Chapter 55 – You’re With Me

‘Again?’

When Levisia expressed her doubt at the guard’s comment, Pel nonchalantly answered, “It’s still evening.”

“Man… you! Aren’t you always here late at night?”

The guard didn’t even properly check Pel’s band. He didn’t even look like he belonged here, so why was he slacking off like this?

When Levisia went to take a step back to think, a lance suddenly appeared to block her way. She hurriedly turned her head to find that the guard was carefully scanning her.

“And you?”

Pel, who stood on the other side of the lance, approached Levisia while calmly speaking, “The youngster works with me.”

“Youngster?”

‘How could he? Who’s a youngster?’ Levisia looked at Pel with bewildered eyes, but all he did was stare back nonchalantly whilst shrugging. The soldier who had been staring her down lowered his lance before extending his hand.

“Oh yeah? Your band, then, please.”

He didn’t seem generous to her at all, only to Pel. As she brandished the band, the man scanned it from front to back, then looked at her with his sharp eyes. After a while, he asked, “Which noble family are you from?”

“This again. Why do you need my personal information?”

Pel took a deep breath and stepped in front of her to block the guard’s glare. Levisia tilted my head to peer over the shoulder of the body in front of her, right at the guard’s face. While staring back at her, he said something unusual.

“It’s not that. Your face, mood, and the way your cuteness flows; it’s like I’ve seen your type somewhere before.”

Hearing that, Pel turned and glared at Levisia. His eyes seemed to be asking, ‘What the…? Is he serious?’

At this, Levisia faced his gaze without a single word. Pel responded by giving a big cough, turning his head away from her.

“On top of that, your face is strangely familiar… Where have I seen you?”

“Oh, you might have just seen me here and there. I don’t really spend more than a couple of days here.”

“If that were the case, then you wouldn’t look familiar.”

The guard turned out to be more persistent than Levisia had expected him to be. With his eyes, Pel signaled to her to just carry on. She simply nodded and held on to his back.

“Anyway, if you’re done just let us go on.”

“Oh, oh, yeah. Of course. Have a good time, kids.”

No matter how one were to look at this scene, calling them kids proved to be a bit too much. When Levisia turned her head to get a better look at the soldier, Pel grabbed her hand and urged her forward.

“Hey?”

“Just ignore him and go.”

When his strides got longer causing Levisia to drag on behind, he let go of her hand and stopped. She then looked up at him before asking, “Are you close?”

“With who?”

“That soldier.”

“We’ve just met a couple of times.”

“But you two still looked like you knew each other well.”

As she persisted, she could feel Pel’s eyes piercing through her own.

“Did he make you uncomfortable?”

“No, it wasn’t that.”

“Then what are you so curious about?”

Multiple thoughts flew around in Levisia’s head, but she could tell he knew what she meant. She just thought that it would be okay if she just asked upfront. After pondering on it for a moment, Levisia spoke once more.

“He said that you’re always here late at night?”

“Oh…”

Normally, that kind of reaction would annoy the asker, but it didn’t appear that way in this situation at all.

‘I guess he wants to hide something.’

Pel’s concept of remaining mysterious was still the same. Now that Levisia knew his secret, it didn’t really feel odd at all. However…

‘It worries me a bit.’

Of all things, why was he here late at night? That also meant that he acted in secrecy in order to avoid someone’s attention. And whatever he did in secrecy when he left the royal palace…

‘It’s most likely directly related to the course of the future.’

When this serious worry of hers hit Levisia at full speed, Pel, who hadn’t said a word before then, blurted out, “It’s because I feel stuffy sometimes.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, being in the royal palace all the time.”

She hadn’t expected to hear this reason. At this, Levisia blinked slowly and replied, “Throughout the year I spend most of my time in the palace, though.”

“Well, you have royal status. From long ago, I―”

“Long ago?”

“…Anyways, that’s why. There is no other reason.”

She couldn’t even hear the last part because he was mumbling in such a vague manner.

‘What does he mean by, from long ago?’ If Levisia had to guess by the last part, he was either a reckless prince who had gotten chased out of the royal palace, or perhaps… ‘Hmm, I don’t think so.’

Pel didn’t really seem like the reckless type to her. At this, Levisia gave up trying to guess and just tilted her head. Now that she thought about it, he did spend a lot of time in the heart of the enemy who had destroyed his motherland

If she were in his shoes, she would feel suffocated every day, just trying to endure that.

‘Isn’t that already happening now?’ Just like Levisia, Pel just wanted to get out of the royal palace after learning about the war. ‘Even worse, he feels like his life’s being threatened every single day.’

Oh, no matter the case, Levisia felt like she knew what he was feeling. She silently nodded in reply, and Pel, who felt ridiculous, asked, “Your Highness, why…?”

“Just a little. Yes, let’s hang in there.”

Upon receiving support that had been entirely unexpected, Pel’s expression changed.

“So, where do you mainly go when you come out of the royal palace?”

“…Excuse me?”

“You said you come outside because you feel stuffy. So you must go somewhere to get a release.”

“That’s not necessarily the thing now.”

“I only asked because I feel suffocated. If you know a good place, don’t just keep it to yourself; let me know.”

Pel gasped as he looked down at Levisia, who was now trying to tear through him in order to find out about his secret place. However, just like every time, he continued to pretend that he couldn’t possibly defeat her stubbornness.

“There’s this one place…”

“Well then, let’s go there!”

“It’s rare to find anyone else there, so there’s not much to enjoy like the fest―”

“But you’re with me.”

Clank! Pel stopped dead in his tracks. Before Levisia knew it, he was already nodding.

“That’s all I need.”