As I got on with the homework Ed had set for me, he applied himself to fiddling with the box. Only pausing to answer whatever questions I had on the work I was doing, he focused intensely on his task.
Sliding the wooden panels this way and that, turning the parts that turned.
But I’d bought one of the most complicated versions the artisans’ workshop sold, so even Ed seemed to be having a lot of trouble with it.
Every now and then, he would let out a “Hmm!” to himself, eyebrows furrowed. He looked younger than usual when he did that, and I had to hide my smile behind the magical reference book.
I’d been away for several days while in the Sunruta Kingdom, so I had a lot of homework to catch up on.
I made my way through page after page of problems, and just as I finished up and was sighing in relief, the little box opened up with a pop.
“It’s open.”
“Huh?”
I looked over at Ed in surprise to see him pulling my carefully folded letter out of the box.
“Oh! Stop! You have to read that once you get back to your place!”
I reached out to grab the letter, but Ed held it high up, out of my reach. Quickly, he began scanning the pages with his eyes.
I swung for the letter and missed, falling against Ed’s broad chest.
Flustered, I quickly pushed myself off of him and tottered back a step, stumbling. With his free hand, Ed caught me by the wrist and stopped me from falling.
“You’ve written some very cute things in this letter…” Ed’s eyes softened into a smile, still holding my wrist. Our faces were close.
“I told you to read it once you got home…” I pouted.
“You said it too late. I’d already read it by then.”
“Liar. You speed-read it AFTER I expressly told you not to!”
I was red in the face, glaring at him. Ed stared at me for a moment, tenderness in his eyes. Then he leaned forward, burying his head in my shoulder and in my hair.
“Ed? What’s wrong?”
I was worried since I couldn’t gauge his expression. And he was leaning against me. He was so warm…
I stayed frozen, unable to move a muscle. Then Ed raised his head, bringing his lips to my ear.
“I felt the same.”
My heart leaped as his hot breath tickled my ear.
I lifted my head, my whole body tingling, and met Ed’s eyes. He was smiling, gazing tenderly down at me.
“Do you mean it?”
Blushing, I gazed up at him.
“It’s been fun in the Sunruta Kingdom, but I miss you. I wish I could see you. I’m always gazing up at the sky, thinking of you.”
That’s what I’d written in my letter.
As soon as I got home, I was so filled with the desire to see Ed that I just wrote down everything I was feeling on paper. I never expected him to read it in front of me, though! I was filled with embarrassment.
“I mean it with all my heart. I often gazed up at the skies and thought of you, Princess. I thought about you meeting with Prince Daniel and all the other young male royals and wondered if you might not lose interest in me. I was quite worried, in truth.”
“Lose interest? In you? Never.”
I shook my head, still gazing earnestly into his eyes.
Ed was supremely special to me.
He was the one who’d paid with his life to send me to this new version of our world. Or at least, a version of him had. I loved him so deeply.
“You mean it?”
Now Ed was the one asking me that. I blushed, nodding.
“Every word of it.”
Ed’s face lit up with a blinding smile, as if he were waiting for me to say that.
I closed my eyes as he leaned in and felt the warmth of his lips on mine.
I wished this moment could last forever…
Whenever Ed and I were able to spend time together, I wished it could always last longer than it did. But reality wasn’t so kind.
Ed pulled away, meeting my gaze again and chuckling a little as if embarrassed. Straightening up, he helped me back to my seat at the table. Then he picked up my homework and gazed at it, speaking in a bright tone.
“Now then, shall we go over these answers?”
“Yes, please.”
I watched Ed as he gazed solemnly at my homework, rubbing my thumb over my lower lip. It was only the briefest of kisses, but his warmth still lingered. I missed the touch of his lips.
Ed explained some of the mistakes I’d made in my homework, and today’s lesson started to draw to a close. Just then, Ellie came back with the kettle and tea set.
“Oh dear, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, Princess?” Ellie shut the door behind her, then glanced over the closed textbook on the table, looking apologetic.
“Oh no, we only just finished.”
“Oh, splendid. Well, please relax after your lesson. I’ll pour tea.”
“Thank you, Ellie.”
Ellie breathed a sigh of relief and began to serve us tea and cookies.
As the fragrant tea was poured into my cup, the familiar scent reached my nose.
“Is this Dimple tea?”
“Indeed, it is. You received many boxes as gifts.” Ellie paused in her tea pouring, the corners of her mouth lifting in a smile.
Dimple tea…the tea I liked so much from the Sunruta Kingdom. When Daniel came to my room the day before we left, I told him how much I liked the tea, and he’d presented me with many boxes of it as a gift.
The tea had been grown and dried in the Sunruta Royal Tea fields and had a fresh, sophisticated taste, with a heady fragrance.
“This tea is grown in a region of the Sunruta Kingdom known as the Dimple region. That’s why it’s called Dimple tea. It’s really good! One of my favorites!” Biting into one of the cookies, I explained about the tea to Ed.
“I see…” Ed brought the cup to his face and inhaled the scent before taking a sip. Then he smiled. A moment later, he looked at me, as if suddenly recalling something. “Was that another souvenir you bought?”
“What?”
Ed turned to face the side table.
The small white box was sitting on top of it.
“Oh…that was a present from Prince Daniel. To commemorate my first visit to the Sunruta Kingdom.”
I got to my feet and went to retrieve the box, which I placed before Ed. He looked down at the geometric patterns on the lid.
“It looks a lot like the one you gave me. Is this one a puzzle box as well?”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so. I mean, it comes right open.”
I lifted up the lid. It flipped open easily with little effort. The little bag of potpourri inside gave off a sweet, fragrant scent.
“Do you mind if I take a look?” Ed asked.
“Not at all. Go ahead.”
I closed the lid again and passed the little box to Ed. He gazed at it for a few moments, concentrating hard. Then he began to fiddle with it.
“No, no, it moves. This one’s definitely a puzzle box, too.”
“What, seriously?”
I looked on with surprise as Ed began to slide parts of the box around. Before too long, there came a clicking sound.
“It’s open. There’s…a letter inside.”
Ed was right. There was a small space under the main cavity of the box. The potpourri had been resting on a false bottom. Inside, there was a small piece of paper, neatly folded.
“Here.”
Ed handed the piece of paper to me without unfolding it.
I was taken aback. I hadn’t realized the box was another puzzle box. Daniel must’ve been the one who’d hidden the letter inside.
I took it nervously from Ed, opened it up, and began to read. The handwriting on the page looked familiar. It was Daniel’s.
“No one can guess a puzzle box’s contents from the outside. That’s what makes them an enigma. Beware the Witch of the South. I look forward to seeing you again.”
“The Witch of the South?”
I read the words over and over again, totally confused.
I couldn’t tell why Daniel had done this.
Ed immediately noticed something was up from the look on my face. Leaning in, he read the letter as well.
“It seems to be in code. ‘No one can guess a puzzle box’s contents from the outside. That’s what makes them an enigma.’ In other words, you can’t tell what a thing is from the way it appears, so watch your back? And what’s this about a ‘Witch of the South…?’”
“I don’t know.”
I shook my head.
The Witch of the South?
I’d never heard of anyone by that title.
Seriously, I had no idea what Daniel was trying to tell me.
As I stared in silence at the letter, Ed sighed.
“At least it’s not a passionate love letter. That’s a relief.”
“Huh?”
I looked up to see Ed gazing at me.
“That parting line, ‘I look forward to seeing you again,’ troubles me some. But let’s just interpret that as politeness on his behalf.”
I grinned in response to that.
“What would you have done if it WAS a passionate love letter?”
“I would’ve been most concerned. I would’ve had to cast a love charm to keep your attention, Princess.”
“A love charm? No such thing exists.”
I giggled. Love charms were just a fairy tale. No magic could truly manipulate the human heart.
Ed smiled softly, leaning in and kissing my forehead. His lips felt hot against my skin. The sensation sent blood rushing to my cheeks.
Ah…it seems I was wrong.
Love magic definitely did exist. And Ed had me under his spell.
I mean, it was obvious.
Look how happy the simplest, sweetest gesture of his could make me…