Heroine Worship

Chapter 8- Bonding

     "You can take a break, I'll set up the camp," Jae began to look around for supplies in the relatively scarce surroundings.

      "All we really need to do is find a nice place to sit down," Valeria instructed, "we don't even need to make a fire, since Mosi can just use his magic."

      "True," Jae nodded, but still wanted to help out.

     "Hey look over there," Valeria pointed to a few rocks underneath the shade of a lonely tree, "that should work."

      "Right," Jae followed behind her.

      The two arrived at their destination. 

      "You really doing alright?" Valeria asked, still concerned about the amount of ice magic Jae had used earlier. Although Valeria didn't quite know how magical stamina worked, she could guess that Jae used a lot of his up building the bridge.

     "I'm fine, really," Jae kindly insisted.

      "Just checking," Valeria sat down on one of the rocks and stretched her arms up.

      "So, this Prince," Jae began, settling down beside her, "I assume he's the Prince of Athelaric, right?"

      "Correct," Valeria affirmed.

      "Did you know him?"

      "Nope," Valeria shook her head, then grinned, "but I'd have no trouble picking him out of a crowd, let me tell ya."

      "Are you... attracted to him?" Jae asked, trying his best not to come across as intrusive. But the way it came out was a little awkward.

      "You'd be hard-pressed to find a girl in Athelaric who didn't want to shoot her shot with him," Valeria plainly replied, unaware of his misstep, "the guy was handsome, strong, and rich— who wouldn't want that?"

      "... You?" Jae guessed from how matter-of-fact Valeria was being. 

     He was spot on.

      "At first I did, but then I figured a Royal wouldn't want anything to do with a petty commoner like me, so naturally, the crush faded away. Also, I could never ever see myself being a princess— much less one in Athelaric," Valeria explained, staring up at the sky, "You know, most of the time, all the guys that I've liked never even looked at me. I was completely invisible to them. I know I'm not the kind of girl most guys are looking for, so I've just come to accept it. Back then, the only dudes that would give me the time of day were idiots who wanted to rack up their body count. I saw through them, of course. Ugh, it's frustrating."

      "Well, if it's true love, then differences like money and family won't matter," Jae pointed out.

     "Oh?" Valeria's attention was piqued, and she threw herself forward, looking at him. "Do you have a special someone?" 

      "Huh? No!" Jae denied, waving his hands.

      "That's hard to believe," Valeria replied, reclining as best as she could on the rocks once again. "I'd think a guy like you would be quite the heartbreaker."

      "What makes you say that?" Jae asked with a little laugh, genuinely curious.

      "Look at you! You're in great shape, you're put together, and when you don't stink of booze, you smell quite nice!" Valeria grinned.

      "You're never gonna let that go, are you," Jae shook his head in exasperation, "I was enjoying the praise up until that point."

     "Hey, that's a high compliment where I come from! You'd be amazed of how many guys I've come across that think hygiene is optional," Valeria crinkled up her nose.