To Avie's pleasant surprise, the crowds were packed with well wishing and and signs from the start. Doing her best to maintain her straight back and clasping together her knees, she was trying her best to stay as composed as her fellow Chosen member was.
Coming into the competition from a holding facility, she didn't need to be told twice about her shortcomings when it came to the others who came from a household that clearly could afford to send their kids to a palace and not lose much money from it. It wasn't as if she detested her parents, it was just that giving her an excellent start in terms of sending her to a holding facility was probably the best thing they could have ever done for her. Being two professors, anyway, they were rarely home.
Speaking of which, she hadn't expected to be one of the five that were picked from the holding facility, out of dozens that had applied that year, beating out a bunch of people she was certain had applied just for the chance to win the prince's heart. Admittedly, Avie had gone against her father's wishes of forgoing an application to one of the universities in the Inner Circle, not only because the prince was cute but wanting to rise up the social ranking ladder a little more.
For that reason alone, even if she wouldn't be a prince's bride, she could become a lady, hence her serious demeanour. Maybe she'd be okay letting loose in her room with her rooms or the two girls she'd already bonded with, but being presented to the public first out of all the other twenty or so candidates surely meant she was doing something right.
Adjusting her left braid so it sat neater with her bun, she forced herself to stop wiggling her toes in excitement and continued to try to make small talk with both the prince and Lady Sakura. Her fellow Chosen was even more reserved than she was, hands folded elegantly on her lap and not a strand of hair out of place, jet black hair falling forward in a glossy curtain, slightly hiding her pretty features. She wasn't immune to looking outside the windows, though, taking in the sights with a small, shy smile. From the few weeks they'd been in the palace, as much disdain as Avie held for the non holding facility members, she couldn't find a single reason to even remotely dislike her. It might have been her unusually mature demeanour. Or just the fact that she had stood up briefly for the candidates from holding facility. One of those things.
"Is everyone doing okay?" Prince Alfred asked. He, of course, Avie thought, was completely unfazed, probably having done one of these public outings a thousand times before in his life. That was one of the few things that did not surprise her about him.
His Highness hadn't had as much press coverage on television and in the news compared to what she'd expected. She did understand, though, seeing that his parents had died when he was a teenager and he'd gone off to serve in the Spadian military these past three years, so she was initially nervous as to how they were to interact. Thankfully, during their first conversation, she'd brought up how both her parents were archaeology professors, and talked about her own passing interest in the subject. The awkwardness had melted away as they both chattered enthusiastically about the topic – who knew the prince was also into something as dorky as archaeology – and still hadn't returned since. Probably a by-product of her crush, but she was happy to keep on impressing him.
"Yes, of course, Your Highness. I mean, you gotta be when you see what's outside the windows," she beamed, pointing to the crowds of people outside, who reacted accordingly with louder cheering. "I really didn't know so many people would be outside today!"
"It's awesome, isn't it?" he replied, grinning. "Though, I guess it's not such a surprise that everyone wants to come see two wonderful ladies for themselves. A lotta Decidings took place just within the palace, so they might think it's a super rare occurrence."
Nodding enthusiastically, Avie forgot about dislodging her bun and the thousand pins that were threaded with it. Being called a lady like that, she wouldn't lie that it felt nice. The two of them continued chirping within the carriage, though she couldn't help but take in Sakura's maturity once more, from the carefully arranged fingers to her creaseless dress. She'd figured out that the prince might not be completely accustomed to manners, since he had been away in service for such a long while and didn't seem to have many parental figures, but he was the prince...the guy could pretty much behave how he wanted and it would be okay.
"It is very kind of them to show up just for us," she said finally, joining in the energetic waving the two of them had been doing. "I also did not expect this."
Suddenly painfully aware of the disheleved pins in her hair and her wrinkled petticoat, Avie sat back down with an exhale and nodded. "You're so wonderful, Sakura - Lady Sakura!" she blurted, Alfred agreeing with a smile. "You should."
"...Thank you, Lady Avie," she responded haltingly, smiling behind her hand. They guessed she was nervous, as her accent was coming through more than usual. "Thank you, as well, Your Highness. It is just that I have never experienced anything ri – like it."
"Is that true? I mean, you've lived around the Inner Circle all your life, right?" Alfred watched quietly as the two girls spoke. Initially, he had been worried before he picked them that they wouldn't get along, as was the fear with taking out more than one person at once, but the conversation they were having seemed to be amicable.
"Ah...yes, that is true," Sakura said. "However, I was, um, not allowed outside too much in my studies, and for my debut possibly. I would not say I have much friends as a result."
"That's not true though! At least, not here, you have Emma, and Leon, right? I've seen you guys sit around each other all the time, and you stood up for Arthur as well. And I know everyone likes you, holding facility or not! Including me." she said girlishly, making sure to send a little wink to the prince's direction, getting the reaction she'd hoped for when he sent a thumbs up her way back.
Though she wasn't as experienced in this form of warfare as some of the other boys and girls in the palace, she still liked to plan her moves out beforehand.
After saying goodbye to Ace Matthew, who'd gotten off earlier at the town hall in the Inner Circle, the three of them set out into the town, with a bevy of guards behind them and the usual cameras. In her life, Sakura had only been to the rural district behind one of the sprawling estates of House Honda during the rare occasions she was allowed to leave, much like her fellow female cousins. It was tradition – male cousins, except for one lucky exception from what her governess had told her, stayed home to study the inner workings of the family business, attend a university and marry well, and female cousins stayed home to both study and prepare for their debut, and marry well. The resources that House Honda had were great enough to the point where it felt as she was already living in the Inner Circle, despite having never visited before her eighteenth birthday.
Luckily for her, even after turning twenty this February and on the cusp of the age limit for the competition, she'd managed to convince her aunt to allow her to apply for the Deciding after arguing that the chance of winning the prince's heart bested any opportunity for her planned debut in the Inner Circle, where the higher crust of society dwelled in each kingdom and what the social rank had been named after. Parts of the competition and her obvious lack of privacy were obvious discomforts she had to deal with, but these were inevitable.
Her hopes that only been helped along by the fact that the prince was practically the picture of what a young man ought to be. Eager to speak his mind but also happy to listen when someone was speaking, bursting with young vitality, incredibly good looking, having the strength to fight against the adversities in his life, and compassionate and sensitive to the needs of his people.
That was what she was raised to hope for, Sakura thought as she watched His Highness bend down and shake a child's tiny hand with his forefinger and thumb, laughing along when the child shook back with gusto. All qualities she wished she had, but could only attempt to compensate with her education. Though she sensed she had an advantage in the competition, that was all it was – an advantage. Watching her fellow Chosen, Avie, follow suit with greeting the admirers that had come to see the three of them, it was as if her own reservedness had held her back and threatened to cut away her own prospects. Being sent home this early would only solidify the belief of her benefactors that she should not make her own decisions for herself. Despite everything, she was eager to break into the crust of the competition, but didn't know how.
To her surprise, it came in the form of Avie extending a hand to her. "Lady Sakura! I think I've found a super fan of yours in here!"
The other girl, putting it mildly, was confident in a way she could not even hope to be, and she admired her greatly for it. Whilst in the carriage, Sakura desperately wanted to be as open with her and the prince, but had forced herself to sit politely and watch them make cheerful banter. It was even worse with the public around, and the accent she'd retained, but she had to try.
"T-Thank you, Lady Avie," she mumbled, pulling her petticoat over her chest as she took the other girl's hand and moved forward. A child was standing behind the barrier, a tiny sign clutched in her hand, with her name embellished on it. A doodle of her face sat in the bottom corner, and was so lovingly drawn that she could not help but smile.
"H-Hello, I see you have me on your sign," Sakura said as she knelt, careful to keep her knees off the gravel. "I am very thankful for that. What is your name?"
Getting up, Alfred stepped a little to the right so the cameras could capture both members of the Chosen interacting with the public – after all, as much as this was an outing for him, he'd been presented to the public several times already. For both of them, they hadn't been seen out of the palace, so it was more important that the public started adoring them, too.
Yao was right, after all – he could barely recall a time where his mentor wasn't. The public had to love whoever he chose, so this might be the starting point he was hoping for.
All things considered, the date had been going well. Thankfully, there hadn't been any altercations with the Joker rebels, or anyone for that matter. Everyone seemed to be having a good time – even the guards that Berwald and Matthias had rounded up were enjoying the sun soaked day. Alfred had asked them to put away the hats since most likely they would be in the background of all the footage, and it was nice to see them relax a little because of it.
The three of them had decided to continue walking along the partition where their well wishers had been standing by for around an hour, twenty minutes longer than he'd expected, but that was okay. He hadn't made any promises in terms of who he'd visit with the Chosen that day, so there wasn't any rush, as long as they were enjoying themselves. Even as he was greeting his subjects, he still kept an eye out for weird movements, which didn't happen.
Though once the impromptu meet and greet session had ended, Alfred didn't really have a solid plan as for what to do next – though, to his pleasant surprised, the girls did. After mentioning that they could take some time off to stop at an eatery, Avie pointed out a café in the map of the district that she was intrigued by, and he gratefully took it, thanking his lucky stars that he indeed hadn't reserved a space in a restaraunt. They had a brief tea time, in which both girls, neither being locals, eagerly took in the scenery along with him.
This area in the Inner Circle sat primly near the harbour, and boasted some of the most beautiful architecture to complement the palace perching behind it, gems to embellish the crown jewel, as it was located in one of the closest districts. From the slight hint of blue sea obscured by the tops of colourful spires to the melodic calls of seagulls above their heads as they soared over the pristine townhouses, it was a sight to behold. The cameras, naturally, took great care in both capturing their interactions, as well as the beauty of Spades for the viewers in the other kingdoms to admire.
After their meal was done, which Alfred insisted on paying the star struck owner for, the sun was still high in the sky and he'd been so occupied by the meal he hadn't thought of the next attraction to visit. It wasn't as if he'd been outside the palace much, either, and the only place he knew of in town was Matthias's husband's bar, so...
Thank the Fates that Berwald had sensed his panic, though, because he gruffly suggested the weekend market in the square whilst they were preparing to leave. He personally didn't know much about the event, but he'd heard Matthew talk about it, so he grabbed the opportunity and ran with it.
That, pretty much, was how they got to the square. It was around three times the size of the foyer of the palace, and paved with cream pressed bricks that made a pleasant sound when his sleek shoes walked over them. The square was packed to the gills with people's voices and multi-coloured stalls selling a whole range of things. Maybe they got word of their presence or something earlier on in the day, but the second their group showed up the entire square was in an uproar.
Alfred couldn't help but look at his companions as soon as the hubbub seemed at it's peak. Avie looked a little shocked though she seemed accepting of the attention, but Sakura's shoulders were shaking and her knuckles had turned completely white. Without thinking, he bent down a little to match her height and gently grasped her shoulders.
"Lady Sakura, are you okay?" he said, searching her eyes for any sign of discomfort. His dumb decision to not plan out every single detail was really biting him in the ass. Seeing anyone upset whilst they were spending time with him made his stomach twist, to put it lightly.
Surprisingly, though, she wasn't bitter towards him or did not pull away. Instead, he heard her audibly swallow before she looked at him. The determination in her brown eyes surprised him, but he thought it was kinda rude to comment on it. In the background, Alfred could hear mutters of concern from the townspeople and the guards, but he needed to ensure that she was okay before anything else happened.
Taking a deep breath, she shook her hair out of her face, straightened her shoulders again and nodded. "I am all right, Your Highness," she mumbled, her cheeks pinking. Thankfully, without him realising it, she had nudged him back at a socially acceptable length whilst he was offering her comfort. "Thank you so much for being so kind. It is just that I am not used to company of this many."
"If you don't want to participate, it's okay, really. I discussed with the guards a few nights before that I'd like to visit the market with you two ladies, but if you're uncomfortable with it, I understand a hundred percent. I'll ask some guards to stay with you and check in from time to time-"
"No, no," she insisted, her cheeks pinking. "Your Highness has been so kind as to take us outside today. I would like to enjoy it as much as possible."
He was acutely aware of the crowd having hushed up. "I'm glad to hear it, Lady Sakura." Quickly turning around to face Avie, whose face was knotted with concern, he gave her a tiny thumbs up, standing up. Forgetting to brush the invisible dust over his trousers, he managed to calm everyone else down whilst they were looking concernedly at her.
"Is it because she's not from around here? Things must be quite different in Hearts."
"To be fair though, we did all pretty much pile out this morning once the news broke..."
"Still can't believe His Highness would make a trip outside. It's unusual, but you should have heard my children yell about it when it showed up on the news-"
"Stop staring at him like that, you'll grow something!"
Man, there he went, listening in on what everyone was saying like an dumbass again. "Uh, anyway," he said, "Let's take a walk, around, yeah?"
After an hour, his head was starting to get kinda dizzy. There was a massive amount of things that were for sale or display, ranging from brightly coloured drinks to used books to stuff that had his own face on it, which made the shop owner grin good naturedly when Alfred asked about it with a blush on his face. Yeah, he was a royal and everything, but it was still really embarrassing...
The atmosphere was mostly exciting though, and it was infectious. From discussing the upcoming Meeting with the merchants, or talking about the Deciding itself with the two teenagers that manned a comic book stall, to watching both Avie and Sakura enjoy their sightseeing, he'd started to let himself relax, sorta. Sure, he still had to be perfect and put together, but the date had been going much better than he'd expected.
Not to mention there was a lotta food that he wanted to kinda try, but wouldn't dare to because first of all, he was supposed to be princely and stuff and not gorge on some delicious looking burgers he swore he could smell throughout the entire market, and he was probably not gonna be able to eat dinner. Still, they came to a halt around a sculpture that sat in the middle of the square, depicting a figure that wielded a tome that everyone would recognise – the Fate representing Spades. Avie and Sakura were trying out some chocolate crepes from a stall that they'd just bought, and probably appreciated the place to sit down, since they had been on their feet for hours at this point. Alfred took the opportunity to take Berwald aside to thank him for the suggestion, a moment he made sure the cameras were too busy to capture.
"No b'g deal," he muttered, corners of his lips nudging in a corner that greatly resembled Ludwig's smile grimace. Though he wasn't wearing his severe hat, he still looked plenty intimidating. "Matthias and I think you're doing w'll. Enjoy yourself."
"Thanks again, Berwald, I won't forget this anytime soon," he said, before returning to the lip of the sculpture, a relatively dignified sitting area. Making small chat with the girls as they sat on the bench and ate, cameras capturing the entire thing to the delight of the stall manager, it was only after the snack had been finished that Avie exchanged a glance with Sakura and spoke.
"May we explore the marketplace as just the two of us for a bit?" she asked cheerfully, standing up and moving to her side, linking their arms. "I'm sure you have something you wanna see too, Your Highness!"
"Yes, if that is arl...all right," Sakura stumbled on her sentence briefly, "We would both like to walk around for a little bit." She looked a little startled, but when he saw a shy smile appear on her face, he fought back a sigh of a relief. He had been worried that the reserved girl would be uncomfortable when he first asked for her company, but she had done well today, along with Avie.
I haven't really been paying attention to the map that they gave us at the beginning, but I guess the cameras might be sick of seeing my face too, so... "Yeah, that works for me," Alfred said brightly. On second thought, her suggestion was a decent one – he was starting to get a little self conscious about the minor pileup him, the Chosen, the guards and the cameras were causing in the narrow walkway. "I'll meet you two in," he didn't really want to dig into his shirt for his clock, so he peered up at the sky, starting to be painted in the orange colours of the sunset. "An hour and a half?"
At both of them agreeing, for the third time in his day Alfred wasn't quite sure what to do. After all, his main purpose today was to spend time with both of them, but...
For a really really stupid moment, a small voice wormed into his head. What if they just don't want to spend time with you anymore?
Great. This day had gone super well and now he had this to worry about. Stowing away the thought but unable to get rid of it entirely, he walked south to a line of stalls that they hadn't quite explored; maybe he could recommend something for them, since they had some extra time before they left just in case.
Suddenly, though, one thought connected to another through the mist of his self doubt and he remembered his conversation with a certain someone earlier on in the week.
"But I'd much rather send that money home to my siblings for the family's necessities. Every time I visit, it's painfully obvious to me that I've been the luckiest out of all of them to come here. So even if I can't have something like a teddy bear to myself, it's minor compared to the hardships my siblings face for me."
"I haven't forgot about the birthday, you know! Don't think I'll let you off so easily."
The last bit might have been a bit of a lie, I guess, since I haven't really thought about it after the prep for the date today. he thought as he started walking towards the stall filled with bug eyed stuffed animals, But as a hero, it's my job to fix that, right?