Classy, Controlled Chaos - The STEAM Team Adventures

🍋 Bittersweet [2/5] 🍋

Edward's POV:

Sophii and I were sharing a cup of hot chocolate outside by the frozen-over courtyard, admiring the soft blanket of snow that had fallen from the night before.

Even though it was still dark out (as it always was in Lunarift), we decided to go for a quick walk around the small area.

"Look at those rose bushes," I commented, eyeing the icy stalks of the plant. "Reminds me of Secret."

She dunked her furry head into her cup, lapping up some of the warm milk. "Don't bring that snake up ever again. She scared me."

"More than Blackthorne?" I chuckled, remembering my unsettlingly power-hungry half-brother. "Compared to him, she's as sweet as a cherry pie."

"Totally." The shadowshifter meowed, glancing up at me. "Blackthorne was... Kinda handsome."

I shook my head. "You have weird taste."

"I know," Sophii replied nonchalantly, flicking her tail. "Also, I'm bored... I wanna go back to the Horizon Library and do some parkour before my legs freeze from inactivity."

"Such big words for a tiny mouth like yours." I snorted, crouching down to meet her at eye level. "How about this: I race you to the Haven Town Square and whoever loses has to pay. Got it?"

"Bet!" The black cat chirped, dropping into her low stance. "I'll give you a five second head start because I'm nice like that."

I gave her a cunning smirk.

"Game on."

☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️

As always, I lost the race.

Sophii was peering into the ice cream shop's window, twitching her tail to acknowledge me with a subtle greeting.

I adjusted the tiny golden crown on my head, letting out a heavy sigh as I tried to catch my breath.

"Slowpoke," She teased, swiveling an ear toward me. "Also, you might wanna go inside. Cool people in there."

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Is that another one of your silly puns because we're in Northwynd?"

The shadowshifter gave me a simple shrug. "I guess so. Uhh... Go inside. I'll follow you."

Following her directions, I took a step toward the door, slowly swinging it open and walking into the cozy, cottage-like ice cream shop.

It was unusually warm inside; I didn't expect the heaters to be up this much.

Then I turned to my left.

There, sitting together at a table to themselves, were Tia and Marshall.

They seemed to be in deep conversation, chatting over ice cream.

I was shocked to see them, but luckily, they didn't notice me.

"Romance," Sophii meowed, padding over to me and sitting down beside my boot. "Hot, steamy romance."

"You're a cat, you shouldn't even understand that concept." I chuckled, bending over to gently scratch the fur behind her ears.

"Exactly, I don't." She snorted, dismissively flicking her tail at me. "I just like saying that phrase because it annoys you and I love annoying people."

"What's a prince like you doing around these parts?" My heart dropped into my stomach as I recognized Marshall's surprisingly husky voice.

His amber, blazing eyes met with mine as I struggled to create a decent reply. "Uhh... Being royalty?"

He frowned at me, huffing a light puff of smoke. "Wow, thanks Captain Obvious. Let me guess... Off to get something for your beloved Nyx?"

My cheeks instantly went red. "What?!"

"So you're not engaged?" Tia teased, flicking her orca tail at me. "That's quite surprising."

"N-No!" I squeaked, realizing I've been put on the spot. "I- I uhm, I-"

Luckily, a waiter hurried over to me, saving myself from further embarrassment. "Two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone for His Majesty?"

He promptly handed me the cone and darted away before I could say thank you.

"Sweet," Sophii meowed, hoping for me to acknowledge her clever pun. "May I have a lick?"

Marshall gave Tia a questionable look before shaking his head. "We've... Rested for too long. We should head back to training."

She seemed to understand the innuendo. "Yeah, sorry Edward. Marsh has to train me how to fight."

I gave her a skeptical look, gingerly licking the cold ice cream. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Same thing." The captain groaned, pushing herself off of her chair. "C'mon, let's go. No time to waste."

With a quick flip of her orca tail, she simultaneously managed to turn him around by the shoulder and nudge his thigh.

"See you later, Edward." The blacksmith mumbled, resting his palm on Tia's shoulder. "If you see her, tell Addi I say hi."

Before I knew it, they were both out of the parlor, leaving just me and Sophii to gawk at the scene that had just unfolded in front of us.

"Is he cheating on Addison?" The shadowshifter meowed, boredly pawing at my boot.

I choked at her statement. "What?"

"You heard that right," she replied, fluidly weaving her way between my legs and neatly sitting on the floor. "He's a dirty cheater, right?"

"They aren't in a relationship!" I blurted out, crouching down to her level. "What are you talking about?"

"So friendship isn't a relationship?" Sophii asked, seeming genuinely confused.

I sighed. "Yes, but no. They're just friends. Marshall can have another friend and he isn't cheating on Addison. Also, you shouldn't say stuff like that."

She gave me a simple shrug. "Sorry. I just regurgitate whatever Addi spouts whenever she goes haywire over a Birchshire romance novel. The wonders that stuff can work on feeble minds..."

"No one's gonna believe me if they see a cat like you saying that," I snorted, watching her crane her neck toward the ice cream cone in my hand.

"They don't need to," The black cat snorted, briefly pressing the tip of her tongue against the frozen treat before flicking her ears back in disgust. "Ow, why did that hurt?"

"It's called a brain freeze," I recognized a charming, rich voice chuckle from beside me.

He didn't have to say anything else to let me know who it was.

"Nyx!" I laughed, turning around and making eye contact with the ivory knight. "Assuming you're having a day off?"

"Correction: We're having a day off." The ivory knight replied, gesturing behind him.

My jaw dropped on the floor as I noticed the other six knights of the royal guard sitting around a table, contentedly chatting with one another.

In between Sir Blanco (the large, hefty knight whom I assumed Tia was crushing on) and Sir Blizzard (who for some reason has a strong dislike for Nyx), was my father, King Arthur.

He was in deep conversation with Sir Blanco, his eyes intently fixed on his counterpart's.

"Wanna come sit with us?" Nyx grinned behind his helmet visor, offering me his gloved hand.

Sophii let out a happy purr, and that's when I realized the ivory knight was holding her under his elbow. "You should."

After a couple minutes, I was seated on the right side of my dad, enjoying my ice cream with the rest of the knights.

I took the opportunity to relax...

...For the first time in weeks.