Heart desired

//Chapter 39//

I laughed out loud. "Why?"

"She seemes like someone who thinks too much about everything." She said, puzzled at my laughter. "And she reminds me of you."

I blinked. "You do realise that I have been talking about me all this time, right?"

"Really?" She looked truly surprised. "No wonder I like the princess!"

"Then why did you say that about... about Prince Surren and me?"

"I just thought it went really well with thay story." She said. I didn't know whether to believe her or not. Either she was pretending to be stupid or she genuinely had no clue.

Well, whichever was the case, it did not matter to me. If she was smart, she would be able to give me a answer. If she was not, then she will not give me an answer. Whatever the resault was, I was the who had to choose, so there really was nothing to worry about here.

"Well, good for you." I said. "Unfortunately, the story is real and it is about me. So-"

"Tell me." She said. "From the moment you set your foot in to our manor, I knew you were a good person. You played with Naeoh like he was your own brother. You helped around the house when no one asked you to. You wanted to know more about us. To be honest, before you arrived here, I hated Elves. Not just me. We all did. When I found out that you were an Elf, elf princess no less, I felt that there maybe more to Elves than just attacking innocent."

I smiled. "Species does not define a nature of someone. You can be kind hearted among thousand monsters. You can be a devil among thousand saints. We should never judge a person based on their family, species or money."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Judging others is bad."

"Not all the time." I said, winking. "Judging someone when you don't know them or their circumstances is bad. But if we know how rotten they are from inside out, I'd not stop from judging. I'd judge them so hard with a expression like this." I made a face. Kahlee burst out laughing. I joined her, feeling a little reckless like I used to, back then with my friends.

I wondered what Savin was doing.

"So," I started the story again, just to forget about him. "I - the princess decided to not to meddle in anything."

Kahlee seemed to sense my mood and became attentive once more. I continued on. "Two years later, some friends she made in Elkelyn came to rescue her. She refused at first, but they were persistent. They managed to take her out."

"Thank goodness for that."

I smiled at the memory. "But when she came outside, she find out that the friend she rescued from the death actually wanted her gone. He had taken her throne and had joined the evil ministers who killed her father. He was married, and already had a kid."

Kahlee frowned. I pretended not to see that as I continued.

"Then he find out that the princess was rescued. So he started to attack Elkelyn again. The princess seeks for a way to stop it, knowing that she was the one to blame for all of this. Then the king of Elkelyn asks her to take her throne and kingdom back, to take down her friend. The princess does not know what to do. So she sits on a carriage pulled by a haruto named Little Pinkie, telling a story about herself to a friend while escaping from her crush."

I finished. I didn't wait for her to say anything. There were plenty of blood bottles and fruits piled around our feet, to support our journey to Rawen from underground.

If Savin was here, this would have been a piece of cake.

I shook my head. Enough about him.

"I don't understand." Kahlee said after a while. "Why are you escaping from tge second prince? Your crush, that is second prince, right? And also, why do you say that you are the one to blame for everything? I can't see how any of this is your fault."

I told him about my dreams and visions again. The way I held the brooch as I cried. That dream was bound to be real one day. There was do denying it.

"Still, I don't understand." She said. "Okay, so let's say that you escaping somehow affected the future and the second prince survived. I can understand that. But do you keep telling me that you are the one to blame? You haven't done anything wrong."

"The fate told me to not to do anything, to stop seeking." I said. "And I could not stop doing that one simple thing. Because of me, hundreds- no, thousands of people are getting punished, Elves and Elkelyns alike."

"Well, you don't do anything and they are still getting punished. Maybe your intervening with them does feel like leading them to death, but honestly, you are just trying to save them. In fact, if you ends up seizing the throne, everybody is going to be alright."

I thought about it. She was not wrong. If I took the throne and punished all the ministers for their crimes and relieved the slaves, generational debts and slavery would be over. Most of the Elves I found blood bound to Nave and other ministers would be saved. Attacks on Elkelyn will be stopped.

Thinking like that, the choice seemed simple.

Our Little Pinkie came to a stop. I didn't realise I was that much lost in thought till tje carriage halted, making me bump in to my own butt. Kahlee didn't say anything, as if she was letting me decide what I am about to do next.

"Okay, then," I said before we get down. "First we will go and help Resh. Then I will stay at Rawen, undercover. Then, I will gather all the information I missed for past ten years. Then I will come back, lead an army and take down my best friend."

Kahlee climed down."Hah! As if we would let you do everything on your own. Are you that much desperate to die?"

We were near a farming area. I could see farmers attending to Coucuminis, feeding them fruits and wheat. One of the farmers saw us and came up. We waited for him to come, so we could let Little Pinkie have some shelter.

"I don't want anyone else to die." I replied to Kahlee in the meantime.

She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"Ladies," The farmer greeted us. "What business do you have here? Are you here to sell this haruta?"

Little Pinkie looked scared. "No, no." I said hurriedly while Kahlee laughed. "Can you shelter him for few days, we will pay you handsomely."

"Shelter? Okay." He said.

I gave him a golden coin. "This is the advance. We will give you the rest when we pick him up."

He took the gold coin. "This is too much."

I grinned. "I know."

He looked at loss of words. After debating with himself for a few seconds, he finally gave in. "Okay." said. "Where are you going, with that much stuff?"

"Just somewhere." I said.

Kahlee grinned. "You don't have to know the details."

I have to admit, she had a pretty scary grin.

The farmer didn't say anything. He must have recognised us by our brooches, because he kept looking at them. "Fine. When you are done, you can find us right there." He pointed to a house.

I nodded. He waited until we were out of his sight, standing side by side with Little Pinkie. I didn't look back.