It was pleasantly warm today and the sounds of hammering could be heard throughout the city. The markets were bustling with activity and many buildings, streets and monuments were being repaired. After the revolution, there was a lot to repair, even if comparatively little had been destroyed in Meglarsbruck. Although, a lot had to be prepared for the coming parade as well. But even before the rooster had crowed, work activities could be heard everywhere. One day, Wenzel had taken the time to stroll through the town and see what was going on. It was still the same city, even if some other people had moved in and a lot of people who used to live here were no longer here. The character of the metropolis remained the same and the way of life for the ordinary citizens, craftsmen and farmers also remained the same. The bakers got up very early to bake the bread, the tailors made clothes, the bricklayers and roofers erected buildings and the soldiers kept order. Everything was business as usual. On the surface, the world still seemed to be the same. But a lot had changed underneath.
As Wenzel was wearing his new, "official" clothes, people naturally recognised him as he marched through the streets with a few guards. Many approached and, to avoid being mobbed, he quickly hurried on. He didn't like drawing attention to himself. Next time he would like to wear simple clothes so as not to attract attention. However, everyone in the palace, even his guards, disagreed with him on this point, as it was "improper“, and they could lose sight of him this way. Wenzel understood these arguments, but he still wanted others to meet him "in a normal way". He strolled around, past stone carvers who were working on a whole row of large white marble statues, that caught his eye. When the entourage returned later, the lad had a simple lunch with Amalie. Ferenc and Brahm were busy with something else and Peter had returned home to his parents after a few days with a written pardon and a writ of protection from the emperor in spe. Amalie didn't particularly like the food, but didn't complain. Wenzel didn't notice this at all.
When they had finished, however, the young man had a question for her: "Hey, are you free this afternoon?" Of course she had time, as there wasn't much for her to do here at the moment. "Would you like to go for a walk with me this afternoon?" The girl thought for a moment and then replied: "If you want to, sure. But weren't you already in town this morning?" - "We're not going into town." - "Then where are we going?" she asked in surprise. Wenzel replied: "Out into nature. I love nature." He then informed the Crown Guards that he would be away for a short time and that they shouldn’t look for him. Although the guardsmen did not approve of his idea, they didn’t stop him either. After all, he had told them about his planned absence, unlike last time...
Amalie dressed nicely, while Wenzel put on relatively ordinary, though not ugly, clothes. When the girl saw this, she was a little surprised. But she quickly realised what exactly the guy was up to. They went out onto a balcony and Wenzel said: "Hold on to me, okay. This time we're flying again. You’re already familiar with how that works." And so they did and flew over the high rooftops of Meglarsbruck and over the thick, centuries-old city wall out into the countryside. They passed over a number of green, sprouting fields and wide, hilly plains. These were the fertile lands of Central Ordania, the heart of the empire and the bread basket of Kaphkos. Here and there they saw farmers and their labourers toiling in the fields. The magician looked for a place where nobody could disturb them. He then landed in a large, lonely field. Wenzel put his date down and the two of them simply started walking haphazardly side by side.
Stolen novel; please report.
It was a beautiful day and the sun was pleasantly warm on their skin. A gentle breeze blew over the hills and made the still green corn sway in the wind. "Isn't it beautiful here?" asked Wenzel. "Yes, it really is. What an idyllic place," Amalie had to agree with him. The boy then said: "Yes, Ordania is such a beautiful country. I've seen a thousand times more of it in the last year than I ever have in my life. Its fresh streams and mighty rivers, its mountains, valleys and quiet forests. In the past, I had only been locked up. That meant I couldn't experience all this beauty." -"Do you like being alone in nature?" the girl asked. Wenzel replied: "Definitely. But being alone all the time only has its appeal, if you're not alone the rest of the time." One could guess what he was trying to say here. However, he didn't follow up this statement with anything. The two of them walked silently through the wide fields for a moment.
"I wish I could fly. It must be an incredibly liberating feeling to be able to do that at any time." Amalie seemed to enjoy flying. But the young man pondered what she had said. Then he replied: "It's all a question of perspective. If I couldn't fly or use magic, my life would have been very different. It would have been more ordinary, but also less risky. I might even have had more freedom in some respects, if I hadn't been a mage." Then he thought about it some more and immediately regretted his assertion, as he realised that everyone in Ordania had had to endure a lot of hardship in recent years. The only hope that remained was, that everything would get better again. But Amalie replied: "Asking 'what if' is not a good idea. The world is the way it is and you are the way you are. That can't be changed." A gentle smile flitted across Wenzel's lips in response.
He allowed a moment of silence to take effect, then the lad spoke: "That's right. I am the way I am. But, of course, that doesn't mean that your views and feelings don’t change over time. But even that doesn't have to be the case." They stood still. Now he hesitated a little, but then gave himself a metaphorical push. "My feelings about you haven't changed since we our time in school." Amalie looked at him intently. Wenzel dropped his gaze to the floor and continued: "I fell in love with you back then and that's still true now, no, it's even more true than it was back then." The girl's face blushed. At first, she didn't answer, but then she overcame her own shyness, a trait she shared with Wenzel. "I love you too." What she liked about Wenzel was his good-naturedness, calmness and that they were on a similar wavelength. But she didn't say that, as that one statement had already used up all her courage.
Thus, the two of them had finally revealed their feelings for each other. They then walked quite a bit further and eventually even started holding hands. However, they didn't want the others to know about it, yet. They wanted to let the relationship develop slowly. Wenzel didn't quite know how to deal with it all yet. He had no clue what he was doing. When they returned to the palace later, Brahm gave him a lecture. It was irresponsible to simply disappear for a few hours alone and without protection. At the same time, however, his friend emphasised that he was glad that the future emperor had at least informed them.
