” Edward added brightly and reassuringly, seeing through Amy’s hesitation. “I’m still supposed to be out of town, technically, so I don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow. I’ll see you home and then come back and get some rest.”
“O-Okay… Well, in that case…”
Edward nodded happily and then informed the coachman to delay his departure.
They all returned to the stables. Edward downed a quick glass of water standing up before heading to his drawing room to get ready. In the meantime, Amy heard about the details of their journey from Darios.
“So Hannah and the others left separately?”
“That’s correct. Only His Highness and I returned on horseback. The others will arrive tomorrow, just as scheduled.”
“Um… What about the job?” Amy quietly whispered to him.
Edward didn’t seem to be the type of person that would neglect his official duties, but Amy just wanted to be sure. Darios put down his own glass of water and smiled.
“Prince Edward finished all his planned inspections and sympathy calls. To tell you the truth, when we visited the territory that had apparently been added on to the end of the trip, the pretext for the visit was quite different than what they had told us.”
“Different how?”
“There wasn’t even an inspection planned. They wanted the prince there to wine and dine him,” said Darios, shrugging.
“Well… Some people in that territory are real pieces of work,” Alyssa chimed in as she poured him some more water from the decanter, looking exasperated.
Amy suddenly understood.
It must have been about a faction dispute… Ed never did like those sorts of things.
The political faction dispute was wound up in a struggle for succession in the royal family. That was a subject Edward hated more than anything else. It now made total sense to Amy why Edward would leave his servants behind and use Amy as an excuse to leave as soon as possible.
It had already been well established that the next king of Luducia would be the First Prince, who even married a woman from an allied kingdom.
Although the next prince, the Second Prince, displayed proficiency in the military, he never once hesitated to declare himself the advisor of his older brother for the rest of his days.
With those secure positions ensuring the next generation of royalty, there was no obvious animosity between the aristocratic factions that supported the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. There was no benefit in currying favor with the Third Prince, placed lowest in the order of succession and with no plans to assume an important position in the future.
But a direct connection to the royal family, no matter how small, was very tempting for some aristocrats.
Perhaps his itinerary there had somehow uncovered the true motives of the feudal lord. There were certainly people who’d enjoy such attentions, and even Edward would surely take them in stride if he deemed it unavoidably necessary.
But Edward had seen through it right away and had advanced his schedule to leave early.
“But…”
The Kingdom of Luducia had a monarchy, but it was not an absolute monarchy. The wishes of the aristocratic lawmakers and the civil officials were taken into account.
Scheduling and coordinating diplomacy visits fell under the purview of the civil officials. Amy had sometimes met them at the royal palace, and they all looked brilliant and hard to deal with.
As people who took great pride in their jobs, the civil officials probably wouldn’t find Edward’s unscheduled, independent actions very amusing.
As the Third Prince, it wasn’t a good idea to openly clash with the civil officials who managed most of the practical business. But Edward was a very impressive person, with even Amy’s father coming around to say, “He shows a surprising amount of promise.” Maybe the civil officials had foreseen this situation happening.
“He carried out the fewest obligations possible while still fulfilling his duty, so there won’t be a problem,” Darios reassured her.
“I suppose you’re right,” Amy said, but her expression was still troubled.
“His Highness would have left earlier,” he continued, smiling. “He wanted to leave yesterday.”
“What?”
“He kept saying how it’s been so long since you came to the palace…”
“O-Okay, I get it, Darios!”
Even though she had regained her composure, she didn’t want another embarrassing surprise attack. She covered her warming cheeks with her hands in an attempt to cool them down, but it was totally pointless—her hands were hot, too.
Edward and Marvin returned to see Darios and Alyssa smiling at Amy, who was in a frazzled state.