Trust

Secrets | 秘密

Lucy, thankfully, was able to return to Kouen's room before he did. Which was good because she still didn't have an excuse other than 'I got hungry so I ransacked someone's room and then became friends with them'. Even she wouldn't believe that excuse and that's actually what happened.

She didn't want Kouen to distrust her anymore than he already did so she was extremely glad she got back before he did.

When he did get back, Lucy acted as if she stayed in the room the entire time, something Kouen seemed to believe, which also let Lucy know that Kouen either didn't have anyone tailing her or was just a really good actor. And for the sake of her sanity, she chose to completely ignore the possibility of the second option and silently revelled in her newfound freedom.

Over the next few days, whenever Kouen would leave, she would sneak out the same way she did before and explore, sometimes with Morgiana and sometimes by herself, running past the lax guards and staying on roofs where no one would bother to look.

It was peaceful and it was nice, which, of course, meant that it had to come to an end.

After one of Lucy's normal expeditions outside, she returned to see Kouen already in their room, sitting in a chair facing the door with his legs crossed. If her mother was still alive, Lucy was sure this is what she would look like if she ever caught her sneaking out.

"Lucy." He said, ominously turning around to face the window. Said Lucy, who was still crouched on the ledge, about to come in, froze.

She has got to start looking to see if she was alone before hopping into random windows. This is already the second time it's happened.

"Uh, hi?"

Fully turned around, Kouen crossed his arms. "To think that on the one day I finished my duties early and came back to my room, the guest who has been staying with me—who I thought was staying in my room the entire time—is nowhere to be found." He arched one eyebrow. "Now imagine my surprise when I found her crawling in through the window instead of the door, with, correct me if I'm wrong, practiced ease."

Swinging her legs down the ledge and sitting down, Lucy winced.

"In my defence," she quickly started, "I was hungry and your guards suck."

Kouen, who wasn't expecting Lucy to be that frank, snorted. "Understandable," he said with a smile, completely changing his demeanor due to Lucy's honestly. "But how long have you been doing this for—and how haven't you been caught yet?" From what Kouen has learned about Lucy (not much), he didn't take her for the kind of person who could get past his trained guards that easily.

Lucy perked up, these were easy to answer now that he knew what she was doing and wasn't planning on throwing her out. "Oh, I first started a few days after I got here and I was caught, once, by Morgiana. We're good friends now though, and as I said, your guards really suck."

Over the time she has been staying here, she and Kouen have understandably become closer. Not even by choice, but having someone living in the same room as you makes them bound to talk and eventually get closer, especially since one of the main reasons Lucy was even allowed to stay here was because Kouen wanted to know more about her and her magic. Due to that, Lucy finally got comfortable enough with him to be this honest with him without pretending. She still didn't fully trust him, but she decided he wasn't going to hurt her so she can let her guard down around him.

Once again, Kouen burst out laughing.

"I see, well since you are able to so skillfully avoid my highly trained guards, who are the best of the best, I won't stop you from leaving the room when I'm gone," that was a bit of an exaggeration but it doesn't matter. "But instead of stealing my retainer's food, I can get a meal for you when I get mine."