sapphire and emerald

An alternate universe, kind of canon divergence story, the continuation of the anime (sort of).

She walked down the same corridor the first day she arrived in this country. To say yes, with the benefit of second judgement, to the crown prince's offer of marriage was a risk-free choice. After all, who could fall in love with her own murderer?

Unnoticed, the unthinkable happened. Her desire for Arnold was a thread in a complex tapestry, an intricate creation of her emotions. Persuading him to come outdoors with her, to feast on sandwiches on the banks of the stream under the plum trees shading their faces, to pour him tea and place a bet on which of them would eat two slices of lemon cake first - it had nothing to do with seduction.

Or, an afternoon, when Rishe doesn't said I love you to Arnold.