After awkwardly helping her sit on the toilet, I realized giving up the little mana I had saved for myself was worth getting out of this situation.

Feeling like shit for the rest of the day was better than whatever I would be doing inside there. After a while she finally came out of the bathroom, I helped her to the bed before I went to the bathroom.

I left the door open so I would know if she somehow happened to fall "By the way, you said you were able to hold the water ball for an hour or so?"

"Yeah, that's pretty good isn't it?"

I quickly wash my face since it seemed like she was in a hurry at first. I didn't even bother to piss, not that I felt like taking one.

"Pretty good is an understatement, your mana pool is much bigger than mine currently." I finish up and start drying my face. I turn to her to find her with the biggest smirk on her face.

"Don't let it get to your head, my normal mana pool is much bigger than yours." I wear my breastplate and boots.

"What do you mean by 'normal'?" Ah, it seems that my tongue slipped.

"My mana pool is currently limited by a curse."

"It's not a crippling curse, but it is bothersome." I reach my hand out to her, she takes it, stands up, and then grabs onto my arm. At first, she was a bit wobbly, but she quickly steadied herself.

"Would carrying you be better?" She just looked at me and laughed as if I had just said a joke, but then realized I was dead serious.

"No thanks, this is fine. But the idea of having you carry me around like a work mule does seem fun."

"So funny." Grab my sword and wear my cloak. There's probably no point in hiding my sword anymore, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

I greet the lady at the desk and asked for some dried jerky.

"You thought resting meant just sleep? You need to eat something at least."

"by the way, how long are we going to stay here for?" I could feel the gears turning in her head.

"If one night is five silvers and I paid fifteen then we should have two days left." After taking the jerky, I open the door to find a blanket of white covering the street.

"This much snow fell overnight?" She nods and tells me it's normal.

"But my clothes are light… maybe we should go back?" I take off my cloak and hand it over to her.

"But won't you be cold?"

"I'm used to the cold." She only took it after I insisted.

"So your thing, when do we need to be there and how far is it?" We started walking down the pure white street.

"We can take our time, I just dislike making people wait. Usually, it would take me an hour when I was fit, but it could take longer now." After some walking, I spotted something and got an idea.

I drag her over to some stables "Hey sir, are these horses for rent?" I start using my cheerful tone while talking and she looks at me like I'm a stranger.

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"Ah yes, ten silvers for a day."

"Yikes, I'm guessing you don't have a discount for us, young people?" He smiles a small smile but shakes his head.

I turn to her and whisper "Spot me five silvers?" She reaches into her pocket and hands them to me.

I give him the coins and move to see which horse we want to rent, and there was one that caught my eye. A grey horse, it looked absolutely majestic.

I stretch out my hand, but it just ignored me.

"Yeah, this is the one. Without a doubt, it's the best one of these horses."

"I'll make sure to take good care of it." The man laughs and tells me I have an acquired taste.

"He's the moodiest of the bunch, you sure you want that one?" I quickly nod, normal people wouldn't get it.

"Pfft he just likes it because it's the same color as his hair." The man looks at me and then at the horse and hides his smile with his hand.

"What?! No, it's not like that!" She bursts out laughing and points at my face.

"Oh really? then why is your face turning red?" I cover my face with my free hand.

"It's because of the cold." After a bit, she stops laughing and reaches her hand out for the horse.

'It'll just ignore her.' But to my surprise, he lowers his head down so it would be easier for her.

"I think he likes me! Yeah, we'll take him." We go outside and wait for the man to get the horse ready.

I guess, I looked like I was upset so she commented "Oh come on, I was just joking." I just pretend that I didn't hear her.

"I will say, it was cute, you reminded me of the kids I used to take care of." I look away because I could practically feel the blood rushing to my face.

"What are you even talking about," I say under my breath. She just smiles and excitedly waits for the horse.

"You like horses?" She nods.

"Love 'em to death." Seems like I made the right choice of renting a horse.

After five minutes the man comes out with the horse.

I help her up and I tried getting on, but the damn horse kept moving every single time.

Finally, I got the stupid horse to stop moving with the help of the man and got on "Okay now…" I really didn't think this through.

"Uh Pandres, I'll be honest, I don't know how to ride a horse…" I was expecting her to laugh at me, but she just grabbed my hands and made me hold the reins.

And she went on to meticulously tell me everything about horseback riding, from the most important details to the most minute detail. Honestly, I was a bit lost, but I understood the basics.

"Okay, now keep calm and do as I said." I gently squeeze with my calves, but he doesn't go forward.

"He's not moving?" The man did say he was awfully moody at times.

"Maybe we should get another one?" She shakes her head.

"Nope, I like him."

"Funny, what's to like about him other than his looks?" He ignored me and is now being stubborn.

"God knows, I just do. Anyways switch with me, I think I can get him to move." I try to argue that she can't because she was too weak, but there was no arguing with her. If you asked me who was more stubborn between her and the horse, It'd be a no-brainer to choose her.

We switch and she pets his head before grabbing the reins.

He then starts moving forward "See, you just need to treat him with love." I just scoff.

"I almost forgot to ask, what was that about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You acting all bubbly and stuff? I mean it was very strange."

"Ah, that… it's a bit tricky to explain… Well basically, I figured people would like me more if I acted like that, therefore they would be more open to talking to me."

"I see, I just found it very strange…"

"Just so you know, I like you better when you act like normal."

"Alright… I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

We started going even deeper inside the nobles district.

"So, where are we going exactly?" She leans back against my chest.

"Remember when you asked me to tell you about Angel's mother? Well, I thought showing and telling you would be easier."

That was when we arrived at a cemetery with the old duke and Angel waiting at the gate.

"As punctual as always, Pandres." The duke greeted Pandres and seemingly ignored my existence.

I helped Pandres off the horse and then managed to tie the horse to a random pole. I say managed, because every time I tried to, the little rat just kept pulling away at the last second.

'You're making me really regret choosing you, I'll be sure to complain about you, sexist bastard. Yeah, I noticed that you only listen to women!' He just snorts at me as we walk away as if he heard my thoughts.

Pandres bowed her head and I did the same "Good morning, your grace." I steal a glance at the Angel and she's looking up at the sky watching the snow fall.

"Dear, what happened to you?" He noticed that Pandres was holding onto my arm for support.

"Oh um…" Don't tell me she didn't even think of an excuse.

"She fell off the horse on the way here." Now the old man was forced to acknowledge my presence.

"Hmm I see, I'll pray you have a speedy recovery." With that, he enters the cemetery with Angel at his side.

She looks back at us and I wave and she waves back.

We start to follow them, but he stops us.

"I'm sorry, Pandres. But common folk aren't allowed in here. You, we were able to make an exception for, but not him." He says while putting his hand in front of me.

"My apologies, your grace. But I need him. I can't walk on my own."

"Then I can help you. He is unnecessary." My body involuntarily tenses up. She looks up at my face with a worried look, she must've felt me tensing up.

"Please don't take this as disrespect, but I refuse for him to not be by my side. He is my partner." The duke was taken aback by this response. I'll be honest, I was too.

"If it can't be helped then fine. Just this once." He begrudgingly let me in.

After he goes ahead of us, I lean down to her ear "What was that about? I would've been fine with waiting outside." She turns to me with a stern face.

"No." An answer that left no room for arguing.

She gets close to my ear and whispers to me and says something that I would never forget "I'll never leave behind my knight to be cold and alone. Someone who would do that is simply not someone who deserves to be king." At that time I just laughed.

"But that sounds like your average king?" I joked, but she didn't laugh, she was once again looking at me with those eyes that shined as bright as the blinding sun. The eyes of a person who would one day become a great king worthy of being served.

That day, that moment, that very second, I became sure that I was right to choose her.