Eren P.O.V
With aching arms, I set down the seventh bag in Levi's room before popping my back. "Geez, this guy needs to chill with his beauty products," I muttered as the door opened, a woman's giggle filling the once silent room.
I quickly whipped around and bowed to the princess, Levi walking in side by side with her."Oh, Levi! You're hilarious!" She said, hugging his arm even closer to her body. Levi seemed quite agitated but managed to keep a cool demeanour as he spoke."Why thank you, your highness. I'm sad to say but I have reached my room." He said as he slowly unravelled his arm from her grasp.
She playfully pouted but her childish expression immediately vanished as she saw me."Oh. It's here." She said, her mood becoming quite dull."Yes. I asked Eren to carry my bags to my room." He said, discretely defending me, and that made me smile on the inside."Might I ask why he was brought here? We have a wide variety of servants already. I see no need for such a person to be brought along with someone as esteemed as yourself." She said as she put her hands on her hips to emphasize her sass.
Levi quickly cleared his throat, whether it was from a stuffy throat or annoyance, I wasn't sure, but I hoped it was the latter. "I mean no offence by this next statement, but I trust my own servants more than ones from a completely different country. Forgive me if this offends you in any way, I sincerely apologize if that is the case." Levi said, his expression cold and stern. The princess gave him a sweet smile before nodding. "Of course. Allow me to take him to his room." She said, and Levi froze a little. He turned to me, and I slightly nodded. "Thank you, your highness." He said as he motioned for me to follow her.
I did so with hesitance, but her smile seemed so promising and trustworthy.
Just like a black widow or a Venus flytrap.
I internally shuddered as we walked down the hallway. We walked for about thirty yards or so before she looked around as if trying to see any witnesses. I was correct as she whipped around to look at me. "So. What is your connection with prince Levi?" She asked, accusation tied with her words.
I faltered and my face reddened. "H-He is my master." I quickly muttered. "Do not mumble around me! Give me a clear answer." She demanded, and I quickly straightened my back. "He is my master." I assertively said, knowing that it was a fake tone. She furrowed her eyebrows and stared into my eyes as she looked me up and down. Then she walked around me and observed my body. I was frozen in shock as she studied my reaction, and then she placed a hand on the side of my face."I was lying earlier. Your complexion is much too beautiful for that of a commoner." She said with a smile, and I froze.
Did she just compliment me-
But then she raised her arm back and brought it down on my face. A loud slap echoed around the hallway as I processed what just happened.
My face burned from the sudden impact, and my face started pulsating with pain as I soothed it after the slap.
After regaining my balance from stumbling, I looked up at her, fear evident in my eyes. She was just smiling."Tell anyone about this, and you will regret it swine." Then she snapped her fingers. A male servant quickly walked down the hall."Take him to his room. You know where that is." She said as she started walking away, her handprint imprinting a bright red spot on my cheek.
The servant nodded and bowed his head before motioning for me to follow him."My bags-" the princess cut me off. "I'll take good care of them." She said with a smile before vanishing around the corner.
I felt tears well up in my eyes but I quickly shook my head as I cradled my cheek."I'm sorry." The man mumbled and I turned to look at him. "She is very used to getting what she wants, so when something or someone threatens to take something she feels she deserves, she tends to take drastic measures to achieve her goals. You're not the first person she's ever threatened with violence, so I'm quite honestly not that surprised. Yet, I hope your cheek heals." He finished as he motioned towards a door.
I opened it and sweatdropped at the sudden smell of mud and stinky socks."This room is for servants from other kingdoms. Even I agree that this is incredibly inhospitable." He said before leaving. There were three sets of bunk beds, each looking like they were made of two-thousand-year-old wooden planks that would break at any second.
I took off my shoe and gently placed it on the top bunk of one of the beds. The entire top bunk caved and fell onto the bottom one in one giant motion, making me yelp and jump back in surprise. The floor was wet with Maria knows what and the window was tainted with dirt. There were only two lamps, and they looked nearly out of oil, and I sighed in defeat.
This is gonna suck...
-+~•~+-
Levi had requested that I go to his room, so I was walking there now, my feet wet with the weird liquid that was inside the room I stayed in. Turns out it was dirty water from the pipes above my room, and I could only pray that it wasn't the sewage system pipes.
I knocked on his door and he quickly opened it before grabbing my arm and yanking me inside. I yelped as I stumbled across the floor before he shut the door and locked it."Man, that girl is annoying." He muttered, and I couldn't help but chuckle."So how has your stay been so far?" I asked as I sat down in a chair in the corner of his room, my hands folded in my lap."Other than having a really annoying girl drool over my godly good looks, it's been fine." He said, and I scoffed."Godly? I think you're being a bit dramatic. I'd say..." I trailed off as I tapped my chin.
Godly is definitely right but I can't say that...
"Averagely." Levi gave me an 'are you insane' look and I couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm amazing." He muttered with a teasing smile, making me laugh a little more."How about you?" He asked. "How is your room?"I tapped my fingers together. "It's fine," I said with a smile.
If fine means trashy, then yes. The room is perfectly fine.
"Good. That's nice to hear. I actually assumed she despised you for existing." He said as he sat on the chair across from me.
Oh, believe me, she does.
"This country has so many problems." Levi started "Apparently they passed a bunch of crazy laws a little while ago, and people have been rioting almost daily and they've even had a few assassination attempts pulled on the royal family. They've never succeeded, but they said that someone went as far as to try and burn down half the castle." He said, and I nodded in understanding."That sounds horrible. What were the laws?" I asked, wondering what could've been so bad that people tried to kill others."They set a curfew, reopened slavery, added to their already huge taxes, closed certain jobs, and a few other stuff. Oh, and they also lowered the age of conscription from 18 to 14." He finished as he looked out the window, his head in his palm and his elbow on the armrest of his chair.
I felt my heart stop beating as I thought about what he had just said."That's horrible... no wonder the people are so angry..." I mumbled, and Levi nodded in agreement."So... what is gonna happen over the week?" I asked, and he shrugged. "I'll have a few meetings here and there but other than that it'll be pretty boring." He said while his tail started wiggling."So we have the rest of today off?" I asked, and he nodded. "Pretty much." "Good! Give me a tour!" I exclaimed, and he gave me a sceptical side glance."You want me to what?" He asked, and I huffed and crossed my arms. "I want you to take me to town! Come on! You took me all the way out here so I could see the world, and what better place to see than the village itself? So come on! Technically, you did promise." I said, and he scoffed."I never promised anything." He grumbled as he looked out the window again."Fine, I'll just go by myself." I started as I got up to walk away. "Hope I don't get hurt or kidnapped, or.....killed..." I trailed off.
He didn't seem affected."Fine." I huffed, realizing this wasn't working. "I at least hope I'll get a boyfriend while I'm here..." I jokingly grumbled as I shut the door.
But the door suddenly stopped moving and I turned around in surprise to see Levi keeping it open with his foot. "Well, then again what's the point of travelling across the world if you can't even explore it. Come on let's go." He grumbled as he grabbed my wrist and led me to the entrance of the castle.
Yes!
-+~•~+-
When we got to the village, I was simply frozen in awe at the stands, families, animals, shops, and other things running around the plaza."Oh wow! This place is awesome!" I exclaimed, and Levi looked at me in confusion. "You're acting like you've never seen a plaza before." He muttered, and I scoffed. "Of course I've seen a plaza, I just can't remember it very well since I was just a little kid. This place looks amazing though!" I exclaimed, and he shrugged. "It's satisfactory." He replied. "Yeah okay, princess," I said as I continued to walk ahead of him. "Shut up, brat!" He exclaimed as I smiled with my chin held high.
He caught up with me and we shared smiles as we continued walking around the village. We walked by a group of kids playing with a stray kitten. It seemed a little freaked out by the kids and ran between a little girl's legs before, for some reason, jumping on my trouser leg and gently clawing my socks to keep from sliding off.
I giggled and picked it up from under its arms before holding it against my chest. Levi stared at me, his ears tilted in confusion before a little girl walked up to me. "Excuse me, sir," she started "that's Hannah~chan's kitty." She said as she pointed to a little girl behind her with ginger hair and brown eyes.
She seemed a little flustered for some reason but I smiled at her and handed her kitty back. The kitten snuggled into her chest as she wrapped her arms around its body. I chuckled and the girl smiled. "Thank you, sir. Hannah~chan was kind of worried for a minute there!" She said as she awkwardly scratched the back of her neck."No problem." I said with a smile, to which she returned and walked away with the little girl.
"They were adorable." I muttered, and Levi shrugged, but the red cheeks that adorned his face were very noticeable."Wait, why come
the king and princess don't talk like that?" I asked, and Levi thought for a moment. "They wanted to seem powerful, and you can't really do that if you keep saying 'Kun' or 'chan' all the time, so they took lessons to stop talking like that." He explained, and I nodded in understanding, only then realizing we were in a different part of the plaza by now.
I shrugged it off and we continued walking until we came across a fruit stand. "Woah! What's that called?!" I asked as I pointed to a weird-looking fruit I had never seen before."Why that sir, would be a kumquat." A man's voice said, and I looked over to see the shopkeeper smiling at me with a toothy grin."Really?! They're like cute little oranges!" I exclaimed, and I could've sworn I saw Levi slap his forehead.
"That's what most people say." The man grumbled, and looked back up at me."Would you like to try it?" He asked, and I eagerly nodded. "Yes please!" I exclaimed, and he handed me two pieces of fruit. I handed one to Levi before trying its citrusy flavour.
It's delicious!
I quickly finished it, and Levi did the same, only not as fast. We both shared a small smile before looking back at the man behind the counter. We gave a wave to the shopkeeper and kept walking down the plaza, looking for more things to do.
I heard faint music and grabbed Levi's hand. He let out a surprised yelp but quickly followed quickly behind me. When I found the source, I couldn't help but feel my expression light up as we saw a woman with a violin dancing as she played the stringed instrument.
Her legs kicked back and forth as she played as if her entire life's purpose was playing this one instrument, and the crowd around her was enthralled as she quickly played a scale that was apart of the song, never skipping a beat. I quickly moved to get a better view of the woman, her smile as vibrant as the song she was performing.
She didn't waste a moment before moving her fingers at lightning speed to hit the right notes and her right hand moved the bow with such grace along the strings; almost like a delicate butterfly gliding along with the wind. I felt my eyes light up as she stroked the strings with the bow one final time, playing the final note in her song.
The small crowd around her started cheering, and I joined with hoots and hollers, Levi emotionlessly clapping. I shook my head at his blank face before an idea suddenly struck me.
I quickly ran over to the woman, who was playing a minute ago. "Excuse me, miss". I said whilst tapping her on the soldier. "Oh? yes, what is it?" He said with a bright smile after turning around.
" You see I was wondering if I could borrow your violin for a minute I promise I shall return it!"I asked a little sheepishly.
She nodded and handed me the violin. I picked it up and rested it on my soldier and began to play.
I'm over my body to the music and watched out the corner of my eye as Levi stood there in utter shock.
After I finished I gave the woman back her violin and went to Levi, before grabbing him by the arm to continue dragging him about. However I didn't notice his soft smile and laid back mood at all, even though I was dragging him around everywhere, he still felt kind of... well...happy...
-+~•~+-
"Today was awesome..." I mumbled as Levi and I stopped at the deserted docks, seeing as how it was late into the night.
I swung my legs back and forth as my feet dangled over the edge, and he just sat with his legs crossed over each other. "The water is really pretty..." I mumbled again, and Levi nodded. "I heard that high tide can get crazy sometimes and the entire docks can get immersed in water." He added, and I turned to look at him."Really?" I asked, wonder in my expression. He nodded. "Apparently." He finished and I looked down in my lap, my hands neatly folded and my smile evident."I think..." I started, and he turned to look at me. "I think I'd like to do this more often. You know, go out exploring with you." I said as I turned to look at him with a smile.
When I opened my eyes again, I felt my ears twitch at a sound, and I looked behind us as a kitten walked across the docks. I smiled at it as it vanished behind a few stacks of crates and turned to look at Levi.
He looked like he was restraining himself. Again. By now, I gave up trying to decipher his odd behaviour, and I only sighed and slightly shook my head at his antics.
Then I noticed his cheeks. His face was a slight red, and he looked to be in a pensive mood. I only chuckled and continued to stare out onto the ocean, happy with every little thing I had seen today and with how kind Levi was.
He doesn't act like it but...
I looked up at him, yet he was looking away, but I smiled...
he's a little sweetheart without even knowing.
We both just continued to stare out onto the ocean, the only sounds being the waves crashing against the docks, our breathing, and the wind as it carried the cool night air around us.
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