Princess Alver (og Cale x Alver)

Part 5

Bob certainly had a way of weighing down his thoughts.

And an even stranger way of making his heart pull all sorts of strange stunts.

Cale thrust his hands into his pockets as he stalked the early streets with a thuggish scowl that caused the townspeople to lock their doors with fright.

She had these warm brown eyes that pierced straight through every single one of his defenses. She was poised, well spoken, sharp, and strong. Definitely a suspicious combination for a person that was lurking around his territory.

So Cale made the excuse that he wasn't looking for her because he was curious about her or interested in her , it was merely because she was suspicious and potentially dangerous.

Of course, if she actually posed any danger to the territory she'd already had plenty of opportunities to do so unchecked so Cale's flimsy excuse hardly seemed believable even to his own ears.

But he wanted to run into her again.

It was a bit ridiculous. Thus far they'd met entirely accidentally and they'd run into each other for several days but the one day that he decided that he really wanted to find her, the streets were curiously bereft of a gorgeous woman hidden behind a cloak.

Cale didn't give up though.

While Cale's flimsy excuse that she was dangerous didn't hold much water, the truth was that she was suspicious.

He still couldn't fathom how she'd noticed what his own family had never taken notice of. She was either insanely perceptive or there was quite a bit more to know about her. Probably both.

Cale figured the best course of action would be to educate himself.

Now if only Bob would show herself–

"That's unusual."

Cale nearly jumped out of his own skin, whirling around to face her before gathering his composure. He wasn't the strongest person out there but he was normally capable of feeling when someone snuck up on him. He hadn't noticed her at all.

'Bob' gave him a snarky smirk that did something funny to his stomach.

"Can't decide where to get drunk tonight?"

It took Cale a moment to understand what she was referring to. He had been stalking the streets aimlessly for the better part of an hour in his search when he would normally head to his tavern of choice quite quickly.

It was embarrassing to be caught so Cale lied.

"I decided." He sneered. "It tasted like trash."

He hadn't drunk a damn thing all day because Bob had been on his mind but she couldn't know that and he wasn't going to enlighten her.

She lifted an eyebrow skeptically and fell in step beside him. Cale felt a strange sense of relief as she did. He'd get to spend a bit more time with her.

To figure her out –of course it was to figure her out. To uncover the mystery of the highly suspicious woman who was traipsing through his territory without a single care in the world. That wasn't a complete lie at least.

Cale was deeply curious to know more about her.

His initial suspicion that she was an elf didn't offer any actual explanation towards her identity or purpose here at all. Elves avoided humans and rarely bothered with interacting with them more than necessary.

"I don't think I've heard you once say you liked anything that you drank." She said, her tone perfectly calculated for easy-going yet inquisitive. "So if you don't get drunk and you hate the taste, what's the purpose?"

"I never said I don't get drunk." He said stiffly, cursing himself when he noticed he'd spoken too stiffly.

"You didn't deny it yesterday."

"Fuck off. I was too drunk to think straight."

To his surprise, she laughed. He looked towards her only to see that she was just as surprised as he was. A hand over her lips and brown eyes wide at the sudden sound.

Cale's lips twitched upwards. "Something funny?" Why was he so pleased at the idea that she'd laughed at him? It was stupid. This whole thing was stupid.

But her laugh had sounded nice and he wanted to hear it again.

Bob looked away, her cheeks darkening with embarrassment. "I just thought that you're a rude person."

"That's a lie."

Bob let out a disbelieving scoff and Cale was delighted to see her gaze move back towards him sharply. "How is that possibly a lie? You can't be so oblivious not to notice what a crude bastard you are."

Cale had to suppress a laugh of his own.

It took him a moment to realize why.

He was having fun.

It was just a walk through the city with a suspicious stranger who he'd met in clipped moments but something about talking to her was so effortlessly fun that he wanted to laugh. He wanted to smile.

It was a queer feeling and he didn't know what to do with it.

"Of course I'm a piece of shit." Cale rolled his eyes. "I'm famous for it. I was calling you out on your other lie."

She bristled. "What other lie?"

"That's not why you laughed." If it was, she wouldn't have been so embarrassed about it.

"You're confident, young master Cale." She scoffed again. "However, aren't you just trying to shift the topic away from your own dishonesty?"

His lips curved upwards despite himself.

Why was this so fun?

They weren't talking about anything important. There wasn't anything meaningful to this other than calling one another out for being dishonest. There wasn't a single reason in the world that he should be feeling so elated.

He hadn't felt this effortlessly happy in years.

The thought was sobering and Cale scowled.

What was he doing? Spending time with a suspicious woman because he thought she was fun? Foolish. Pointless. Distracting. He had other things to do, like getting completely fake-drunk and getting disinherited, he didn't need to bother with someone like her. She probably wasn't even dangerous. She'd had many opportunities to cause him harm and the worst she'd done was laugh at him.

Cale forced the happiness down. "Whatever the fuck helps you sleep at night." He said coldly, increasing his pace so that she would get the hint that he was done with her. "I don't have the time to waste on a filthy peasant like you."

He didn't turn to see her face and he kept his pace up. It wasn't the hardest cruelty he'd done.

But it was the stupidest.

Cale hadn't even made it half a block before the stupidity dawned on him.

There was no purpose in being her friend but there was no purpose in trying to hurt her either. Cale had always calculated his attacks on others so that they were tactically beneficial toward him or directed at a bastard who really deserved it.

She didn't deserve any of that.

He turned around, an apology on his lips, but the street behind him was empty.

He closed his eyes and cursed himself before slumping back towards the Henituse estate.

Why the hell had he done that? It was so irrational and impulsive.

It was almost like he was scared of having fun with her and lashed out in response.