Shangri La Pt. 1

18: Affliction

"The one that works for that fish chick, you know who I'm talking about?" he clarified, and the maid batted their eyes at him. 

"Huh? You don't know?" 

"I-I do know, sir! B-But... she's actually sick right now."

Those words echoed through his mind as he rewinded back to just the day before and how the greenette seemed shy to tell him something. He could remember how her cheeks were more red than usual and she wasn't saying much to him, as if she was hiding something. 

"I-I'm fine, s-so don't worry about me. I-It's getting late and I-I need to get back to working. H-Have a good rest of your night." 

'We didn't see each other that long yesterday either, so was she trying to hide that she wasn't feeling good?' the blond thought as he jerked his attention back down at the servant who flinched from his intense look.

"Where is she? Is she sleeping where you other ones sleep right?" he questioned, as he seemed certain to see and possibly help the greenette. 

"A-Ah– A-Actually, she is the only servant who doesn't reside with us other servants." 

"What?" 

"B-Because she is the only servant who serves the Great Piscis, she is to reside somewhere else." the servant sheepishly explained. 

'Huh? Because she serves that fish lady, she sleeps somewhere else, so where would that be?'

"Any clue where she rests then?" 

"I-I'm not certain, but some of the other servants have said something about someone residing in a shed that's not far from the Great Piscis' temple. It's possible that the one you're looking for rests there." the servant finished only to make a quick bow to the blond and try to escape from his gaze to get back to work. 

But the second the servant was gone, Katsuki stood there in disbelief and possibly shame for not seeing past the greenette's excuse of saying she was fine. 

'Dammit, you fucking idiot, you're so damn obtuse that you can't even tell when a girl's not feeling well. Hah~ Where the hell is she?' he thought as he collected himself and went off to search the grounds as to where the Great Piscis' temple was located in hope of finding the greenette.

( Meanwhile )

Taking a simple stroll through the gardens located in the center of the temples with an umbrella in hand, a certain Prince couldn't get the sight of a beautiful Princess off his mind. 

"S-Sh-" "Shoto." 

How she called him was quite a pleasing voice to hear in his mind as he could remember how embarrassed the Princess was just seconds after she called him by his first name for the first time. And without realizing it, he stopped himself in that garden to feel how his chest was thumping faster than usual, and how his face was starting to feel warm. 

'Ah– This has never happened before, is this normal?' he thought as he tried to check his own temperature by raising his hand over his forehead but unsure if he was burning up or not.

Soon he ended up staring down at one of the ponds he was standing before and caught himself envisioning the Princess in the reflection. He seemed intrigued by the reflection that he ended up kneeling down before the pond and was about to reach his hand out to the water as if he felt like was about to touch the Princess' face. 

'How can someone be so beautiful and so... kind after seeing my face? It was as if... she wasn't afraid of me.' he thought as the thumping in his chest sped up more than before as he stared down at the reflection in the pond.