“Looking at you, I find…”
He trailed off, turning his gaze diagonally down toward me. For no reason I could name, I swallowed nervously.
“…Looking at me?”
“Looking at you.”
Whether it was deliberate or not, Axel paused mid-sentence and said nothing more — just tapped his fingers against his arm idly.
Just as my patience was reaching its absolute limit, a faint smile crossed his lips and he gave a brief answer.
“Amusing.”
The answer that arrived after all that waiting was devastatingly concise. And it threw me completely.
The tense, expectant eyes watching Axel went suddenly wide.
Amusing? What was amusing?
Was he saying I looked funny? Was I funny-looking?
This had to be a joke.
I was about to tell him to stop joking — and then I watched him give a perfectly composed, earnest nod.
“No matter how I think about it, there’s no better word for you.”
No better word.
I stared at him, speechless for a moment, before launching into rebuttal.
“…I mean — Your Highness, how is it possible that instead of cute or beautiful, the answer that comes back is amusing? I have never once tried to be funny around you! And in what way am I amusing, exactly?”
The words came tumbling out in a slightly agitated rush.
No response followed. Instead, a burst of laughter — pfft — filled the air.
He laughed again—?
It wasn’t the kind of forced laugh someone produces to tease. Axel was genuinely, visibly entertained, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
“See. Everything you do is making me laugh right now.”
I had noticed recently that Axel’s expression seemed to carry more warmth and amusement than it used to. I had attributed it simply to our growing closeness — that he was more comfortable showing that side of himself.
But that hadn’t been it.
I had just been his personal source of comedic entertainment all along…? Not laughing in the good sense, but in the laughing-at-me sense?
This couldn’t be.
I stood there stunned and speechless, and from beside me, Axel’s voice continued.
“In the beginning, I wasn’t thinking much about it, but every time you did something completely contrary to my expectations, I found myself genuinely taken aback — and it made me laugh. And these days, whatever you do, I simply find it entertaining. I find myself wondering what on earth you’re going to do next.”
With every word he said, my expression darkened another degree.
“So — was that a sufficient answer to your question?”
Axel had left me thoroughly unsettled, and was now watching me with an entirely serene face. I looked up, something sharp rising in me.
“No, it wasn’t!”
“Why? I gave you a full answer.”
“You asked how I appear to you, and the answer that came back was amusing — why on earth would I be pleased by that? Your Highness!”
When I said it with a bit of heat, Axel tilted his head to the side as though genuinely unable to see the problem.
“I didn’t mean it negatively. If it was unpleasant, I apologize.”
“You call me amusing and then tell me it wasn’t meant negatively? I don’t believe you.”
I studied him with narrowed, skeptical eyes.
“I mean it. Why do you assume I’m lying?”
“Because amusing simply cannot sound like a compliment. Especially coming from someone you like.”
“Ah.” A sound of genuine comprehension. “I see how that could be interpreted that way. But I truly meant it positively. Tell me — have you ever seen me laugh like this when I’m with anyone else?”
Have I ever seen Axel laugh when he was with others?
Of course—
“…I haven’t, have I?”
As I traced back through my memories, the answer came surprisingly quickly. Outside of our conversations, he was almost always expressionless.
“Making someone laugh tends to lean toward the positive rather than the negative, wouldn’t you say? So now — do you still think it was a lie?”
In a single sentence, the heaviness that had been sitting on me all this time simply lifted.
His words felt like he was saying you are the only person who makes me laugh.
“No. I believe you now. Which means — I’m the only person who can make you laugh. Right?”
I had returned to my usual self in an instant — eyes curving playfully, smile back in place as I pointed at him. Looking at me, Axel smiled in return and answered:
“Could be.”
Short, simple, and then he turned away from me and picked up his folder of documents.
I blinked and caught up a beat later.
“What did you say just now?”
“What did I say?”
“You just said could be!”
“I don’t recall saying that.”
Axel lied with the most shameless face I had ever seen.
“I’m sorry, Lady Melberine, but I’m afraid I have to be going. A meeting is coming up. I would have liked more time to talk, but it seems we’re out of it.”
He gestured toward the clock.
I had wondered if this was an excuse to escape — but the hour had genuinely crept up on us, and the meeting time was approaching.
I fell into step beside him and made sure to issue a warning.
“We’re continuing this conversation when you get back, Your Highness. You’ll need to have remembered it by then. Understood?”
“Hmm. I’m not known for my memory. Whether I’ll manage it — I’m not sure.”
“Are you going to keep doing this?”
“I’ll try my best.”
We walked together in that familiar, bickering way, until I noticed we were not heading toward the meeting room at all.
“Your Highness — the meeting room is in the other direction. I think we’ve taken a wrong turn.”
“No, this way is right.”
“This is right? Isn’t this toward the main gate?”
What does that mean? The meeting room is in the complete opposite direction.
And then, as if in answer, a carriage drew up beside us.
Axel offered me his hand and glanced briefly at the carriage.
“Today looks like it’ll run late. Don’t wait for me — go on ahead, Lady Melberine.”
“…You were escorting me out? You didn’t have to — Your Highness, don’t you need to get to your meeting? I think you might be late.”
“It’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”
He had, from the beginning, brought me toward the main gate to see me off.
Feeling a sudden rush of guilt, I quickly took his hand and stepped into the carriage. I let a teasing note into my voice.
“You’re not just trying to get me out before I corner you again, are you?”
“Well — to some extent? I won’t deny it.”
That sent both of us laughing at once.
“You’ll have to brace yourself next time.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“Go on, Your Highness.”
“Take care getting home.”
A short exchange, and then the carriage began to move.
I watched Axel growing smaller through the window and turned away.
When Shuian and Xenon had been telling me about the princess, my mood had soured considerably. But the moment I saw Axel, that feeling had dissolved like snow.
The worry and the gloom were entirely gone — replaced by something soft and warm, filling all the space they had left behind.
I gave a bright, decisive nod.
Right. It’s probably pointless to worry. He said there was nothing between him and the princess.
I was overthinking it.
It was only three weeks. The time the kingdom’s delegation would spend in the empire.
And I had been with Axel for far longer than three weeks.
Nothing genuinely significant could change in three weeks.
I told myself so and made my way home.
Time passed quickly, and the day the delegations were set to arrive drew near.
A week of formal reception begins today.
Starting today, the delegations from various countries would begin arriving at the palace. The princess would be among them.
I sat in the carriage and steadied my rapidly beating heart.
Why am I this nervous? There’s no guarantee I’ll even see her today.
I shifted restlessly, unable to stay still.
Part of it was a piece of information I had stumbled across that very morning — unexpected and impossible to ignore.
Of all things — the last day of our contract falls exactly on the final night of the reception banquet.
