Chapter 42
‘If only he weren’t the Crown Prince.’
Of all people, why did the one with the highest match rate with her have to be the Crown Prince… If another Transcendent had acted like this, she could have simply ignored him and tried meeting the one with the next highest match rate instead.
But Ephinia didn’t even have a choice. No one had asked whether she wanted to become the Crown Prince’s Guide, nor had anyone offered. Simply because of the match rate alone, everyone acted as if it were only natural for her to guide him.
“Will you be returning?”
When she stepped out to the entrance of the Crown Prince’s Palace, Meredith greeted her brightly.
Since Ephinia had agreed to have dinner with the Crown Prince, a message had been sent so that Meredith and the other guard knights would dine separately.
The palace steward would have taken care of that on his own. Looking after even the attendants of visiting guests was part of his duties.
“Um… His Highness said he would escort me.”
“Then you will be using an imperial carriage. We will follow behind.”
Meredith responded as if that was only proper. Ephinia was reminded again that she was a noble of the imperial faction.
The Crown Prince’s carriage was already waiting in front of the palace. As if intending to escort her, Kasselard stepped forward and held out his hand. Ephinia looked displeased.
‘Well, we’ll end up holding hands countless times anyway.’
They had already gone far beyond that, and there was a high chance there would be even more in the future. Whatever he was like inside, at least his appearance was excellent. Thinking she might as well take comfort in that, Ephinia took Kasselard’s hand and climbed into the carriage.
Once she had seated herself, Kasselard quickly climbed in after her. When he naturally took the seat beside her, Ephinia was momentarily flustered.
“Why are you sitting there?”
There’s a seat across from me.
At her wide-eyed question, Kasselard realized his mistake. He should be keeping his distance from her, yet whenever he came to his senses, he kept finding himself trying to get closer unintentionally.
It was the same now. On the way to the Lanas residence, her own guard knights would have been more than sufficient for protection, yet he had insisted on escorting her.
All of it was to delay the moment he had to part with Ephinia.
‘Damn it!’
Realizing that, Kasselard’s face flushed red. He grabbed his own head, but even then he didn’t move away from the seat beside her.
“…Go.”
When he gave the order to the driver, a servant quickly shut the carriage door and stepped back. The carriage began to move slowly. Ephinia shot him a glance, then stood up, intending to move to the opposite seat. The carriage swayed, and she lost her balance.
“Ah?!”
Why would the Crown Prince’s carriage, which was surely the finest in the capital, shake at a time like this! Before she could even feel wronged, Ephinia stumbled badly and nearly slammed her face into the carriage seat.
“What are you doing?”
With an exasperated expression, Kasselard caught her by the waist and pulled her down beside him. The sudden motion left her momentarily speechless.
“Are you alright?”
In a somewhat softened voice, Kasselard checked her condition. When she failed to answer, he stood up as if to open the small window that connected to the driver’s seat.
“Why are you doing that?”
“The carriage shook badly. You almost got hurt.”
Naturally, that would be something to scold the driver for. But Ephinia assumed the carriage had simply rolled over a large stone. That was not something the driver could control.
“I’m fine, so please don’t scold him. Your Highness helped me.”
“……”
At her words, Kasselard looked at her with a strange expression. She quickly understood the meaning and spoke again.
“Earlier… thank you for helping me.”
“Hmph.”
Kasselard glanced at her sullenly and turned his head away. Ephinia felt relieved that she hadn’t slammed her face into the seat. The part meant for sitting had cushioning, but if she had hit her face elsewhere, her nose might have broken.
‘This carriage is so spacious that it has its downsides too.’
Meanwhile, Kasselard had felt a chill run through his chest. A Transcendent could slam their head into a wall without even getting a scratch, but Guides were different. Humans could die very easily.
From that position, she would have hit her face, and if the angle had been bad, she might have seriously injured her head. It hadn’t even been right when the carriage started moving, but afterward, it could be called bad luck…
‘I can’t exactly hold her the whole time.’
If she allowed it, he truly wanted to. Yet at the same time, a part of him wondered why he should feel that way about a woman like her.
‘Why? Because I want to.’
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