REGALLY BLOND. armin arlert

[ 009 - 010 ]

009 ;

A SINCERE
SMILE

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YOU HAD GOTTEN ON one of the royal horses from the stables to catch Armin, whipping the saddle more and more to have the horse trot faster. You need to find him before he'd get himself in trouble. Damn it, Armin, you cursed him inside your head, begging for him to hear it.

"Armin!" you would scream every now and then as you galloped your way through the forest for almost fifteen minutes now. You felt like you wanted to sob and that's exactly what you did.

It took you quite another long while before you reached an opening—a place quite remote from the palace. In front was a massive landscape of meadows that seemed to reach the horizon with how wide it was. You could see farmers tending to the crops somewhere before you, confusing you for a while. Was this still palace property?

You didn't have time to answer that because a horse came into view. Its saddle had been tied to a nearby fence and you knew instantly that Armin was close. You slowed down gradually before your horse came to a complete stop. Sliding down the horse, you took its saddle and tied it up next to Armin's horse before trekking into the meadow to find him.

And you did. For Pete's sake. He was sitting on the grass watching the setting sun as he hugged his knees. He didn't notice you yet, or else he would have thrown insults your way or asked you to go away. However, you were mildly disconcerted when you sat down beside him and he didn't move.

"Hey," you softly said, trying not to reach out to him and scare him. "A-Are you—I-I mean, the sunset is really beautiful." Asking him if he was okay or what happened in the banquet hall would just trigger him to become hostile, and that was what you wanted him to be last.

He raised his head and stared at the glorious sunset that looked almost like a scene from a romantic movie. "It is," he murmured, his voice a little raspy. "This is where I usually go when I'm sad, though. Isn't it an insult to the sun?"

He turned to you and for the first time, you saw him smiling genuinely. For some odd reason, your heart started to race and your thoughts got jumbled up inside your head. You even felt your cheeks grow hotter and hotter as every second went by.

"Y-You're so..." you trailed off, gasping when you realized you were going to compliment his appearance, which you definitely did not want to do. "I-I mean—"

And he just laughed—an authentic round of laughter. Definitely not the one he'd give you to insult you or to show sarcasm. No, it was to show how amused he really was. Now, not only did your face feel hot but also your body. This was something you realized as the feeling you had when you saw Prince Zeke that one eventful day.

This can't, you scolded yourself, this can't happen! Y/N, snap out of it! This is illegal.

"Y/N." Hearing your name sent a shiver down your spine. "Why do you even care about me? I'm someone who doesn't treat you well, always shoves your offer for help aside, and is always sarcastic. If you were like normal people, you would not follow me here and just leave me be. Yet here you are, stupid enough to come after me. Just... why?"

"Why?" you repeated, averting your gaze from him to the breathtaking view of the sunset in front of you. "Because..."

"Because...?" he asked with a very quiet voice. "Y/N, tell me."