King of Hearts

53.

"Satyn told me, the King of Deceit has been quite interactive with Senfira's people lately. He's a homeless wanderer who likes to go on adventures. He is currently situated in the Patchwork Forest", Ulio explains excitedly. Val pauses a moment. "Satyn told you?" she asks suspiciously.

Val and Ulio have taken a seat on a bench outside on the balcony. The silver moonlight illuminates Ulio's guilty facial expression.

"Yeah. We met earlier. She wanted to spend time with me, to distract me from my father but I refused. She intended to go to the Dandelion House and said, Medéi Uranus is currently there", he calmly explains, although he doesn't need to justify himself. Why would he? Val and Ulio aren't a couple. However, strangely, Val feels this heavyweight of alertness when he talks about Satyn.

"You don't need to explain that to me. I was just wondering, how come she knows about it?", Val wants to know. Ulio shrugs, "Satyn belongs to the richest families in Senfira and therefore has several acquaintances and connections, as hard as it is to believe." Ulio gifts her a cheesy smile. Apparently, he is not very fond of Satyn. Val has difficulty looking him in the eyes. These amazing, magical, and emotional brown eyes. They seem to constantly change, from a deep chocolate brown to sweet honey.

"I think we should be careful. We cannot trust anybody, you said it yourself", Val reminds him, dedicating her whole attention to trying to maintain herself. She's probably already blushing anyway. Ulio bites his bottom lip playfully and almost unnoticeably shifts closer to her. "Wait a minute, are you jealous?" A low chuckle follows, and Val's eyebrows shoot upwards. What an idiot. "You wish", she says turning away from him. "You're right", he responds in a totally different tone. His voice deepens. "I wish." Val scratches her nose feeling somewhat embarrassed, not knowing where to look at.

Ulio says all of a sudden and returns to the actual topic. "The forest is not only full of mysteries. I don't know if you've ever been there, but the forest has a life of its own. The King of Deceit is very much into gambling and there's the Dandelion House which is the busiest bar of Senfira. If we go there one of these nights, we'll definitely find him and ask him for his Gemstone." Ulio suggests it as if it were the easiest thing on earth. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"You think we can just walk in and ask for his Gemstone? Surely, he'll want something in return. In my dream, the Sleeping Queen told me that we'll need to sacrifice something. I don't know how to feel about it", Val says rubbing her arms in discomfort.

"I don't know either. But surely it isn't money that he wants in exchange." Ulio inspects her thoroughly from her dark eyes down to her mouth and further to her upper body. "Are you cold? Shall we go back inside?" he suggests with his eyebrows almost reaching his hairline. Val waves off, "No, I like the cool night breeze. It calms me down, and I really need that." Because his closeness makes her feel very warm inside, and she might even start to sweat a little. Why does he make her feel this way?

Ulio gently rests his hand on her other hand. A storm of heat rushes through her body at his touch and Val's body immediately stiffens. "Don't worry. Everything will go well", he declares in a calm voice. "For you and a little for me", he whispers smiling. "We're a good team. I'm your handsome supporter and you're my cute protector." His grin makes her burst out in laughter. "Protector?", she asks confused, her grinning as well.

"Of course. Although my brother was hiding it very well, I know you somehow intimidated him earlier with that strange threat of yours", he laughs. Now she feels really embarrassed. Val felt so offended by Sulo that she couldn't control herself any longer.

"I'll break your kneecaps", he imitates her. Ulio's melodic laughter warms her heart, and she actually feels much calmer now, thanks to him.

"Are you saying I'm weird?" Val playfully acts offended.

"I'm saying you're unique and definitely out of this world, in more ways than one", he answers suddenly seriously.

Val has a hard time breathing. She has never felt like this before. Normally, she's not the type to get easily flustered but with him everything is different.