Innocent Little Things

Ava and Jin stepped into the hallway, quickly running into the panicked guard and servant who had previously been escorting Jin. He had only been out of sight for a short while but it was enough that they had already begun freaking out, on the verge of calling for a search. The relief was evident on their faces, the guard in particular looked as if he could have cried of happiness upon seeing Jin return, completely unharmed. "Your Highness! You're alright! You are alright, right?" He was so anxious that even his way of addressing Jin wasn't quite proper but Jin made no comment, only smiling lightly as he reassured that he was fine.

"I'm terribly sorry, I had gotten lost on my own. Prince Jin found me. I hadn't meant to cause so much worry. We should head back." Ava explained quietly, looking embarrassed, her arm gently hooked around Jin's.

The guard and servant didn't even think twice, readily accepting Ava's bare bones explanation, happily leading the way back. Only Jin gazed at her as they followed back to the ballroom before turning his gaze forward again, silent in his thoughts.

When they returned, Ava was informed of what had occurred. She offered sincere apologies on behalf of the royal family due to Mila having been the one to carry the noble lady's food in. Of course, this was already unnecessary, they had already been excused of all blame, but it certainly added goodwill. Ava also comforted the seemingly still devastated Mila, who was sitting down, curled in on herself with her head lowered, Covin at her side. Ava signed a few things to her and Mila sniffled, rubbing a tear from the corner of her eye, slowly nodding her head. To onlookers, it must have looked like quite a touching scene. But rather…

Ava had signed 'Mila, you have such good acting skills, you should have been a performer. Perhaps you should go on more missions.'

Mila had to bite down on her lip, grateful her head was lowered as she hid her smile. 'You're too kind to me Ava. I'm happy remaining with you, I'd get too bored otherwise.'

Covin suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, gently gathering Mila by her shoulders, guiding her out of her seat. Ava whispered something to Jin and he promptly assisted in making excuses for them to leave.

Ava could have sighed in relief and happily slumped in her seat when they finally got back into the carriage. Unfortunately, Jin was right beside her, so she sat properly. They chatted for a short while before a comfortable silence settled in. After a while of staring out the window, Jin glanced over, only to find Ava had tilted over, resting against the side of the carriage with her eyes closed, seemingly having fallen asleep already. It didn't look particularly comfy, especially with the angle her head was at. She must have been quite tired out.

Jin stared at her a moment, contemplating. His fingers twitched but in the end, he turned his head away to continue staring out the window. That is, until the carriage bumped over a rock. Although these rides were generally smooth, things like this happened sometimes, particularly at night when it was harder to see debris on the path. So Jin only steadied himself as the carriage shook. Ava however quite unfortunately hit her head against the wall of the carriage. Her brows furrowed and she frowned, blinking her eyes tiredly. She mumbled a quiet complaint as she raised her hand to rub where she had been hit. But after a few moments, her head fell to rest against the carriage again and she closed her eyes once more. It seems she'd rather brave the risk of another bump to the head than try to stay awake for the rest of the trip home.

Jin fiddled with the gold cufflink at his wrist, seemingly caught in indecision. When the carriage shook slightly again, he finally came to a decision, leaning over to gently pull Ava toward him. She leant her against his arm, humbling himself to be Ava's pillow for the trip. Ava's eyelids fluttered, tilting her head to glance up at him. But he had already turned back to staring out the window, his elbow propped up so he could rest his chin on his hand. Ava slowly leaned her weight against him, much more comfortable as she dozed off again.

After her breathing steadied out, Jin's gaze fell on her. He'd seen other couples like this, in particular, his doting cousin held no reservations, letting his wife rest against him while they travelled together. But he hadn't ever done it himself, and he hadn't thought he would. After all, he and Ava weren't close. He could even feel Ava's warmth through the fabric of his shirt and the weight of her head as it rested on his shoulder. And so he quickly noticed that she was slowly slipping forward, loose curls of hair spilling over his shoulder.

He lifted his hand to gently push her back so she was resting more securely. Strands of her hair caught around his fingers as he did so. It took him a moment to untangle himself from the soft curls, after which he went to pull his hand away. Only, he paused. After another silent moment passed, he slowly and carefully used the tips of his fingers to brush Ava's hair from her face. Then he let his hand drop back to his lap, pulling his gaze back to the shadowy scenery passing by the window.

—

Neither Jin nor Ava mentioned the carriage ride after arriving home. The next morning, Jin was occupied again, attending to requests for an audience with him. These were often by nobles or others with official positions who either wanted his advice on something, or to make a suggestion. Occasionally, educated commoners were permitted an audience as well, under strict conditions of course. Today there were just some nobles with complaints, nothing particularly interesting, although one had invited him out to an event… Jin leaned back in his chair, his thoughts wandering. He'd been accompanying Ava to practice nearly daily, finding time wherever he could during his day. Now that there was no need to see Ava today, it felt a bit odd. His gaze fell onto the innocent book with a worn cover. It accompanied him from his bedroom, to his desk, to the sitting room and he had been reading it between meetings. Not long ago, he had finished it but hadn't found the time to return it to Ava.

Well… Today was as good a day as any other.

When Jin asked after Ava, the maid mentioned she had woken up not long ago and was now in the gardens. It was close to noon, a rather late time to have just woken up… Regardless, he quickly found her sitting out in the garden, seemingly soaking in the sunshine. Neither Mila nor Covin accompanied her. It was outside of Jin's knowledge to know they were tucked away in the hidden study room, working on processing Ava's stolen knowledge.

"Avaline."

Ava hastily hid something she had been fiddling with in her hand, tucking it out of sight before she turned to glance at him, a pleasant smile at her lips. "Prince Jin, good day. Did you need something?"

Jin slight smile dimmed for a moment, but seeing it was clear she didn't want to share whatever it was with him, he didn't ask and simply took the book that had been tucked in his arm, holding it out for her. "I came to return this."

"Oh, you've finished it, wonderful!" She reclaimed the book from him, lovingly running her fingers over the cover before setting it in her lap. She tucked a stray curl behind her ear, glancing up at him. "What did you like most about it?"

The honest answer was the dried flowers Ava had left in the pages but for some reason, those words seemed hard to say. So instead Jin answered with the next best he could think of. "The last few pages when that child read a story book and asked her father what winter was like."

Ava nodded knowingly. "That is a favourite moment of mine too. It's rather sweetly tragic, the celestial and her gifts are only appreciated when she is gone." She commented with a gentle sigh. She then seemed to think of something, her lips curling into a strange smile. "Oh, theres something else I wanted to show you."

From her arms, she produced a book. It was newer and in better condition but the title was the same as the one sitting in her lap.

"I had intended to have a copy purchase for the royal library but it just so happened they already had the book." She laid it on the table as she happily took in Jin's strained looking smile.

Jin coughed into his hand, recovering his expression. He folded his hands behind him, doing his best to look natural. "Is that so? I must have missed it."

Ava smiled further. "I didn't know you could lie so well, Your Highness." She praised sincerely but Jin only felt more awkward.

"I wasn't lying…" Okay he was and to his credit, he hadn't stumbled on his words, impressive considering he didn't often have to lie so blatantly. But how could he compare to the seasoned Avaline? It was an unfair match that he was bound to lose from the start.

"Anyway... thank you for allowing me to borrow your book. I'll take my leave now."

Ava had to hold back a laugh at how quickly Jin was trying to flee, her fingers gently flicking the pages of the book in her hand.