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 blame those who stared. If I were standing on the street and this carriage thundered past me, 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 someone of great importance. Someone powerful. Someone influential.

And that someone was me.

…Or so I mused. 

Sitting across from me, 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 me intensely like an eagle watching its prey.

I, meanwhile, sat as stiff as a board before her. Hands tight on my lap. My back completely straight. Every muscle in my body, trained countless times for etiquette, was yelling at me 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 meant the princess had seized me by the wrist in the middle of the academy grounds and dragged me 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 time to process what was happening before I was shoved into this carriage, the door slammed 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 me.

This atmosphere felt both tense and awkward at the same time.

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 me.

I accepted it after hesitating for a moment.

I stared at the clear liquid before me, my nervous face reflected back at me. 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 me as the carriage rolled on, her eyes sparkling with something that I could only describe as excitement, like someone 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 sometimes catch a subtle giggle from her as she stared at me, which did nothing to ease the tension at all.

I didn’t even know why she was so suddenly interested in me. 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. Someone 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 me 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 me, 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 mentally prepared a handful of safe, flattering answers just in case.

But fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, she didn’t ask any of those questions.

“Tell me, Feyt,” she said, her voice lowering. “Does the word ‘Aethelos’ mean anything to you?”

“…Aethelos?” I repeated, the words felt strange coming out of my mouth.

Munith didn’t respond right away. She only watched me, her violet eyes sharp and unblinking. 

That’s… certainly a random question.

I searched my mind to see if I remembered anything about that word. Had I heard it before? Read it somewhere? 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 moment. “You don’t?”

“Yes… I’ve never heard that word before.”

So what was it, then? A name? A place? Something 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 time since I’d met 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 meant 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 moment, she didn’t look at me. 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 me ask you something else instead,” she said, tone brightening, more resembling her usual self. “Something 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 me, 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 memorized 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 time to time… 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 hummed, staring at me intently.

A moment 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 excitement 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 same one I had read. She flipped through it with ease before stopping at a random page and thrusting it toward me.

“Look here!”

The sentence she pointed to was written in common letters, yet the words formed 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 me at the academy? I feel like I’d finally found someone 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 me a playful wink.

“R-Right…”

As we spoke, the carriage began to slow down.

Outside, the familiar view of the academy slowly came.

Did we just circle around?

She smiled softly, waving her hand. “Ah! Do forgive me 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 meet someone 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 time.

“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 mean?”

The carriage came to a smooth halt.

The door opened, and Rene stood outside, their expression thoroughly unamused as they gestured for me 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! Volume 2 of A Quiet Love, for you!”

There’s a second volume 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 time 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 me by, staring at me for a moment 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.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep