It had been around a few months since Lysette's birthday, and things had mostly returned to the usual routine. The main difference was that Nanako now had to contend with practicing her magic with Lysette, whenever she visited the estate, atop her usual routine in the maintenance of the manor.
As for Lysette, ever since receiving the special gift from Edward, her more serious and strict act had seemingly disappeared, as now she always showed a happy and bright smile, which only got even brighter whenever she looked at the ring gifted to her by Edward on her left ring finger.
However… There was now another change, which was very problematic for Edward, one that was enough to make him wanna puke from stress, and that was also very frightening for Nanako… And that was the fact that the crown prince was currently uninvitedly sitting in front of Edward with only a table standing between them.
Edward could only remain silent, as he did his best to hide his stress and anxiety combo-induced stomachache, while at the same time, he had to put his mind into overdrive to think of a way out of his situation as a horrible headache assaulted him.
"So…"
"!"
Then the prince began speaking, which startled Edward as he was too busy with other things.
"Where is Nanako-san?"
"…"
Hearing his question, Edward remained silent, confused, and unwilling to talk about Nanako to someone else who wanted her. As for why, Ludovic was asking such a question, that was simply because Edward correctly guessed that the prince had only come to his family manor to see Nanako, so he asked her to remain at the dormitory away from the sight of the crown prince.
As for the one who was serving tea to him and Ludovic, it was none other than Camilla, as she professionally maintained a business smile and showed no signs of worry or nervousness. A stark contrast to Edward who was already feeling on his wits ends.
"Sir Edward, I made you a question. Are you not going to answer it?"
"…"
"…"
This time it was the prince who remained quiet at Edward's answer while keeping his eyes closed, as he sipped his tea, when he put the cup down, he looked at Edward.
"You are lying, I had agents to be on the lookout at the city, and they have yet to report to me about her presence outside of the manor. Thus, I am sure you asked her to hide somewhere in the manor"
"…"
"Do not try to fool me, I already checked the kingdom's documents, there are no nobles with a daughter called Nanako and no registries of a girl receiving the name Nanako… Meaning she's an orphan, whose your father began recruiting to serve here"
"… … …"
Hearing the lengths that the crown prince went to find about Nanako's information only made Edward's worries grow even more as he only felt even more sure not to tell him Nanako's whereabouts, which he did by continuing with his silence.
"So, Sir Edward? Are you not going to answer me with honesty?"
"Your Highness, I do not have permission to give you the whereabouts of my fiancée without her consent first"
Hearing Edward refer to Nanako as his fiancée, easily caused the crown prince to show a vein on his forehead, after all, he wanted Nanako all for himself, and the boy in front of him was his main obstacle to getting her.
"Sir Edward, how about we have a small duel?"
"Huh?"
"You do not have to worry this time because I will not place any bets on it"
"… … …"
Edward looked at the prince with a clearly unconvinced expression and even more than that, Edward hated duels because of his horrible experience with the captain who commanded the guards and soldiers who worked under his father. The very same experience that was the main cause of his headaches, like the one he was having right now, besides, it had been quite a good while ever since he last had a parrying session with the captain after that incident, and he wasn't planning on getting a second similar incident anytime in the future or now. So Edward could only give the crown prince a single answer, and one answer only.
"Your Highness, I will have to politely decline your request for a duel"
"Sir Edward, Insist that you duel me"
"Thank you for the consideration, but I will still have to refuse"
"Please accept it, I am sure you learn many things with a friendly duel"
"Thanks, but no"
"…"
"…"
The two smiled at each other, The prince with an increasingly frustrated expression at Edward's unwillingness to duel against him after all he wanted him to accept his duel so that he could force Edward to give up on Nanako while he threatened him with a wooden sword (Because it still hurt a lot when hit by one), while Edward just showed his usual poker smile to hide his cold sweat and desperation, as he correctly guessed a second time the crown prince's true intentions, and because of fear as well.
"Sir Edward, you will accept my duel request whether you like it or not"
"…"
Then just as Edward was already saying goodbye to his life in his situation, someone made their appearance very well with a clear, loud, and angry voice.
"Your Highness Ludovic, may I know what are you attempting to do to my fiancé?"
"… Tch… *Deeply Inhales* Lady Lysette, what brings you here today?"
"I came here to spend time with my fiancé, of course. But what about you, Your Highness? Why are you here, when neither you nor your family have any relations with Edward-sama or his family?"
"…"
As expected, Lysette immediately threw an argument against Ludovic that he couldn't argue against, after all the Harding family was a vassal of the Neville family, so matters regarding them, would be handled by people such as Lysette's Father, Hamilton, or even Lysette herself. Unable to immediately answer, Ludovic attempted to create a fitting excuse that would buy him some time, however, Lysette was already one step ahead.
"Your Highness, I must remind you that attempting to forcibly take away the partner of another person is a serious offense even for someone of the royal family. And if you are attempting to do so, I must request for you to take your leave at this very moment before I file a formal complaint to the king about your behavior"
"… … …"
The Crown Prince unable to give a proper response to Lysette's words was forced to accept defeat this time. So he got up from his seat, as he hid his frustration from view.
"Sir Edward… Lady Lysette. I shall be taking my leave now, as I have other matters I need to attend to in a few hours"
After carefully choosing his words to not give Lysette an opening, Ludovic began walking away, and once he left their view, silence reigned for a brief moment.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaa…"
Before it was broken by Edward's long and relieved sigh, as he dropped himself onto the table when he felt all his anxiety and tension leaving his body all at once. Seeing him do that, caused Lysette to approach Edward with a worried face.
"Are you alright, Edward-sama?"
Hearing his fiancée call him, caused Edward to lift himself and look at her with his usual gentle face that he always showed to Lysette and Nanako.
"… Yes, especially thanks to you, Lysette-sama. I'm really glad to be able to see you"
"… Y-You're e-exaggerating, E-Eward-sama"
Hearing him say such a thing from him, was enough to cause Lysette to blush as she looked away while taking a few steps back, yet she was unable to hide her stupidly happy smile from being told such a thing.
"… Sir Edward. I'll go call Nanako, now that that person has left"
"Ah! Thanks, mo-… Camilla-san"
And so, Camilla took her leave, meaning that now only Edward and Lysette were left at the cafe table in the back garden of the Harding manor. But as the two were already used to such a situation, they didn't show any particular problem in only having each other for company. However, instead of getting up and helping Lysette to sit down, Edward gestured for her to come closer to him again. Seeing so, Lysette approached him both because Edward wanted her to do so, but also out of curiosity to hear what he wanted, but…
"!? Uwah!?… Eh!?"
When she was close enough to him, Edward first gently held her hand, before pulling her to sit down on his lap, immediately followed by him giving Lysette a tight embrace, all of which confused and flustered Lysette as her face turned redder and redder.
"E-Erm… E-Edward-sama?… H-Hmm… I-Is there something w-wrong?…"
"… … … No… There isn't… I just felt like doing this when I saw you"
"Eh!?… E-Erm… T-Then I-isn't t-this enough a-already?"
"I guess so?"
With that, Edward stopped hugging Lysette and instead looked at her pretty face, which due to her blush only looked even prettier and charming than usual. Unable to endure looking at him at such a distance and in such a position, Lysette looked away as she opened her mouth to speak
"Hmm… E-Edward-sama, a-although I-I-I d-don't h-h-hate t-t-this, I-I-I must a-a-ask y-you t-to w-warn me b-b-before y-you d-do-…?… MMMMNNN!?"
Then just as Lysette was embarrassingly asking for Edward to tell her that he wanted to do something like that in advance, he kissed her lips before he could finish her sentence coughing her by surprise a second time.
"W-Wait, E-Ed- MMMM!!!… J-Jus- MMMNNNPPHHH!!!… S-Sto MMMMNNNN!!!… … … Mmmmmmnnnnn… Mmmmmm…"
At the first kisses, Lysette tried to show some resistance to Edward's kisses, just so that she could prepare herself, but each time that their lips met, her resistance rapidly decreased until she stopped completely, and instead slowly started to enjoy it as she gradually began to kiss Edward back.
"Ara? You two sure appear to be enjoying each other right now"
"MNPH!?"
When Lysette suddenly heard Camilla's voice, she was immediately brought back to her senses, and in one move she forcibly pushed her beet-red face away from Edward as her shame and embarrassment quickly took over her emotions, and she began to feel a lot of regret from falling to her desires in such a way and from being seen by someone else.
"A-A-A-AAAAAAAAH! UWAAAAAAHHH! I'M SORRY!!!"
Unable to hold back her rising emotions, Lysette in a single swift move, got out of Edward's lap and fled back into the manor as she apologized to do so in such an unsightly manner.
"… Hmm… Edward-sama?"
"!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Edward got up and looked in the direction the voice came, revealing none other than Nanako.
"Nanako! Are you okay, did that guy find you?"
"I'm okay, and I didn't see him"
When Edward began talking to Nanako, he noticed that her voice's tone appeared to be a mixture of relief, jealousy, and a little bit of anger. And he could guess why.
"… Do you also want to sit on my lap, Nanako?"
"! I-I-I'll respectfully decline…"
Hearing Edward's offer, Nanako blushed, before refusing as she didn't want to pass through the same suffering as Lysette, yet she still made a regretful expression at refusing his offer.
"I see, but still…"
"! E-Edward-sama!?"
Taking advantage that he was already close to Nanako, Edward gave her a surprise hug, causing Nanako to become flustered.
"I'm really glad that you're fine, Nanako"
"T-Thank you, E-Edward-sama… Hmm… … … N-No matter w-what happens, I… I don't plan on ever leaving you, Edward-sama…"
"… Thank you, Nanako. I also don't plan on leaving you or Lysette-sama from my side"
The two looked at each other with warm gazes, and slowly brought their faces closer, until their lips began touching, as the two fell into their little world. Camilla watched the two in silence as she warmly smiled with a hint of nostalgia.
"…"
With an upbeat feeling, Camilla decided to leave the two lovebirds kissing, as she went to bring back the previous one who had fled before she started sulking at finding out about Edward and Nanako enjoying themselves with a long kiss.