Road of the Heavenly Light

14-2: Rising Stakes

Astrid was quite surprised when she saw Glen waiting by the school exit the next morning, as she had believed his help would only be for the afternoons. After greeting him and asking why he was there, he explained that he had gone to see Abigail first thing in the morning and asked for an exemption from all classes too. It had taken some convincing, but Abigail had relented with a stern warning about keeping up with homework, something Astrid knew Glen was not nearly as dedicated to as she was. He tried to reassure her that everything would be alright and that he wouldn't slack off, and she could only hope he was telling the truth.

After getting out of the carriage and walking back into the park, Glen wasted no time in hurrying things along.
"What's next on your list?" he asked.
Astrid did find his sudden helpfulness a bit strange, but she hoped she would find out soon enough. Not that she was complaining, of course. Astrid took out her clipboard and looked at the list.
"We should see if the lights have arrived yet and see how the stage looks for now," Astrid suggested, and Glen nodded. The two of them made their way back to the site of the stage and were relieved to see it had been completed. The volunteers were taking a small break, and with all the excellent work they had delivered, Astrid could understand completely. To her relief, the lights had also arrived and were waiting to be hung all around the park. Astrid suggested she and Glen begin to save the others work, as they had some time to spare as well. Glen fetched a ladder, and Astrid climbed on top to hang the lights while he held it.

"Who will be turning all these lights on and off? It seems like a monstrous task," Glen remarked.
"There are groups of volunteers within the church who will be managing all the lights, one group will light them early in the morning, and another will douse them again late into the evening when the park closes," Astrid explained.
Glen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I have to admit... I do admire how charitable and helpful the church is, even if I don't really understand their beliefs."
"You'd be surprised..." Astrid sarcastically remarked without thinking, immediately regretting her choice of words.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing," Astrid casually remarked, climbing down the ladder.
Glen offered her his hand, and she took it as she descended the last few steps. The feeling of his soft hand holding hers made her cheeks feel warm and sent a shock through her body. Why was this happening to her? She should know better than to fall for Glen's charms, she knew full well that they were not genuine, and the need to know the reason behind it had been plaguing her since she met him.

Astrid cleared her throat and focused back on reality.
"We shouldn't be dallying around," she said, checking her schedule for the day with the clock tower in the distance, "it's time to return to the school for dinner."
"Wouldn't it be better if we had dinner here in Earth instead? We would be able to return to work more easily," Glen suggested.
Astrid wasn't sure if he was trying to be helpful or if this was a thinly veiled invitation for a date.
"Going for dinner together in Earth? Am I your next flirtation?"
Astrid didn't know why she said that. It just came rolling out, and she immediately regretted it upon seeing Glen's reaction.
"Don't be silly. This is different," he said.
"How so?"
"It just is."

As they ate their dinner together in silence at one of Earth's many restaurants, Astrid found her thoughts lingering on the prince in front of her. He was such a paradox for her. On the one hand, she could not deny that she found him attractive and pleasant company, especially with how helpful he was being. On the other hand, she did not like his need for secrecy around his feigned interest in the female students of Royale High. The fact that Astrid had been one of the few girls he had not pursued, even though she was one of the few who had gotten to know him, only puzzled her further. But she reminded herself that she had other things to worry about, like making sure the Market Week was a success. She really had no time for flirtations.

"Astrid? Hello?" Glen called out.
She looked up from her meal and let her thoughts drift off.
"I've called your name four times. Is there something distracting you?"
"It's nothing," Astrid said, using her napkin to clean her mouth, "what did you want to ask me?"
"I was just wondering what we would be doing after dinner," Glen explained, "with the planning, I mean," he quickly added.
Astrid took a moment to enjoy Glen's flustered face as he tried to act like his words hadn't accidentally come out extremely flirty before finally grabbing the clipboard from her bag.
"Let's see... for tonight, I've arranged meetings with the lantern designers and the owners of the park café to decide on which lantern design and which menu will be best for the event."
"That shouldn't be too difficult to manage. Are you sure you need my help with that?"
"Of course. It never hurts to have a second opinion," Astrid responded, a smile forming on her face as they paid for their meal and prepared to leave.

The whole process didn't take long. Astrid quickly settled on a lotus design for the lanterns, as the flower seemed perfect to symbolize the peace the continent, and trade with it, had now found itself in after a rough time of war and even violence on Divinian soil. Glen had no objections, though he was a lot more talkative when it came to choosing the menu for the café, to the point where the two of them were engaged in a proper debate over the matter. Glen felt that the menu contained too little variety and only boasted Divinian things and argued for more variety, while Astrid felt it important to focus on her homeland because Divinia was so central to continental trade. It was nothing personal, just a small disagreement, and eventually they settled on a compromise where there was some variety with Divinia still being the main focus, something they both reluctantly agreed was the perfect balance. The discussion also made Astrid realize she had genuine feelings for Glen that she could no longer deny, something she would not share with anyone.

The next day, Astrid was relieved when Glen stayed at school for the morning to focus on his homework, leaving Astrid alone to focus on her task instead of being distracted by her feelings. She had met with the merchant representatives and made sure everyone knew where their stalls would be. After that, she walked around the park to see how the decorating was going. She was relieved to see that it was progressing well and that the volunteer groups were also working on making the signs together. Astrid took advantage of the well-advanced progress by going inside the small storage building near the café and sitting down there to recite her speech for the opening of the event. She was just finishing her second recital when Glen walked inside.

"Be careful with the door, the lock is broken, so it can't be opened from the inside," Astrid warned him. He nodded and kept the door ajar.
"Why are you hiding in here?"
"I'm not hiding, I'm practicing my speech for the opening. What are you doing here?"
"I needed some space."
His response puzzled Astrid. Had something happened to him?
"Why?"
He shot her a look of irritation that she had never seen on his face before. Whatever it was that had happened, it had clearly upset him.
"There you go, trying to pry in my business again! If you want to know so badly, maybe you can answer some of my questions first. Like why you make remarks on the purity of the church while claiming to be a devoted member, or why your mother suddenly can't organize the event when coincidentally her wedding anniversary is coming up, and most importantly, why no one has seen or heard from your father for the past decade?"

Astrid's eyes widened. How long had Glen been wanting to ask those questions? Why was he even interesting in the first place? And why ask them in this way?
"That's none of your concern," Astrid sneered back.
"Then you're a hypocrite. You're always trying to know more about me, yet you keep your own secrets to yourself."
"I just want to help you..."
"That's no excuse for the constant nagging when I've told you that I don't want to tell you. I know the church probably teaches you to help people in need or someth-"
"Stop!" Astrid shouted.
"I'm not criticizing the church."
"No, I mean stop the door!" Astrid said, pointing to the door that was slowly closing in front of them. Glen turned around but was too late as it shut into the lock. He tried and failed to get it open again.
"Wonderful. Now we're stuck," Astrid remarked, sitting down on the floor. The timing of this couldn't have been worse.