Student To King: The Transportation To A New World

Chapter 34: Unfortunate Visitors

"We're finally out..."

Finding himself out of the mansion, Ace looked around his current location, noticing they were on top of a hill gazing upon a destroyed mess. All that was left, from broken buildings to charred debris, was evidence of mass destruction. The only thing left standing was the giant castle behind all the buildings, but Ace could see that half of it was destroyed.

"*Huff* *Puff*" Yuni, who was tired out from her spell, fell to her knees, still trying to catch her breath. When Ace noticed he offered her his hand to help, she accepted the gesture.

"Sorry, teleporting is rather... taxing." She says, noticing that more than half of her mana reserves were used up during the teleportation process. When she gazed upon the sight of her Kingdom, her eyes evoked such sadness and she began to grit her teeth with regret.

Darklin stared quietly at the sight of the kingdom, which Ace also noticed. He wondered what Darklin was thinking of the kingdom, knowing bits of his background story as he was focused on looking in the same direction as Darklin, Yuni turned around towards Ace's direction with a faint smile.

"I'm still surprised that you'd accepted to come with me. So thank you once again."

"It's nothing. I only saw it as an opportunity to leave the kingdom so-"

"Even still, you helped me nevertheless. I don't know how I will ever repay you."

Yuni bowed her head cutting off Ace. But he looked slightly away from Yuni, changing the topic as he stared at the sight of the kingdom.

"Let's just rest." Ace says.

"Sure," Yuni replied with a smile.

Looking for an optimal spot for their camp, Ace began setting up a tent he bought from the kingdom back when Yuni was still recovering. It was a simple tent that was big enough to fit both of them. Darklin much preferred sleeping outside and knew that Ace could trust him to sense anything dangerous that came their way. Within the tent, Ace gave Yuni a blanket and makeshift pillow while Ace has his own as they both slept next to each other.

To avoid embarrassment, Ace turned his back while he went to sleep while Yuni was still up staring at his back. She felt uneasy, still hesitant to sleep but when she did her body suddenly spasmed, recalling the day of the Kingdom attack.

The memories of her taking down enemy Creles soldiers as much as she could and watching the unfortunate deaths of both her parents. Sweat began to arise from Yuni's forehead and began to breathe heavily. She remembered the sight of her people captured and forcibly dragged out of her kingdom, recalling everything that had happened that day.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... for being weak..." Yuni quietly spoke out.

Although her voice wasn't loud, Ace noticed turning his body over to Yuni's direction. The expression she held as she looked distressed in her sleep seemed to evoke something familiar in Ace's memory. He did the same thing back then, holding Yuni's hand until she calmed down.

"...I thought you were still asleep."

 When their hands touched, Yuni's eyes slowly opened to the sight of a concerned Ace. Not noticing herself, Ace saw tears flowing out of her eyes, giving an empathic look to Yuni as he attempted to wipe the tears off for her.

"I'm sorry. I'm always such a hassle for you." Wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's fine. I kind of relate to your situation. But you experienced much worse so, this is all I can honestly do." Ace looked away, unable to meet eye to eye with Yuni's expression.

"Hehe, it's enough for me," Yuni replied with a gentle smile. "I wonder... How many times did you hold my hand? You've must've done so more than I've noticed."