Question

Grey and Aurora trod through the forest, tense, but enjoying the view. The beautiful nature surrounding them was a sight to behold, but they both knew it was just as deadly. The forest was silent; far too silent, creating a sense of eerieness that threatened to overflow at any time.

'Fallen Star, we've been walking for 10 minutes. There's nothing here.' Grey said in his mind, half to complain and half to break free of the silence. It was a spectral, ghostly quietness that creeped the duo out.

- Keep looking. I'm sure that you'll come across something. That single Manticore can't have been the only creature. The portal would have opened otherwise. -

'Yeah, yeah. It's just ominous.' Grey waved Its obviousness aside, choosing instead to engage with Aurora. "Felt anything?"

"No, nothing. No sound, no sight, no smell. I think the forest is dead, except, it's not." A voice came from his side.

"I know, right? It's odd. However, all we can do is search, so let's keep at it." Grey sighed. 'I get why Kim Jaehyun asked for me to be here. They would have struggled. I guess I can believe him from now on.'

- I'm still suspicious of him, and why he is special is still a very important detail we need to learn. -

'Of course, to both of those things. I was saying that we have no immediate reason to doubt him. Anyway, let me get back to searching.'

Grey pulled his focus back to the front, scanning the forest for a sign of life.

Tree after tree, clearing after clearing, the two traversed the forest in search of something that moved. Yet, no matter how hard they looked, no matter how much they strained their eyes at a tree in hopes it would move, nothing was there.

Soon, the suns began to fall, one to the west and one to the north, and darkness enveloped the forest.

"We should set up camp. We have looked for ages and found nothing, so we should rest." Aurora spoke up with a yawn.

"Agreed. Let's go back to the cave. We have shelter there in case it rains, and even in the event of a flood, it shouldn't be too hard to escape." Grey said, turning around to lead the way.

"Don't jinx it!" Aurora lightly slapped him on the arm.

"My bad, but I don't believe in superstition. Someone always tells me that it's dumb."

- I heard that.-

'I know.'

"I see... Well, I do, so stop it." Aurora demanded, although a second yawn made it seem rather cute, and not at all like a command. "Or I'll hit you with an Ice spike."

"My bad," Grey said with a stifled laugh. "Also, if you were so tired, why didn't you say anything?"

She looked at him for a few seconds, her gaze squinted. Suddenly, he too yawned.

"You're also tired, aren't you?" She replied, a smirk on her face.

"No, that's due to social mirroring. It has to do with the neurons thinking that it is a positive, beneficial action to mimic." He responded in kind, a smug look on his face. He saw what she was trying to do.

Hearing that, Aurora crossed her arms and looked down, muttering under her breath. "Nerd."

"I heard that," Grey said, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"I know." Aurora stuck her tongue out at him, pouting like a child.

'I think this has happened before. Like, seconds ago.'

- It has. Serves you right, by the way. Karma. -

'Very funny.' Grey rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you didn't answer me. Stop acting like a child and tell me."

For a second, Aurora heard Grey as being rude, calling her a child, but then realized he was being objective. She had acted just as a child would —without sense.

'Gods, why did I do that?' She thought, reflecting on her actions.

Looking away, to hide her blush, she responded. "I didn't want to be a burden. I know that I'm weaker, and a hindrance, but I pushed through so that you wouldn't think bad of me."

Grey listened to her attentively with raised eyebrows. 'Why would you be a hindrance, and why would you think like that? Is being a princess so harsh?'

"You couldn't be a burden, or a hindrance, even if you tried," Grey said after a second. "We got sucked in here randomly, caught unawares. I'm sure that if you came in with preparation, you'd be as strong as me. Besides, I have 14 years of training, and you have what, about 4 or 5 years, split up over 7. It's unfair to compare ourselves, so don't."

Grey spoke seriously, not a hint of mockery in his voice, and Aurora picked up on that. Were Grey anyone else, Aurora was sure that they would have expected something of her. Another thing she had learned from books and later from the Courts was that people always had ulterior motives, that they hid their true selves, and that was also a reason she decided to be an 'Ice Queen'.

They're too scary to try and trick.

However, Grey seemed to be himself, no matter the situation. He was consistent, even if he hid some things about himself.

'I'm glad that I'm not a burden, at least. Also, I know he didn't mean it like that, but the last part felt rude.' She thought, breathing a sigh of relief from her nose.

"Is it that hard to be a princess?" Grey asked, making sure to guide them along the right path at the same time. Again, a perfect memory came in handy at times like these.

"Not really. The training sucks, but being an Ice Queen stops people from trying to pull one over on me. Of course, there's always a moron or two, and my act doesn't dissuade people from placing expectations on me. However, it's not unbearable." She began.

"Sounds... harsh." Grey butt in.

"I wasn't done, but yes. It's very mentally straining, more than anything. The courts are full of all sorts of nobles, but I only need to beware of a few. Most of those few are cunning Counts who want the crown, and there's one Duke who wants it too. In fact, our little 'engagement' is beneficial for me. I was going to ask to keep it but never got to say it."

Taking a breath, Aurora fell into thought. After a while, she finally spoke again.

"I guess, overall, being a princess has made me overly self-conscious about how much I can contribute, and has stopped me from being myself outside. The only ones who know about the real me are my parents, my maids, my guard, you, and Hannah. Although you were an accident."

"I see. It sounds tough. I can't say that I can relate, or that I can understand, but I can say that it doesn't sound fun."

"Indeed. Sometimes I wish that we followed the Human Domain's ruling. It seems so much simpler."

"Maybe, but each has its pros and cons." Grey said, stopping.

Aurora followed suit, realizing a second later that they had arrived at the cave. "We got back much faster."

"Of course, we had a destination in mind. Anyway, I was going to ask you about Hannah and stuff, but that can wait for tomorrow. We should go find a good spot to sleep."

"Okay." Aurora nodded.

The two entered the cave, heading down to the first level where the corpse lay. Grey raised his hand, pointing at the corpse, and was about to speak.

"I'm not sleeping near that." Aurora immediately said, cutting off Grey.

"It's not that bad," Grey replied. "I've done it myself. It's... cozy. I think. I had Mana Depletion then, so I'm not too sure."

"Still, my answer is no. Let's go down a level."

Listening to her words, the pair went down to the floor below, where the portal had been. The portal was still absent and the cave was as they left it.

Aurora moved to the side, positioning herself not 10 meters from the tunnel, against the wall. Grey followed, lying close by, just a few meters away.

They lay in silence, one staring at the red marble ceiling, the other at the red marble wall.

Time ticked by, although neither could tell how long.

Aurora played a game on her hologram, an offline one that she had downloaded. Whilst it didn't work properly due to the lack of Hypernet, a far superior version of the Internet, it could play games, take photos, and make notes.

Grey, however, chose to lay in silence, not even conversing with Fallen Star. He found that letting his mind wander was the best way to sleep, instead of focusing on anything.

Soon, a stray thought strolled through his mind, and he spoke up.

"By the way... i-if you want, we can keep the engagement. For your courts and stuff." Grey said, a slight stammer in his voice.

'Why am I so nervous saying this?'

The silence continued, going from quiet to deafening the longer no response came.

'Is she asleep?'

"Really? Thanks." Aurora finally spoke, breaking the taut silence.

"No problem. Who knows, we might fall in love." Grey joked.

"..." Aurora said something, too quiet for Grey to hear, so he ignored it.

"Anyway, good night."

"Good night to you too."

'You too, bud.'

- Good night, Grey. -