Knowing that the prince would have been safe made the guard relax a little more. And he didn’t want to turn down an offered drink. The prince was fine.

Outside, for a few minutes, Hironori just sat on the horse waiting for his guard to retrieve Akito. He was too deep into his thoughts to realize the staring eyes that started to gather at some point. “I have no idea why my father must be so. . .” Sliding off the horse, he realized the gathering crowd around him. He tensed up for a brief second, only to relax right after. They couldn’t- they wouldn’t do anything to him. He was the prince after all. So there was nothing to be afraid of. Their roaming eyes had been a little unnerving at first, but he stayed by his horse, gently patting its head. Many were intrigued by the fine garb he wore while others were more impressed with his looks.

“What a lucky kid scoring the prince.” 

“Yeah, I’ve never seen him up close either.”

There were a few whistles after a few more of those not so quiet comments about his appearance. Hiro was a mixture of flattered and mildly baffled by their boldness. He didn’t say anything however. Instead, he simply stayed in his place, occasionally making eye contact with anyone who met his gaze. The comments went on until there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere. 

“Still doesn’t change the fact that he must’ve done something to have Akito run off like this.” 

There was always the pessimistic ones of the group. This roused a few murmurs amongst the group. The prince started to puff in protest, but figured what he had to say was of little importance about the subject- unless of course Akito proved to them himself that he wasn’t at fault. But even in that moment, glancing back at his horse, he wondered if maybe he did have something to do with why Akito ran off. Sure, he learned that the former soldier was a bit scared. . .everything, but maybe it was more than that. “You don’t think I’ve done anything, do you?” The horse’s ear merely twitched towards the soft voice and Hironori patted him once more. His attention turned when the murmuring voices continued. “I can assure that as the royal family, we’ve given him nothing but the best. There’s nothing that you all need to worry about.” He managed to keep the sass out of his tone and before any of them could respond, all of them scramble at the sudden noise. 

[i]’How peculiar. . .’[/i] Hiro had a confused gaze as they scattered, only to see Akito approaching. “I’m not sure if that was out of respect. . .or fear. Very impressive nonetheless.” He spoke aloud for Akito to hear, but his gaze had still been on the others- it wasn’t clear if he was actually talking to his betrothed or not. His horse was sent away and Akito mentioned touring the countryside. That sounded nice. He took AKito’s hand in his when he realized it was offered. Normally, Akito would have his hands close by his sides or behind his back. Huh. . . Well of course he was a lot more comfortable in his old home. That only made sense. However, Hiro  couldn’t help but wonder if that particular soldier had a point. Maybe they did something wrong and made Akito more nervous than normal. A small smile spread across his face when Akito said his name. It was nice to see him not panicky and anxious about everything. He gave his hand a gentle squeeze and nodded. “Lead the way.” 

“Tell me,” He started after some time of silence. “what do you see them as? The soldiers.” Hiro was still looking ahead, his calm expression never changing. There was no real motive behind his question, however HIro did want to know a little more about the person he was to marry. Every time he tried though something went in disarray. That, and he just wanted to have a simple conversation, unless of course Akito would have much rather stayed quiet. 

It wasn’t his preferred option but if it kept Akito calm then he was willing to stay quiet.