The Innkeeper

The trio of Lex, Aoi and the princess ran for quite a while before they finally approached the heirs quarters. Before closing in, the princess stopped and fixed her clothes and appearance and turned to glance at Aoi. That's when she noticed that Lex was there as well.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, startled at the sight of him.

"Didn't you ask me to follow you before you started running?" Lex responded innocently. At the same time, he looked around. He had prepared a few items which could create decoys of himself for when the princess would eventually be stopped, and he would have had to make a quick getaway. But that never happened.

"No I, uh, actually never mind," she said, turning to look at Aoi. The Nymph only nodded towards the elf, as if supporting her decision, though she was still not quite clear on how they went from saving a lotus to running all the way here. She looked around, now that she finally had a chance, and wondered where they were, exactly.

"Do you find it strange that none of the guards stopped us?" Lex couldn't help but ask. In his mind, he had already concluded that the Celestial no doubt made it easier for them. Perhaps he was interested in how Lex would actually get Kenta away from here, and wanted to skip the tedious part where Lex navigated through the palace to actually reach him.

Little did he know, his assumption was extremely close to the truth, with one alteration. It was not the heir's father who was impatient, but one of his companions who wanted to see how the drama between the princess and the heir would unfold. This was better than any reality TV show!

To be clear, they were not concerned about any of the so-called 'saving face', as that kind of mentality was mainly adopted by the central Elven alliance which was made up of a majority of the elves. But it was also specifically to avoid such a mentality that too many forces and organizations distanced themselves from the alliance as well.

"That… let's not find out," the princess said, realizing that it really should not have been so easy for them to approach. Could it have been Kenta? Could he have been hoping that she would come in his last moments to see him?

Her emotions welled up but she forced herself to remain calm, and slowly began to approach the closed door. Unlike Lex, who had trained himself to remain calm even in a life and death situation let alone this, and Aoi who still had no idea where they were, the princess was extremely nervous. With each step she took, her heat started to beast faster. In her head she struggled to come up with what she wanted to say to Kenta.

Over and over again she thought of her words, and then changed her mind. She also wondered what Kenta was going through. Was he in anguish? Was he sad? Was he in denial?

The hallway was not endless, so she could not complete her thoughts before she finally approached the door to his room. There was not a lot of time, so she did not hesitate and knocked on the door. Behind her, Lex was keeping an eye out for any guards. Once he reached Kenta, this was basically a done deal. He would probably also take Aoi and the princess along as well, to apologize to them for using them in such a way.

A few moments went by, but the door did not open and they could not hear any movement on the other side. Of course, there was also a possibility that all sound was insulated, so they kept waiting.

Finally, just as even Lex was getting impatient, the door finally opened to reveal a disheveled looking Kenta. His hair was a mess and he looked like he had just woken up from a coma. Although he had cleaned it, Lex could tell that the heir had been drooling as well.

Was it really alright for one to be in such a state only a couple of hours before their own wedding? Lex had made up the poem, so why did it actually look like he was suffering from love sickness?

Before the heir could take in who had come to visit him, and before anyone had a chance to speak, the princess slapped him hard across the face.

"How dare you be thinking of other women before your own wedding? Have you no shame?" she questioned him, her voice extremely harsh.

Aoi, Kenta and Lex were all stunned by what just happened. The Celestials who were also watching became even more invested, as none of them had predicted this outcome.

Internally, the princess chided herself.

'That was a little too harsh. Let's try again, a little gentler this time,' she thought.

"I… I mean Kenta, you are about to begin a very important phase of your life. You should not put a stain on a new relationship by starting it this way," she said, her voice suddenly going from extremely harsh to extremely delicate and vulnerable. From her voice, it seemed as if she was experiencing heartbreak even as she said those words.

"Please excuse my manners but… do I know you?" Kenta asked, as the princess' slap helped him sober up somewhat.

Lex, who had originally planned on immediately teleporting everyone away, decided to wait a bit, and allow the princess to vent her emotions somewhat. He had no qualms about letting the heir take all the slaps on his behalf for stirring up trouble.

Alright, a part of him was secretly pissed that the heir had made him pay for the food. It was not about the money, but the embarrassment he faced when the shopkeeper thought he was dining and dashing.

The princess finally remembered that she was still in her ingenious and infallible disguise. She looked at him once apologetically, as if she knew revealing herself before him would no doubt give him feelings of hope and delight. But since it could not be, these emotions had to be quashed right now.