𝓕𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓽-𝓜𝓮-𝓝𝓸𝓽 (Varian x Reader)

Bonus Chapter 2- You Know I Adore You, Right?

Happy one year, everyone!! To celebrate, I come bearing gifts of another bonus chapter! This one ended up being like 3x longer than it was supposed to, but I hope you all enjoy!

𖤓 ~‪‪❤︎‬~ ☾

Our travels brought our small party to the Kingdom of Neserdnia. A stunning land with lush foliage, white sand beaches, and water a brighter blue than zircon gemstones. I had seen countless drawings of the kingdom in my books, but not one did the land justice. The air is sweet and fresh, a lovely change of pace from the last kingdom we visited, where the air was heavy with smog from the numerous factories it housed. It was still early spring, but you wouldn't know it based on how warm Neserdnia is. It makes sense, as the kingdom is located on the southern half of the continent. This was by far my favorite kingdom yet; I could see why my parents would traverse here so much when I was growing up.

After we set up camp in a small clearing in the jungle, I slipped my satchel over my shoulder and followed the sound of the waves until I reached the beach. The wind gently ruffled my hair and I closed my eyes for a moment to enhance the calming sensation the breeze brought, before I slipped off my boots and socks and placed them where the jungle met the sand. Hesitantly, I kicked up some sand with my foot, checking to make sure there wasn't a crab beneath the surface. One of the books in the library mentioned that crabs will burrow into the sand to avoid predators, and I wasn't about to get pinched on my first day at the beach.

Feeling satisfied, I took a step into the sand, watching as my foot began to sink into the ground. It was so soothing. I wiggled my toes a bit, causing more sand to trickle onto my foot. Before placing my second foot on the beach, I repeated my little ritual to avoid crab claws. I continued to repeat this process for a few more steps until I realized how stupid I must've looked and I quit. I knew that if Hugo were to come to the beach and saw me, he'd make fun of me for weeks. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

I made it halfway to the water without getting pinched by any crabs, and slowly tugged a mat out of my bag and spread it out across the sand. As much as I wanted to go to the shore and touch the ocean, Varian and I had made a pact when we began voyaging to Neserdnia three weeks ago that neither one of us would go in the ocean without the other. Even though Corona was on an island in the sea, people never swam in the Coronian waters. Sea serpents lurked too close for it to be regarded as safe. Therefore, neither of us had ever been to the ocean before, and we wanted to experience it together. I pulled out a piece of paper and something the write with, deciding to write Rapunzel a letter while I waited for Varian. I knew I had a bit of time to kill because Varian told me he had to document the foliage in the area before he would join me.

Demanitus knows why he had to take notes the second we got to a tropical paradise, but he seemed rather antsy to do so and figured I would just let him do his thing. Now that I thought about it, Varian has seemed pretty restless all day, almost as if he was worried about something. I ponder it for a moment. Maybe he discovered what the Trial of Neserdnia was?

I was about to go back to our camp and check on him when a young woman about a year younger than me strode up to where I was sitting. Her golden eyes sparkled in the late afternoon sun as she sat next to me on my mat. "Hi, Ru." I greeted her with a smile.

Nuru is the youngest princess in the kingdom of Koto, and I had a feeling that if I had been allowed to socialize with other kids growing up, the two of us would've become friends. She has a gentle and sagacious aura to her and is very mature for her age. While she seemed reserved at first, she quickly opened up and revealed herself as a fun-loving girl who is up for just about anything. She is like a perfect blend of Cassandra and Rapunzel. We realized we had a lot in common, such as our desire to help our kingdoms, thirst for knowledge, and yearning to find our purpose. I've only known her for about a year, but I already called the astrologer one of my dearest friends.