Chapter 86 - Cross (2/2)

So that's it, ”Kazuya, I'm sorry. Maybe I should have turned him down.”

Kazuya shook his head, ”It's fine. Besides, I'd rather you don't make such abrupt decisions,” he trailed off, and Lyn felt his lips graze her neck, ”If Rhys is my competition, I have to try harder.”

”K--Kazuya, please stop doing that,” Lyn exclaimed all fl.u.s.tered.

”Ah, yes, yes.”

'Exactly like Rhys, both stubborn,' Lyn thought as Kazuya didn't move away from her. After awhile Lyn decided to turn away, and she regrets it immediately, since Kazuya immediately inched his face close to hers, ”D--don't get so close,” this is more embarrassing than when Rhys got close to her.

Kazuya smiled, ”Your turning red like a tomato.”

”K-Kazuya,” this is so embarrassing. Even more, than Rhys, whenever she is like this with Kazuya, it feels like her heart is going to come out of her chest with how loudly it is beating. To her surprise, Kazuya suddenly drew back, ”Ah.”

”Shall we go outside for a bit?”

.....

Lyn laughed; the two of them had found a quiet spot outside and sat on the wooden benches while Kazuya told her another story. As the night sky stretched above them, they could see faint lights from the town. Due to everything that's been happening lately, it's been quite some time since she last heard a tale from Kazuya. So it felt refreshing, what's more. Lyn peeked over at him and saw his bright smile. 'Thank goodness,' Lyn thought. Lately, Kazuya has seemed very restless; he hasn't been smiling much, at least not properly anyway. Is it because he met with her Eldest Sister? Lyn wondered, what they were talking about?

Her thoughts broke off when Kazuya took hold of her hand in his; a troubled expression appeared on his face and Lyn immediately understand why, ”I'm fine, it doesn't hurt,” she quickly assured him. Lyn never cared much for the state of her hands. Though Rhys made a sly remark about her hands getting damaged in the process of training with a bow, ”Besides, it's worth it. These cuts and injuries I sustain are all proof that I am not just sitting around and doing nothing.”

In contrast to before, she is in a better position. While she is still living an isolated lifestyle, instead of just aimlessly relying on books with little knowledge in them, she can gain more practical life skills. For her, that's more important than the state of her hands.

”And your skin is rougher than before, your eyelids swollen,” Kazuya listed.

”I—I still take care of myself,” Lyn exclaimed. No girl wants to hear the first half from their boyfriend. Girls want to look prettier for the one they love; she doesn't want to hear him say such things. Before she could say that, Lyn glanced into his eyes.

Kazuya's gaze was dim, as he asked her, ”At times I wonder, Lyn, why are you going so far? Is this just to prove yourself for those who made fun of you all these years? For your dream?” Her boyfriend's expression looked darker than she had ever seen before. He must be bewildered.

Lyn paused, right? For Kazuya, her actions may seem unusual. After all, she may be a Princess living in not such pleasant circ.u.mstances. But it could be worse; her family could have abandoned her and left her in the care of other relatives. While being confined to the castle isn't exactly the best situation, it's still better than some people's cases. She's still on the castle grounds; people still address her as 'Princess,' and her family has revealed her existence to essential people. She's even marrying into the empires most influential family. She has a good aide and teacher. What is there to complain about?

For a girl who is born with a birthmark that is supposedly cursed, the fact that they have not locked her away in a tower with seldom any visitors is already surprising. Usually, when kids are born with something defective about them, they'd get locked up, but it was not like that at all with her. For some reason, her family didn't lock her away like all the others.