🐾🐱🐾
THE luncheon itself went fairly smoothly. Edward was able to get a read on most of the attendees and quickly weed out the ones with ulterior motives. The only attendee he really had to watch out for was the head of Wizzle & Co.
Just to be sure, Edward spoke with him for a little bit, drawing out some information. The strategic and mutual probing underneath the veneer of a pleasant back-and-forth was a trifle to Edward. There were only a handful of people he had met in his life, like Alexander and Marvin, with whom he didn’t have to do this dance.
When he was done socializing, Edward tried to move to a less-crowded part of the courtyard at what he had judged to be an opportune moment. But then Baron Burleigh suddenly trapped him in conversation.
“Your Highness, I hope you have been enjoying yourself?”
“It has been a most magnificent party, Baron.”
“Yes, everyone was anxiously awaiting the day of your arrival, rearing to get a glimpse of you. My daughter and myself included, of course.”
Behind the baron’s stout body, a girl around the same age as Amy appeared.
Her braided, chestnut hair was decorated with flowers, and her slim frame was engulfed in a fluffy dress. Her smile looked bashful and could be described as cute, but he imagined—and perhaps it was purely out of reflex—gears turning calculatingly behind her eyes.
Before he knew it, other people joined the group, and Edward ended up surrounded by girls.
At first the ladies seemed startled by Darios, standing behind Edward, but they quickly regained their composure, looked away from him, and started chattering away at Edward in high-pitched voices.
All the ladies lavished praise and smiles upon him, but he realized that they all looked the same—they even sounded the same.
He vaguely wondered if his impression would change the more time passed, but he knew the answer at once: probably not.
“Your Highness, have you not decided on a fiancée?”
“I heard there was a candidate!”
“That was probably just a rumor. There’s no way his candidate would be someone like that…”
“Yes, that girl…”
Edward remained silent, only smiling politely. Around him, the chirping ladies brought up the subject of his fiancée candidate.
He felt the full force of their egotism as they sneered and looked up at him.
“If I looked like she does, I would feel too ashamed to stand next to you, Your Highness.”
“I heard she cares more about taking care of animals than having a social life.”
“She should just leave that stuff to the servants! What kind of a lady is she?”
None of the ladies there knew Amy personally. They must have heard these things from their parents or friends. If they were to actually meet Amy, they would understand her personality. However, Edward wasn’t going to let such absurd rumors and preconceived notions go unchecked.
“You’re standing up for your candidate because you’re so kind, Your Highness. But don’t you think she’s unseemly?”
“That’s right! There are more worthy partners,” said Baron Burleigh’s daughter in a sweet voice, catching Darios off guard and slipping her arm around Edward’s elbow.
The other girls laughed and giggled like she had said something funny.
“Worthy…” Edward finally said. “You’re right about that. I’m always trying to be more worthy of Amy.”
“Pardon me?”
“You asked what kind of a lady she is, didn’t you?”
The ladies clearly never expected him to say that.
The baron’s daughter’s eyes were wide. Edward very smoothly extracted her hand from him and smiled. His handsome smile utterly lacked any warmth. The ladies gulped nervously.
“The person I want as my partner is a lady that has never spoken ill of anyone. Darios?”
“Sir!”
Not once since he had first met her.
Not even after enrolling in school.
Even after all the jealous comments and vicious accusations, Amy still never said a bad word about anyone.
Edward had never heard her do so, at least.
She would talk animatedly with Rosalind and her other friends about her day.
Her eyes sparkled during exciting times. Her eyebrows furrowed during troubled times.
She was the most passionate when she talked about Tigger or other animals, but even then, Edward never felt jealous—only genuinely envious.
Just sitting beside Amy excitedly chattering away made him feel totally whole.
Amy was the only one who stood out to him from the very beginning—she was extraordinary, entirely unique.
He left the ladies, taken aback and shell-shocked, and walked away with Darios.
“Let’s go back to the palace.”
“At once, Your Highness.”
If Ventus took the journey at a run, Edward might still be able to make it in time.
Edward quickened his pace, working out the shortest route to get back home in his head.