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ALTHOUGH Edward was a student, he still had many official duties as a member of the royal family, including going on inspections, sympathy calls, and performing certain ceremonies.
Edward had never complained about his schedule, which was put together by the civil servants with some consideration for the school’s curriculum, but this time, things were different.
Edward was in Baron Burleigh’s territory, in the baron’s distinguished guest room on the second floor of his estate, overlooking the inner courtyard. Hannah handed Edward, who was standing beside the sunlit window with his arms crossed, a pair of gloves.
“Here you are, Your Highness.”
“Oh. Thank you, Hannah.”
He had been to many events on this journey, including attending a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers, and Hannah had accompanied him to prepare his clothes and everything else. He took the gloves from the long-standing head maid, put them on, and finished getting dressed.
It had been a full day since he’d arrived at the last stop in his journey, the territory of Barron Burleigh. There had been a so-called farmland inspection that had been hastily added on, but there had been almost nothing worth seeing. He’d finished all his duties the same day he had arrived.
They weren’t that far from the royal capital, and the weather was perfectly fine for traveling. If they had stuck to the original plan, he would’ve been on the way back yesterday or this morning at the very latest.
And yet Edward’s party was still here, and they were even scheduled to spend the night.
He could only guess that the intentions of the civil servants who made that decision was not the inspection at all but rather the event currently being prepared in the courtyard below.
“Oh my! Isn’t that the head of Wizzle & Co. over there?”
“It looks like it. I’ve heard he’s been expanding his markets recently, and Baron Burleigh has many connections.”
Preparations for the welcome luncheon, which doubled as a garden party, were underway in the courtyard under their window. Invitees were already starting to gather there.
It wasn’t uncommon for social events to be set up, either formally or informally, in the places the royal family traveled. But unlike his older brothers, Edward never really had the chance to go to them.
After experiencing the hastily cobbled-together schedule of the day, it became clear to Edward that this stop was deliberately arranged with the knowledge of the civil officials. Their ulterior motives were transparent—to see how the Third Prince would react when faced with a conspirator and to get a sneak peek into the makeup of the aristocrat’s political factions.
With that said, not everyone invited to the event would come with an agenda. Some people would come purely because they wanted to greet him.
He would put the guests whispering sweet words to him under special watch, judge whether or not they had any special interests or ambitions, and deal with them appropriately.
That level of effort was simple enough, even for Edward.
I wouldn’t have a problem if it was just that, but…
What disheartened him was the other motive—discovering if he was susceptible to such advances.
“If I may be so bold…” Hannah began, “they seem to be overtly doubting your intentions.”
Edward gave her a resigned smile—their thoughts about the affair were one and the same.
“You don’t usually speak so harshly,” was all he said.
As they looked down at the venue, Hannah sighed on Edward’s behalf.
The tables and chairs were arranged in a line in the garden, and the assorted dishes and sweets vividly reminded Edward of a certain tea party once held at the royal palace.
There were nearly as many aristocratic ladies down in the courtyard as there were at the palace that day, too.
“That they arranged such a thing when you already have Lady Amy…” Hannah lamented.
“Well, we haven’t made anything official yet.”
“You might as well have.”
There had been more pressure put on Edward to “make the engagement official, and soon.” Most of the time it was indirectly referenced, but there had been times the civil officials came out and said it directly.
Edward had been given an extension of time to decide on his own fiancée by the king, queen, and his two older brothers, but it had been given privately.
However, it was natural for the civil officials to decide upon the Third Prince’s future—currently a wild card—as soon as possible to strengthen the future political climate.
Even Edward could concede that it was somewhat disadvantageous to continue such a precarious situation for so long. But with Amy, there were certain things he couldn’t give up.
Edward looked up from the courtyard, trying to distract himself. Unlike the turmoil raging inside of him, the clear sky above him was cerulean and tranquil.
It was the same sky above the royal capital.
Amy was going to visit the royal riding grounds today. It was the first time she had visited in a while.
Amy had been recruited to help prepare for the athletic tournament. As such, she’d become much busier lately, and it had become even more difficult for them to have a proper conversation face-to-face.
They still wrote letters to each other, but deep down, that didn’t leave him feeling totally satisfied.
Amy’s presence just made everything around her brighter.
Everyone—both the animals and the caretakers—looked happy whenever Amy came to the riding grounds. This effect wasn’t because she could use healing magic—it was because of her natural aura and personality.
Even though it was his official duty, the thought of being holed up here because of the civil servants’ petty reasons while Marvin, not himself, introduced the foal to her, made him want to complain about the situation.
He normally never vocalized any of his grievances. And even though he hadn’t said a word, it was clear from his face that he was upset. Even Darios looked concerned as he guarded him.
“All you have to do is show up for a little bit, and then no one can be offended. Hang in there just a little while longer.”
“I’ll be fine, I understand. I know I’ve asked a lot of you, Darios.”
“Not at all, Your Highness. The horses are totally prepared.”
“Just leave the rest to us, Your Highness,” said Hannah.
Darios and Hannah had decided long ago that Amy was Edward’s fiancée. They could think of nothing they wanted less than the current set-up, with the baron gleefully trying to introduce his own daughter to Edward.
They heard a knock at the door, and Edward took Darios with him down into the courtyard.