The Crown and The Rose
Chapter 62: Best Friends

Chapter 62: Best Friends

The Crown

"And you didn’t have a better place to make the crash landing?" I whisper to Zhen Xin as he dangles from my shoulder, swinging up and down. "You had to make us appear out of nowhere in the courtyard of the royal palace of the Red Empire?"

"Your Highness didn’t tell me where to make the crash landing." He replies as he shifts his position from my shoulder to my head, "Everyone in the continent knows that the silver prince and the red princess are the best of friends. So I thought that this is the place you’d want to go out of all places."

He has a point. And a solid one.

But there is a problem. Rosalia sees through everything. She just could take a look at my face and she’d already decipher everything I have done and everything I would do. She is a great friend. In fact, she is my best friend. But she is a pain in my neck when she turns on her detective mode. And unfortunately, she is doing just that. She is sitting across from me on the tea table beside the fountain of her courtyard, soaking me in like this is the first time she has seen me in years. Well, this is half right because we are indeed seeing each other after a year.

"You were banished from the royal palace of the Blade Empire." She says, more like a statement than a question.

I wrinkle my nose, "Old news. It was approximately three months ago." I say, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. But her piercing blue eyes are pricking my skin, trying to peel off my covers to see what’s underneath.

"Damn, Lush, why are you the only one who has every shit up his ass in this continent if not the world?" She curses out loud and I cringe at the sound.

"You aren’t supposed to curse, crown princess," I say pointedly.

"Ugh, leave it, leave it." She waves her hand, "The pain in the ass courtier isn’t following me around right now. So let me curse."

I give her a look and sigh. It is almost like I am in the presence of another version of Seraphina. Who just happened to have red hair and blue eyes. Gods, even the way they look at people is almost the same.

"So who are they?" She points at Erick, who is trying to enjoy his tea under the direct sunlight but failing miserably. And then her finger turns to Zhen Xin who is now laying flat on my head. "What a weird group..."

"This is Zhen Xin." I incline my head to Zhen Xin then point at Erick, "This is Erick."

"Where is Edward?" Rosalia raises a questioning eyebrow, "Isn’t he supposed to follow around like a shadow?"

"Well, I left him behind." I rub my nape, not looking at her.

Her eyes widen slightly so ever as she hears me say that, "You did what? You left Edward Millers behind?"

"Things happen." Answer with a shrug, "He wanted to do something so I just let him do that. Something that doesn’t begin and finish with following you?"

"I know it’s hard to believe but Rose, you know that he has a life of his own and he needs to live that." I try to subside her doubts.

"And that life doesn’t start and conclude without you in it?" She frowns; it clearly doesn’t fit her the way it should. "This is Edward we are talking about, Lush. His life revolves around you. If there is no you, then there is no life for Edward."

"This is an overstatement." Erick pipes in and points out.

"This is the truth." Rosalia returns curtly. "By the way, aren’t you a handsome dude?"

Erick crakes a wide grin, "And you are such a pretty lady. Never seen someone like you."

I cock my head in Erick’s direction and give him a look, "I thought you liked men?"

He shrugs and returns my look, "I don’t mind beautiful women."

I sniffle back a scoff.

"And what about this cat, clinging to you like you are his lifeline?" Rosalia shifts her attention back to me.

Zhen Xin climbs down from my head to my lap with the help of my thick silver strand which glows like gold under the sun. He sits there, and my fingers rip through his white fur once again.

"I adopted him," I say, my eyes never leaving Zhen Xin.

"Of course you did." She acknowledges, then pauses a bit. Lush, you are going to stay here, right?"

"I plan to," I reply truthfully. If anywhere is the safest place in this Empire then it is the royal palace of the Red Empire. "Unless you want to kick me out," I add.

"This is not even the question." Rosalia gets up and says, "You want my father to know?"

I shake my head, "If he knows then my old man will also know. And I don’t want them to know my current whereabouts."

"Why not?" Rosalia tilts her head to the side a little as confusion clouds her face, "I thought that all the banishment shit was just a play pretend?"

Do girls always have a bad mouth like her?

"It is a pretend play, but I don’t want them to bother with me at the moment. There is a lot that I need to do on my own." Half true. And if I am to tell the full truth, I will say I don’t know myself why I don’t want them to know anything about me.

Rosalia stares at me for a bit longer then sighs, "Lush, you have changed. You are different than the last time I saw you."

I flash a soft smile, "Maybe I have." But I don’t mind.

Time and situation changes everything and everyone so if I change a little for the best, then what’s wrong with it?

"And you never told me, why you are here." Rosalia brings it up at last, "And what you are about these days."

"I am on a mission." I get on my feet and face her, "From the demon lord of the south."

Rosalia’s eyes are as big as balls and her eyebrows shoot to her forehead, "You are WHAT?!"