67 Outside (2)
Earlier.
"Hey, hey, Jerich!" That loud and familiar voice, Jerich turned his head to the direction of where the voice came from. He saw the familiar bluish-grey hair lightly swaying in the air as he ran. His hair lightly swayed as he turned his head and his golden eyes met a pair of enchanting green eyes. He ran towards him and stopped just in front of him. "Good afternoon, Luke," Jerich said in a gentle and low tone of voice as he smiled at him. Luke's face was beaming with joy and his grin was wide as always. Behind him was his personal knight, Clarence.
Jerich was with his personal knight but he was 10 steps away from him because Jerich asked him to do so. It was hard to move around with a personal knight always near him but it's for his safety since he was a son of a noble. Luke turned to his personal knight and told him something which Jerich didn't hear but guessing from the knight's actions—he turned around and walked 10 steps away from them before he stood still at the position—Luke must have told him to take a few steps away from them and just guard them with that distance between them.
They had an agreement to meet each other at the plaza and go to the newly-built café to go eat there. Although they were disappointed that Harrison didn't agree or don't want to go with them because he had plans to do. "Let's go, shall we?" Luke said in a cheerful tone of voice as he turned around and faced Jerich with that wide grin on his face. Jerich nodded his head as a response and hummed with a smile on his face.
They walked towards the direction of the market, happily talking with one another. Telling some stories while their personal knights followed them behind quietly while observing their surroundings, their guard was raised as they did so. "I heard the food there is really delicious," Luke suddenly spoke about the café they were going to and Jerich was about to respond when he suddenly felt someone bump into him which caused him to slightly topple behind. A sound of the loud thud was heard and it gained the attention of the people walking around them.
"Jerich, are you okay?" Luke said as he asked his friend in a worried tone of voice but he didn't respond and just hissed in pain. His personal knight, Francis jogged towards the two with a worried expression plastered on his face seeing the one he was guarding on the ground while rubbing his head to ease the pain. Luke seeing the state of his friend slightly exaggerated and glared at the person who bumped into them. "Hey! You should watch where…" Luke's voice sounded annoyed but it trailed off when the person slowly lifted her head and met eyes with the person in front of him.
Luke's eyes widened when he realized who it was. "It's you?!" Luke said in a rather loud voice and Jerich who was standing up with the help of his personal knight looked ahead of him with a curious expression. "Luke, who is it?" He asked in a low voice and his eyes darted at the girl on the ground who bumped into him and his eyes also widened in shock.
"Miss Greenwood!" It was Elise, the mysterious girl at their academy. She was the one who asked Harrison to be her dance partner. Elise looked at them and gasped as her eyes widened. She quickly stood up and bowed at them repeatedly with an apologetic expression, she was panicking. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me for bumping into you! It wasn't intentional! I'm sorry!" She said while bowing repeatedly. She can't help it, she just bumped into them, the sons of a high-ranked noble and one of the strongest people in the class.
"No, no, it's okay," Jerich said hoping that Elise would stop bowing at them. Elise stopped bowing and faced them, "B-But!" Elise insisted, still having the same apologetic expression on her face. "No, it's fine, really," Jerich said and smiled at her to show that he was completely fine. Before Elise could reply back, Jerich interrupted her and was the first one to speak. "By the way, where are you heading, Miss Greenwood? I can see that you are rushing," Was the words Jerich said at Elise. Curiosity laced his gentle voice and there was a smile plastered on his face as always. Luke stood there, watching the two interact with each other.
"Elise is fine and to answer your question, I was looking for the newly-built café and I can't find it. My personal knight doesn't know about it either, so we were looking for it together and it seems like I lost him," Elise shortly laughed in an embarrassed away after she spoke. "I see, then would you like to come with us? We are heading to the café anyway," Jerich said after hearing what she said. "Really?! You'll let me come with you?!" Elise said in an excited tone, her face beaming with joy as she spoke. There was an expression filled with excitement plastered on her face and her smile grew wide. Jerich laughed shortly before he nodded his head as a response.
"But would you like to look for your personal knight first? We can help you, it's not like we are rushing to go to the café," Jerich said and the aura which surrounded him became warm and bright. The smile on his face became more gentle and his expression too. Jerich had a serious expression on hearing what his friend is saying, is he taking advantage of this situation to get to know her? He asked himself and heaved a sigh. Well, I'll just go with his plan, he thought.
"No. no, it's okay. My personal knight told me that if I found the café, I should not worry about him and just get inside to eat. Besides, I got my card with me," Elise said as she showed them a black card with some red lines and such. There are two ways to pay, one is by directly, you give them the amount of money needed, and second is by card, the money is stored inside the card and you can easily carry it anywhere unlike coins and papers which are really heavy, and make your pockets full. Just like on Alexandra's previous life where you either pay in forms of cash or card.
"I see, then let's go?" Jerich said and Elise nodded before they started walking towards the café together. Jerich and Luke's personal knights were walking behind them quietly while raising their guard and observing their surroundings especially the girl with him. "By the way, how did you found out about the café? It's not like you like to go out or have some friends to talk about," Luke was too straightforward at the last part but Elise didn't pay no mind at it. Jerich nudged his friend's waist and glared at him for saying the last part but Luke just shrugged as a response.
"My personal knight told me about it and I heard some of the girls mentioning the café, I got curious and wanted to go. It was just built a few days ago but it was already popular and their food tastes good," Elise responded with a soft tone of voice trying to sound polite and formal as much as possible. Jerich nodded repeatedly as he hummed as a response and Elise looked around them as if she was looking for something or someone. "Where's your other friend?" Elise asked and Luke's eyebrows creased hearing what she said. "Who?"
"Oh, you mean Harrison? He doesn't like to go to those types of places and when I asked him about it, he declined and said that he still has many things to do," Jerich said and Elise's mouth shaped into an 'o' as she nodded repeatedly. They quietly walked side by side and gained some attention from the passersby especially at Elise who had this natural glow and beautiful aura surrounding her. "We've arrived," Luke said with a huge grin plastered on his face as they stopped in front of a small building decorated with pastel colors and some attractive flowers. The wall was just glass, so they can completely see what was inside. The place looked fully packed but there was no one stopping them from entering.
They pushed the door open and they could hear the sound of the bell chimes ringing throughout the place and caught the attention of some people. Their eyes were darted at Elise especially from the boys and the girls were completely focused at either Luke or Jerich. The power of the three combined was too powerful that it gained almost everyone's attention and got them staring at them in awe while their eyes were sparkling.
A waitress approached them with a smile on her face, she was taller than them. "Table for three?" She asked in a gentle tone of voice. Luke and Jerich nodded at the same time while Elise just stared at the woman in front of her. The waitress smiled at them before she stepped aside, "This way, please," She said and head off to a direction of an empty table surrounded by three chairs behind the two persons. The girl was staring at them and the boy had completely averted his gaze but as Luke stared at the boy more, there was some sort of resemblance or familiarity surrounding him.
"Wait, Harrison..?" Luke completely stopped walking and Jerich stopped too hearing what name he just mentioned. His eyebrows creased and they looked at the boy with a confused expression plastered on his face. Elise just stared at them and the girl who was with the familiar boy sitting at the chair in front of them was looking at each one of their faces with her eyes wide because of shock. The boy turned his head around and his ash-grey eyes met Luke's enchanting green ones, his face was expressionless and his black hair was combed back while there were some few strands that fell off from his face. He was wearing some clothes which made him look like he was just a normal person or the son of a farmer.
Silence completely surrounded them. "Err, who are you?" The girl with raven black hair and brown eyes asked in a confused yet curious expression. Her voice was gentle and her eyebrows were creased, she forced a smile on her face as she asked that. "Oh, sorry, I probably must have mistaken you as someone I know. Besides, he never goes at this type of place, sorry for causing such an inconvenience," Jerich said as he bowed his head and turned around before heading towards the empty table with seats surrounding it.
Luke stared at the man for a few seconds before he turned around and followed Jerich. Elise smiled at the two, her smile was warm and gentle before she turned around and walked towards the direction of Jerich and Luke.
"Harrison never goes at this type of place, what are you thinking? Besides, there was a beautiful girl, Harrison doesn't like to interact with girls or even bring them at this place," Elise heard Jerich said with a serious expression plastered on his face and the grin on Luke's face was completely erased. His lips were pursed into a thin line and he also had the serious expression plastered on his face.
"I know but he just feels so familiar. It feels like I have seen him somewhere," Luke said and heaved a sigh before he leaned back at his chair and watched the waitress behind them place down the orders from the people behind them. They could see how the girl's eyes sparkled in excitement and joy seeing the food that was being placed down their table. They could only see the back of the boy's head and can't see what expression he had on his face.
"Should we order? I'm excited to know what the food tastes," Elise said and gained the attention of both boys who were with her. A smile crept up to Jerich's lips as he nodded and picked up the menu book placed on their table.
