I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me.

[ED Note: Starting this chapter, we’re preserving honorifics. Also, I realized the wonders of using italics for internal dialogue. To be honest, I should’ve been doing both from the start. Anyways, one of these days I’ll go back and edit the previous chapters to match (and maybe edit them more in general).]

“You see it too, right?”

I was on lunch break, the day after meeting the daughter of the Duke of Auguste. As usual, I was eating in the courtyard with Elt-san, who had nudged me with a rather pale face. He looked like a mouse who had come across a starving feline.

Speaking of food, the marron cake from the other day was incredibly delicious. I had to settle for berry cake, but I was able to get a bite of Elt-san’s. In direct contrast, Arina-san had memorably declared that she would never share hers.

“I see it, indeed.”

I answered my coworker’s question while keeping my line of sight as inconspicuous as possible.

I didn’t know if my face was as pale as his, but I felt strangely chilly. But when my hand brushed the sword at my side, I began to calm down, and my heart rate gradually normalized.

I turned to Elt-san.

“She… Uh, why are you looking at me?”

“It has to be your fault somehow. She can’t see me at this angle.”

“Hey, I don’t know. Maybe she’s a big fan of yours and just wanted to see you in person.”

“I doubt it. I’ve seen her many times before, and she’s never approached me. I mean—”

He glanced at the tree in the corner of the garden and muttered fearfully.

“Princess, could you really be staring at me?”

I looked in the same direction: at her.

A familiar girl with silver hair was staring at me.

Not just any girl, but Her Highness. Moreover, she seemed to be looking in my direction as opposed to Elt-san’s… Oh, our eyes met. At that moment, she pouted. She’s adorable.

“Did you provoke her somehow?”

“I don’t remember. We almost never talk… no, that’s not right. We did once, late at night.”

“So if you did offend her, it must have been then? You should apologize as soon as possible. Cut your stomach while you’re ahead.”

“I’d rather not. I can’t apologize if I don’t know what to apologize for! And in the first place, we still don’t know if she’s actually mad at me…”

My speech faltered.

As I peered at Her Highness, I noticed she had some sort of paper. She wrote something down, carefully reread it, and folded it and tossed it in my direction.

I sensed magic on the paper, so I cast a spell to create a breeze, gently directing the paper in a parabola straight into my hands.

“What?”

“A letter from Her Highness? What did she write?”

I unfolded the paper in confusion and tensed up at its contents. Likewise, Elt-san’s body stiffened, and he turned his face towards mine awkwardly.

[Please come here at a different time.]

I looked up to see the sender smiling at me.

I, however, was panicking.

“It was nice knowing you.”

Elt-san put his hand on my shoulder and tried to console me.

Wait, I’m not dead yet, and I’m not going to die for a while. So stop treating me like it’s the end!

More so than my actual work, this lunch break turned out to be today’s most tiring experience…

***

Time passed, as it always does, and soon it was midnight. The moon had risen to its highest point.

I anxiously arrived at the fountain in the courtyard.

What the hell is this all about? What does she need from me?

Earlier today, I was so nervous that I couldn’t concentrate on my job.

I really didn’t know. I’d only ever spoken to Her Highness that one night, and I was sure I hadn’t messed up anywhere else. So then why had there been such a displeased look on her face?

“Sorry, I made you wait.”

While I was staring at the moon, a figure approached me without notice and spoke. Of course, it was the princess. Unlike before, she was wearing a cardigan more suitable for outdoor weather.

I feared that my anxiety would reveal itself in my voice if I responded.

“I’m sorry. I was late, even though I called you here.”

Her Highness repeated her apology.

“No, it’s fine.”

We moved towards the bench and sat side by side.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air between us. I didn’t know why Her Highness wasn’t speaking. To be fair, I didn’t know what to say myself. I rarely ever dealt with women who were in a bad mood, and somehow her silence made the situation even worse.

What should I do… Maybe I just don’t understand the delicate feminine spirit.

“Yesterday…”

Her Highness suddenly opened her mouth.

“…Yesterday, I received a letter from Lena.”

“Lena…?”

“Yes, she is the eldest daughter of the Duke of Auguste.”

“Ahh…”

The name had slipped my mind, but I remembered now. Just the other day, she had been obsessing over a marron cake to the point of having tears in her eyes. Now that I thought about it, that was a pretty impressive encounter. Just remembering the expression on her face made me stifle a laugh.

Wait, so this letter arrived on the same day it was sent… Is this the swiftness of aristocrat mail?

“She said in the letter that she met you… and had a good time.”

“Yes, I met Lena-san the other day. We had tea at the cafe.”

“Lena… Really?”

Her pout was even stronger than before. Did I mess up again?

“Did you have a good time?”

“What? No, uh, I was more surprised than anything else… Well, it was fun in its own way, I guess.”

“…Hmph.”

“Um… Is something the matter?”

Her Highness’s mood seemed to worsen the more I talked. My anxiety was building by the second. I had to do something… but I didn’t know what.

“Ah… are you and Lena-san… not on good terms?”

“That’s not the case. It’s just that…”

“…?”

The princess sat there, fidgeting with her index fingers. She tilted her head, parted her lips, and softly murmured a single word.

“Richena.”

“What?”

“Well… I want you to call me by my name, too.”

“—”

Her Highness blushed and looked away shyly. I think I just fell in love a little.

To call her by her name… her name… it was hard to say.

“Ah… well, you don’t think that would be troublesome?”

“No, why should it?”

“No, do you mean—um, how do I say it?”

“…”

Silent pressure. This was what they called an unstoppable force, right? No matter how hard I struggled, it was clear that she wouldn’t let me go until I called her name. She was holding my arm at this very moment. I cursed my face for blushing uncontrollably. A sensational softness was assaulting my elbow.

Ahh, there’s no point thinking about it. I just need to make a decision!

“Hey… do you think you could let me go? …Richena-san.”

“Once more.”

“Richena-san.”

“One last time.”

“Richena-san.”

I don’t normally get nervous calling a girl by her name, but this… was something of an exception.

Her Highness—or rather, Richena-san— stood up with a mixture of embarrassment and joy, and bowed to me with a smile.

“Well, it’s getting late, so I will go back now. I’m sorry for asking you to meet at this unreasonable time…”

“That’s all right. Richena-san, it will be cold tonight, so please stay warm and rest—oh, excuse me.”

“What?”

I stood and reached out towards her. Her body trembled as my hand brushed her glowing silver hair.