WHEN I arrived at Ed’s room in the lab, he was hard at work whipping up a potion.
The desk was strewn with glass medicine bottles, and notebooks were lying open. I took a peek and noted that there were names of herbs jotted down, followed by numbers. He must have been altering a potion’s formula bit by bit.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
“An experiment. I’m trying to seal magical power into a Magic Sigil. But it’s not going well…”
Ed frowned at the bottles on his desk. I watched him. So…his work wasn’t going as planned.
Ed was researching ways to make Magic Sigils that could be used even by those without magical power. He’d need to bring this research to fruition within the next year and a half if he was to have even a hope of becoming a Magic Count.
I squeezed my fists tight.
“Hey, Ed, how about taking a walk with me? As a change of pace?”
“A change of…pace?”
“Yeah. Beautiful roses are blooming in the garden. I just love red flowers! They remind me of your eyes…”
I smiled warmly at him.
He blinked, looking surprised for a moment. Then he smiled back.
“I’d like that.”
It was true. I really did love red flowers. And I was delighted to have secured an impromptu date with Ed. Hopefully, a walk would take his mind off his research problems for a while.
The palace gardens were always spectacular. We employed the finest horticulturalists in the land, of course.
I couldn’t help smiling as I gazed at all the beautiful roses. I leaned in to sniff one. It smelled sweet and sophisticated.
“Look, Ed. Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Yes. They are.” Ed was watching me, eyes crinkled at the corners. “They look especially beautiful framing you, Princess.”
I blushed, gazing up into his kind, red eyes, my pulse quickening.
“…Thank you.”
I wasn’t expecting to be complimented instead of the flowers. I tried to cover my red cheeks by cupping my hands around them.
“And you look especially pretty blushing as red as those roses, Princess.”
Ed leaned in to whisper in my ear. I could feel his breath tickle me. I shivered with delight.
“Ed…”
You’re amazing, too. I wanted to say that, but the words died on my lips.
I noticed someone over Ed’s shoulder. Someone familiar, hurrying along the covered walkway.
Chestnut-brown hair reminiscent of fall. Wearing the grey robes of a Civil Official. Ed turned to see who I was looking at.
“Claude!”
Claude stopped hurrying along at the sound of my voice and looked over, clutching his books under his arm.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
Claude started jogging across the lawn toward us. His cheeks were red, as if he was excited about something.
“Bel! We just got some news. Nigren and the Sunruta Kingdom are to forge a political alliance via marriage!”
This was news indeed.
“Nigren and…and the Sunruta Kingdom?”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right, so I asked Claude just to make sure.
Nothing like that had happened in my old timeline. The two countries had never had such an alliance. But then again, this world was different from my old one in so many ways. It wasn’t so odd for an event to happen in this timeline that hadn’t occurred in the old one.
“Yep, Sunruta’s Prince Daniel and Nigren’s Princess Karina. Nothing’s official as of yet; they’re still in the negotiating stages.”
“Daniel and…and Karina?!” my voice came out in a hoarse cry.
I was shocked. My two friends are to be wed?
For some reason, I’d assumed the marriage was between different members of their families. This was unsettling on many levels, given what had happened in the last timeline and what I knew of my friends.
“I hear Princess Karina strongly requested it. Apparently, she’s been crazy for Prince Daniel ever since your coming-of-age ceremony, Bel! She started pestering her parents about it right after the visit, and they wasted no time initiating negotiations. We still don’t know how interested Daniel’s family is. But, if the engagement is confirmed, then the Sunruta Kingdom will have a great deal of influence over Nigren. It would be an advantageous move for them to be sure.
“I…I see…”
I was deeply disturbed, only half-listening as Claude filled me in on the latest political gossip. I wish I didn’t have to be so concerned about my friends getting married, but something feels very off given what I know…
After we waved Claude off, I turned to Ed beside me. He looked down at me, as if he’d something he wanted to say.
“Ed…what is it?”
“I was certain that Prince Daniel had eyes only for you, Princess. Especially when I saw you together during your coming-of-age celebration. As for Princess Karina…to be honest with you, I don’t know. She certainly seemed to be good friends with Prince Daniel. But I can’t say I saw any sparks.”
Ed went on to say that perhaps, though, the marriage really was more for political benefit. I had to agree with him. Karina had certainly seemed quite fond of Daniel, but their relationship was more like brother and sister than romantic.
But perhaps I simply hadn’t noticed that Karina was secretly crazy for Daniel all along? Or perhaps it was just as Ed said, and it was more of a political arrangement?
I cast my mind back to a distant, painful memory.
In the old timeline, it was Daniel and me who’d been engaged.
My coming-of-age ceremony was when we had gotten together. Right about now, we would’ve been in our engagement period. Then, on my eighteenth birthday, I’d gone to Sunruta to join Daniel, and Karina had appeared while we were preparing for our wedding.
Then, before I knew what was happening, our engagement had been canceled, and I’d been thrown into the dungeons. Daniel was like a completely different person all of a sudden. And Karina had seemed to hate me, despite not even knowing me. Why had she given me such a look of pure hatred? To this day, I still didn’t know. It didn’t fit with the girl I had become friends with.
“Actually, Daniel said something to me after the ceremony. He said he asked my father for permission to marry me, and Father had told him to wait two years. All to give you a chance, Ed.”
This was the first time I’d spoken to Ed about this.
Ed’s red eyes widened. Then he breathed a long sigh of relief.
“I’m certainly glad I said something to your father before Daniel’s visit.”
Ed had chosen to approach Father before my coming-of-age ceremony, knowing that visitors would be coming from all around and that many royals would ask for my hand.
That’s how Ed had gained the advantage for himself.
If Karina really did marry Daniel, there’d be no danger of Daniel and I being engaged. That seemed to have been the catalyst of all the trouble in the old timeline.
This should’ve made me very happy indeed. But there was still something that was bothering me. Something didn’t seem right.
“Princess? What is it?”
Ed was gazing at me with concern.
Perhaps Ed misconstrued my stricken expression for disappointment or jealousy over Daniel becoming engaged to Karina. I didn’t want him thinking that. Not even for a moment!
I peered into Ed’s eyes and smiled.
“Hey, Ed…can we stay together a little longer?”
“…Princess?” Ed looked confused for a moment, then crinkled up his eyes again and nodded. “Of course. As you wish, Princess.”
His warm smile was like sunshine.
I linked arms with him, and we headed back to the rose garden again. There were beautiful roses blooming as high as my head and the scent was just dreamy.
Everything was going well.
History would not repeat itself. This world was increasingly proving itself to be different from the old one. Now all that was left was for Ed to become a Magic Count and then claim me as his bride. Then we would live happily ever after.
But still, there was that little seed of doubt growing in my mind.
I squeezed Ed’s arm tighter, wanting to forget about it.
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk to me about, Princess?”
“Eh?”
I blinked in surprise as Ed looked down at me.
Oh yes, Claude’s arrival had distracted me. I’d wanted to ask Ed about Karina’s Magic Crystal and why it had broken out of the blue like that. I quickly asked him about it.
“Her Magic Crystal just broke…?” Ed rubbed his chin thoughtfully, mulling it over. “It’s true; Magic Crystals do break on occasion.”
“They do?”
“Yes. Mostly when they’re fakes: counterfeit products. And also when there’s too much magical power overloaded within them. But this Magic Crystal you’re talking about, I infused it myself, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. And then I gave it to Karina.”
“Then I don’t think that scenario’s likely at all. The only other possibility is that the crystal’s protection power was all used up during some sort of attack and it shattered.”
“Some…some sort of attack?” I frowned in alarm.
“Did the letter say anything else unusual?”
“No…not a thing.”
I went over the letter, which was still fresh in my mind. There was nothing suspicious written there.
Ed rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Then I’m afraid I simply don’t know. If we had the broken crystal, I could analyze it. And if anything happened to Karina, our political affairs officers would have brought the news. So I don’t think you need to worry about her. Anyway, from the news that Claude brought us, I’d say she’s doing very well indeed. You can ask her more about it during your visit to Nigren, can’t you?”
“Yes. Yes, you’re right…”
Ed was right. If anything bad happened to Karina, we’d already know about it. And hadn’t Claude just come to tell us Karina was practically engaged? She was doing great; that much was obvious.
So then why did she suddenly stop sending letters right after the crystal broke?
In her final letter, Karina had asked me to visit her in Nigren. No doubt an official invitation would arrive at the Royal International Affairs Office any day now.
I can ask her what’s up when I see her in person. I couldn’t do much about it until then.
I decided to just concentrate on enjoying this special time with Ed.