𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖆 𝖘𝖍𝖊-𝖍𝖊𝖉𝖌𝖊𝖍𝖔𝖌

      Rouge and Silver get to their feet and the latter begins to think correctly what is needed now: — “Now I feel better! I feel that now I love this castle, and the prince, and everyone who lives in it.” — Here you go! The main thing is to think more often about good things and something calm. What do you like best? — asked the witch. — I like? — Silver asked her and thought about it himself, and the hat translated his thoughts into hearing. — “I like her niece better.” — "What?" — Rouge herself was immediately surprised in her thoughts and her eyes bulged. — “Amy Rose! I don't know why, but I love her. Just not just as a friend. When I first saw her, she seemed to me like an angel sent as if to help me, to make me happy. It's like I have some kind of spiritual connection with her. It seems to me that we are connected with her. The same curse. But I don’t know how to tell her that I love her?” — while he was thinking about this and finished thinking, the hedgehog said out loud: — Miss Rouge, I like your niece Amy. Although... Did you already hear this from my thoughts? Yes? Rouge became a little shy and didn't know what to say. She just calmly asked: — Do you... Do you really love her? — Of couse. I fell in love with her at first sight and my heart almost jumped out of my chest. It feels like I... — You can’t live without her. — Having guessed what he was going to answer, the witch herself finished the conversation. Silver looked at her questioningly. She looked around and saw that Amy was not nearby, and the door to the bedroom was slightly open, she decided to go there. Before that, she answered: — Will you tell everyone that you already walked Amy and me to the bedroom? I still need to consult with the prince before going to bed. — Okay. — Silver answers her, and in his thoughts, he took off his hat and thought: — “She’s kind of strange. Although Amy is even weirder, that’s why I like her.” Having decided on this, the hedgehog went down the steps, and Rouge knocked on the prince’s bedroom. — Yes? Who is this? — Sonic asked. — It's me, Rouge. prince Sonic, I'm sorry for coming to you uninvited, but I would like to talk to you. And only in private. — A! Okay. Let's meet and talk to you personally in the dining room during dinner. It's just Sally and I... A little busy. — Okay. I'll be waiting for dinner. — says the witch and leaves.

***

      Amy at that time ran out of the gate, ran to the fountain, folded her hands near the stone railing and lowered her head and began to cry. The guards passing by, who looked at her, did not understand, who offended her so much? But they did not interfere and did not ask, since, on the orders of the prince, they only patrol the palace and guard it. Despite the fact that Amy had no voice, she could clearly be heard sighing and sobbing. — “The prince doesn’t love me. He loves that squirrel. He doesn't need me. My heart is broken. I can already feel myself slowly starting to die and turn into sea foam. Is this really my destiny? Visit and live on land with the prince for only two days and die there? What should I do now? She didn’t even notice that Silver himself had approached her. He came and ran his hand over the hedgehog’s shoulder. Amy stopped crying and looked questioningly at Silver. Along with him was the dog Yuki himself, who sadly looked at the hedgehog, despite his slightly serious face, and barked sadly. He also looked at her questioningly and asked: — Why are you crying? Amy wanted to take out a notebook and write him an answer on paper, but Silver put his hand on her notebook, asking her not to write anything. Instead, he simply put her own hat on her head and Amy began to think: — "Sorry! I... I...” — the hedgehog herself didn’t know what to think in response. — “Silver, tell me, what would you do if you had only one night to live and you knew that you might die at dawn, how would you react to such a situation? Especially when you find out that the one you fell in love with loves someone else.” — What are you talking about? I... I... I'm already in love with one... Person... True, he doesn't know about it yet... I'm just afraid to admit it to him... I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him at first sight ... He helped me a lot and adjusted my life... I am in love only with him and with no one else... Well, if I had to die before tomorrow and had only one day left to live, then I would rather immediately I would confess my love to this person and I wouldn’t care how he would answer me. The main thing for me is that he lives happily... And not think only about himself. — "You are right!" — Amy thought and stopped crying. — “You can’t give up! I’ll go right now and honestly confess everything to Prince Sonic.” — Prince Sonic? Wait! — Silver stopped her, lightly taking her hand. —Have you fallen in love with the prince? — "Yes? And what?" — Rose didn’t understand. — “But...” — the white hedgehog suddenly fell silent and lowered his head. He didn't know how to answer her. — "Please! Let me go!" — the hedgehog politely asked and the hedgehog let her go, after which she ran back to the palace. Yuki ran after her. Silver remained standing where he was and whispered to himself: — But the person I fell in love with... It’s you!... As soon as Amy entered the palace, the prince himself, by pure coincidence, came out hugging Sally and the hedgehog approached them. — O! Amy, we were just on our way to you and wanted to talk to you. — said Sally. — "I know. I also want to tell you something... Do you understand?... What should I tell them?” — Turning off her hat for a while, she thought about what she had to convey in her thoughts. But instead, she simply wrote on a piece of notebook and showed the prince and princess the inscription “Prince Sonic, I love you.” From what he read, a blush appeared on Sonic’s cheeks, as did Sally. — Oh, Amy Rose. Forgive me! I didn’t feel anything like that for you that you feel for me. We were just talking about this with Sally and wanted to talk to you about this topic. — Sonic finished speaking and gave the next turn to Sally: — Don't be offended by us, Amy! It’s just that Sonic and I have known each other for a long time. He and I love each other very much. But we don't want to upset you. I always wanted a good friend like you. We like you, Amy, but Sonic only likes me. — You were just a good friend to me yesterday, Amy. But even this way I like you. Unfortunately, I don’t feel anything more for you. And you and I barely know each other. But I still appreciate that you decided to confess your love to me. Trust me. Is it true. But I still love Sally. Sorry! The hedgehog lowered her head at what she heard. Although she still expected a similar answer, since she would die tomorrow anyway. — Don't be offended, Amy. We ourselves feel offended when you are sad. — Sally put her hand on the pink one’s shoulder. She turned on her hat again and, slowly removing the princess’s hand from her shoulder, answered with sad thoughts: — "I understand. We don’t know each other well and we can’t be together... But I have to admit... I was glad that I ended up in your town, settled in your castle and lived on land for at least two days, like a person. I may not have been born a human and didn’t even live like a human, but for that... At least having lived this happy life and honestly confessed to you what I feel for you, prince Sonic, I can now die with a clear conscience, As a person." — Please! Do not say that! — Sonic answers and hugs the hedgehog, feeling sorry for her. — This is not the end of the world yet! I am sure that you still have your whole life ahead of you and you will definitely find someone who will love you as much as you love him. Throw away all your suicidal thoughts and move on with your life! — "Oh! If only everything were that simple! But thanks anyway for your support." — she answered mentally and hugged the prince back. Then she leaves behind the gate. — “If you suddenly never see me again tomorrow at dawn, then know this. I don’t hold any grudge or angry against you.” — With these thoughts, she left the castle through the gate and left. Sonic sighed heavily and said: — Poor girl! — She just says that out of resentment, like many women. I’m sure she said it just like that and will forgive us tomorrow. — his future wife reassured him and kissed him on the cheek. Afterwards she walked up the stairs and waved her hand to her husband for the night. Taking Sally’s word for it, Sonic smiled and went to the dining room, where Rouge herself was already waiting for him to eat the fish sticks that Maria gave her. — Would you like anything for dessert? — M... A cup of coffee with sugar, if possible! — Rouge asked. — We'll bring it now. — the girl answers and goes to the kitchen. — Dad! The prince enters the dining room and sits down opposite the witch. — So. What did you want to talk to me about, Miss Rouge? — I have questions regarding you and my niece Amy. How do you feel about her? — Rouge asked the prince, smiling, and he answered: — Calmly. I even like her. She's certainly a little stupid, but funny. I couldn’t even dream of such a possible friend. — To a friend? - asked the witch. — Yes. I like her as a friend. — So you don’t feel anything more for her? — No. I only feel this way about Sally. — Sonic explained. — I like your Amy too, believe me. Of course I love her, but only as a friend. By the way, we already talked about this topic and it seemed... She understood everything and accepted it as it was that Sally and I loved each other more and that we would get married. Rouge wiped her sweat and sighed with relief, realizing that everything would work out well for Amy in this case. — So you want to marry Sally? But for what? - she also asked. — What do you mean why? For the union of our two kingdoms into one. Moreover, Sally and I know very well that one should get married not according to the calculation of royal law, but out of love. Sally and I have known each other since childhood and fell in love with each other a long time ago. But for now we are postponing our wedding with her for a long time. — But why? — the witch did not understand. — We’re just afraid of her... What if the wedding doesn’t solve anything and our kingdoms don’t want to unite with each other? What if someone is against it and conflicts, riots and quarrels with murders begin in various cities, including ours, where we live? — What nonsense? You are a prince and princess. — Rouge said, getting up from her chair and walking over to the prince, starting to massage his shoulders. — All your people love and respect you. They will not dare to contradict you on this topic and will only be for it when you get married and decide to unite your kingdoms with her. Besides, an alliance between kingdoms is also good. After all, when everyone unites, together they are stronger. I remember my mother once told me, using the example of spikelets of branches from spotted coral, that one ru... A person will not be able to hold a stone, for example, and will break. However, with five six they can do anything. They will not only hold the stone, but even throw it or drag it. Everyone will only be in favor of unification, so that everyone lives together and helps each other. Something suddenly dawned on Sonic. — Yes. You're right. — he said, stood up and briefly kissed the bat octopus on the lips for one second as a sign of gratitude, after which he left the dining room. — Thank you for your support and advice, Miss Rouge. Rouge at this time returned to her table and sat down at it, beginning to think about Amy. How will she personally take it all? But the most important thing is that she will live, because she does not have a romantic and spiritual connection with Prince Sonic, since he only has friendly relations with her. This means she still has a chance to find someone who will truly love her. Only who it will be, even she herself doesn’t know yet. Maria distracted her from these thoughts by bringing a mug of coffee with sugar. — Your coffee, Miss Rouge. — Thank you. The crab Lomar, hiding under the table, naturally overheard everything. He stopped watching Rouge and crawled to the window, jumping through it onto the street. The witch heard something clicking near the window and turned around to see who was there. However, the crab managed to jump off and the octopus bat did not have time to notice it. After a couple of seconds, she decided that she must have imagined it and continued drinking coffee with fish sticks.

At the same time

      Amy returned to that same fountain again and this time sat down next to it. She sat and was sad. Yuki lay next to her and tapped sadly, worried about the mermaid-hedgehog herself. The latter, looking at the Doberman, smiles and strokes his head. The hat immediately translated her thoughts about Yuki into her ear: — “Good doggie!” The Doberman, accepting the affection and hearing this from her, calmed down. Coincidentally, Silver himself approaches them again. He held in his hand a red rose with holes cut out from thorns, which were removed from the rose itself so that it would not be scratched or pricked. He approached her a little shyly and wanted to give a signal cough, as Rose herself had noticed him earlier. — “Hello, Silver. Why are you here so late?” — she mentally asked him. — I did... I wanted to please you a little so that you wouldn’t be sad. — the hedgehog answers shyly and extends his hand with a rose. — This is for you, Amy. — "Rose? To me?" — The hedgehog's eyes bulged. — Do not you like it? — Silver was upset and almost cried himself. — "No no no! What you? What you?" — Amy answered mentally and took this gift into her hand. She even smelled it and thought: “What a pleasant aroma she has! Where did you find it?” — I raised it myself in the prince’s garden. She's growing somewhere for a week. And she's beautiful... Just like you. — he accidentally blurted out and didn’t even hear it himself. — "Really? Do you think that I am also beautiful, like this rose? Then Silver realized that he had blurted out too much. Although from the way Rose smiled, she liked it as a compliment. Silver simply nodded silently. Amy stood up from the fountain and hugged the white hedgehog, which made him a little surprised, but also happy at the same time. — “Thank you, Silver.” — My pleasure. After the hug, they walked back to the palace. Silver escorted the hedgehog to her bedroom and was just about to leave, when Yuki specifically attacked Silver from behind and pushed him slightly forward. When he took a step forward, he accidentally touched her lips with his, which made Amy's eyes widen at first. However, then she covered them with her eyelids and accepted, albeit accidental, a kiss from the butler. When Silver removed his lips, he looked sternly at the dog, knowing that it was he who specifically pushed him so that he would kiss her. However, the dog turned his face away and pretended to know nothing. Nevertheless, Amy liked this kiss. She may not have kissed the prince, but at least she kissed someone. After wishing the hedgehog good night, Silver takes the dog with him and leaves. Rose is left alone in her bedroom for now. She even thought about Silver: — “This Silver is so kind and honest. I thought that Sonic and I would kiss, but I also liked the kiss with him. Let me at least die at the dawn of a new day, happy that I was kissed by a court son!” — with these thoughts she went to bed and fell asleep.

***

      By the next morning, Amy woke up much earlier than everyone else. The sun had not yet risen and the new morning had not yet come. Rose stood near the window, watching the sun slowly rise from the horizon and the hedgehog covering his eyes with his eyelids. She knew in advance that she would now turn into sea foam and die at dawn, just as the witch Rouge prophesied for her as a side effect. With her eyes closed and a smile on her face, she remembers all these two days on land, how wonderful and happy she spent them. The sun has already risen and a new morning has arrived. Amy opens her eyes, and she is still standing in the same place. And in the same appearance with legs, safe and sound. Not believing it, she touches herself with her hands and feels herself, realizing that she is still alive. On the one hand, this made her happy, but on the other, it raised a question: — “If I didn't turn into sea foam because prince Sonic doesn't love me, then who loves me? And who should I love?”