I might update this time to time...
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"Your Highness, I really don't think this is necessary. The school could be built on safer grounds." Evelina nervously fumbled with the straps of the bag she carried.
"No no, I have deemed this to be the most ideal place and so we shall build it here." The prince of their prospering kingdom stood gallantly before the forest that had claimed a quiet area for itself.
"But these lands belong to the Deadly Silent. To form a school would disrupt their silence! Many could die!"
"We're already ghosts, Evelina."
"Right, of course, your Highness."
"Now help me clear the way, these trees shall make a fine material to build the floor of our school from."
Evelina gulped, sweat trickling down her back.
"Why couldn't we have brought everyone else along? They would be happy to do this..."
"My friends came along with me for emotional support, you and I are the only ones strong enough to actually handle the Deadly Silent."
She sighed as she'd done the entire journey there. She could feel her power gather in a liquid form, pulling and sloshing and gathering water around her. Her water cut through the trees like a needle through water. Meanwhile, her escortee huffed and smiled as he grabbed his axe and swung through the forest.
Seconds had passed and already a clearing had formed.
"How about I cut the tree and destroy the stumps and you cut the wood into planks?"
"As you wish, Your Highness." She gathered all the wood and used one of the stumps as a table of sorts. But then, she realized...
"I don't know how to cut wood into planks."
They both stopped in their tracks, realizing that among their team of nobles and bodyguards, no one was a carpenter/woodworker.
"...Let's just figure this out as we go."
She grabbed his shoulder. "We can't waste this wood."
"..."
"...Should we ask someone to head back?"
The prince sighed and looked towards the path they had come from. It was a long long way to the kingdom, and their fastest member was also their strongest member.
Evelina sighed, this world was nothing but tiring. It would be hard for her to explain she returned alone for a carpenter.
"You don't have to go."
"It'd be the fastest for me to go. Besides, you and the others can get started on cleansing this area in the meantime."
Once the prince hesitantly nodded and gave her permission to leave, Evelina leaped high into the air and used her water to transport her back to the kingdom.
Thankfully due to her speed the originally two-and-a-half-day trip was now a two-and-a-half-hour trip, and so she quickly arrived at the castle and requested to see the queen.
"Evelina? Where is the prince?" The queen asked once she saw her.
Eveline flushed, as she always did upon meeting one of the Royals. "We arrived at the Deadly Silent forest but have come across an issue."
"And what is that?"
"None of us have woodworking skills..."
"..."
"Right, we never discussed that... Quickly take one of the best, the prince's safety is our priority."
"Of course, your majesty." Evelina grabbed two of the woodworkers (it was always better than one) and lifted them off towards the Deadly Silent Forest.
"Do not scream, do not look down, and do not distract me," which is really what she should've said before they did all three.
The quick trip was now a long one, extending from two-and-a-half to four whole hours away from the prince. But before they could land, Evelina heard screaming.
She sped towards the source and found the emissary fighting the forest. Dropping the carpenters in the middle of the group she planted herself in the opposite position of the prince and began to pull the water from out of the branches.
Quickly the branches slid away, and the group calmed down.
"Evelina! Glad you could make it." The prince hugged her before she could respond.
"These are the carpenters?"
"Yes."
"Prince Hubert Drogo Euthymias Fortana," he introduced himself with his hand out, eager to shake their hands, "Though I'm sure you know that."
"Uh, your Highness, my name is Alvin Cvetkov." He shook his hand quickly, most likely so no one could accuse him of a crime.
"Alim Lyne, your Highness." The second was a little slower but quickly snapped out of it.
"Good, now, could you help us make planks of this wood?" The prince gestured to all the wood he and Evelina had cut from earlier.
"We would love to, but no one has ever made the wood of this forest into planks."
"Oh, well just try things out. By the way, our camp is over there so let us know when you run out so we can get more."
He walked away after handing him his axe and paraded back to camp, followed by Evelina after throwing a pitiful gaze at the two clueless carpenters. The two quickly reached the camp as the prince's friends leaped at him.
"Hubert! Oh, thank goodness you're safe. We were all so worried," said the noble lady of house Teeriis (known for their theatrical plays and ability to detect other powers).
Two of the other ladies came along as well, holding him close and gushing about how worried they were. His fourth friend, and the only other male, rolled his eyes and said, "You should all probably be less worried about his protection when he's got Evelina and his power to protect him."
The sudden spotlight on Evelina had her rigid as stone, she hated it when Roy called her out.
"Well, he's our prince, of course, we're all worried!" Anika was always one to refute Roy, she simply hated how he called them out as well.
The prince gave Roy a stern look before speaking, "Right, well anyway, the carpenters said we're gonna have to wait a while since no one's worked with this wood before."
Then the prince walked over to a clearing and began to craft tents and a campfire. Roy sat down at the campfire, quick to take place near the source of warmth, as the ladies sat down on a log instead and watched over the prince from a distance.
Evelina, however, stood in the middle of that distance, having to listen to the girls squeal about his work.
"The way he saved us was so grand! With a mighty swing and a toothy smile, he's perfect!"
"Of course he is, do you remember how we first met him?"
"Ah, the best day of my life."
Flashback
𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗). 𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚓𝚘𝚢. 𝙱𝚞𝚝, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚞𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗.
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚕𝚋𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜.
𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢? 𝙾𝚛 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍𝚢? 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?
𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔. 𝙰 𝚆𝙴𝙴𝙺!
𝚃𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜.
"𝙻𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚊?"
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎.
"𝙼𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊."
𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊, 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕.
"𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝."
"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢? 𝙰 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢."
"𝙸𝚝'𝚜...𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎."
"𝙷𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍?"
𝙸𝚏 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚋 𝚕𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚙, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙽𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚖𝚋 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝙴𝙽𝙸𝚄𝚂! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚘, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍.
𝙰 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.
𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.
𝙳𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚝! 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛.
𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢 (𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎). 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝.
𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚝 (𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚝?) 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍.
"To this day, I owe everything to him." She fanned herself (which came out of nowhere) as she began to listen to the other's story.
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍! 𝙸𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙸 𝚊𝚍𝚍.
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐.
"𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝙰𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚊, 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗?"
"𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛."
"𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎, 𝚢𝚎𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚢 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎."
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕.
"𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏?"
"𝙽𝚘. 𝙰 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎'𝚜."
"𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗?"
"𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍."
"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚒𝚛."
"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘.
"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚛, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚙. 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖!"
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔. 𝙰𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜. (𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎.)
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖, 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚜.
"𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖! 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞!" 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎.
"𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝?"
𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎, "𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝?"
"𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝?"
"𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚖𝚎."
"𝚈𝚎𝚜 𝙸 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘! 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚜."
"𝚄𝚑 𝚑𝚞𝚑," 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚔𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍, "𝚞𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚝?"
"𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚛! 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚝, 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔!" 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 (𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢).
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜. 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚢.
𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 (𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚠). 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜.
𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎.
"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢." 𝙰 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝-𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢, 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎.
"𝙷𝚖?"
"𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 '𝙿𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚗 𝚁𝚊𝚒𝚗' 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗.
𝙰𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚊, 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙷𝚞𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛.
Akina shook her head remembering how she kicked the prince out of her home. A truly regrettable moment.
"It's not that bad. Mine was worse...far worse."
𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.
𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚗𝚘, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠.
𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔. 𝚆𝚑𝚢? 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚗.
𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙽𝙾! 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝙽𝙾 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎!
𝙰𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.
𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 (𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢) 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 (𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑).
𝙸𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚡 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 (𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚎).
𝚂𝚘, 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍.
𝚂𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕. 𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛.
𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎.
𝚄𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 (𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗) 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚏𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚖 (𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜) 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚏𝚏.
𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍.
"Yelling at the prince, bold."
"Akina!"
"What? It is."
"It's a serious offense, that's not something to laugh at."
"You're right, it's something that should be made into a play."
"Absolutely not! Do not bring my work into this."
The girls laughed and told more stories, happily talking about the prince who'd long stopped crafting and instead rested in his camp. The prince was only a little exhausted, he promised. He could definitely do more work but Roy had insisted he slept and even told Evelina to watch over him as if he were a child.
"How are you going to sleep if you don't close your eyes?"
"I'm thinking."
"Brain activity makes it hard to sleep."
"Hey." He sat up. "Do you remember our first meeting?"
"Of course I do, it was May the 6th."
"No, not the date, the day. Do you remember how the rain never stopped and how you stood behind my mother as she introduced me to you?"
"I do, yes."
She opened her mouth, hesitant to say anything more about the memory. "Lay back down, you need to sleep."
"Then you lay down as well, it's weird that you're just sitting there staring."
She did not roll her eyes, but she did lay down. She layed a careful three inches away from the prince's royal boundaries, and she laid in a carefully tight position that did not risk arm or leg escaping into his space.
"I remember being in my room and playing the new game that came out, and I remember turning around when the door opened, and I remember you being the first thing I saw.
My mom introduced you as my bodyguard, but I was only half-listening. You hadn't said a word yet, you only stared at the floor.
When my mother left, you awkwardly looked up before avoiding my eyes again and looking at my game screen. I played the game hoping you would say something."
Evelina nodded along, affirming his memory without ever adding her own perspective.
"The next day, the rain poured harder. You were gone and rather than spend my time finishing the game I'd decided to go look for you.
You weren't in your room, my parents had given you permission to visit the gardens, and the guards had seen you leave the castle. I remember wandering the gardens with a white umbrella till I finally stumbled on you.
I remember, seeing you outside, completely dry and using your power to produce an entire carnival then cities then people. The last figure you made before you caught me watching was the one you were having the most struggle with. Why?"
Evelina's throat was dry, a hilarious thought as a water ghost. She remembers all that, and she remembers who she was trying to make.
"I was having trouble making your face. I'd completely ignored it the day before because I was so afraid that... That I'd end up messing up the minute I saw your face. Then I turned around, and there it was."
Hubert turned his head to look at her. He seemed a little sorry for surprising her at the time.
"When you turned to look at me," he pauses to think," I thought to myself that I wouldn't mind staying out in the rain, if it meant you would keep looking at me."
Something cold crawled down Eveline's spine. She wasn't sure how to respond.
"I thought that when the rain stopped...you would stop looking at me like..."
Evelina bit her lip, finally turning her head to meet Hubert's eyes.
Her lips opened and closed but no sound came out. Finally, she stammered out, "Your highness, you should rest. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, but you must remember that as the only prince and heir to this kingdom you are invaluable in everyone's eyes."
The water ghost lifted herself onto her knees, but before she could walk away the prince took hold of her wrist.
"My duties are important, yes but so are you. I enjoy being in love with you, it's wonderful. I've never been hurt by being in love with you, it's the sort of love that exists simply because it does, and it will continue to do so just as it's done since we first met." Indeed Hubert was not hurt, he really loved Evelina to a level where any other emotion involving pain was quickly overrun.
Evelina saw this "finality" in his eyes, that there would be no persuading nor change of mind. She accepted that his feelings would not fade, but even then she would not act on her own unsure ones.
So though he had only loved her for half their lives, he knew he would love her till eternity. It was a strange unconditional love, set on existing and remaining.
A year later, the school had been built and the students were attending. The prince was student council president joined by his friends (Akina as VP, Catrina as Treasurer, Winnifer as Secretary. Roy pretty much connects them with all the students and clubs). As for Evelina, she became the official guardian of EverFall (the school).
Her duties were to maintain school safety regarding the Deadly Silent Forest and the student's safety from each other. It kept her busy and moving which meant it kept her preoccupied.
Which is why it was a surprise when the prince dropped in on her one day demanding that she "arrest" him (the students refused to call it "detaining" or "indisposing") and take him to the headmaster's office.
"Uh, Headmaster Oak..." Evelina entered the office, she looked unsure of herself.
"Yes, Evelina?"
"This student has confessed to defacing our school and being unruly..." Every word from her mouth seemed a confusing truth rather than a lie.
"The student is...?"
"His Highness, Hubert Drogo Euthymias Fortana."
Ah, yes, that would be confusing if it were not for the fact that the Headmaster understood why his Highness would do anything such as get himself "arrested."
"Well," he steadied himself for the oncoming disaster, "let him in. Let us see what he has done."
She brought in the overly excited prince (honestly, hide yourself a little better) and sat him down in one of the plush green chairs. They were good at comforting students as well as making them nervous.
"What brings you in, your Highness?"
"No titles Headmaster Oak, I am of equal status to every student when I am at school."
"Sure, now, what have you done to cause yourself to be detained?"
Hubert answered with far too much excitement, "Writing on walls, getting into a fight, cheating on a test, blackmailing a teacher, and..."
He looked like he was searching for a mental list before he spoke again, "Ah! Lying to the Headmaster."
If this were a cartoon, Headmaster Oak would've had a sweatdrop appear on his face.
"Right then-" he loved his students but some of their shenanigans were too much- "You'll be suspended for two weeks and will accompany Evelina as a temporary Guardian for that time."
Hubert's smile took up most of his face as he exclaimed, "Understood!"
Once the Headmaster excused them both from the office Evelina turned to Hubert.
"What are you doing?" She stared at him confused.
"Do you want the truth or do you want the other truth?"
"The truth, truth."
"I miss you, and I really wanted to find a way to spend time together again without interrupting your schedule so when I remembered the punishment for causing trouble at school I dove in headfirst."
"Your Highness, you are the prince. If you need me, you can just ask. After all, I am still your bodyguard."
"No, that's different. That would be prince Hubert Drogo Euthymias Fortana asking for you. I just wanted to be Hubert around you."
"But Hubert is prince Hubert Drogo Euthymias Fortana."
"Yes, but prince Hubert Drogo Euthymias Fortana is not Hubert. It's different."
"You Highness-"
"No titles! Please Evelina..." He held his hand tight together, his eyes shaking in desperation.
So, of course, Evelina gave in, "Ok, you can be just Hubert. Now, c'mon. We've gotta get back to patrol since I've fallen behind."
She made sure her jug of water was steadily tied on before walking past the thrilled prince to the outer edges of the school where they would patrol. As for the patrol itself, well it was very boring, which is a good thing!
Boring patrols mean ghosts are safe at school, and it gives them more time to check if the wood is giving out or rotting away.
"Hey, can you make water figurines again?"
"Hubert, patrol."
"Nothing's going to happen, you're a good Guardian who's never failed to protect our school."
"Hubert," it was very hard to not call him by his title, "Any distraction could be a weak point."
"Please? I've only ever seen you make them once and that was all the way back when we first met."
"That's because I found my duties of more importance than boring water figurine forming."
"Those duties are not in effect as of now."
"No, but I still have other duties. I'm sorry, but it's not happening."
Hubert grumbled in a rather petulant way. He thought about throwing a tantrum but that was too much (besides tantrums weren't his thing) and finally decided on something.
He began to walk towards the Deadly Silent forest.
"Hubert, where are you going?" He could already hear the anxiety in her voice. (He felt bad for this but Evelina never put effort into spending time with him and it desperately hurt.)
"Hubert!" He kept walking. Although he could sense branches and roots awake beneath his steps he would not back away.
"I'm not going to make water figures. This is childish!" Evelina was already forming a sword whip in her hands.
One...
Two...
Three..
Four steps and a root had grabbed hold of his ankle. Within the second it had been cut clean off. But now, standing before Hubert was a wall of vines and branches reaching out to him.
He continued to walk forward even as he heard frantic steps behind him.
He blinked, and all his obstacles were gone. Still, he walked forward.
"I'll make you whatever you like, Hubert just stop!"
So he stopped, he turned, and he grabbed Evelina by the waist before leaping out of the forest's range.
"Sorry for being childish, but you never spend time being normal Evelina with me." Hubert tried to comfort her with a small smile but Evelina seemed to ignore it.
She pouted and she crossed her arms, all of which was subtle, and she gave Hubert a mighty glare.
"I really am sorry." Sweat began to form on his skin in nervousness.
Words poured out of his mouth to build his apologies but none of it seemed to soften Evelina. However, he did not want to face the wrath of his parents and so he would keep trying to calm her down.
What had been a childish move by Hubert led to him being ignored for a week. It had been painful not seeing her but knowing she was going out of her way to ignore him when he was right there was so much worse.
"Evelina, can't you at least talk to me?"
She showed no reaction and Hubert felt his eyes well up. He hated it when Evelina was uninvolved with his life. So, he cried. He whimpered and sobbed and mourned the loss of a week he was meant to spend with Evelina and he wanted nothing more than for him to be looked upon even with pity.
"Your highness," Evelina reached out.
But the royal did not react because his sobs were too loud (thankfully they were in a quiet corner where no one else could hear nor see them).
"Your highness...?" Evelina had been very mad, of course, but she didn't want to hurt the prince.
She contemplated a few seconds before finally deciding that this was an important situation, "Hubert, listen to me." The sobs did not stop, but they did soften.
"We both know we're in the wrong here. We both know that this is a stupid situation for us, of all people, to be in. But, I'm sorry you've been so hurt by my actions, or lack thereof."
She sighed and decided to crumble her status and position before the prince just this once, and hugged him. She held him close and hoped she was doing this right.
The sobs of his royal highness stopped, he leaned deeply into the slightly uncomfortable hug (only in which Evelina's elbow was somehow digging into his back).
Some time passed and still the two did not let go. Hubert refused to leave the hug and Evelina refused to be the first to get up. So yeah, they fell asleep. Luckily the Headmaster found them and just let them sleep on his comfy office couch (he, of course, did not stay).