"Tell me. What the heck do you want?" Spat Helena bitter.

'Um...I should be asking that, though...' I gulped dryly. "What do you mean? You're the one who came in here in the middle of the night. Look how flustered the guards are because of you, Helena."

"Leave the two of us alone. I need to talk with my fiancee. Alone." Commanded Helena to the two guards, who didn't quite know what they were supposed to do, and so they just stood there stunned.

To be fair, they were just doing their job.

It was Helena who came out of nowhere and entered my room. And to make matters worse, it was well past dinner time. This meant brats like us were supposed to sleep and not out raiding other people's rooms, damn it...

Yet there she was, standing her ground and doing whatever the hell she wanted.

'Fine, fine...' I shrugged. "It's okay. Leave us. I'll ring the bell if I need anything."

"...Yes, young Master. We will be right outside." The two guards then left with reluctant steps, still in doubt as to whether they were doing the right thing or not.

"You know they'll tell Byron about this, and that means my Father, too, right? You could get in trouble, Princess." I said.

"Shut up. I don't care. And calling me that now won't help you, Alex." Remarked Helena sharply.

'What do you mean it won't help me...a Princess is a Princess...' I commented dubiously inside before proceeding to address the elephant in the room. "Sure...so...What is it that makes our dear Princess so angry that she can't wait until tomorrow and has to come find me in the middle of the night?"

"...I said it won't help you..." Whispered Helena softly before throwing a glare at me. "Tch. You haven't answered me yet, Alex."

"Answer what? I don't even know what you're asking, for real. You came in here and asked me out of the blue, what the heck do I want? How am I supposed to answer that?"

Helena frowned in response.

"You know what I'm asking. What is up with the geezers from the church?"

"...I'm sure I explained it well to Howard. Haven't you heard it from him?" I sighed feebly. 'This is why I wanted to explain it when everyone else is there...'

"I have." Fessed Helena.

My eyebrow arched in wonder. "You have? Then what more do you want me to say? It is exactly as you heard. It's basically the same answer my Father gave the archbishop the last time he came here. It's to buy enough time till I become an adult."

"..." Helena stayed silent, yet the expression on her face kept warping more and more, slowly hardening by the second.

Unknowingly, my mouth began moving, offering pieces of excuses that didn't need to be said. "In the first place, I am still not that healthy to be going places. Much less living in a completely different place, surrounded by foreign things."

"Can't you shut your mouth, you bastard? I am this close to punching you right in the face, Alex." Trembling while biting her lips, Helena barked.

Her face was painted red, and her emerald eyes glistened wet under the shine of the forlorn moon.

"..."

"..."

We let ourselves drown in the comfort of silence. I used that moment of respite to analyze the situation, trying to get a read on the ruby-haired Princess.

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On the other hand, Helena finally took her eyes off me and headed toward the side. She gazed long and hard upon the endless horizon, just like that time with the Heliards.

Seeing her hair flow gently, brushed by the wind, painted a side of Helena I seldom saw. Seeing how lonely and distant Helena looked, my chest tightened in discomfort.

"Hey. What is up? What's bugging you?" I approached her, floating slowly.

"You keep doing this. I don't like it. You keep trying to go somewhere." Whispered Helena low.

"...Like I said, it's just something I said to buy-"

"People kept saying that we won't be married. Tell me, Alex. Can't you just marry me? I'll try to be good. I will." Asked Helena, vulnerable and fragile.

The ripples of emotion in her eyes captured me, and I couldn't break free from it.

It was so daunting in a weird way I couldn't help but draw a blank. She really caught me off guard, leaving me speechless.

So, I stayed mute. Nothing I could say would feel right. And nothing I could say would be right...

Sensing my lack of response, Helena took a deep breath before casting me a side glance.

"...You want to know why I'm so angry? It's because I feel like you're lying to us. Lying to me...You said you won't leave, but why do I think you're lying to me, Alex?" Her voice quivered.

"Helena..." My hand moved and landed on her head. Following my heart, I caress her head, replicating what my Father did to me.

Helena then rushed and hugged me tight.

It may look comical since she couldn't wrap her hands around me due to my bloated body size, yet neither of us was in the mood for a laugh. If else, I could feel the desperation buried beneath that gesture of hers.

"No. Stop it. Actually...I don't want to hear you say it. Just shut up, Alex." She tightened her arms.

We spent some good minutes like that, quietly basking in the glow of the moonlight.

"...Hey, you might crush me at this rate, you know." I teased. She loosened her grip thanks to that, albeit still not letting me go.

"Helena, let me go for a second."

"..." Not budging in the slightest, she instead buried her head deep in my chest.

"C'mon. I wanna show you something, okay, Princess?" I coaxed her.

"...Hm...I told you not to call me Princess..." Shaking her head spoiled, Helena replied.

She might have said that, but she threw me a curious peek not long after that. I could see her reddened eyes, a faint trace of tears on the edge of her eyes, and the wet marks it left on my shirt.

Of course, I knew better than to be that idiotic and ask her why she cried. So, I chose to feign ignorance and buried the restless feelings upon seeing her tears deep in the back of my mind.

"Give me your finger like this." I put my pinky out.

"...What for?" Questioned Helena, taking out her pinky fingers obediently, albeit slowly.

"This is a sign of promise from a distant land." I smiled.

"A promise...?" Blinked Helena in a daze.

"Yeah. A promise...Later, even if I do leave. We will meet again in the end. Just like this..." I reached out to her pinky and fastened it with mine in a tight embrace.

"No. Don't want to." Helena tried to pull her hand back.

But I didn't let go of her, teasing her while I was at it. "You really don't want to? So that means, later, I don't have to come and find you...Is that really fine with you?"

Helena bit her lips in frustration while her green emerald eyes trembled in response.

It suffocated me to see Helena tethering again on the brink of tears, unlike her usual brash and bold self. But this was literally the best thing my brain could come up with to soothe her down.

I didn't want to see her cry. But I also didn't want to lie to her...

"I will kill you if you leave me for too long." A squeak of a voice escaped her lips.

"Yeah. I promise." I giggled at her answer.

"I mean it, Alex. I will find you and kill you myself if you take too long..." Threatened the girl, but all I heard was the sound of someone pouting adorably.

"I won't, I won't."

We bickered back and forth for a moment before she hugged me once again, burying her face in my arms.

"...Your hand..." Whispered Helena, roasted red from her neck up to her ears.

"Yes, Princess..." I ran my hand through her hair, ever so careful and gentle.

Her warmth and the comforting sound of her breathing soon lulled me into the deep bosom of the land of dreams.

And the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was the feeling of our fingers that were bound together.

Inseparable even as we fell asleep...