Chapter 65 – Newfound Acquaintances

Levisia, unable to reach out and grab him, saw as Pel placed both his hands on the fence and in a flash, threw himself over. Surprised and somewhat awed by Pel’s sleek movements, she realized that she was mistaken with what she’d seen and Pel was able to see through it right away.

‘Oh my, was that not a cat?’

Grasping the seriousness of her mistake, she heard Pel’s voice on the other side of the fence.

“What are you?!”

The frigid voice was clearly that of Pel’s. It was the first time she heard such tone coming from him, accustomed to hearing his usual kind voice.

“A person?”

With the way Pel was acting, he was clearly talking to another person. It was already surprising to see the other side of Pel as he jumped over the fence, with his words aggressive, but she was all the more shocked when she heard the reply.

“Hee I’m so sorry, I just wanted to have a closer look at Her Imperial Highness.”

‘Me…? Hold on, is this real?’ Shocked with what she learned, she likewise heard bewilderment in Pel’s voice when he confronted the person again.

“What does that…”

“Oh, umm earlier today I saw Her Imperial Highness from a distance. But I know I could’ve seen similar faces in the plaza square, so I couldn’t help but wonder…”

It meant he had been following them at the Fairy Festival, suspecting who she was nonetheless.

“If you had followed her from the plaza square, you wouldn’t have known―” Pel’s tone was accusatory now.

“Oh, no! I didn’t follow her from the plaza square. I was following someone else when I lost my way over here, so… It’s pure coincidence that I’m seeing Her Imperial Highness again.”

Was that so? Levisia couldn’t tell the extent of this person’s innocence. The desperation in his voice could be a clue, but she saw that Pel was thinking differently somehow.

“Then who was the other person you were following?”

“About that…”

“Hey, hey, give it a rest.” said by the voice coming from behind where Levisia stood. Turning around, she saw that the door where Pel once entered was now wide open.

The darkness inside was illuminated by only a candle. Then, a man came into view with one hand pressing down his head. His sand-colored hair caught Levisia’s attention first, then she noticed his tanned skin and the cut across his cheek. The man’s black eyes were now upon the princess, meeting her curious gaze. After looking at her wryly, the man shifted his attention to what was happening over the fence.

“That guy there is our new me… uh, member.” The man from the store said when he approached the fence, placing one of his hands on top of it. Levisia could hear the uneasiness in his tone while trying to make light of the situation.

“New member…?”

“Hector, sir!”

Relief washed over the person’s tearful voice, glad for a rescue that came his way.

Levisia, now assured that the situation was not as dangerous, approached the fence to have a better gauge of what’s happening.

“Pel.” Only her shoulder’s high, she could easily make out over the fence, the three figures standing in the dark, not pitch-black, yet still unlit. She saw that Pel was grabbing a man with brown mop hair by the collar. Without haste, Pel let him go upon catching Levisia’s stare. The mop-haired man lost his balance and fell on the ground after, likewise, catching a glance of Levisia.

Not even minding the pain on his hips as it cracked when he fell, the mop-haired man opened his eyes widely and shouted,

“Prin-princess! Your Imperial Highness!”

“Hey! Don’t use that title so loudly in this alley.”

“Oh! R-r-r-right. I wasn’t th-thinking.” The man, who introduced himself as Hobb, apologized in exaggeration by kneeling and bowing down too deeply in front of the princess. “I-I sincerely apologize. But I really didn’t mean to follow Your Imperial Highness!”

“What did I say? Don’t use that title…” Pel warned him again, seriously irritated.

Next to him, the man, who Pel addressed as Hector, palmed his head and motioned at Levisia, Pel, and Hobb to go back to the store.

“I don’t think it’ll be a good idea to talk here, so how about going inside?”

Thinking that Hector’s suggestion was the safest for everybody, they agreed; yet Pel still told Levisia to wait outside. As their eyes met, Levisia could see something else in Pel eyes that she couldn’t understand. It didn’t make any sense for her to be left all alone outside again.

“Something happens every time Her Imperial Highness is alone, so you can’t do this.”

Exactly! Just like in the novels that she read, maybe she was the main character of the story after all.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, so let’s all get inside. Now.” Pel, still reluctant, nodded in agreement with Hector. Brushing to clean his hand after hopping over the fence easily, he clasped on Levisia’s to lead her inside the store.

Hector and Hobb trailed after them, not forgetting to ensure that the door was hooked on its latch and securely locked.

Levisia was startled by everybody’s sudden agitation and swift movements. Shouldn’t the atmosphere ease up now that they were safely inside? She then felt a nagging suspicion that they were not the only ones inside the store.

‘How many people are here?’ Confirming her initial thought, she then saw figures crept up from all over the place.

“Everyone, wake up.”

Hector shook the bell hanging from the door, and they were all awakened. Levisia couldn’t see much in the dark except shadows moving slowly. Hobb went around the store and turned on the lights; that was when the princess saw the zombie-like creatures squirming around.

“What on earth…”

“What is going on, at this time?”

It wasn’t even that late at night, but they were all sleeping. What about the grand festival outside?

“I tried to settle it as quietly as possible, but as you can see, I was forced to bring in outsiders. Stand up.”

“Outsiders?”

“Did you really say that?”

The creatures all rubbed their eyes and fixed their gaze on Levisia. Ignoring Pel who stood next to her or the new member Hobb, all of their eyes are only focused directly on the princess.

“This is really…”

“Hold up. That face.”

“I think I’ve seen it somewhere.”

As recognition spread across their expressions, their eyes turned sharp and hostile.

In utter shock and fear for her life, Levisia tried to step back from the confronting gazes which were much like coming from wild animals. Then, there was a light beam right in front of her.