“Looks like you guys are having fun!”
“Ed!”
“Sorry for the wait. Shall we get going?”
“A-Already? Will you be all right without a little breather first?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. The director will get worried if you get home too late. Plus, I can rest in the carriage while seeing you home.”
Edward took Amy’s hand and helped her up from the sofa where she had been sitting.
With the Third Prince joining Amy for the ride, the security arrangements shifted. Marvin took up the duty of coachman, and Darios and Scott rode on horseback alongside them as guards. Alyssa remained at the royal palace, so Edward and Amy were alone inside the carriage.
Amy had been alone with him in a carriage before, but she suddenly felt nervous in the small space illuminated by tiny lights.
Edward let out a quiet chuckle at Amy, who felt awkward and clumsy for some reason.
“Marvin told me what you did for Lenis. Thank you,” he said.
“Oh, it was nothing! I didn’t do anything, really.”
“None of the caretakers seem to share that opinion. I think he got better because of you, too.”
Even though Amy waved both of her hands and tried to persuade him otherwise, Edward brushed it aside. Then he took one of her hands in his own and his eyes fell, staring at their hands joined together.
Amy’s breath stopped completely in surprise. He held her hand gently, as if he were handling something very fragile.
Y-You can let it go now!
It wasn’t unusual for an escort to take her hand, so Amy had no idea why her heart went crazy every time he did it today.
If the inside of the carriage were any brighter, Amy would have seen Edward looking at her hand like he was holding the world’s most precious treasure, and she certainly would’ve become much more flustered than she already was.
Sidestepping many of the obvious topics, Amy forcibly steered the conversation in another direction.
“A-Anyway…were you all right on your trip, Ed?”
“Oh, yes. Darios told you, I suppose? I think it was just a test.”
“A test?”
“I think the civil officials wanted to see how the ‘Third Prince’ would react when someone approached him that just wanted to use him.” Edward spoke looking slightly out into the distance, like he was talking about someone else entirely.
Even if the political situation in Luducia appeared peaceful at a glance, there were always people who wanted to change it. People might even occasionally try to deliberately cause chaos to achieve their aims.
Was the Third Prince an easy target others could take advantage of, or, conversely, was he capable of using the people who approached him? The current political situation and Edward’s own position and role—Edward had seen that the purpose of the last stop on his trip had been checking his understanding of the status quo.
“They don’t need a Third Prince that can be useful, but they can’t have him be easily manipulated either,” said Edward, his voice filled with bitterness and resignation.
He brought their hands to rest on his lap and gave Amy’s a little squeeze.
Edward had always smiled softly. He never once complained. He had never spoken to Amy about this sort of stuff before, so she had no idea what facial expression was most appropriate to listen to him with.
As the light swayed in the carriage, it made it hard for them to clearly see the other’s face, and Amy was rather glad about that now.
“But you don’t have to worry about my duties or the civil servants. That is…I mean…that’s what you were worried about, right?”
“Yeah… I was also worried about your duties… But…”
From Amy’s perspective, the highest-ranking, oldest family in Luducia—the royal family—was bound by a very restricted way of life.
Both in her previous life, when she was just an ordinary citizen, and in this life, where she was born into nobility, her impression of royalty was the same.
Amy was born to the same parents she had in her previous life, and she was not very sought after as an aristocrat.
But Edward was different.
His position was similar to Alexander’s, the son of a duke, but the burdens they carried were beyond comparison. Perhaps he was so used to the restrictions, having lived with them since the day he was born, that they didn’t trouble him. Certainly, much more was asked of the older princes.
But it was still a heavy burden.
Amy knew Edward might feel uncomfortable if he found out she felt such sympathy for him. From the rumors she occasionally heard and the stories from her father, she knew Edward’s position as the Third Prince was a difficult one.
There was probably a lot he had to accept and overcome. He probably lived in an environment where he didn’t have many people he could rely on.
He’s so strong… Just like a “prince” ought to be.
He seemed so different from Amy, who was quick to want to run away from difficult situations. What he showed her just now was probably one side of himself—a side that slipped out because he was so tired.
But showing this raw side of himself in front of another person was certainly much harder for him than wearing his usual mask. After the many, many hours they had spent together, Amy knew him well enough to know that.
Edward’s gaze toward Amy was the same as it had always been. His silver-flecked gray eyes were always calm, but they looked even softer when it was just the two of them.
When he smiled at her, her chest felt restless.
Amy would always tell herself the reason she felt restless around him was because she was being cautious around the love interest character she was supposed to stay away from…until now.
“I was more worried about you than your work,” Amy confessed.
But now…
“Amy?”
“For me, nothing helps better than a hug from Tigger, but…”
Amy took the hand Edward had been holding hers with, lifted it with both hands, and gently placed his palm against her cheek.
Edward was understandably shocked—it was the first time Amy had touched him like this.
Amy couldn’t comfort him over his upbringing as a prince, nor could she remove the burdens he carried with him. She was well aware of that.
That’s why…
“Everyone says that when they touch me, they feel better. If that’s true, I hope it will work on you and make you feel better, too.”
“…Yeah. It might be too effective,” he quietly let slip out before covering his mouth with his other hand, eyes determinedly looking anywhere but at Amy.
Amy and Edward both blushed up to their ears, both quite thankful that it was so dark inside the carriage.