By Zephyria 
Occasionally, when I felt too sluggish, I would take Benjamin and Marianne and run alongside the carriage.
Benjamin easily kept pace with the horse, but Marianne, even with occasional Blinks, grumbled. Still, she seemed to be taking to heart the idea that she shouldn’t neglect her training even during vacation, which was quite admirable.
We spent a full ten days laughing, talking, eating, running, and resting like that, and around noon on the eleventh day…
The coachman, who had been guiding us all along, slid open the small window between the carriage and the driver’s seat. His voice, as he urged us on, was tinged with a mix of relief and regret.
“We’ve arrived. This is the Pytan Plains.”
“Wow, thank you!”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
The children bowed and got out of the carriage. Some stretched and yawned, while others looked around. I also gave a silent bow to the coachman and turned my gaze to the wide plains.
The flat grassland stretched out to the horizon, where tall, straight trees stood in a line. Behind the dense, thick shadows of the forest, a few mountain peaks, obscured by clouds, could be seen in the far distance.
The Pytan Plains were a gentle plain located northeast of Mount Eldos, on the way to the Duke Grimsbein Family. The people in this area were said to raise a lot of sheep and cattle. Hundreds of tents were set up at regular intervals on the land, which had already been grazed by livestock and had become depleted.
I was greatly impressed to see Artifacts for lighting placed at regular intervals, decorating both sides of the road. It was fair to say that a village had been set up. It was ridiculous that I had worried about spending a month on the road. I kept forgetting the wealth of the Sierran Empire.
Realizing that Prince Rubel would be in the most splendid of these tents, I unconsciously looked around, trying to find him.
I might have continued doing so for quite a while if it hadn’t been for Marianne’s hand, which thumped me on the back.
“What are you looking for, Michael?”
“…No, it’s nothing. I’m just curious.”
“Let’s unload our luggage first. We need to change clothes now that we’ve arrived.”
“Yes.”
The children, already accustomed to changing their own clothes from their life at the academy, entered a tent set up in a corner of the open space where the carriages were lined up. Inside the tall tent, there were partitions wide enough for one person to enter. Each person went into a section and closed the fabric entrance, concealing the interior.
After quickly changing into their tops and bottoms, they came out with a few accessories that awkwardly crossed their shoulders and backs, helping each other fasten and arrange them. I also went into one of the sections and changed my clothes.
The children chuckled softly when they saw my attire.
“Wow… Is this really necessary?”
“Hmm?”
Shayden clicked his tongue and immediately adjusted my shoulder ornament. I didn’t know what was wrong and checked my outfit again.
It was a gray outfit that wouldn’t show any dust. The seams were generous, allowing for easy movement of my arms and legs. The jacket, which fastened in the front, was embellished with jeweled buttons, and a large pendant brooch was attached to the chest pocket. There were buttons on the right front and left back to secure a cloak.
I didn’t know why the cloak was fixed to cover only one shoulder, but I assumed it was for style. I carried the cloak, which I hadn’t bothered to attach yet, in one arm. I wore black boots that came up to below my knees, with rounded toes and no special decorations, making them easy to move in.
In the Central Plains, I always wore the same long robe. Knowing that I had no eye for clothing, Mother always took care of me, telling me to wear this on the first day, this for events, and this for hunting. I simply took out whatever was in the bag she had packed, so I couldn’t tell what was strange.
I didn’t doubt Mother’s skills, so I scanned my sleeves and boots, wondering if I had tied a string wrong, and asked again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did the Second Prince say he would accept your game?”
I asked Shayden, but Marianne answered.
Marianne, wearing more elaborate clothes than usual and pants that puffed out around her thighs, kept tapping the heels of her calf-high boots on the ground. It was obvious that they were new shoes. I nodded obediently.
“Yes.”
“Pretty, it suits you well. Congratulations!”
“Yes? …What… By the way.”
I had forgotten to question the children. I deliberately put on a stern expression and looked around at the Child. I hadn’t forgotten that these children had all conspired to tell me to ask Your Highness if he would accept my game, saying that he would definitely allow it.
“Does everyone know that offering game at the Hunting Festival has, well, that kind of meaning?”
“Ah, it’s strange not to know that! How could you not know that?”
“You knew I didn’t know, though.”
“Well, still, isn’t it true that you won’t have to worry anymore?”
Marianne kept chattering in a bright, high voice. I couldn’t understand what she was talking about at all. As I continued to stand there, bewildered, a few of the children who had been grinning tilted their heads.
Damian, looking quite embarrassed, glanced at me and asked Marianne.
“Um, I’m just asking in case, but by any chance…”
“Yes. …Or, is it not? Michael, is it really not?”
“So, what exactly are you talking about?”
Shayden finished adjusting all my accessories and opened his mouth.
“Mika. Are you and the Second Prince lovers?”
“What? No, we’re not.”
The Child were all greatly surprised. I was also surprised.
“Yes? No, but why are you dressed like that?”
“…What on earth are you talking about…”
“You’re wearing three obsidian buttons that look exactly like Your Highness’s eye color. And the pendant ribbon uses both blue and black.”
“…Why, is that bad?”
It was the middle of summer.
Even though the warm sunlight was shining down, a cool silence, as if sitting in the shade, swept through the children. I was flustered.
Among the Child who were exchanging glances, I fiddled with the buttons on my collar. Rubel had also mentioned the black gemstone buttons. Was this strange?
Shayden helped explain once again.
“Um, Mika. Usually, hunting festival attire uses buttons with gemstones that are the same color as your own eyes. If there’s someone you like at the Hunting Festival, you might exchange buttons…”
“…But, I heard that if you have someone to offer game to, you match their eye color.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“…So, isn’t it right to wear it like this?”
“You decided to offer game to Prince Rubel? Even though you’re not lovers?”
“Yes.”
It was Rubel who had written the letter telling me to wear three black gemstone buttons.
I had already heard something similar from Rubel, an explanation that many people offer game to their lovers. But Ruben had wanted to receive it even with a shy face, hadn’t he allowed it?
I was only puzzled as to why the children were making such a fuss.
In the meantime, another carriage could be seen approaching from afar. Benjamin led me away, saying that it wasn’t something to talk about standing in the middle of the road, and that we should go inside and talk slowly while having a meal.
As we walked among the tents, I placed my hand over my chest. My heart was beating faster, as if I were intoxicated by something.
I brought up the conversation I had with Rubel when I met him this time on the table.
That I had first decided to offer the bow to Ruben, that Rubel had told me the hidden meaning, that I had still answered that I would offer the game to my lord, and that Ruben had readily agreed and helped me write a letter so that I could prepare my clothes.
Marianne, who had talked about Rubel and me the most, rubbed her chin with a very serious face.
“What is it? Are you really dating?”
“Yes. We didn’t have that kind of conversation… I don’t remember.”
“Um, I’m just asking in case, before…”
Marianne glanced at the other Child. If it was a story that could be told to Marianne, it was okay to bring it up in front of the other comrades. When I nodded as if to allow it, the Child immediately opened her mouth.
“You said that the Second Prince had rejected Mika before.”
“What? When?”
“No, what are you talking about?”
Shayden and Ivan were so surprised that they rattled their chairs. I nodded. I didn’t understand, so I calmly opened my mouth, demanding a detailed explanation of what was going on.
“…After the midterm exams last semester, when I went to see Ruben after a long time. The Child was too… Cute and charming, so I was moved.”
“Euphe.”
“Damian, don’t listen while drinking something.”
“Cough, cough, cough, yes, uh… Yes, so?”
Jenny handed Damian a handkerchief after he spat out what he was drinking. I watched Damian wipe his mouth for a moment.
Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, I took a deep breath and wiped my face a few times with my dry hands before continuing.
“I asked if he had any intention of confessing to me, but he turned pale and trembled.”
“…Wow, crazy, Your Highness? No, yes. I won’t interrupt. Keep talking.”
“He said no.”
“Yes? Why?”
“…Because Ruben was scared?”
“No, why!”
Why are you banging on the table and shouting? I felt even more embarrassed after saying it.
Feeling thirsty for no reason, I gulped down the drink that came with the meal and put down the glass. Shayden, who covered his face with both hands, was more distressed than I was and fidgeted.
“Really, you asked him like that? ‘Do you have any intention of confessing to me?'”
“Yes.”
“Without hearing the answer?”
“I think I knew without hearing it.”
“I… I’m really amazed by you…”
“…Why?”
No one answered me. For a moment, everyone was busy drinking their drinks.
Jenny cautiously asked me.
“No, does it just end with ‘no’? Did you break up right away? While Your Highness was trembling?”
“Ah, not really… I felt sorry for him, so I hugged him to comfort him.”
“…I’m going crazy…”
“…He got better soon, so we watched a play together… Walked around a bit, and then came back.”
“Yes, I see… You had a fulfilling date…”
“What should we do?”
What do you mean, what should we do? Watching the Child make such a fuss, I became anxious, wondering if I had done something wrong to Ruben. I didn’t want to add any more mistakes.
As I fiddled with my empty glass, Ivan refilled it with a drink.
“What went wrong? I heard that there was someone who offered game to their lord seventy years ago, and I don’t understand why it’s wrong for me to offer game to the person who will be my lord.”
“Uh, there was… Seventy years ago… Yes, there was someone around that time.”
“Then why?”
“Because in the seventy years since then, there have been at least a thousand people who have offered game to their lovers… Now, people think that someone who wears gemstone buttons of a different color than their own eyes has a lover.”
Jenny’s voice was drained of strength as she answered. I closed my mouth again.