He had learned about Misha in his uncle’s study. It was clearly an engineered coincidence, but he had nevertheless been curious, and so he’d decided to approach her. His original interest had been due to his assumption that he and Misha would be alike. He’d quickly discovered that was not the case, but the more he learned about her, the more curious he got. By the time he realized what was happening, she had already become someone he couldn’t look away from.
Even the mastermind who had plotted their meeting couldn’t have imagined that Caro, a cold and indifferent child who never showed interest in anyone, would get so attached to Misha. That thought caused a feeling to well up in Caro that made it impossible not to grin.
“I like your hair better,” he said softly. “The color is really gentle.” Then he reached forward, gently taking a handful of Misha’s hair that had been waving in the wind, and gave it a soft kiss.
The way he did it so naturally left Misha stunned before she started an embarrassed giggle. “Wow, you’re just like a prince!”
Not just like a prince, Caro thought, but he kept that to himself, instead giving her a smile and a wink.
“Really? Did I look cool?”
“Yeah, very cool!”
The gentle wind over the lake carried the sound of their laughter across the water.
As they finally rowed back to shore, they found the tent they had used for lunch was gone, and now only their two escorts remained. It very much seemed like they were saying it was time to say goodbye. Misha and Caro shared a look. Time passed by so quickly when they were having fun that they couldn’t help feeling a little sad now. One of the guards, a man who was always with Caro, handed him a small box.
“Here, Misha. This is a goodbye present for you.” With a gloomy expression, he passed it to Misha.
“What’s this?” Misha asked, inspecting the box and its pretty ribbon once she held it.
“A pen and some stationery. You can’t send anything directly to my home, but if you leave it at the library, they can get it to me. So, would you mind keeping in touch?”
“You want me to write to you?” Misha blinked in surprise at the unexpected request.
Caro grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I was thinking about it a lot, and I decided I don’t want this to be goodbye, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back to the capital before next year’s festival, so I thought it would be nice if we could write letters to each other...” His bright blue eyes wavered, afraid she would refuse.
Misha replied to that lack of confidence with a bright smile. “I’ve never exchanged letters with a friend before. That sounds great. You’ll write back to me too, right?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Caro’s expression immediately brightened. “Of course! I’ll send them to the library, so you can go pick them up there!”
As Caro beamed at her, Misha placed an amulet around his neck. It was a small pouch made of brown cloth, embroidered with an exotic design reminiscent of vines. It was rather simplistic, but obviously great care had been put into the geometrical patterning on it. It was beautiful.
“This is...”
“Where my mom came from, this kind of embroidery is used to wish for others’ happiness. I’m not as good at it as my mom was, but I did my best following her example. I hope you like it,” Misha explained with a shy smile, pulling out her own good luck charm to show him. Its embroidery featured the same pattern. The main difference between the two was that the colors on Misha’s were quite faded, illustrating just how long hers had been with her.
“Is there something inside?” Misha’s pouch was round and thick, catching Caro’s attention. Misha gently stroked the amulet.
“Lots of things. They’re my treasures. It taught me to collect things that were important to me,” she replied, a somehow lonely look in her eyes.
Caro reached for his own amulet, feeling something hard and solid inside. “Is there something in mine too?”
“Oh, that? It’s a small, pretty rock I picked up when I was little. I’ve always had it in my amulet, but it’s the same color as your eyes, so I want you to have it.”
Caro opened the pouch and flipped it upside down. A rock the size of the tip of his thumb tumbled out onto his hand. Just like Misha had said, it was a beautiful little stone, bright and blue as if it had been painted with the same brush as the summer sky.
“It looks just like the stone on my mother’s ring,” Caro murmured. There was only a slight difference, a kind of golden glimmer inside the one Misha had given him. Looking closer, it seemed like there was a tiny bit of stardust within the stone.
As Caro inspected it intently, Misha gave a mischievous smile. “Hey, why don’t you put it in the sunlight?” Misha urged him to open his hands wide. And when he did...
“Huh? The color changed?” The moment the sunlight struck it, the stone turned from blue to green.
“Weird, huh? When light goes through it, it changes color. And they’re our colors too! It’s like proof of our friendship. Isn’t it great?” Misha giggled happily at Caro’s surprise.
His mother had always worn that ring with its bright blue stone. He had been told it was the same color as his father’s eyes, so seeing it always drew complex feelings out of him. That same shadow had reared its head as Misha handed him the bright blue stone, but the moment the light struck it and it changed to green, those feelings were blown away. The glittering speck of gold within the transparent green stone pulled at his heart.
“Yeah, it’s really beautiful. I’ll be sure to treasure it. Thank you, Misha!” Closing his hand tight around the stone, he looked up at her with a smile bright and clear. “Okay, I’ve decided. I’m going to keep my identity a secret for a little longer!”
He had actually planned on telling her that he was the heir to Redford on his departure. He thought that was the most valuable thing he had to offer. But after talking to Misha now, he realized that his identity wouldn’t be any advantage to her. It would just be a weight and an obstacle to her.
She’d probably treat me the same if she knew I was the last king’s son, but I feel like it would still put up a wall between us.
So his intuition told him, forged from the experience of countless adults swarming around him trying to gain some advantage for themselves. The light shining in Misha’s eyes was exactly the opposite of what he saw in theirs.
“Once I’m a bit older and a bit more confident in myself, then can I tell you?”
Seeing the serious look in Caro’s eyes, Misha swallowed her bewilderment and nodded. Then she took his hand in both of hers and looked straight into his eyes. “You tell me whenever you’re ready. I think that’s best. I’ll always be ready to listen, okay?”
Caro had to stifle a comeback. Evidently Misha had misunderstood what he was worried about, but he decided to let it slide.
Which book was it that said having secrets made people more interested in you? Caro thought slyly, though he kept on the angelic smile he was known for.
“I’ll be in touch. And I’ll be looking forward to getting your letter too, so write soon, okay?” Caro said.
“Okay!”
And that was how Misha gained her very first pen pal.