To her surprise, Allen simply increased his speed after one last sigh.Lyn turned to follow Allen, who stopped at the end where a familiar horse was parked. She spotted it from a distance, Allen"s beautiful snowy white horse. Ah, so are they going to ride?
"I see, you can"t ride because you hurt your leg. Well then, if that"s the case, you can ride along with me."
Her violet orbs went wide, "On your horse?"
"Is that a complaint?" For a moment, she thought she offended him until she saw his lips curve to a smile.
She shook her head, "No, no, not at all. But as expected, I haven"t ridden with even Kazuya yet, so..."
Allen merely lifts her up on to the horse and climbs on himself. "We"ll cross and head towards those towers. It"s a big distance if we walk. Do you wish to freeze?"
"No. ."
This is strange, though, to be ridding on a horse with Allen. Although she has shown many of her embarra.s.sing sides and weak moments to him already, she has never been in a position where she would be working seriously, and Allen would be around to see.
How odd, the person who told her to merely stay like a caged bird before, is now letting her roam around freely. It does go to show how much time has changed now.
"Prince Allen, thank you. For listening to what I have to say."
If it were anybody else, they would not have listened to her.
"It is my duty. But even more than that, I have never seen that look on your face before, so I"ll admit I was quite intrigued."
Lyn laughed, "I see."
"Are you having fun? These days, you smile a lot more."
"Yes, yes, I am. It"s fun, being with everyone.. Going outside. But," Lyn trailed off. "I think I understand why mother and eldest brother did what they did. Why they kept me away for so long."
While their methods were a bit extreme, Lyn understood now. The outside, the state of the Empire. They didn"t want her to see it, they tried to s.h.i.+eld her from the ugly side of the world. Since she started to go out anymore, Lyn saw how ugly the world is. But, none of that mattered to her. It"s painful, seeing the state of the Empire. But as a Princess, she does not want to turn a blind eye to these things anymore.
"As Lyn, I wanted to change things. However, I realized that a normal civilian couldn"t do anything to change the Empire. Even if I move the hearts of the Empire. I need power."
Allen nodded, "Is this what made you change your mind?"
Lyn laughed, "Yes, silly, right?"
"No, I always thought you were the only one who can understand me.."
___
Allen knew better than to let his guard down around her. How many times has she caused problems, right in front of him? Still, his gaze fell on the girl who was patching up her arm. He didn"t think she was injured; no wonder her grip on his waist was strange.
"Why did you do this again?" Allen questioned.
Lyn laughs, "I didn"t think you"d worry about me"
"Do not give me that. I have every right to worry about you."
But she was right; he didn"t know why he was still worried about her. After all, their relations.h.i.+p with each other was only that of people who used to be close — individuals who used to be together all the time. The person who was his first love, and yet he"s already long given up that she would even look his way.
It"s over, Allen doesn"t know what plans she has to cancel their engagement. However, he is waiting for it. Any day now, any moment.
"You would call a situation an accident, I believe."
Whenever he was around Lyn, he always spoke normally; his usual formal tone never slipped through. Whenever he was with her, it was difficult to do so.
"I see."
She really looks so perfect here, she looks so perfect and yet at the same time so sad and completely falling apart. "Why, would you do something like that?" Allen questioned.
"Honestly, I didn"t understand why I did it."
One of the many things he understood about her before were vague answers are her specialty. "I didn"t understand why I did. After he knocked me out I woke up and found him training, training, and training. He"s always constantly getting hurt for my sake. Always fighting a never-ending battle just for me."
"That is because," Allen didn"t know how to explain this to her. He knew the girl was no longer innocent. However, even for her..
"The council is monitoring me, right? I know."
Allen blinked, so she knows. Then again, that"s not a surprise either. She"s always been this way, always like this. "If you knew you should have said something."
"Would anything have changed if I did?" Lyn challenged.
Indeed, nothing would have changed. It wouldn"t stop the council doubting her. "Your mother is negotiating for you. Once she reveals your ident.i.ty, the council can"t take such reckless actions against you. It"s against the law to detain and question royalty, without sufficient evidence."
"People can fabricate evidence, though if my sister wants to frame me. She can do so, and I won"t be able to do anything about it."
Allen frowned at the girl"s words, "Why do you talk that way. What about me?"
A confused look appears on Lyn"s face, "Eh?"
"What use is there to our engagement, if you don"t benefit from it?" Allen said frustrated. He knew that Lyn never thought of such things. The benefits to the engagement, the reason why they are getting married. "Make use of me during those times."
Light laughter crosses her lips. "I didn"t think you would put it that way. Then, maybe I can?"
His sweat fell; he didn"t think she would actually do it. "Is there something you need me to do?"