Faces drifted past the carriage window. Many turned their heads to watch it pass; the rest were too busy with their own business to look at all.
I couldn’t bla those who stared. If I were standing on the street and this carriage thundered past , I’d probably drop whatever I was holding just to gawk.
The thing was absurdly extravagant. Golden trim traced every edge of the carriage, with ornate carvings gleaming with designs of swords and roses. Majestic white horses pulled it forward at an effortless, elegant pace. Royal Knights marched alongside us in perfect formation, armor clinking softly with each step. And flying proudly above it all was the banner of Setus
Clearly, subtlety wasn’t in the royal family’s textbooks.
It was clear that whoever this carriage was carrying was soone of great importance. Soone powerful. Soone influential.
And that soone was .
…Or so I mused.
Sitting across from , legs crossed with elegant ease, one gloved hand propping up her chin, was the actual owner of this carriage. Princess Munith herself.
She wore a smile, a pleasant yet unreadable smile. Her sharp violet eyes studied intensely like an eagle watching its prey.
I, anwhile, sat as stiff as a board before her. Hands tight on my lap. My back completely straight. Every muscle in my body, trained countless tis for etiquette, was yelling at to sit still and not do anything stupid in front of royalty.
So, you might wonder how I got here.
To put it simply, I was invited.
And by invited, I ant the princess had seized by the wrist in the middle of the academy grounds and dragged away with alarming enthusiasm. All the while my fellow students watched in stunned silence, whispering to each other about the absurd scene before them.
For all they knew, the First Prince’s fiancée had suddenly appeared in the academy just to pull a young student into her carriage.
I barely had ti to process what was happening before I was shoved into this carriage, the door slamd shut, and suddenly I was being escorted to who-knows-where under full protection of the Royal Knights.
I sat stiffly, hands clenched in my lap, doing my best to avoid Munith’s gaze. I stared at the well-etched patterns on the wooden seams. The simple yet rare sight of a cup holder right next to my seat. Even the dim Luminite lantern swinging by on top of us, living its best life.
She, on the other hand, made no effort to hide her staring. If she put a little more tension in her eyes, I swore she could burn through .
This atmosphere felt both tense and awkward at the sa ti.
Eventually, Munith shifted, relaxing back into her seat and releasing a soft sigh
Reaching for the cabinet beside her seat, she retrieved a bottle carved from polished wood and poured its contents into two small cups with care for the occasional shake of the carriage. Eventually, both cups were filled, and one was offered to .
I accepted it after hesitating for a mont.
I stared at the clear liquid before , my nervous face reflected back at . I wondered, could this be alcohol?
“Don’t worry, it’s just water,” she answered as if she read my mind. “Please, drink. You look nervous!”
“O-Oh…” I said rather dejectedly.
I raised the cup slowly and took a cautious sip. Indeed, it was just water.
My shoulders relaxed just a little as I lowered the cup.
Munith continued watching as the carriage rolled on, her eyes sparkling with sothing that I could only describe as excitent, like soone who had just found a new toy.
Ever since I told her I was pulled in by her book, her expression had changed. I always thought she was the type to always smile cheerfully to keep the mood up no matter the situation. That was my impression of her at least.
But now? Her smile was anything but cheerful. I would sotis catch a subtle giggle from her as she stared at , which did nothing to ease the tension at all.
I didn’t even know why she was so suddenly interested in . That “pulled in” line was just a random, generic response to keep the conversation flowing. Was she really that desperate for feedback on her book?
I doubted it. Soone with such standing as her could probably scribble gibberish and get perfect scores all across the board.
But I had a feeling whatever this was, this was more than just wanting genuine feedback.
My mind still lingered on her words back at the academy, when she asked both her attendant and I if we could hear her. I had answered without thinking, while Rene had just stared at her, clearly confused, as if the question itself made no sense.
It took a while to realize that, when she spoke, she wasn’t using the common language.
The words she used… The more I think about it, the more they sound familiar… yet so foreign…
Where have I heard those words before?
A sharp, singular clap rang out inside the carriage. I flinched hard enough to nearly drop the cup.
“Alright! Now that we’re relaxed!” Munith declared brightly.
Say that for yourself.
She leaned forward with her hands still clasped together. Her smile turned from playful to polite. “Would you mind answering a couple of questions from , Feyt?”
Not like I could refuse in the first place.
“Y-Yes, that’s fine.”
I braced myself for a question about the book. The plot, the characters, whether I’d liked it so far. I hadn’t even finished reading it yet, so I wasn’t sure if I was ready to answer any of those. I ntally prepared a handful of safe, flattering answers just in case.
But fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, she didn’t ask any of those questions.
“Tell , Feyt,” she said, her voice lowering. “Does the word ‘Aethelos’ an anything to you?”
“...Aethelos?” I repeated, the words felt strange coming out of my mouth.
Munith didn’t respond right away. She only watched , her violet eyes sharp and unblinking.
That’s… certainly a random question.
I searched my mind to see if I rembered anything about that word. Had I heard it before? Read it sowhere? In a lecture, maybe?
But nothing surfaced. A complete foreign word to my ears.
I shook my head reluctantly. “I… don’t think so.”
Munith’s eyes widened, her smile faltering for a mont. “You don’t?”
“Yes… I’ve never heard that word before.”
So what was it, then? A na? A place? Sothing from her book I hadn’t reached yet? The more I thought about it, the less sense her reaction made.
Munith looked away, bringing a hand to her chin as her gaze lowered. Her brows knit together, and for the first ti since I’d t her, she looked genuinely uncertain.
“Strange…” she murmured. “Was it too early to ask?”
She lifted her head again, eyes narrowing. “Are you certain you never heard of it? Even in passing? Perhaps… in a dream?”
“In a dream?” I echoed, my voice more baffled than I intended.
What kind of question was that?
Clearly, this wasn’t about the book anymore. Which, unfortunately, also ant I had absolutely no idea what this conversation was about anymore.
“I-I’m sorry, but I really don’t know anything.“
“I see…” she said, her words trailing off, almost dejected.
For a mont, she didn’t look at . Instead, her gaze rested on thin air. Whatever she was thinking about, she was deep into it.
Then, almost all of a sudden, her shoulders relaxed.
“Hmm. Then let ask you sothing else instead,” she said, tone brightening, more resembling her usual self. “Sothing I was curious about earlier.”
My stomach tightened as I braced myself for another ridiculous question.
“How did you know what I was saying back at the academy?”
My breath stopped.
The tension in the room felt cold and solid. Not even a knife could cut through it.
I knew it. She wasn’t using common language then.
Slowly, I began to piece together the words she had used then, and with certain lines I had heard before.
Lines that I had heard… from spell chantings.
“You seem to understand my question well, even though my attendant didn’t,” she relayed the past. “Tell , do you happen to know the language I used back then?”
“I… uhh…”
My thoughts raced.
I didn’t know the language. I was sure of that. I’d never sat down to study it, never morized its grammar or vocabulary. And yet… I had recognized it. At least enough to understand her question and answer without hesitation.
But I couldn’t just state that outloud. Despite how strange her line of questioning had been, saying “Oh yeah, I never learned it, I just get it!” would be even weirder.
Then, I stumbled upon a perfect excuse.
“Well… perhaps I have… learned it in passing?”
Munith tilted her head. “Did you now?”
I reluctantly nodded. “Y-Yeah. I found a few books about the language in the academy’s library, and I read them from ti to ti… Also, you hear it often in spell chants, right? I recognized a few of the words you said and… pieced things together from there.”
Okay, maybe not a perfect excuse, but it was at least believable with my academic background.
“Hmm,” Munith humd, staring at intently.
A mont of silence passed us by.
The soft rattlings of the carriage wheels. The clinking of the Royal Knights' armor. The occasional neighs of the horses. Those were the only sounds echoing inside the carriage.
I started to worry I’d overplayed it.
Then her eyes lit up.
“I see! It makes perfect sense now!” she said, relief and excitent blooming in her voice instantly.
I leaned back, caught off guard by the sudden shift. “It… does?”
“Of course!” She nodded eagerly. “That’s exactly why you caught my attention in the first place!”
“…Why?” I asked weakly.
Rather than answering, she suddenly leaned forward, reaching for the book resting beside her. The very sa one I had read. She flipped through it with ease before stopping at a random page and thrusting it toward .
“Look here!”
The sentence she pointed to was written in common letters, yet the words ford by them made no sense.
“You see?” Munith said brightly, leaning back and placing the open book on her lap. “That’s just one of them!”
“One of them?”
“The snippets!” she said proudly. “You see, I slip in a few sentences from foreign languages I’ve been studying for fun, and when I learned that you were reading my story, I just had to test you!”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I settled for an awkward nod.
“And then,” she continued, clearly enjoying herself, “when you understood at the academy? I feel like I’d finally found soone who shared my interests!”
“Interests in… languages?”
"Cultures, silly! But languages is part of that, so yes!" She nodded eagerly. “It’s a rather niche hobby, isn’t it? I understand why you might hesitate to talk about it,” she said softly. “But no worries! Let’s keep this little hobby between us, alright?” She gave a playful wink.
“R-Right…”
As we spoke, the carriage began to slow down.
Outside, the familiar view of the academy slowly ca.
Did we just circle around?
She smiled softly, waving her hand. “Ah! Do forgive for dragging you off so suddenly. I realize now that must have been quite sudden.”
That’s putting it mildly, don’t you think, Your Highness?
“But I’m very glad I did,” she continued. “It’s not often I et soone who shares my interests. I’d love to speak with you again—about my books, languages, anything, really!”
Before I could even begin to respond, she reached out and took my hand; her hold was as soft and firm as it was the first ti.
“Feyt,” she said, her eyes sparkling bright. “Let’s be friends!”
My mind blanked.
“F-Friends?!”
She nodded proudly. “Yes, of course! What else could I an?”
The carriage ca to a smooth halt.
The door opened, and Rene stood outside, their expression thoroughly unamused as they gestured for to step down.
I slowly straightened myself and began heading out. But before I did, Munith tugged lightly at my sleeve.
“Wait, before you go!”
She released my arm and produced another book from her bag, pressing it into my hands.
“Here you go! Volu 2 of A Quiet Love, for you!”
There’s a second volu already?!
“Of course, you’re free to keep the first one as well,” she added cheerfully. “Just be sure to ask Carine for permission, since it was a gift for her. Think of this as a symbol of our friendship!”
“A-Ah… of course,” I said, bowing slightly. “It’s my pleasure… Your Highness.”
With two books clutched to my chest, I stepped out of the carriage.
As my feet touched the ground, I turned back just in ti to see Munith waving enthusiastically from inside.
“I’ll be seeing you again, Feyt!” she said cheerfully. “Very soon, I hope!”
Before I could respond, Rene passed by, staring at for a mont with a slight glare before they stepped inside and shut the door. The carriage rumbled to life, the Royal Knights falling into formation as it pulled away.
I was left standing there in front of the academy gates, wondering how I’d gone from a student reading a book to a personal friend of a princess in the span of a single carriage ride.
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