The White Haired Princess

chapter 6

"It was like looking at the ocean: some days, you could tell what mood
it was in. Most days, though, it was unreadable, mysterious."

Yui

My father killed the foreign king?

I couldn't read whether that was a lie or not. He did not seem like he was lying. I didn't think he was the type of person to simply lie without expecting a gain.

I went with a simple question instead. "Are you alright?"

He turned his head, giving me a brief glance. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because your dad just died," I said, without sugar-coating it.

When he fell silent, I didn't pry for an answer anymore.

I sighed, not exactly pitying him. I understood what it felt like to lose a parent.

I stared at his hard features, trying to rack my brain. I think I had an idea as to why my father did what he did. He was greedy. He was manipulative. Every aspect of his personality stood opposed to his title. He didn't deserve it.

The prince hadn't come with me because he thought of it as an adventure, but because his life was at risk just as much mine was at the palace.

He seemed irked by my silence because he spoke up and said, "I don't want your sympathy because of my situation."

I scoffed, trying to lighten the tension. "Who said I was going to sympathize? I'm in as much danger as you are at the moment." I stood up before he could say anything else.

"I think it would be better to keep moving for safety purposes."

He glanced at me for a split moment and stood up, brushing the dirt off the back of his loose white dress-shirt.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked him as we walked side by side.

"What?" he replied, with a subtle hint of fatigue in his tone.

"What's your name, Prince Pumpkin?"

He chuckled  "How much space have you filled with nicknames for me in that little brain of yours?"

"My brain is quite normally sized, thank you very much. But in all seriousness, I'm quite curious."

"I'm guessing you weren't listening when we were introduced. Ace. My name is Ace."

I snorted "That's a pretty absurd name."

"Is that so, Yui? Your name is no better. Where'd your parents even hear that name?" he countered back, without hesitation.

Curse him. How was I going to maintain my mysterious aura now? I was hoping he'd spaced off during introductions.

I wasn't going to argue with that. "Long story. Let's just agree that our parents lack creativity."

Ace nodded as we moved forward in a tension-less silence.

It was about two hours of walking before the moon slowly began to disappear underneath the clouds, and the woods got darker by the minute. The sound of our footsteps crunching the fallen leaves were somehow calming.

I came to a halt when I noticed that his eyes seemed to be drooping.

"Let's continue after resting for a bit. I think it'd be best to take turns in resting. You can sleep first." I could tell he was about to object, but I interrupted him, "I doubt you're going to argue with me after all that alcohol intake."