Away ⥃ Nishimura Riki

.Thirty-Six.

A YAWN LEFT the vampire's lip as she leaned on her wooden chair, stretching her back after the not-so-long horse she had spent on her desk. After spending some time with Prince Niki, she had gone back to her shared tent and began her research.

When she had just entered the tent, it was quite difficult to move with stealth as to not awake her sleeping roommate, Evelyn, up. She had to guess every step she took and hoped to not step on anything that could cause a disruption. However, after lighting up her candle, it became much easier to quicken her pace. For the rest of the morning, she had spent it on her research—working left and right as she tried to figure out the perfect potion to brew for King Aspian.

Once the sound began to pick up outside their tent, Evelyn was reluctantly woken up. She was clearly dismayed by the lack of sleep she had gotten but voiced no complaints.

Evelyn noticed the occupied girl as the brunette continued tinkering with her pot of potion. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the scene and sat up from her mattress, "What are you doing so early at sunrise?" Her croaky voice resounded.

The sun had not fully come up, yet she was already busy with her activities- for all she knows, they will have a long day ahead of them. Seulhyun turned around and rested her arms on the top rail of the chair. "I'm making a potion for King Aspian."

Evelyn frowned. So, her suspicious were proven right?
"Did you tell King Jungwon yet?"
"Yes, and fortunately, I have acquired his agreement on this matter."
Evelyn nodded her head, slightly impressed by her capabilities. She got out of her previous position, walking towards the desk as she examined the place.

Inside the pot was a blue-colored liquid. It was simmering even though there was no heat around it. She wondered where the air pockets had come from. "How is going so far?" Her curiosity seeped into the cracks of her cold features and Seulhyun couldn't help but be surprised.

"It's going rather well?" Her tone of uncertainty left Evelyn in confusion. "I still have a few things to experiment with to perfect the potion and I'll probably find the solution sooner or later." Seulhyun assured, rambling as she tried to keep her nervousness discreet.

Evelyn seemed to buy it as she hummed in response. "I will head to the lake to clean myself, do you want to join?"
Seulhyun contemplated her answer for a few seconds before nodding.

The two ladies took their clean clothes and cradled it in their arms, leaving their tent together as the morning breeze chilled their skin. "It's amazing, really; how gorgeous this village is."
Seulhyun agreed, "That's because of the lack of civilization here. There's only dragons—no wars against clans or for power."
"If only our species could be that way."

A tad of bitterness pinched the air as they both found themselves hoping for the same thing: peace. Vampires were always known as intelligent creatures, but it came with a price. Their intelligence led them to hunger—for power, material, land, etc. And their hunger led to division, which inevitably led to war.

It has been an endless cycle. One region will bring up their protests, and the others will counter their remarks. That itself will result into war.

Seulhyun shook her thoughts away once she realized they had arrived at their destination. She saw Evelyn's body freeze as it seems like realization had hit her. "Wait..did you bring a blanket, Seulhyun?"
"No?"
"Then, I'm afraid we might expose ourselves out in the open."

Both Evelyn's and Seulhyun's face flushed red as Evelyn spoke her last statement. Seulhyun cleared her throat, "I might have a solution, but we will have to walk further." Seulhyun brought up.

"That's fine by me." Evelyn agreed.
The both of them continued to walk with Seulhyun leading the way. She called out for her dragon and she got her respond when she heard a purr not far away from them. Evelyn visibly gulped. She hasn't familiarized herself with a dragon before so staying close to one is rather daunting.

Seulhyun noticed the antsy movements Evelyn was doing and smiled, "He doesn't bite, so you have nothing to worry about."
"Right.."

The ground beneath them shook as a dragon stomped in front of them from the sky. It huffed to greet them and Seulhyun pet his head, "Good morning, Buddy." She greeted.

"I need your help to cover us up, I hope you don't mind." Seulhyun said and the dragon simply laid on the ground, indicating his agreement towards her request.

Seulhyun ushered Evelyn next to her, behind the dragon and the blonde-haired vampire followed along hesitantly.

They began getting out of their clothes and reached for the water by the lake, rinsing their bare bodies while Buddy scanned their surroundings for any intruders.

Seulhyun and Evelyn comfortably changed out of their clothes without feeling ashamed since back in their own kingdoms, all of the maids would bathe together whenever they have free time. So, both of them paid no mind to each other's bare bodies as they focused on their own business.

As Seulhyun cupped the water from the lake, she suddenly thought of Sunghoon and Evelyn, and how they were in a discreet relationship right now. "I'm sorry for such a nosy question, but do you mind having your relationship kept a secret with Sunghoon?" Seulhyun quirked her head to Evelyn.

Evelyn pressed her lips, thinking of an answer, "At first, I agreed with him when he proposed a secret relationship," She spoke, "but as our relationship prolonged, it began to feel tiring."

"I wish we could spend more time together—not needing to find a place and time to meet up in order to avoid exposure from the castle. I didn't mind everyone not knowing, but it was our limited time that bothered me."

Seulhyun saw Evelyn stopped in her actions as she got lost in her own trail of thoughts. "But I don't want to be a bad lover and tell him this." She paused, taking in a heavy breath. "It's just...hard." She cracked a smile.

In that moment, Seulhyun wanted to comfort her by rubbing her back, but she feared she wasn't close enough to do that yet, so instead she merely nodded her head and hummed. "I think otherwise,"

Evelyn raised her brow, "You do?"
"Well, Sunghoon has to consider your side of the story- and no matter how busy he is, he will still prioritize you before his business matter." Seulhyun voiced her opinions. "A relationship is two-sided so in terms of both happiness and sadness, both sides will have to face it together."

"At least, that is what I think." Seulhyun said.

Evelyn wore her clothes and digested her advice, finding a good point from her. "You're right."

"Thank you, Seulhyun." She genuinely smiled and gathered her dirty clothes as Seulhyun finished changing her clothes as well.

Finally the both of them became friends 🥰
Btw, how are you all these past few days?
I hope you are all doing well!

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