Review Responses:
pretty-on-point: OMG THAT'S SO SCARY! But it's a good thing that nothing poisonous or anything bad happened! Talk about flirting with death. (⊙ˍ⊙) And omg, really?! I didn't think my references to my other works were reminiscent to dramas - I'm actually being original for once (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`). And I'm so glad that you liked the runaway bride reference! And small spoiler alert, but there's no runaway widow and ninja in this chapter, lol, but they are indeed in a fight against time! ^^
Innocent-Diamond: You got them all! And AHHH! I *think* email alerts are working now? Hopefully they are because this is just tiring at this point. ಠ╭╮ಠ And definitely! They need to appreciate moments like this (and this chapter) before they have to go back to worrying about escaping. >﹏<
MagicxMusicxMelody: AHHH! I'm so sorry for not writing my references better that you thought Alice was going crazy. 〒▽〒 But I'm glad that you finally got the references! And HAHA, Shun and Alice have got a LOT to tell Ren and Fabia when they get to Neathia. XD
cherry-tree-of-life: OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING BOTH CHAPTERS AT THE SAME TIME. THE DEDICATION. (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) And I can't believe that you're willing to sacrifice their relationship. (⊙ˍ⊙)
Chapter 17
"Was there a reason why your grandfather never considered Vestal a place for your training?" Alice asked before biting into a lemon cake that melted into her mouth. After days at sea, the lovers finally made it to the kingdom of Vestal. Their original plan was to leave for Neathia immediately after landing on Vestal, but like most things in life, things didn't go their way. The fastest way for them to reach Neathia was to board yet another ship, but unfortunately, the last ship en route to Neathia deported two days after they landed in Vestal and the next ship wouldn't be arriving until a week later. Time was of the essence to them, so waiting for a week was out of the question. The next option that they had to go with was to buy a horse and continue travelling to Neathia by foot. Which explained why the pair were currently walking about the town, looking at horses and nibbling from a small bag of pastries.
If they weren't on the run and pressed on time, Alice would have loved to stay in the kingdom of Vestal for a little while longer. While they were in the commoners' side of the kingdom, everything around them looked like something out of a fairytale. The houses looked more like huts than anything, and while she was unsure of how well they would withstand against harsher weather, they looked adorable nevertheless.
"I'm sure he did consider it, seeing as how Vestal is in-between both New Vestroia and Neathia." Shun paused, bending down to eat the last bite of her lemon cake in her hand before continuing on. "I suppose when we finally reached Vestal, he didn't like what he saw. We had arrived when there was a festival of some sort and must have thought that I would be distracted by the festivities to focus on my training."
"I wish I was there with you to see that. That sounded fun." The redhead sighed wistfully.
"You were." He smiled gently, taking her hand in his. "I know that there aren't any festivities going on right now, but I've never been happier to be here."
Time seemed to have stopped, and the world around them seemingly disappeared. The bustling noises of the people in the marketplace faded to nothing, and all that Alice can see was the man in front of her, and all she could feel was his hand in hers. She would have loved to live there forever in their little bubble, where nothing mattered but him and her. Unfortunately, their little world burst at a stranger's voice.
"Shun?" An unfamiliar, baritone voice startled the couple from their little daydream. Terrified to turn around, Alice hid behind Shun, her heart threatening to beat its' way out of her heart as her mind conjured up the worst-case scenario. They've been discovered by that wicked group of men that lured Shun in and they were going to threaten Shun to come back. And if they weren't as forgiving, they'd immediately kill them, and oh my God they can't die now, not when they're so close to reaching Neathia -
"Masquerade? Christina?" The surprise in Shun's voice shocked Alice, as he sounded more pleasantly shocked than anything.
"I knew that it was you! Christina didn't believe me." The baritone voice came closer to them, sounding amused. It was then that the redhead dared a peek at the stranger. The man who must be Masquerade was around Shun's height - it was hard to tell, considering how spiked up his blond hair was - and he was dressed in a white coat and purple pants which were all tied together with a pair of black gloves. Despite his eccentric choice of clothing, the most eye-catching thing about the man was the mask he wore, which covered half of his face and only showed his lips. "It's been awhile, hasn't it? How have you been?"
"You can't blame me! It's been years since we've seen him, and nobody knew that he'll grow out his hair this long!" A crimson redhead girl huffed at Masquerade, interrupting whatever it was that Shun was about to say. She turned her attention away from the masked man back to Shun. "It's so good to see you again, Shun! And oh! Who's this?" She asked, swaying side-to-side in an attempt to take a better look at Alice.
"This is Alice." The redhead can hear the fondness in his voice as he stepped slightly so that Alice can get a closer view of the strange blond and redhead. "Alice, this is Masquerade and Christina. They're friends." He added, as he must have noticed the panicked look on her face. At his reassurance, she felt her fear slowly fade away as she stepped out of Shun's shadow to fully meet the two.
"H-Hello. It's nice to meet you." Alice smiled as she shook hands with Masquerade. As she was about to shake Christina's hand, the crimson redhead took her by surprise by clasping their hands together so that they were holding hands.
"It's so nice to meet you! Shun would talk about you all the time whenever the three of us had dinner together!" Christina gushed to which Alice blushed. "Oh, dinner! You two ought to join us for dinner! There's so much to catch up on!"
"Oh, Christina, we're going to have to pass - we're busy - "
...
"How did you meet them?" Alice asked Shun as she scooted to make room for him on the bed.
After an unsuccessful attempt of turning dinner down with the couple - Alice had to suppress the urge to shiver when she remembered the strong grip Christina had on her hand alongside the menacing smile and wide eyes that she threw at her and Shun when they tried to reject the offer - the childhood lovers found themselves sitting around the table for dinner with the blond and crimson redhead. Things continued to spiral after dinner when Shun tried to explain that they were trying to find an inn for the night, which then led to Masquerade offering the couple to stay at their house. Which explained why the two refugees' were currently in the couple's guest room.
While this was yet another setback for their journey to Neathia, Alice found that she didn't mind it. Dinner was a lively affair, with Shun and Masquerade reminiscing on the adventures they had together while she and Christina got to know more about each other. She learned that Christina and Masquerade were also childhood friends, but the way they met was far different from how she and Shun met. While Alice and Shun met through their grandfathers, Christina and Masquerade met in primary school where Masquerade pulled on her hair and called it 'blood'. This then ensued a screaming and crying Christina which led to them both being sent home for the day. One thing led to another, and now the two are newlyweds with a new house in Vestal.
"I met Masquerade in New Vestroia when I was training to become a ninja warrior. He was there to try to become one of the palace knights, hoping to land a position so that he could support Christina. They were still courting when I met them, and Masquerade wanted the position so that he could afford to buy her a ring and for a wedding. Masquerade and I were competitive with each other since we were at the top of the class. When I declined the position of becoming one of King Keith's personal guardsmen, the position went to Masquerade. Unfortunately, there was a fire and Masquerade got hit with the worst of it - that's why he's wearing that mask. The king couldn't bear the thought that one of his guardsmen had a burned face and so, Masquerade got a hefty sum for his service and was sent back home. He and Christina decided to leave New Vestroia and they somehow ended up here in Vestal." Shun explained, playing with a strand of her hair as she rested her head on his chest.
"That's awful." Alice murmured, upset.
"That was also another reason why I didn't want to stay in New Vestroia - I won't allow myself to seek refuge in a place where they turned a friend away all because of his appearance." Shun admitted. "But I am glad that we have somewhere to stay for the night - if it hadn't been for them, I doubt we would have had enough money for a horse."
"When are we leaving Vestal, Shun?"
"Tomorrow. We can't waste anymore time than we already have."
End of Chapter 17.
Note: I AM ALIVE! LATE (as always, what's new?) BUT ALIVE! \(〇_o)/
This is yet another slice-of-life-esque chapter before the big storm that the couple have coming their way! And what better way then to introduce some new characters?! Let's give a warm welcome to Masquerade and Christina! Yes, Masquerade and Shun trained alongside each other in New Vestroia - where Masquerade and Christina are originally from in this story - before they had to part ways before reuniting in this chapter! I needed to give Masquerade a little backstory on why he's wearing his mask because it'd be odd just for him to be walking around in the Elizabethan era with a mask when there's no holiday or festivals going around, so there's that! It's okay Masquerade - you still look good with that mask on. >﹏<
As always, please let me know what your thoughts and I shall see you in the next chapter! Ta-ta! ≡(▔﹏▔)≡
