An Unexpected Date
"..."
Perhaps I might have been wrong.
The princess... well, if anything, she's not bad.
I might have overthought it too much.
After all, she's a princess?
One of the most successful women in the empire.
Precisely, the emperor's wife, but she'll pass away in a few decades, so for now, we can overlook that.
Anyway, the most successful woman.
In a way, she might be the perfect match for Kyle.
"Of course, it doesn't sit well with me."
Her appearance is pretty, and she has money.
"Have I been thinking only the worst about her...?"
After the day's work, sitting alone in my room staring at the ceiling, I realized that's what I had been thinking.
It seemed I had overthought it excessively.
The princess hadn't done anything wrong, so why did I think that way?
After all, Kyle seemed to like her to some extent.
I didn't need to say anything.
"He'll handle it well..."
Kyle is an adult now.
I have no reason to interfere, and he's old enough to decide for himself.
"He'll handle it well..."
He will.
Probably.
*
The next day, Kyle and the princess were inseparable.
Not literally glued together, but not far apart either.
"This tea is made from tea leaves grown in Eristirol. It's not bad."
"Is that so? I'm grateful you say that."
"Hoo hoo..."
After finishing lunch, I took a short walk around and then had tea time.
Looking at it this way, I had no choice but to admit that the two of them looked good together.
If others saw us, they would say we look like a good match.
The princess in her beautiful dress and Kyle in just a shirt looked perfect together.
Beyond saying they looked good, no other words came to mind.
"Sophia?"
"Y-yes."
I was a bit surprised when Kyle suddenly called me.
We had been having tea for 10 minutes, but I hadn't said a word.
"Could you pour a little more tea into Her Highness's cup?"
"...Yes."
I poured tea into the princess's cup as instructed by Kyle.
The princess bowed her head slightly, thanking me for pouring the tea into her cup.
She was beautiful.
"..."
I lowered my head and stepped back.
Seeing Kyle and the princess, I felt something different.
It was Kyle, but not the same as before.
I pondered what was different.
What was it?
Why, how was it different?
"...Ah."
It was a very small sound that wouldn't be heard by them.
But more importantly, I realized what was different about Kyle.
Up until now, there had been many women around Kyle.
There was Catherine from the Oldenburg family, Lily from the White family, Karin from the Belf family.
And Louise and Elin as well.
They had all been close to Kyle for a certain period.
Karin hadn't met him after the party, but anyway.
Anyway, there were many women around Kyle, but he hadn't been close to them.
Even though Louise and Elin had known him for years, there was no physical contact or such laughter and conversation.
It was as if he had a wall with most women?
The feeling was strong.
"Your Highness, you seem to be a very trustworthy person."
"Hoo hoo! Did you think I was too stupid?!"
"I'm sorry."
"Well, I'm enjoying the situation right now too. I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said just now."
But the Kyle now was different from the other women.
A wall?
No such thing.
He was talking very comfortably.
"..."
"Puha ha ha!!!"
"Don't laugh like that. You look weak."
"Kk... But it's all out! How can I not laugh!"
"Try to hold it in."
"..."
The two of them had tea time in an extremely joyful atmosphere.
As a servant, I watched them happily chatting behind Kyle's back as always.
"Master, are you having fun with Her Highness?"
It was evening after dinner, and I went to Kyle's room.
Normally, this would be the time I was lying alone in my room, but today I wasn't.
I had something to say to Kyle.
"Um... I can say I'm having fun. It turns out she's a really good person."
"Is that... so?"
If Kyle thinks that, then she must be a really good person.
Kyle's judgment isn't bad, so it must be true.
"Master, do you have feelings for Her Highness?"
If Kyle had feelings for the princess...
I would cheer and help.
But Kyle said he had someone he liked before...?
I don't know.
Well, maybe he likes the princess now.
"Eh?"
"If you have feelings for Her Highness, it's okay. I can help in some way..."
"None?"
"Eh?"
"I said none. I just want to get close because she's a really good person."
"...Is that so?"
"Yeah."
Is that... the case?
I don't know.
"Maybe I was worried that I might become close to Her Highness?"
"Eh?"
Me?
Worried?
Nonsense.
Whether Kyle and the princess date or not, what is there to worry about?
Rather, if Kyle and the princess date...
"Don't worry. The probability that I become close to Her Highness is zero."
"..."
Kyle said this while looking straight at me.
For some reason, I couldn't look properly at that Kyle.
"Even so, maybe with Her Highness..."
"Really."
"...Yes."
Kyle answered again.
I thought if Kyle is like that, it might not be the case, but on the other hand, maybe he's hiding it because he's embarrassed.
"By the way, why did you come to my room at night to ask that?"
"Yeah."
Kyle covered his mouth for some reason.
"Why?"
"No. I just suddenly became happy."
Happy?
There was nothing happening in the room, so I don't know why it was happy.
The only ones in the room were me and Kyle.
Is it because I was thinking of spending time with the princess tomorrow that it was happy?
"Sophia."
"Yeah."
Kyle calling me.
He looked happy somehow.
I was going to spend time with the princess tomorrow.
"Will you go out with me tomorrow?"
"Eh?"
"We had a promise. To go on a date together."
"..."
I hadn't directly used the word "date" before, but we had made a promise.
Thanks to the person with blonde hair and purple eyes, I couldn't do it.
"So, will you go on a date with me tomorrow?"
"But in the castle, Her Highness..."
"It's okay. Sophia is more important than Her Highness."
*Thud...
Something was wrong.
It was hard to explain, but something was wrong.
"You looked pretty in the clothes then, so it's a waste if you don't go. Let's go together tomorrow."
Kyle, who was sitting on the bed, got up from the bed.
I was a bit surprised because he suddenly stood up, but he didn't show it on his face.
"Maybe you don't want to spend time with me, Sophia?"
"N-no."
Suddenly Kyle grabbed both my hands.
It was warm.
"Then, is it okay if I go on a date with you tomorrow?"
"...Yes."
"Will you go with me?"
"Yeah."
I accepted reflexively.
No, I wasn't doing it because I wanted to go on a date with Kyle specifically, but because the promise I made before was broken and it was uncomfortable.
I had prepared everything and was about to leave when the promise was suddenly broken.
It was just that it was uncomfortable.
"Then, like last time, see you tomorrow morning. Or like last time, shall we sleep together?"
"...I'll see you tomorrow morning."
I said that and left Kyle's room and walked to my room.
*Thud thud...
I felt an extremely strange feeling.
I couldn't exactly explain what the feeling was, but... something was wrong.
Too much.
"Date..."
No, rather than saying "date", I should say we were just going out together.
Kyle had said he had someone he liked.
Yeah, it was just a promise.
A promise to walk around the territory for a while, walk the streets together, enjoy meals, see good scenery places, and if there's something fun, do it together.
But why did it feel so strange.
Did I get arrhythmia?
I hadn't eaten anything wrong lately.
*Thud thud.
For some reason, my heart was beating fast.
It was beating too fast compared to usual, so I had to think it was strange.
"Why am I like this."
I really don't know.
*****
"So?! You're going on a date today?"
"Yeah, that's right."
I was having a light tea time with the princess in the morning and talking.
There was still time until the date with Sophia, and since I told Sophia to rest until the date, there was no problem.
"Kyaa~ It's amazing how the prince has grown like this. This teacher is really moved!"
"Haha..."
"Until recently, the prince who couldn't properly draw any emotions from a woman he had known for years!"
"..."
"Finally!"
There was nothing to say, but I didn't feel bad.
Rather, I could say that the current feeling was good.
"By the way, that servant named Sophia is really cute."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, I glanced at her yesterday and saw that it was all in her expression? Her lips are slightly protruding."
"That's a good part."
Sophia thinks she's hiding it, but it's cute that it's not hidden at all.
I was surprised yesterday too, but how cute it was to pretend not to be surprised.
When I was young, I thought she was incredibly cool, but the more I met her, the cuter she became.
"Ha... I think I understand why popular women are popular."
"Her Highness is also popular, right?"
"That's because she's a princess. If it weren't for the title of princess, she would have less popularity than that servant Sophia? That servant looks popular with women too, just by looking."
The princess was smarter than I thought.
How did she know that?