I had been the one speaking, but Axel had not spared me a single glance. He gave the cold command directly to Xenon and Shuian.
On that order, they moved instantly — and in moments, the office had emptied around me, leaving me alone.
Blinking at the door through which they had vanished, I called after them in bewilderment.
“What is this… what is going on with everyone…!”
At least tell me why!
I waited in the empty room for them to return, but hours passed without a sign of any of them.
It felt, quite precisely, like being excluded.
As far as I knew, there was no long meeting or extended absence scheduled for today. So where had they all gone, and why — abandoning a perfectly functioning office to avoid me?
I stuck my lip out.
Even so, did they really have to go to quite these lengths just to shut me out?
My posture, which had been upright at first, slowly began to list sideways. There seemed to be no telling when they’d come back — I might as well sit comfortably.
I started taking out my photo cards, one by one — the collection I had built up over time. There was nothing else to do, and looking at them was the only way I was going to survive the wait.
Come to think of it, I haven’t taken a single photo today…
I had gone to all the trouble of obtaining a moving-image camera, and today I hadn’t even had a chance to take it out. The atmosphere had been far too volatile to dare point a camera at anyone.
I turned the camera over idly in my hands.
“I just want this misunderstanding cleared up already.”
The look in Axel’s eyes as he’d watched me earlier was still vivid in my mind. Even knowing it was a misunderstanding, that cold, distant gaze was something I found nearly impossible to endure.
Sitting alone in this large, empty room, uncharacteristic gloom began to seep in around the edges of my thoughts.
Where did my tsundere who would pretend not to care but listen to everything I said go…
He wouldn’t even look at me today. We hadn’t made eye contact once.
I kept sighing heavily, and eventually slumped face-down onto the desk.
When Axel gets back, I’ll make sure to talk to him. Whatever happens, I’m resolving this today.
I’d decided it firmly — nothing was going to stop me.
Lying on the desk seemed to make my eyes grow heavier. Tiredness was finally catching up with me, and my eyelids, suddenly leaden, closed completely.
Just a moment, I thought. Just let my eyes rest…
Just for a brief moment.
I woke with a sudden start, eyes flying open.
I had only meant to close them for an instant — but somehow, I felt entirely refreshed.
And there was a cool sensation running down my spine.
What time is it? Has too much time passed?
I lifted my head hastily and looked at the wall clock.
It was two hours past when I’d last checked. Telling myself that was not too bad — not too much time lost — I let out a quiet breath and turned to look at the room.
…Still not back?
The office looked exactly as it had before I’d fallen asleep.
I was beginning to feel deflated — and then I felt it. Something sliding gently from my shoulder.
It was Axel’s jacket.
He must have come in while I was sleeping. He had come back, found me cold, and draped his jacket over me before leaving again. The disappointment that had been brimming a moment ago softened into something warm and rounded.
Of course. Even if he was angry, Axel was still Axel. His tsundere tendencies hadn’t gone anywhere.
The scent from the jacket drifted up to me — a clean, familiar fragrance I had missed without realizing it. I pressed my face to the fabric and breathed it in before suddenly getting to my feet.
Closing hours were approaching, and there was still no sign of him anywhere.
Where did he go after leaving me his jacket?
If I waited any longer, I might not see him at all today. That thought was what made me step out of the office to go find him.
The moment I opened the door, I collided with someone directly on the other side.
“Oh—”
I looked up.
My eyes went round.
The instant he saw me, Axel’s brow furrowed sharply — the expression of someone confronted by something deeply unwelcome. He turned to walk away again.
I caught him before he could.
This was the moment. This was my chance to speak to him honestly, and I was not going to waste it.
“Just a moment, please, Your Highness!”
A reply came back, cold enough to bring winter into the hall. Even so, the fact that he responded at all — that was something.
I spoke to him carefully.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Your Highness.”
“What, exactly, is a misunderstanding?”
“Everything you’re currently thinking! I can explain all of it. Your Highness — could you please give me just one chance?”
I folded my hands together and looked at him. I kept my eyes earnest, honest, pleading — and watched as the resolution in those dark eyes shifted, almost imperceptibly, almost against his will.
I didn’t let the moment pass. I moved forward, my hand closing around his arm.
“Please… I won’t take much of your time. Your Highness, I can’t leave things the way they are. This is too unfair.”
A long, slow exhale. Axel dragged a hand across his face. Then his eyes settled on mine with something close to resignation.
And quietly, he said:
“Follow me.”
I fell into step behind him.
Neither of us spoke as we walked.
The corridors were mostly clear at this hour — the day drawing to a close, fewer people passing through. Outside, the sky had deepened, and a red dusk was beginning to spread across it slowly.
The red light that fell across Axel unsettled me in a way I couldn’t name. As though something was about to go wrong.
A faint shiver moved through me. I rubbed my arms.
No. Nothing’s wrong. This was all a misunderstanding. I could explain it. Everything would work out — it had to. The unease was nothing.
I was telling myself that, quietly walking, when Axel suddenly stopped ahead of me and turned around.
“…Are you cold?”
Hm?
Through the slight furrow of his brow, something that looked almost like concern showed through.
That single question — are you cold — was somehow enough to dissolve the anxious feeling that had been wrapping around me. I smiled, eyes curving, and walked quickly to his side.
“No, I’m fine. And if I were cold—” I lifted the jacket he had given me and gave it a small wave— “I have this, don’t I?”
He looked at me for a moment, said nothing, and turned his head away.
I watched the back of his head and swallowed a smile.
See. The feeling was just nerves. Everything will be fine.
A quieter, lighter feeling settled in me.
Where is he taking us, I wonder.
He was moving without hesitation — somewhere specific already in mind.
I was following behind, wondering whether the office might not have been a better place for this kind of conversation, when the path and garden around us began to look familiar.
I couldn’t help the small sound that escaped.
Because even though we had come from a different direction — this was the same garden where I had met the Crown Prince that morning.
More precisely, it was the pond adjacent to it. I remembered it clearly — the water had been exceptionally clear, the pond unusually wide.
“—”
As though responding to the sound I’d made, Axel stopped. He turned and looked at me.
“It seems you know where this is, Lady Melberine?”
“Yes, this is the palace where Your Highness lived as a child—”
I was answering on instinct before I realized it — and clapped my hand over my mouth. Axel’s mouth curved in a way that had nothing of warmth in it.
“And who told you that?”
