Danger in the Royal Garden (3)

Five days after my appointment as the court mystic, I was returning to my room from an afternoon meeting with the king and the high-ranking members of the court. Today’s main subject was the signs of locust swarms forming in the eastern Tredland, which threatened the still growing crops.

The agricultural region of the eastern Tredland was the breadbasket of the kingdom and anything that threatened the crops on a large scale was taken very seriously. The king decided to dispatch over half of the court mages, who were given the authority to hire extra help where necessary.

I hoped Colton, my birth village, would be fine. I had cautiously suggested going myself, but there was only one court mystic, I wouldn’t be dispatched so easily. Only if the mages couldn’t handle it would it be my turn.

Then again, I wasn’t even sure what I could do: it’s not like I had a convenient spell of ancient magic to kill all the locusts. If anything, I had a bit more holistic view on matters due to my wide field of knowledge, so I might be able to think of some outside the box solution.

My thoughts were interrupted by, who else, the twin princesses. The two of them, holding hands and chatting animatedly, came across me in the corridor. Of course, Elina the maid was following them silently.

“Ah, Ed! Do you have time now?”

As usual, it was Mira who spoke first. Both of their eyes brightened upon seeing me and they hurried to meet me. They were both completely casual, there was no trace of the embarrassment from the other day.

“Sure, I have some time. Is there something in particular you want to do?”

They were acting a bit more enthusiastic than usual, so I figured this wasn’t just a “let’s play!” situation, they probably had something a little special in mind.

“The gardeners have been reworking one of the bigger flower beds in the royal garden for the past week. They said it’s ready now.”

“Will you come with us to see it?”

With a wry smile on my face, I of course agreed.

The twins still loved the garden, but they had been wary of it ever since that incident on the day they met me. Every time something new was brought there, they insisted I come to check it out with them. I tried to tell them that I’m not really that knowledgeable on plants, that it had been a fortunate coincidence that one time, but they wouldn’t hear me. I had had no choice but to read up on botany, so as to become someone worthy of their blind faith.

Well, I had a feeling that half of it was just an excuse. They probably just wanted to go flower-viewing with me.

By the way, thanks to the tireless efforts of the gardeners, the royal garden had been back in its full glory the next spring after the incident where I had burned half of it to the ground.

A few minutes later, we were standing in the royal garden, admiring the new flower bed. It was primarily blue- and purple-themed, with strategically placed dashes of white, red and of course green. I now recognised all the plant species used here and could confidently tell that there was no visible danger here.

At least, there was no danger to the girls. I, however… had a bit of a problem.

The girls were standing on my both sides, holding both of my arms hostage. That in itself was normal. What was troublesome was how they were pushing certain soft body parts of theirs against me. Every time they moved, and they moved often, I could feel the softness rubbing against my arms. Especially on Anna’s side.

It didn’t help that we were all wearing relatively thin clothing, since it was another hot day. The princesses had worn shawls in the castle, but they had left them in Elina’s care when we entered the garden.

This was somewhat different from the physical intimacy I was used to. Something like this had occasionally happened before, but it had been accidental. I had a distinct feeling that now they were doing it on purpose, teasing me, looking for some kind of a reaction. They occasionally sneakingly glanced at me, and there was a slight rosy tint on their cheeks.

While I had noticed a transformation in the way they teased me since as early as two years ago, it was worrisome how they were clearly getting bolder.

Despite my memories from previous lives, in this life I was still an inexperienced young man. It was hard to keep my calm in this situation.

“Hey, Ed… Your mind is elsewhere again, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s… um, yeah. Sorry. What were you saying again?”

I still hadn’t fixed my bad habit of occasionally getting lost in my own thoughts mid-conversation.

Mira sighed, looking exasperated, yet also somehow amused. She opened her mouth, only to hesitate. I saw a familiar mischievous glint appear in her eyes.

“So, which of us feels nicer? I bet it’s Anna. I’m envious how she’s growing up so nicely!”

“Bhuh?!”

She laughed as I spit out all the air from my lungs in shock. Even Mira had never been this direct before!

Also, they really were doing it fully on purpose!

“Wh- what are you talking about? I’m not sure I understood correctly what you’re asking about, but whatever the case, you know I never rank you.”

“Sure you do. I’m better at physical combat and Anna is better at magic. These are just facts, and even you recognise them. It’s also a fact that Anna looks more like a woman than I do.”

“That is that and this is this! I’m not going to answer that question. Or rather, if you’re doing it on purpose, stop it. You’re princesses, for gods’ sake.”

“When have we ever acted like princesses with you? Would you prefer it if we started acting all dignified and distant?”

“Well, that’s… of course not. But…”

It suddenly occurred to me that Anna had been strangely quiet during the whole conversation. She was a more quiet sort, but she still usually participated in our conversations.

I looked on my right side, and found the younger twin pushing her forehead against my arm, keeping her face down, red up to her ears. She still held on to me as tightly as before, though.

“See? Even Anna is getting embarrassed. Where’s your shame, Mira?”

“Anna! That’s unfair! If you act that adorable, Ed is going to like you more!”

No, no. Like I said, I’m not going to choose a favourite among them. Even if that shyness is freaking adorable.

Or rather, why is she worried about that instead of being considerate of her little sister, like she usually would?

Anna seemed to gather her courage and raised her head. Her face was still red and her eyes watery, as though she’d start crying any moment, but she smiled at us.

“Si- sis is right. We’re just trying to show that you are special. We wouldn’t do this with anyone else.”

“That’s right, that’s right! Only you get to enjoy the favour of the twin princesses of Tredland, famed for their beauty! Doesn’t it feel nice?”

I sighed and stopped arguing. The more they said, the more embarrassed I became, already feeling a heat that didn’t originate from the sun on my face.

This was getting dangerous. I could feel my view of the twins, and my feelings for them, changing day by day. And they were probably causing it on purpose…