Bonus Story: Sweet Practice, Oft Repeated

Bonus Story:
Sweet Practice, Oft Repeated

RISHE KNEW WELL the importance of repeated practice. Even if she struggled with something at first, she under­stood that if she put in the effort to practice, she might see improvement one day. To that end, Rishe stared down at Arnold’s hand as they rode in the carriage on their way back to the capital, her cheeks flushed with heat.

Arnold was seated next to her, asleep, with his head on her shoulder. Half an hour ago, he had been doing paperwork as usual. Rishe had been processing some medicinal flowers she’d recently obtained, her handkerchief open on her lap, when she’d felt a weight settle on her shoulder.

“Prince Arnold?”

She’d noticed that he was blinking slower, but she had never expected him to fall asleep on her. She was flustered at first, eventually calming as she listened to his quiet breaths.

Now she reached for his hand, then gasped and withdrew.

“…”

She eyed her hand, lifted it, and kissed her ring finger.

Ngh… Nope, no success.

Rishe pulled her lips away and cocked her head before changing the angle slightly and kissing her own hand once more.

“Hm?”

That wasn’t it either. She blinked as she observed her hand and then glanced at Arnold again, her eyes landing on his own hand resting defenselessly on his lap.

I need more practice.

Just as she was about to kiss her own hand again…

“What are you doing?”

“Ack!”

Arnold grabbed her hand.

“I-I’m sorry! Did I wake you?!”

“No.”

Arnold could have worked the nap into his schedule, for all she knew. But he continued leaning on her, interlacing their fingers.

“Oh…”

“Rishe.” His voice was low and husky from sleep. He’d occasionally touched her this way ever since he was injured in the ship fire. This made it hard to tell who was indulging whom.

The way he said her name made it clear that he wanted an answer to his earlier question.

Rishe gave in and confessed, “I was just thinking, you were really good at it…”

“Good at what?”

“Hrk! Um, well…” She squeezed his hand nervously. “Kissing…the back of my hand…”

She felt like she’d just revealed exactly how much she’d been thinking about that kiss, which mortified her. He sat up, pulling away to observe her. Rishe, meanwhile, couldn’t meet his eyes at all. She was staunchly avoiding letting him see her undoubtedly crimson face.

“I don’t think that’s something you can be good at.”

“W-well, I do! It’s totally different when I do it,” she said vaguely, unable to describe what she meant. She didn’t even have the presence of mind to realize their fingers were still entwined.

Rishe had kissed the back of Arnold’s hand on the beach in Vinrhys, but the kiss she’d given him with her vow was much clumsier than Arnold’s had been.

“So I was…practicing with my own hand…” He must have heard her despite how her voice faded to practically nothing by the time she reached the end of her sentence.

He must be completely astounded that I was practicing something so nonsensical, she thought, her nerves frayed to high heaven.

Arnold stared at her for a few moments before lifting their clasped hands and bringing them up to Rishe’s lips.

“Here.”

“Huh?” Rishe looked up and met Arnold’s tranquil gaze. “Y-you don’t mind?”

“Do what you want.”

He was giving her permission to practice on him. For whatever reason, it seemed he’d decided to play along with Rishe’s strange idea. Embarrassment with a slight edge of guilt jostled inside her.

It’s unfair of me to touch him like this when I’m hiding my love for him.

Still, Rishe took him up on his offer and pulled his hand closer. As her heart thrummed and her ears turned scarlet, Rishe kissed the base of Arnold’s ring finger. Her lips pulled away with a light smack. She peered up at Arnold; she really didn’t feel like she’d done it well. Arnold was just giving her that same disinterested look as always, so she took that as permission to continue and kissed his hand again.

“Mm…”

She wasn’t satisfied with the second kiss either and scrunched her face up in confusion.

“Mmm?”

She changed the way their fingers were entwined and kissed him a third time, then changed her angle and kissed him a fourth time, but she still couldn’t do it like Arnold. As a test, she nibbled on the finger with her lips, but she was quite sure this was not the answer.

Oh, how she wished he would tell her the trick to it! She called his name in capitulation, and he sighed and let go of her hand.

He’s right. I tried it so many times. That’s enough practice for now…

As soon as disappointment pricked her, Arnold’s hand ­engulfed hers, and her eyes went wide.

“Oh!”

Arnold kissed the back of her hand. He pressed his lips to the same finger she had, his touch gentle and sweet, almost like she might melt under it. It was nothing like Rishe’s kiss.

Yet Arnold brushed his lips against her skin, held her gaze, and declared, “I don’t think we’re doing anything different.”

“I-It’s completely different!” Rishe choked out, even as she felt like she would have a heart attack.

She decided to get some more practice in before the carriage reached its next rest stop, but each time she tried, her mind just filled with his own kisses to her hand. She was confident she wasn’t going to improve anytime soon.