"You have to stop doing that."
"Stop doing what?"
"Saying things that make me want to kiss you when I can't."
Becoming the prince's personal bodyguard should be a dream come true, shouldn't it? Good pay, palace life, but the real gem that ever...
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Still feeling uneasy about my encounter with the Prince of Exalos, I stand at the doorstep of the hut, unsure if I could bring myself to enter.
Something just feels wrong. I could not rationalise it. There has to be some connection between him and the Draydons. There had to be. Otherwise, he would not have had the same badge as the lieutenant. I had completely forgotten that he used to own one. I might not have even recalled if the lieutenant had not shown up. After all, now that I think about it, that was the last time I had ever seen him with the badge. I did not notice it then.
Something had to have happened for him to stop wearing it.
A part of me was begging relentlessly for me to retreat, to leave this mess behind and just return to hiding as I had been for the past 2 years. Fear is starting to consume me once again. I cannot help but dread what is to come.
Nonetheless, I muster the courage as I reenter the hut I had left from.
To my surprise, Casimir did not leave the hut. He is still here.
"I told you I was fine. Look at me, I'm still in one piece," Casimir states triumphantly as he gets up from the chair he is sitting on.
Clearly, he is very proud to prove me wrong.
"Better safe than sorry," I respond dully.
To that, he frowns.
"Is everything alright? You seem a little odd." Casimir points out, concerned.
"Yeah... everything's alright, don't worry. Just feeling a little tired," I lie but I cannot hide the uneasiness in my voice.
He furrows his eyebrows in suspicion but he does not ask further questions.
I did not know how to tell him what happened. He would not understand. There is just this gut-wrenching feeling, twisting and turning knots in my stomach as if foreshadowing that something ominous is about to unfold.
Just as I proceed to take a seat by the edge of the bed, the door to the hut slams wide open, resulting in a loud thud that startles both of us.
"My goodness, I finally found you two!" The blonde male stands at the doorstep, panting heavily.
Not far behind him, you could hear the faint panicked voices of a couple of others.
"He found them?"
"I think he did."
Weirdly, I found his unanticipated appearance reassuring. After these past days of travelling into the unknown, something about familiarity felt comforting.
Eventually, the others show up right beside him.
"Dom? I don't understand. How are all of you here so quickly? Did the message already send?" Casimir asks, clearly puzzled.
