When the clock chimed four, the princess started, surprised, almost spilling tea on herself in her shock. They had been talking for so long, and so easily. She had even forgotten the darkness of the room, so animated was the conversation.
"I suppose I have to return to the palace now," she said with a sigh. "It was an absolute pleasure to meet you Baron," the princess added, extending a hand to him in the darkness.
She felt a gloved hand gently take her own, and barely made out the shadow of strange points at the sides of her host's head as he bent over her fingers. Feeling a soft touch to her fingers, Haru wondered at a man who had admitted during their conversation to being not much older than she was, having such a soft beard and moustache, and furthermore the length he seemed to keep them.
"Baron?" she asked gently, daring to touch on the subject that he had carefully guided their conversation around the whole time they had been talking.
"My step-father is not a nice man, highness. He dictated my appearance to me many years ago, and I cannot alter it. I think you would rather not see it," he answered. Finally giving some kind of answer.
"Very well," Haru said, though she clearly wished other than to concede. "May I visit again tomorrow?"
"Does your highness have time to visit tomorrow? I thought that certainly you should be searching for one bearable man to marry before the month is up. You would not waste your time with such as I?"
"It would not be wasted, I am certain. Perhaps even, we might be so acquainted soon that we could teach each other how to dance."
Haru knew how the steps were supposed to go, but never got them right. Baron, it turned out, had a gift for getting the steps right when he was still being schooled in the manners of a gentleman – when his mother still lived – but since then had nobody to dance with.
"Perhaps," was his answer from the darkness.
Yuki appeared in the small glow of the single candle's light to show the princess back to the door.
"We all love him," Yuki said. "Did you highness find pleasure in his company?"
Haru stopped herself from mounting her mare as the stableboy held the animal and turned to face the white-haired girl properly.
"You love him, don't you?" Haru asked gently.
"Not that way," Yuki said. "He has been an older brother to me since my parents died, and is helping me find my way in the world, supporting my decisions. I don't want him to be hurt highness."
"I found great pleasure in his company, more pleasure in his company than in any of the queen's courtiers. Oh, but you mustn't let on that I said so," Haru said, smiling.
Yuki smiled too - delighted. She had stood behind the princess' chair all through tea, a sort of chaperone, even though she was younger than both of them were. She had realised that simply making conversation with someone his own age, and with a similar level of intellect and interest in the world, had been something that the late mistress' son had been missing.
"Highness, if I may be so bold?" Yuki started.
"Please do be. I like nothing better than someone who is unafraid to speak their minds," Haru answered with seriousness and sincerity, holding Yuki's hands in her own.
"Without seeing his face, do you like him?"
"I do, though I admit that I am as curious as curious about what he looks like, but that is to his discretion."
With that, Haru mounted her mare and, with good directions this time, returned to the palace.
