The Crown Prince In Hiding

Chapter 26

Bayern

The moment the silver bell rang out to signal departure, the electromagnetic locks holding the vessel released with a clean click, accompanied by the soft tremor of the blue crystal energy core at the stern beginning its powerful rotation. The airship rose from the platform with unhurried grace.

It tilted its bow westward along the horizon, leaving the glittering lights of Bayern spread far below, as the vessel climbed steadily into the deep violet clouds of the evening sky.

The atmosphere here was different from Artheris.

It seemed this time he would be sharing the airship with other VIP guests who had booked alongside them — but there was enough distance between tables that no one had any reason to bother anyone else.

So it was fine.

Keep a close watch on table four.

The head waiter murmured to his staff.

Under no circumstances serve anything from the sea to table four.

...Why not, sir?

The guests requested it. Just follow their instructions.

The food arrived before long.

Dan looked down at what had been served.

"Is this you making up for last time?"

"What do you think?"

Nora pretended not to care about the question, but a glance at the other tables — laden with seafood — compared to theirs, which held only pork and poultry, made it easy enough to understand.

"I find myself deeply moved, Your Highness."

"Is there anything you particularly enjoy?"

"I'm fond of wild boar."

She wrote it down.

"Do you really need to write that down?"

"Of course. This is important information."

"You're something else."

Dan turned aside.

"What's that sound? What are they doing over there?"

"Those are musicians, Mr. Fury. They're here to play for us."

"I thought that sort of thing only happened in theatres."

"Not necessarily."

Nora glanced over at the jazz ensemble at the center of the airship, then back at the young man across from her. The light from the mana crystal lamps cast a warm, gentle glow across their table.

"Shouldn't there be someone singing as well, Nora? This seems to be instruments only."

"Ah — that would be a singer. That's different from a musician."

"There's a difference?"

"There is."

Dan nodded in a way that left Nora uncertain whether he was being polite or actually understood.

"Do people in Diablo know about singing?"

"No. I prefer silence, as a rule."

"I believe it."

"...Just like that?"

"Do you sing?"

"Only when I'm in prayer. That's all."

"I've never heard you."

"Let's keep it that way. It's better."

"Let me hear just a little."

Nora rolled her eyes and looked away — then parted her lips and offered a short, quiet passage of sacred hymn, a song of praise to the god of CIS, brief and done before it had barely begun.

"Oh. Your voice is quite clear, isn't it."

"...Is it?"

Then Dan's attention drifted toward the center of the hall. The other guests had left their tables and descended to the dance floor, moving to the rhythm of the jazz.

"Nora — what are they doing?"

"Dancing."

"Dancing? Ah... so that's what it looks like."

"You know it?"

"Casca taught me, back on the island."

Dan turned.

"Humans dance when they're happy."

"Is that what Casca told you?"

"The second part I worked out on my own."

"Did she teach you?"

"It would be better if I didn't."

"Are you afraid to go down there? That's not very fitting for a Marshal."

"When did I say I was going?"

"After I ask you to?"

"When did you ask?"

"Right now."

He looked down at the floor. Two or three couples were already dancing.

"Bold of you... to invite me to dance, Your Highness. Quite out of character, I'd say. I genuinely didn't see that coming."

"Out of character? Mr. Fury — a princess is supposed to know how to do this."

"Is she?"

"Anyway — will you?"

"I don't think I'm suited for it..."

"You won't know until you try."

"....."

"Come on, Mr. Fury. This is a day off."

He had assumed she would never do something like this in her life. But he was wrong.

Nora could. She simply chose who she did it with.

"What Casca taught me is nothing like what people do at formal gatherings, I'll say that now."

"I don't need anything formal. I can work with whatever you give me."

Nora said,

"You can even lead, Mr. Fury."

"The honor is truly mine, Your Highness."

They made their way to the center of the floor. Nora took his hand, and the two of them moved together to the music.

For Dan, who had never done anything like this before, his movements were strange and awkward — less dancing and more a series of misplaced gestures, off the beat, arms going where they had no business going, somehow both stiff and chaotic at once. It was a little ridiculous.

Nora, by contrast, moved with easy grace, her body flowing naturally with the music, unhurried and entirely composed. Dan knew full well that he was probably the worst dance partner anyone on that floor had ever had.

But he could see it clearly — the face looking back at him was the face of a girl who was simply, genuinely happy.

The music inside had shifted to something softer — gentle jazz, low and unhurried, suited to the mood of the setting sun.

Guests had drifted to their own corners of the vessel. Some still lingered at their tables.

Dan and Nora had moved to the outer deck, standing at the railing.

"Well? Do you like it?"

"I do. It flies smoothly."

He tilted his head back to look above him.

"I don't often get to feel something like this."

"Don't you ride flying soldiers?"

"They couldn't carry me."

"Not even Valencia?"

"Have you ever seen her true form?"

"No. But I can imagine."

Nora turned and smiled.

"I actually had questions I wanted to ask today... but I've forgotten them all. Got a bit too carried away dancing. Ha..."

"Then I'll ask the questions tonight."

"?"

"Have you been in contact with your mother lately?"

"The usual, Mr. Fury..."

"Normal isn't the same for everyone."

Nora went still for a moment, her eyes drifting out beyond the railing.

"She sends letters every month..."

"Do you write back?"

"Before I met you, I had to."

"So now you don't reply at all?"

"I'm no longer required to."

"What did you used to write?"

"A report of the week — what I'd studied, what I'd done. Something like that."

"Sounds dreadful."

"There was never much to say... all of us siblings had to write them."

"Have you read any of the letters she's sent recently?"

"Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't."

"I've heard your mother's health hasn't been well lately."

"News travels fast."

"It does."

"Diablo's intelligence works impressively. Luminus can't quite match it."

"The further away you are, the closer you have to stay."

That was the principle of intelligence work.

Everyone knew it well. The intelligence networks of Snowhaven and Diablo were at the top — so evenly matched they were practically neck and neck.

"Sworn on the word of the Crown Prince."

This would never be shared beyond Diablo — no matter how anyone inside might wish to. Prince Fury had made it absolutely clear: forbidden meant forbidden.

Nora had become someone who held a particular place in his regard.

"Last month's joint military exercises seem to have gone well."

"That reached me too."

Back to the matter at hand.

"I'll send your mother a sealed letter expressing my concern for her health."

"Trying to build relations, Mr. Fury?"

"So she won't be surprised if I happen to come across as overly familiar with you."

"Choose your words carefully."

"I'm still drafting it."

"You're writing it yourself?"

"Writing and revising. I actually brought it along — it's in my bag back at the hotel."

"Can I see—"

"No."

Pleading eyes.

"Don't give me that look. I'm not endlessly soft, you know."

Dan tapped the top of Nora's head with his finger.

"I think you should write to her as well. At the very least, let her know that you know she's ill."

"It's not necessary."

"Even a perfunctory line will do. Think about it — wouldn't it seem strange that demons like us are the ones sending her letters, while her own daughter says nothing?"

"Did Casca put you up to this?"

"This is entirely me."

"Hard to believe..."

"Watching the two of you reminds me of my grandmother. I wish I'd had more time with her, while she was still here."

"....."

"But in the end, it's your choice. Who am I to tell you what to do?"

"I'll think about it... since it's you who's saying it."

"Truly an honor, Miss Nadia."

"Likewise, Mr. Don."