My Knight Rescuer is a Jerk! So Why should I ignore the Prince?
"Always remember, no matter how much a fae may seem like they experience emotions, no matter how human like a fae may behave...a fae can never be a human." The Keybearer. A young maiden from another world foretold by ancient prophesy, destined to collect the seven keys and save the world. Surely that's the kind of story that finds some plucky high schooler dreaming of adventure and whisks them off to find their true love, right? Overworked salary women like Emily have long passed the point where such fantasies can come true, and even if they did, it's not like she'd know the first thing about what to do. ...So of course, nobody even bothered to ask her before dropping her into an entirely new world full of magic and danger. Like the three hungry orcs eyeing her as soon as she wakes up. "What do you mean I can sense the keys if I use magic?! What magic?!" If Emily could, she'd have immediately issued a rejection letter, but unfortunately, the only way back is to finish her quest somehow. But it's not all danger and confusion. The knight who rushed into battle to save her is charming and kind and gorgeous, and the beautiful and lonely prince has a soft and kind smile only for her. If everyone she meets along the way is like them... Well. It can't be that bad, right? "...--I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED BY A PAINTING?!"
Fifty-Seventh
Afternoon gave way to evening, and the light steadily dimmed. The landscape transitioned from a plain of fields and scattered trees to a thick forest.
The path went from wide dirt road to a narrow winding track, barely two carriage lengths wide. The sound of crunching gravel under the hooves of the horses filled the air as the carriage rolled along at a slow pace, following the faint moonlight to guide the way.
According to Kieran, they were close enough to the designated safe rest house to keep pushing on to it, but the danger of riding at night while potentially being hunted by orcs only increased the more everyone got tired.
As darkness settled in, Adrien kept a steady stream of conversation going, even though it seemed to be just to keep the tension of their situation from rising too high.
At some point he moved on to the local mythology. The Verilish.