I had expected a reply immediately, but Axel said nothing — he simply stood there looking at me.
His expression seemed to have gone slightly rigid.
“…Oh.”
I tilted my head and called to him again. Only then did he react. I took a step toward him.
“You’re not feeling unwell, are you?”
That would be a disaster.
I reached out to check on him — and he gave a small flinch and stepped back.
Hm? Is he actually unwell?
There did seem to be something flushed about his face, in a way that wasn’t normal.
Given that health came before everything else, I began to worry. An event like this would mean nothing if he wasn’t feeling well.
I was seriously considering canceling the entire day’s schedule when Axel finally spoke.
“…It’s not that. I’m not unwell, so you needn’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Would I lie to you about something like that?”
I looked up at him again. He did look perfectly fine — as though that odd reaction a moment ago had never happened.
If anything, Axel was the one urging me to move.
“Shouldn’t we be getting on? Is there time for this?”
Yes, but…
While I hesitated, Axel glanced at me and moved to get into the carriage on his own.
Oh — wait, that’s not right—
I scrambled to block his path. He looked at me as though wondering what I was doing.
My plan had always started with escorting him into the carriage myself. If I wanted the rest of the day to go as planned, I couldn’t let him go ahead on his own.
The hesitation was over. I positioned myself in front of him and, with an exaggerated flourish, held out my hand.
“Please take my hand and step up, Your Highness.”
He regarded me with something that was almost exasperation, and then let out a short laugh.
“Is this how it’s done?”
And with that, he took my hand — and used it to pull me up first, which sent me lurching sideways as I stumbled into the carriage ahead of him.
“Oh — that’s not how it was supposed to go.”
My perfect escort moment…
Whatever I thought about it, Axel climbed in after me and settled across from me, watching.
Looking at me as I pouted slightly, he asked:
“Was this what you spent all that time preparing?”
“That was only a tiny portion of the preparations. Even if it was ruined by a certain someone.”
At my prim reply, he smothered a smile.
“I’m starting to feel genuinely curious about what you’ve planned.”
“Don’t be too surprised, Your Highness. Whatever you’re imagining — it will exceed it.”
Even if the escort had been a failure, the rest of the day was going to be a success. I would absolutely knock him off his feet.
I squeezed both hands into fists and relit the flame of determination.
The carriage came to a stop in front of a restaurant.
We had been about to go inside when Axel stopped, his gaze catching on something. I watched his eyes dart back and forth, the movement unusual enough to be startling.
“…What on earth is that?”
He asked it in a voice that carried rare bewilderment, blinking repeatedly as though he couldn’t quite trust his own eyes. I smiled cheerfully.
“That’s you, Your Highness.”
“I know that. I’m asking why my image is being displayed on those carriages.”
Where Axel was pointing, a procession of public carriages was moving down the street — each one bearing his photograph, alongside text wishing him a happy birthday.
See, the effort was worth it. The actual photos could never do him justice in person, but I was still satisfied.
I looked at it all with quiet pride.
“But you did give me permission, Your Highness.”
“…I did? When, exactly?”
Even though this looked rather striking, it had all been done with proper authorization.
“Before, in your office — when I asked if I could use your photographs elsewhere, you said yes.”
I hadn’t exactly specified this particular use, of course.
But the permission had been obtained.
Something in Axel’s expression shifted as the memory reached him. He looked like a man who had just realized he’d been conned.
Before he could say anything, I got ahead of him — lowering my eyes and fluttering them once with studied delicacy.
I had noticed that this particular performance tended to work unusually well on Axel, and I had been putting it to use accordingly.
“I only wanted to let everyone celebrate your birthday together… If it truly displeases you, Your Highness — if I’ve made you upset—”
“Ha… and when exactly did I say I was upset.”
Axel pressed a hand to his eyes and exhaled.
That sigh was a signal. It meant the battle was essentially over.
Sensing the shift, I dropped the glistening expression without ceremony and beamed up at him.
“Then there’s no problem, right? Come on, let’s go inside, Your Highness!”
I took his hand and drew him toward the restaurant. He paused for just a moment, then let himself be led.
The restaurant I had booked was the most famous in the capital, known above all else for its extraordinary cuisine.
And, crucially — its view.
A private table, with a window that framed the clock tower in the central plaza in perfect, unobstructed view.
And on that clock tower…
Following the restaurant manager’s lead, we made our way to our seats. There, too, Axel stopped — and then gave the same familiar exhale.
“…And what is that?”
On all four sides of the clock tower, enormous advertisement boards bearing Axel’s face had been mounted. Those had taken considerable effort, and more than a little assistance from the Crown Prince, to arrange.
Looking at them again, I was entirely satisfied.
“It’s my devotion to you, prepared with great care, Your Highness!”
In sharp contrast, Axel sat down and dragged a hand across his face with an expression of quiet devastation.
“I take back what I said earlier about being curious. At this point I’m alarmed. I’m asking this out of genuine concern — there isn’t more, is there?”
He looked at me with eyes full of dread. I said nothing, looking elsewhere.
He pressed for an answer.
“Why aren’t you responding.”
“There is more. But nothing that will surprise you more than what you’ve already seen.”
“Is that a promise?”
The skepticism in his gaze was absolute.
“Well… probably…?”
The vague answer made his expression crumple.
I trailed the sentence out a little longer, and then smoothed it over with a bright smile.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable meal, and our next destination was—
The birthday café I had prepared.
Inside the café, it was packed. The crowd spilled out the door and down the street, where people were waiting in a queue.
A birthday café was usually attended by the subject’s fans — which had presented me with a particular challenge when I was putting this together.
In this world, the only fan Axel had was me.
Rather than fans being drawn to him, most people were afraid of the man who had been through countless battlefields. Opening a birthday café for someone like that would have resulted in no visitors at all.
So I had reconsidered.
The café needed to be adapted to fit Axel’s circumstances. Something that made him feel accessible — approachable, even.
Rather than decorating with photographs, I had turned each café into something closer to a small museum — showcasing his achievements, the accomplishments that shone more brightly than anyone else’s.
And all the menus were offered free of charge, with the layout arranged so that anyone who visited had to pass through the exhibition to reach their seat.
During a previous conversation, Bjorn had told me.
After Axel’s parents died in an accident, he had spent every birthday since then alone, without so much as a word of celebration from anyone.
Even after he had fled to the battlefields, no one had come to stand beside him. Only misunderstandings and rumors circled him from a distance.
So this time — for as long as I was by his side — I wanted to celebrate him properly.
I wanted to correct the misunderstandings that surrounded him, and let him know that there were this many people here, genuinely and sincerely wishing him well.
