The prince’s mind wandered to the various things in the kingdom to explore. His father was such a big advocate of safety. He shouldn’t have been surprised when Hiro decided to take up magic! Before he could become exasperated with his father despite his absence, he watched as both Akito and Hoko perked up. “Must be time to go.” He took the aid, holding Akito’s hand. As they sped through the forest- and sped back to camp, several times, Hiro had called for him to slow down. He wasn’t meant to run in his attire. He hadn’t planned to either- fortunately Akito was well aware of that.

When they stopped, Hiro took a moment to catch his breath before straightening up to focus on the conversation. He kind of wondered if Akito would respond to anyone whistling but as he thought about it, it seemed kind of rude. The soldier wasn’t a dog after all, it wasn’t polite. Feeling the gentle squeeze, Hiro looked down realizing Akito was still holding on to his hand. He gave a small smile, unnoticed by the three and gently squeezed Akito’s hand back. There was no reason to be embarrassed, but then again it was Akito who seemed to get embarrassed easily. 

The steward looked at the prince and his betrothed before turning to the general. “There’s a carriage just outside the camp. We stopped there because of the rocky terrain and travelled by horse.” He gestured to Akito. “It’s a long walk, so I suggest he gets a lift as well.” The horse could only seat two men obviously and as stated the steward didn’t advise walking. 

The general was probably going to end up travelling with Akito in order to take the extra horse back to camp. Well, at least Akito would still be able to get a few final words in before he left for the palace.

A soldier walked up, holding the reigns of the palace horse. He handed them to the steward. nodded, and walked off. “We should be off, so the emperor doesn’t get too worried.”