Chapter 95: Strangers We Used To Know
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"You tricked me. Forcing me to fall asleep."
"It wasn't a trick. I just told you to smell this lavender a bit. I'm glad I kept some with me and the Amulet kept them fresh. Aren't they just lovely?"
Leron was awakened by this bickering that is slowly becoming more and more familiar as a routine. Some sunlight penetrated the entrance of the cave and some holes, but it is apparent that the weather outside is still not ideal from traveling just from the sound of the rain.
He sat up, and didn't say anything, just watching the two argue outside his tent.
"What if the creature attacked last night? I told you how much I care for Prince Leron's safety."
"Oh, little ghost. I told you there's nothing to worry about, the mirror already showed you that. And I can kill the creature if it steps in here. Anyway, did you rest well?"
"I did..... And I did not expect my sleep to be that good. But that's beside the point." Sangfroid was adamant, but his voice shows signs of faltering. "What if you couldn't handle the creature alone, and couldn't wake me on time?"
"Well, you still manage to wake before our pretty little prince, didn't you? That means even with fresh lavenders aiding your slumber, you still have the alertness of a beast that will jolt up at the slightest movement of its intruders."
Leron found his cheeks reddening from being called 'pretty'....but he knew Vladstin probably meant it as a mockery, and not that he really thinks he was pretty. So he shook his head and smack his own face to get over it.
Meanwhile, Sangfroid seemed to be tired of quarreling and headed for his beloved prince's tent.
"Oh, you're awake, Your Highn—Leron." Sangfroid pushed out the curtains with a concerned look. "Did we wake you?"
"No. I woke by myself." Leron lied.
Turning the conversation away from the argument, he said. "The weather has not yet improved, has it?"
Sangfroid shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
"Then tonight, you should get a whole night's rest, and I'll accompany Vladstin." He got out of the tent. "You can use my sleeping mat, it's more comfortable than yours."
"No need, Your Highness." Sangfroid really could not let go of the force of habit, especially when he's flustered. "Also..... Last night, we heard a howl from the outside. I know it could be an average living wolf but..... It's better to stay cautious. I urge you both to let me guard for this night as well."
"I already got my rest." He gave a look towards Vladstin, who just plucked lavender petals and strew them on the floor into a heart shape. "There is nothing to worry about my health, and we should worry about yours. Exerting yourself too much will just quicken the transformation."
"I can handle it." Leron assured him.
"Oh, don't bother arguing with him. You'll be arguing with a rock." Vladstin interjected. "He must be a nocturnal soul, like me, that's why he insists on staying up so much."
"We're not arguing." Sangfroid gave him a scornful look. "And I share no similarities with you, Vampire Lord. I am just doing my duty."
Leron was at a loss of this. Nothing will happen until one of sides retreats. And he's at a disadvantage, since Vladstin is also at Sangfroid's side..... seemingly.
He was about to admit defeat, when Sangfroid suddenly spoke. "But..... If you insist." He said with a sigh. "I will let you take the shift for guarding tonight."
Leron's eyes brightened, then tried to hide his excitement. But it's too late. The hunter with sharp eyes like a falcon had already seen it.
It was like a small pinch to his heart, though, that was already hardened from so much well-kept sadness and jealousy.
Their day was uneventful. They cooked meals, examined the cave paintings and theorized, and clean the puddles from the small leaks dripping on the sharp stalactites. But they already have the corpses to do this, they just did do out of boredom and to save face from the uncomfortable silence.
The only memorable part of the day before the sun sets was when Vladstin offered to braid Sangfroid's hair.
"It's always getting in the way, isn't it?"
"It doesn't." Sangfroid denied without hesitation.
"But you're not even worried that some of it may go into Prince Leron's food?"
Sangfroids eyes widened, only now considering this. He looked at Vladstin for a long while.....
Then picked up some strands of hemp that he kept in case his bowstring broke, and handed it to Vladstin. "Tie it well."
He sat on the log they used as a sort of bench without another word begrudgingly.
Leron was suddenly overcome with envy and spoke before he can think clearly about it. "Let me. I can tie Sangfroid's hair, I know how to braid too."
The hunter's purple eye widened, and his ears went flushed. "You don't have to, Your Highness...."
Leron took the hemp from Vladstin and went behind Sangfroid. "Which one would you like? A usual ponytail or a braid? On what manner, high or low?"
Sangfroid couldn't understand, since he was not used to having his hair tied up by someone. He only ever mindlessly wrap them all together in some rope if he really needed to, but because he was keeping half his face hidden, he rarely do so.
"With all due respect, Your Highness of Ilvedia." Vladstin suddenly spoke in a grandiose, condescending tone. "Everyone from the Royal Orphanage would agree that I am far better in the art of braiding. I remember you even once pulled Sazha's hair too tight that she cried, and tie Xiani's so loosely that it unraveled within a second of putting it up."
He asked the corpses busily wiping the floor with rags. "Isn't that, right, girls?"
"Grrr..... grr....." The indistinguishable burned Sazha and Xiani nodded.
Even though he likes this vampire, Leron is a thin-skinned person, and easily gets ashamed that he defended himself by reflex. "That's not entirely true! Sazha cried because her scalp was actually sensitive, and Xiani's hair has too much volume that's why the tie broke!"
Sangfroid felt left out from this conversation. He then asked. "Is it natural for even boys to be thought how to tie hair properly in Crescentia?"
"Oh, it's not a mandatory lesson or such like my Mother's classes." Vladstin chuckled. "It's just a fun skill to know, especially when you're surrounded by a lot of children with various hairs of different colors, shapes, and sizes at your disposal. It's a good way to strengthen the bonds of your friendship too."
"Strengthen friendship by tying hair?" The hunter with no Crescentian knowledge blinked.
"Isn't this a form of taking care of someone? This is just as warm as a gesture as being hugged or kissed on the cheek." Vladstin explained like a smart professor in the matters of psychology. "When someone offers to tie up your hair, you get to know them physically, and you feel their affection as they delicately comb you and run their fingers through your scalp."
Sangfroid did not consider that, and neither did Leron. Therefore, midway as he was parting the luscious curly brown strands, both of them become flustered, cheeks equally red.
"It doesn't hold that much of a meaning... It's not really that much of an intimate gesture as hugging or kissing." The prince of Ilvedia cleared his throat.
"Yes..... You're just teasing us." Sangfroid said, a bit baffled. It's like Vladstin was matchmaking them even.
But doesn't he like him? Did he read wrong? Or did Vladstin already realize he knew, that's why he's trying to play with his mind and confuse him further?
This vampire seems to really enjoy tormenting him after all.
"Haha, you two birdies enjoy tending each other's feathers. I'll go see if there are more paintings farther down the cave, or maybe write another poem for Min Libitino." He strutted lazily like a drunkard, bringing the diary with him.
The two were left in another unpleasant silence.
It's like they were strangers now. After everything that happened, the joys of childhood seems so far away, and what they were left was is fragments and polite pleasantries.
"Prince Leron...." Sangfroid didn't want to let go of those fragments.
"Hmm?" Leron was thinking of how soft and smooth Sangfroid's hair was after clearing up the tangled, fondly remembering a bit when he used to play with them as a child.
"Tell me more..... how your childhood was like in Ilvedia." Sangfroid said. "Your friends, like the one Vladstin mentioned from a royal orphanage."
"Oh, you would like to get to know them?" Leron was surprised by this. "Well, alright. There was Suzhi and Xiani, like he mentioned. Suzhi was a pretty girl, and good at dancing, while Xiani is very smart. It was from her books that I learned of the mind-altering procedure. There's also Yulio and Raishti, Suzhi...."
The more he told him about his friends, the more ache he felt for being the cause of their deaths. But since Sangfroid is curious, he continued. He went on until he finished braiding the hair and tying it with the hempen twine.
Sangfroid also felt a bit of sting from realizing how much more friends Leron made over these years, and how happy he was even without him. But he also felt glad that Leron was willing to tell him, and valued being trusted this way. Having mundane conversations of lighthearted things with him.... He didn't know how much he missed it until now.
And his warm hands, putting som much care and thought in arranging his hair.... He wanted to place a kiss on them as a sign of his tremendous gratitude from just being touched by them.
Both felt satisfied when the braiding was finished. Not just from the result itself, because Leron managed to tie it well, but from managing to bridge the gap between them wrought by time just a little bit closer.
----------------------------
At night, Leron was hoping to do the same with Vladstin, but all his efforts were futile.
Vladstin was an impenetrable fortress. You try to open a conversation with him and he'll try to answer in the most ridiculous way possible. You ask questions and he'll give lackadaisical answers.
"Vladstin... Can you at least sit with me?" Chit-chat is not working, so Leron's switched to pleading. "You climbing up on those stalactites troubles my nerves."
"A lot of things troubles your nerves nowadays, Your Highness." Vladstin closed his eyes while hanging upside down like a bat again, like he attempting to sleep in that position. "My nerves are fried, so I don't have that trouble anymore! Hah!"
He kept reminding him of his death and how he killed him to shut him off.
"Do you really..... want to forget about the friendship we had now? You're unwilling to speak about them, as if they have never existed." Leron frowned, looking quite pitiful in doing so. "Because I killed you, you will forever regard me as your enemy, right?"
Vladstin just stared at him unblinking, back to being stoic. Then, he said in a level voice. "No one is my enemy. No one is my friend."
"Then.... Do you want to see me as a stranger then?"
So the pain would be lessened, so the betrayal would not be as destructive. He doesn't want to care about him anymore.
Vladstin considered it. Then, he spoke no more, just closing his eyes.
"If so...." Leron continued, clenching his fist so tight that he bled. "I'd rather you take my life now and make me one of your puppets that will wipe the floor for you.... Than pretend I never knew you, or be treated like a stranger by you."
Vladstin opened his eyes, a crease in his eyebrow. He then slowly, and softly said. "I don't want---"
He was about to say he doesn't want that either, when he sensed movement and heard shuffling from the cave's entrance. He instead said, "The Looking Glass!"
Leron quickly took out the shard, and told it to "Show me the outside of the cave."
There was nothing for a while, just trees, pouring rain, and the flash of lightning. They can only see when lightning flashes, and when it stops, the shard showed complete darkness.
He waited for another one, and then...
FLASH!
He saw figures darting past the trees, at incredible speed. One seems to be chasing the other....
Vladstin also watched this from above, eyes narrowed. He got down and went near the cave entrance, ready to face any possible intruders.
They waited in bated breath when.....
A man, wearing an armor of a high-ranking official from a country that is not theirs, limped towards them with blood dripping from his legs...
The man shook the water from his hair, then slowly looked up. His eyes widened. "Vladstin? Leron?"
The two could not believe their eyes, stunned. They asked at the same time:
"Yulio?"
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"You tricked me. Forcing me to fall asleep."
"It wasn't a trick. I just told you to smell this lavender a bit. I'm glad I kept some with me and the Amulet kept them fresh. Aren't they just lovely?"
Leron was awakened by this bickering that is slowly becoming more and more familiar as a routine. Some sunlight penetrated the entrance of the cave and some holes, but it is apparent that the weather outside is still not ideal from traveling just from the sound of the rain.
He sat up, and didn't say anything, just watching the two argue outside his tent.
"What if the creature attacked last night? I told you how much I care for Prince Leron's safety."
"Oh, little ghost. I told you there's nothing to worry about, the mirror already showed you that. And I can kill the creature if it steps in here. Anyway, did you rest well?"
"I did..... And I did not expect my sleep to be that good. But that's beside the point." Sangfroid was adamant, but his voice shows signs of faltering. "What if you couldn't handle the creature alone, and couldn't wake me on time?"
"Well, you still manage to wake before our pretty little prince, didn't you? That means even with fresh lavenders aiding your slumber, you still have the alertness of a beast that will jolt up at the slightest movement of its intruders."
Leron found his cheeks reddening from being called 'pretty'....but he knew Vladstin probably meant it as a mockery, and not that he really thinks he was pretty. So he shook his head and smack his own face to get over it.
Meanwhile, Sangfroid seemed to be tired of quarreling and headed for his beloved prince's tent.
"Oh, you're awake, Your Highn—Leron." Sangfroid pushed out the curtains with a concerned look. "Did we wake you?"
"No. I woke by myself." Leron lied.
Turning the conversation away from the argument, he said. "The weather has not yet improved, has it?"
Sangfroid shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
"Then tonight, you should get a whole night's rest, and I'll accompany Vladstin." He got out of the tent. "You can use my sleeping mat, it's more comfortable than yours."
"No need, Your Highness." Sangfroid really could not let go of the force of habit, especially when he's flustered. "Also..... Last night, we heard a howl from the outside. I know it could be an average living wolf but..... It's better to stay cautious. I urge you both to let me guard for this night as well."
"I already got my rest." He gave a look towards Vladstin, who just plucked lavender petals and strew them on the floor into a heart shape. "There is nothing to worry about my health, and we should worry about yours. Exerting yourself too much will just quicken the transformation."
"I can handle it." Leron assured him.
"Oh, don't bother arguing with him. You'll be arguing with a rock." Vladstin interjected. "He must be a nocturnal soul, like me, that's why he insists on staying up so much."
"We're not arguing." Sangfroid gave him a scornful look. "And I share no similarities with you, Vampire Lord. I am just doing my duty."
Leron was at a loss of this. Nothing will happen until one of sides retreats. And he's at a disadvantage, since Vladstin is also at Sangfroid's side..... seemingly.
He was about to admit defeat, when Sangfroid suddenly spoke. "But..... If you insist." He said with a sigh. "I will let you take the shift for guarding tonight."
Leron's eyes brightened, then tried to hide his excitement. But it's too late. The hunter with sharp eyes like a falcon had already seen it.
It was like a small pinch to his heart, though, that was already hardened from so much well-kept sadness and jealousy.
Their day was uneventful. They cooked meals, examined the cave paintings and theorized, and clean the puddles from the small leaks dripping on the sharp stalactites. But they already have the corpses to do this, they just did do out of boredom and to save face from the uncomfortable silence.
The only memorable part of the day before the sun sets was when Vladstin offered to braid Sangfroid's hair.
"It's always getting in the way, isn't it?"
"It doesn't." Sangfroid denied without hesitation.
"But you're not even worried that some of it may go into Prince Leron's food?"
Sangfroids eyes widened, only now considering this. He looked at Vladstin for a long while.....
Then picked up some strands of hemp that he kept in case his bowstring broke, and handed it to Vladstin. "Tie it well."
He sat on the log they used as a sort of bench without another word begrudgingly.
Leron was suddenly overcome with envy and spoke before he can think clearly about it. "Let me. I can tie Sangfroid's hair, I know how to braid too."
The hunter's purple eye widened, and his ears went flushed. "You don't have to, Your Highness...."
Leron took the hemp from Vladstin and went behind Sangfroid. "Which one would you like? A usual ponytail or a braid? On what manner, high or low?"
Sangfroid couldn't understand, since he was not used to having his hair tied up by someone. He only ever mindlessly wrap them all together in some rope if he really needed to, but because he was keeping half his face hidden, he rarely do so.
"With all due respect, Your Highness of Ilvedia." Vladstin suddenly spoke in a grandiose, condescending tone. "Everyone from the Royal Orphanage would agree that I am far better in the art of braiding. I remember you even once pulled Sazha's hair too tight that she cried, and tie Xiani's so loosely that it unraveled within a second of putting it up."
He asked the corpses busily wiping the floor with rags. "Isn't that, right, girls?"
"Grrr..... grr....." The indistinguishable burned Sazha and Xiani nodded.
Even though he likes this vampire, Leron is a thin-skinned person, and easily gets ashamed that he defended himself by reflex. "That's not entirely true! Sazha cried because her scalp was actually sensitive, and Xiani's hair has too much volume that's why the tie broke!"
Sangfroid felt left out from this conversation. He then asked. "Is it natural for even boys to be thought how to tie hair properly in Crescentia?"
"Oh, it's not a mandatory lesson or such like my Mother's classes." Vladstin chuckled. "It's just a fun skill to know, especially when you're surrounded by a lot of children with various hairs of different colors, shapes, and sizes at your disposal. It's a good way to strengthen the bonds of your friendship too."
"Strengthen friendship by tying hair?" The hunter with no Crescentian knowledge blinked.
"Isn't this a form of taking care of someone? This is just as warm as a gesture as being hugged or kissed on the cheek." Vladstin explained like a smart professor in the matters of psychology. "When someone offers to tie up your hair, you get to know them physically, and you feel their affection as they delicately comb you and run their fingers through your scalp."
Sangfroid did not consider that, and neither did Leron. Therefore, midway as he was parting the luscious curly brown strands, both of them become flustered, cheeks equally red.
"It doesn't hold that much of a meaning... It's not really that much of an intimate gesture as hugging or kissing." The prince of Ilvedia cleared his throat.
"Yes..... You're just teasing us." Sangfroid said, a bit baffled. It's like Vladstin was matchmaking them even.
But doesn't he like him? Did he read wrong? Or did Vladstin already realize he knew, that's why he's trying to play with his mind and confuse him further?
This vampire seems to really enjoy tormenting him after all.
"Haha, you two birdies enjoy tending each other's feathers. I'll go see if there are more paintings farther down the cave, or maybe write another poem for Min Libitino." He strutted lazily like a drunkard, bringing the diary with him.
The two were left in another unpleasant silence.
It's like they were strangers now. After everything that happened, the joys of childhood seems so far away, and what they were left was is fragments and polite pleasantries.
"Prince Leron...." Sangfroid didn't want to let go of those fragments.
"Hmm?" Leron was thinking of how soft and smooth Sangfroid's hair was after clearing up the tangled, fondly remembering a bit when he used to play with them as a child.
"Tell me more..... how your childhood was like in Ilvedia." Sangfroid said. "Your friends, like the one Vladstin mentioned from a royal orphanage."
"Oh, you would like to get to know them?" Leron was surprised by this. "Well, alright. There was Suzhi and Xiani, like he mentioned. Suzhi was a pretty girl, and good at dancing, while Xiani is very smart. It was from her books that I learned of the mind-altering procedure. There's also Yulio and Raishti, Suzhi...."
The more he told him about his friends, the more ache he felt for being the cause of their deaths. But since Sangfroid is curious, he continued. He went on until he finished braiding the hair and tying it with the hempen twine.
Sangfroid also felt a bit of sting from realizing how much more friends Leron made over these years, and how happy he was even without him. But he also felt glad that Leron was willing to tell him, and valued being trusted this way. Having mundane conversations of lighthearted things with him.... He didn't know how much he missed it until now.
And his warm hands, putting som much care and thought in arranging his hair.... He wanted to place a kiss on them as a sign of his tremendous gratitude from just being touched by them.
Both felt satisfied when the braiding was finished. Not just from the result itself, because Leron managed to tie it well, but from managing to bridge the gap between them wrought by time just a little bit closer.
----------------------------
At night, Leron was hoping to do the same with Vladstin, but all his efforts were futile.
Vladstin was an impenetrable fortress. You try to open a conversation with him and he'll try to answer in the most ridiculous way possible. You ask questions and he'll give lackadaisical answers.
"Vladstin... Can you at least sit with me?" Chit-chat is not working, so Leron's switched to pleading. "You climbing up on those stalactites troubles my nerves."
"A lot of things troubles your nerves nowadays, Your Highness." Vladstin closed his eyes while hanging upside down like a bat again, like he attempting to sleep in that position. "My nerves are fried, so I don't have that trouble anymore! Hah!"
He kept reminding him of his death and how he killed him to shut him off.
"Do you really..... want to forget about the friendship we had now? You're unwilling to speak about them, as if they have never existed." Leron frowned, looking quite pitiful in doing so. "Because I killed you, you will forever regard me as your enemy, right?"
Vladstin just stared at him unblinking, back to being stoic. Then, he said in a level voice. "No one is my enemy. No one is my friend."
"Then.... Do you want to see me as a stranger then?"
So the pain would be lessened, so the betrayal would not be as destructive. He doesn't want to care about him anymore.
Vladstin considered it. Then, he spoke no more, just closing his eyes.
"If so...." Leron continued, clenching his fist so tight that he bled. "I'd rather you take my life now and make me one of your puppets that will wipe the floor for you.... Than pretend I never knew you, or be treated like a stranger by you."
Vladstin opened his eyes, a crease in his eyebrow. He then slowly, and softly said. "I don't want---"
He was about to say he doesn't want that either, when he sensed movement and heard shuffling from the cave's entrance. He instead said, "The Looking Glass!"
Leron quickly took out the shard, and told it to "Show me the outside of the cave."
There was nothing for a while, just trees, pouring rain, and the flash of lightning. They can only see when lightning flashes, and when it stops, the shard showed complete darkness.
He waited for another one, and then...
FLASH!
He saw figures darting past the trees, at incredible speed. One seems to be chasing the other....
Vladstin also watched this from above, eyes narrowed. He got down and went near the cave entrance, ready to face any possible intruders.
They waited in bated breath when.....
A man, wearing an armor of a high-ranking official from a country that is not theirs, limped towards them with blood dripping from his legs...
The man shook the water from his hair, then slowly looked up. His eyes widened. "Vladstin? Leron?"
The two could not believe their eyes, stunned. They asked at the same time:
"Yulio?"
Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or SweetNovel.Net
Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or SweetNovel.Net"You tricked me. Forcing me to fall asleep.""It wasn't a trick. I just told you to smell this lavender a bit. I'm glad I kept some with me and the Amulet kept them fresh. Aren't they just lovely?"Leron was awakened by this bickering that is slowly becoming more and more familiar as a routine. Some sunlight penetrated the entrance of the cave and some holes, but it is apparent that the weather outside is still not ideal from traveling just from the sound of the rain.He sat up, and didn't say anything, just watching the two argue outside his tent."What if the creature attacked last night? I told you how much I care for Prince Leron's safety.""Oh, little ghost. I told you there's nothing to worry about, the mirror already showed you that. And I can kill the creature if it steps in here. Anyway, did you rest well?""I did..... And I did not expect my sleep to be that good. But that's beside the point." Sangfroid was adamant, but his voice shows signs of faltering. "What if you couldn't handle the creature alone, and couldn't wake me on time?""Well, you still manage to wake before our pretty little prince, didn't you? That means even with fresh lavenders aiding your slumber, you still have the alertness of a beast that will jolt up at the slightest movement of its intruders."Leron found his cheeks reddening from being called 'pretty'....but he knew Vladstin probably meant it as a mockery, and not that he really thinks he was pretty. So he shook his head and smack his own face to get over it.Meanwhile, Sangfroid seemed to be tired of quarreling and headed for his beloved prince's tent."Oh, you're awake, Your HighnLeron." Sangfroid pushed out the curtains with a concerned look. "Did we wake you?""No. I woke by myself." Leron lied.Turning the conversation away from the argument, he said. "The weather has not yet improved, has it?"Sangfroid shook his head. "I'm afraid not.""Then tonight, you should get a whole night's rest, and I'll accompany Vladstin." He got out of the tent. "You can use my sleeping mat, it's more comfortable than yours.""No need, Your Highness." Sangfroid really could not let go of the force of habit, especially when he's flustered. "Also..... Last night, we heard a howl from the outside. I know it could be an average living wolf but..... It's better to stay cautious. I urge you both to let me guard for this night as well.""I already got my rest." He gave a look towards Vladstin, who just plucked lavender petals and strew them on the floor into a heart shape. "There is nothing to worry about my health, and we should worry about yours. Exerting yourself too much will just quicken the transformation.""I can handle it." Leron assured him."Oh, don't bother arguing with him. You'll be arguing with a rock." Vladstin interjected. "He must be a nocturnal soul, like me, that's why he insists on staying up so much.""We're not arguing." Sangfroid gave him a scornful look. "And I share no similarities with you, Vampire Lord. I am just doing my duty."Leron was at a loss of this. Nothing will happen until one of sides retreats. And he's at a disadvantage, since Vladstin is also at Sangfroid's side..... seemingly. He was about to admit defeat, when Sangfroid suddenly spoke. "But..... If you insist." He said with a sigh. "I will let you take the shift for guarding tonight."Leron's eyes brightened, then tried to hide his excitement. But it's too late. The hunter with sharp eyes like a falcon had already seen it.It was like a small pinch to his heart, though, that was already hardened from so much well-kept sadness and jealousy.Their day was uneventful. They cooked meals, examined the cave paintings and theorized, and clean the puddles from the small leaks dripping on the sharp stalactites. But they already have the corpses to do this, they just did do out of boredom and to save face from the uncomfortable silence.The only memorable part of the day before the sun sets was when Vladstin offered to braid Sangfroid's hair."It's always getting in the way, isn't it?""It doesn't." Sangfroid denied without hesitation."But you're not even worried that some of it may go into Prince Leron's food?"Sangfroids eyes widened, only now considering this. He looked at Vladstin for a long while.....Then picked up some strands of hemp that he kept in case his bowstring broke, and handed it to Vladstin. "Tie it well."He sat on the log they used as a sort of bench without another word begrudgingly.Leron was suddenly overcome with envy and spoke before he can think clearly about it. "Let me. I can tie Sangfroid's hair, I know how to braid too."The hunter's purple eye widened, and his ears went flushed. "You don't have to, Your Highness...."Leron took the hemp from Vladstin and went behind Sangfroid. "Which one would you like? A usual ponytail or a braid? On what manner, high or low?"Sangfroid couldn't understand, since he was not used to having his hair tied up by someone. He only ever mindlessly wrap them all together in some rope if he really needed to, but because he was keeping half his face hidden, he rarely do so. "With all due respect, Your Highness of Ilvedia." Vladstin suddenly spoke in a grandiose, condescending tone. "Everyone from the Royal Orphanage would agree that I am far better in the art of braiding. I remember you even once pulled Sazha's hair too tight that she cried, and tie Xiani's so loosely that it unraveled within a second of putting it up."He asked the corpses busily wiping the floor with rags. "Isn't that, right, girls?""Grrr..... grr....." The indistinguishable burned Sazha and Xiani nodded.Even though he likes this vampire, Leron is a thin-skinned person, and easily gets ashamed that he defended himself by reflex. "That's not entirely true! Sazha cried because her scalp was actually sensitive, and Xiani's hair has too much volume that's why the tie broke!"Sangfroid felt left out from this conversation. He then asked. "Is it natural for even boys to be thought how to tie hair properly in Crescentia?""Oh, it's not a mandatory lesson or such like my Mother's classes." Vladstin chuckled. "It's just a fun skill to know, especially when you're surrounded by a lot of children with various hairs of different colors, shapes, and sizes at your disposal. It's a good way to strengthen the bonds of your friendship too.""Strengthen friendship by tying hair?" The hunter with no Crescentian knowledge blinked."Isn't this a form of taking care of someone? This is just as warm as a gesture as being hugged or kissed on the cheek." Vladstin explained like a smart professor in the matters of psychology. "When someone offers to tie up your hair, you get to know them physically, and you feel their affection as they delicately comb you and run their fingers through your scalp."Sangfroid did not consider that, and neither did Leron. Therefore, midway as he was parting the luscious curly brown strands, both of them become flustered, cheeks equally red."It doesn't hold that much of a meaning... It's not really that much of an intimate gesture as hugging or kissing." The prince of Ilvedia cleared his throat."Yes..... You're just teasing us." Sangfroid said, a bit baffled. It's like Vladstin was matchmaking them even.But doesn't he like him? Did he read wrong? Or did Vladstin already realize he knew, that's why he's trying to play with his mind and confuse him further?This vampire seems to really enjoy tormenting him after all."Haha, you two birdies enjoy tending each other's feathers. I'll go see if there are more paintings farther down the cave, or maybe write another poem for Min Libitino." He strutted lazily like a drunkard, bringing the diary with him.The two were left in another unpleasant silence.It's like they were strangers now. After everything that happened, the joys of childhood seems so far away, and what they were left was is fragments and polite pleasantries."Prince Leron...." Sangfroid didn't want to let go of those fragments. "Hmm?" Leron was thinking of how soft and smooth Sangfroid's hair was after clearing up the tangled, fondly remembering a bit when he used to play with them as a child. "Tell me more..... how your childhood was like in Ilvedia." Sangfroid said. "Your friends, like the one Vladstin mentioned from a royal orphanage.""Oh, you would like to get to know them?" Leron was surprised by this. "Well, alright. There was Suzhi and Xiani, like he mentioned. Suzhi was a pretty girl, and good at dancing, while Xiani is very smart. It was from her books that I learned of the mind-altering procedure. There's also Yulio and Raishti, Suzhi...."The more he told him about his friends, the more ache he felt for being the cause of their deaths. But since Sangfroid is curious, he continued. He went on until he finished braiding the hair and tying it with the hempen twine.Sangfroid also felt a bit of sting from realizing how much more friends Leron made over these years, and how happy he was even without him. But he also felt glad that Leron was willing to tell him, and valued being trusted this way. Having mundane conversations of lighthearted things with him.... He didn't know how much he missed it until now.And his warm hands, putting som much care and thought in arranging his hair.... He wanted to place a kiss on them as a sign of his tremendous gratitude from just being touched by them.Both felt satisfied when the braiding was finished. Not just from the result itself, because Leron managed to tie it well, but from managing to bridge the gap between them wrought by time just a little bit closer.----------------------------At night, Leron was hoping to do the same with Vladstin, but all his efforts were futile.Vladstin was an impenetrable fortress. You try to open a conversation with him and he'll try to answer in the most ridiculous way possible. You ask questions and he'll give lackadaisical answers."Vladstin... Can you at least sit with me?" Chit-chat is not working, so Leron's switched to pleading. "You climbing up on those stalactites troubles my nerves.""A lot of things troubles your nerves nowadays, Your Highness." Vladstin closed his eyes while hanging upside down like a bat again, like he attempting to sleep in that position. "My nerves are fried, so I don't have that trouble anymore! Hah!"He kept reminding him of his death and how he killed him to shut him off."Do you really..... want to forget about the friendship we had now? You're unwilling to speak about them, as if they have never existed." Leron frowned, looking quite pitiful in doing so. "Because I killed you, you will forever regard me as your enemy, right?"Vladstin just stared at him unblinking, back to being stoic. Then, he said in a level voice. "No one is my enemy. No one is my friend.""Then.... Do you want to see me as a stranger then?" So the pain would be lessened, so the betrayal would not be as destructive. He doesn't want to care about him anymore.Vladstin considered it. Then, he spoke no more, just closing his eyes."If so...." Leron continued, clenching his fist so tight that he bled. "I'd rather you take my life now and make me one of your puppets that will wipe the floor for you.... Than pretend I never knew you, or be treated like a stranger by you."Vladstin opened his eyes, a crease in his eyebrow. He then slowly, and softly said. "I don't want---"He was about to say he doesn't want that either, when he sensed movement and heard shuffling from the cave's entrance. He instead said, "The Looking Glass!"Leron quickly took out the shard, and told it to "Show me the outside of the cave."There was nothing for a while, just trees, pouring rain, and the flash of lightning. They can only see when lightning flashes, and when it stops, the shard showed complete darkness.He waited for another one, and then...FLASH!He saw figures darting past the trees, at incredible speed. One seems to be chasing the other....Vladstin also watched this from above, eyes narrowed. He got down and went near the cave entrance, ready to face any possible intruders.They waited in bated breath when.....A man, wearing an armor of a high-ranking official from a country that is not theirs, limped towards them with blood dripping from his legs...The man shook the water from his hair, then slowly looked up. His eyes widened. "Vladstin? Leron?"The two could not believe their eyes, stunned. They asked at the same time:"Yulio?"Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or SweetNovel.Net
