Chapter 69 - Outside (1)

"Harrison! Could you please stop suddenly appearing inside my room then suddenly speaking out of nowhere? I told you many times already," Alexandra said in an annoyed tone of voice. Her eyebrows were furrowed and a frown was plastered on her face. She grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at him, aiming at his face but sadly, he easily caught it like it was nothing. He placed it down the bed and dragged a chair towards the side of her bed as he hummed first before he responded in his usual tone of voice, "I'm sorry, I guess," He said and sat down while crossing his legs, staring at her with a bored expression.

This is the second time that he apologized to me, Harrison is slowly changing, I think, Alexandra thought to herself as a smile crept up her lips as she stared at him without saying anything. Harrison's eyebrows creased seeing the smile which slowly crept up her lips, "What?" Harrison asked, his lips pursed into a thin line when he noticed that Alexandra was staring at her without saying anything. Alexandra's smile grew wide, "Nothing," She said and Harrison just hummed. They remained silent, nobody dared to speak. Alexandra felt uncomfortable by the silence, so he decided to speak. "What are you doing here?" Alexandra asked. That was the usual question she would ask him when he would suddenly visit her, especially in the morning.

"Nothing, I was bored. I thought you wouldn't be here since usually at this time, you would be at the other palace but I sensed your presence or mana, so yeah," Harrison responded nonchalantly. Alexandra's eyes sparkled hearing the word mana coming from him. "I have mana?!" Alexandra said in an excited tone of voice. She suddenly sat up and her face drew near and stopped a few inches away from his as she spoke. Harrison could smell a faint scent of orange juice, it was the drink Alexandra drank earlier. Her lips were forming a wide grin, and her face was beaming with joy. It was bright, her expression was bright. Harrison's eyes widened for a moment when her face was suddenly close or near his. "Dumbass, everyone has mana within them and your face is way too close, get away," Harrison responded and pushed her face away lightly.

Alexandra embarrassedly laughed as she scratched the back of her head while she spoke, "Right, sorry," Alexandra said in a soft tone of voice. Harrison just stared at her as he hummed. "What I mean is the amount of my mana. Do I have a high amount of it or just average?" Alexandra asked in an excited tone of voice, her eyes still sparkling as she spoke. Curiosity was written on her face and she badly wants to know it. Harrison hummed and looked at her before he heaved a sigh and shrugged, "Who knows," He said and stood up from his seat.

"What do you mean by that?" Alexandra asked and he responded but didn't answer her question. "When will you go to the other palace?" Harrison spoke in a monotonous tone of voice. Alexandra's eyebrows creased when she heard him ask that but she responds, nevertheless. "Probably 2 hours later but I would probably go after an hour since I don't know what to do inside here," Harrison hummed.

"Then would you like to go outside?" Harrison asked and Alexandra blinked multiple times staring at him with a confused expression plastered on her face. "What do you mean by outside?" Alexandra asked him, wondering what does he mean by that. Harrison showed a faint smile, "Outside these palace walls," He said and grabbed Alexandra's hand without warning. "E-Eh?!" Alexandra could only let out a squeal when Harrison suddenly pulled her, the smile on his face grew wide and it turned into a mischievous grin.

That was the last thing Alexandra saw before a blinding light conquered her vision. She remained her eyes closed for like a few minutes, the feeling of being turned upside-down was there and it feels like she wanted to vomit. But it wasn't worse like before, she was slowly getting used to it. She heard some distant yet loud voices. "Open your eyes, we're already here," Alexandra heard Harrison's voice and she opened her eyes just like what he told her to do. The first thing that she saw was the bricked ground and it was dark not until she raised her head and saw the familiar alley, and there were two small narrow exits at each end of the alley. Alexandra could see a few people passing by. Her mind processed everything first before she realized where they were. "We're outside the palace, right?" Alexandra confirmed everything first before she makes her assumptions and gets excited.

Harrison nodded and there was a sparkle on Alexandra's eyes, her expression grew bright and it was beaming with joy. This was the second time that she went out because of Harrison but what about their appearance? She quickly looked down and checked to see what clothes she was wearing and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that it was normal townswoman clothes, it was a dress that only reached her knees, and not her usual ones. All of her expensive accessories were removed and her hair color wasn't silver but raven black and it was tied up in a ponytail. The color of her eyes was changed into a beautiful shade of brown. Her appearance was just like the same one from the first time she went out except for the dress that she wore and how her hair was tied up.

Harrison's appearance was also altered although he looked normal, Alexandra could only see what his hair was like because it was still the same color but was just combed back but there were a few strands falling off, let's say his hair looked neat and proper but at the same time messy. By the clothes he was wearing, he looked like the son of a farmer or just a normal person. His eye color wasn't crimson red but it was ash-grey just like the first time they went outside together.

Alexandra lifted her gaze and Harrison could see the sparkle on her eyes once again, her eyes were twinkling like the stars in the sky. Her expression was happy and her smile was wide, it was beaming with joy and excitement. The expression on her face was bright and imaginary flowers were blooming behind her. It feels like this dark and narrow alley suddenly became bright. Harrison narrowed his eyes at her, "Quit making that expression. I know how excited and happy you are, you don't need to show me," Harrison said and turned around walking towards the exit of the alley. Alexandra couldn't help but pout and glare at him but when she saw him walking towards the exit, she ran towards him trying to catch up.

"Hey, don't leave me behind!" Alexandra said as she ran towards him. As they emerged out of the exit, the familiar surroundings came into her sight. At first, she was blinded by the light and blinked multiple times before her eyesight adjusted to her bright and familiar sight. There were people passing by them happily talking with their companions, looking around with either a stressed or serious expression on, and some of them were just walking around. Alexandra gasped in awe, it wasn't crowded like before but there were so many people. She tugged on Harrison's sleeve excitedly, she badly wants to just walk around already.

"Hey, hey, let's go there!" Alexandra said and pointed at the café which looked like it was newly made or build. Alexandra decided to grab his arm and dragged him to the direction of the café. Harrison just let himself be dragged by Alexandra and didn't say anything but just stared at the building they are about to enter.

Alexandra pushed the door open, the sound of the bell chimes was heard throughout the place and caught the attention of some people who were sitting but then just continued doing their thing after. A girl wearing an apron walked towards them, a smile plastered on her lips as she did. Alexandra tried to look for her nameplate but then remembered that it didn't exist in this world. Cameras existed in this world but smartphones or cell phones and other advanced technology-related things didn't exist here. They communicate through letters or mail. There were no cars but instead carriages. Although there are also things on Earth that exist here, Alexandra wondered what this world truly is. If it was the Earth previously but where are the advanced technology? What about the flying cars like everybody expected in the future of her previous life?

"Table for two?" The waitress asked them in a soft tone of voice. She was taller than Harrison, well, they were just kids, so it's normal for the waitress to be taller than them. Harrison nodded as a response. "This way, please," The waitress walked towards the direction of an empty table surrounded by two empty chairs. Alexandra and Harrison followed her behind quietly, Alexandra already let go of Harrison's arm.

The two occupied the two chairs and they were facing each other. "Please bring us two glasses of water while we think of what we order," Harrison said before the waitress run off and continue doing her duties. The waitress nodded as a response and she smiled at them before she completely turned around and walked off. Alexandra picked up the menu book and opened it to see tons of pictures of foods, mainly desserts, with some words beside it which was the name and what the food is. Besides it also was the price and it wasn't that expensive as she thought.

Her mouth watered seeing every desert as she flipped its pages, there were tons of food she can pick from and it looked tasty. She lifted her gaze away from the menu and looked at Harrison who was casually just browsing through the menu with his usual bored expression. What would Harrison pick? Alexandra asked herself and just shrugged before she roamed her eyes around the place, and noticed the satisfied and delightful expression plastered on each costumer's face as they ate. It seems like everyone loves the food here, she thought to herself and just continued to browse through the menu.

After minutes of picking what she should order or eat, she placed the menu down and noticed that Harrison was staring at her, with a bored yet annoyed gaze. "You took so long to pick what to eat, are you going to order many?" Harrison said as he heaved a sigh and Alexandra just narrowed her eyes at him. "If you consider 3 desserts many, then it's more than what you thought," Alexandra said and gave him a grin which he truly wanted to wipe off. Harrison knew that he was going to use his money more than he thought.

"Thought so," He said. Alexandra truly loves desserts and there's no stopping her when she is going to order in a café that is mainly filled with desserts. At the exact moment, the waitress arrived with their glasses of water and she placed it down, "Here are your glasses of water, have you already though on what to order?" She said. Alexandra nodded and decided to tell her everything that she picked and Harrison told his order after.

The waitress smiled at them before she bowed and left with their orders written on the paper she was holding earlier. After she was completely out of their sight, Alexandra picked up the glass and drank the water and left only half of it. Harrison didn't touch his glass of water and just stared out of the window like he was thinking of something. Alexandra's eyebrows creased and she wondered what he was thinking.

"What are you thinking?" Alexandra asked in a curious tone of voice. He looked at her at the corner of his eyes and their gazes met, he saw what expression she was making. It was a curious expression and her lips were pursed into a thin line.

"About how much money I would need to spend on this day in just an hour or two while I'm with you," Harrison said in a dead-pan voice and Alexandra thought he was serious. "You're joking, right? You're an amazing wizard and creating something is just like eating a piece of cake for you," Alexandra said as she playfully smiled at him and he turned his head facing her.

"I don't like cake," Alexandra gave him the stink-eye hearing his answer. "Was that a joke or what?" Alexandra said and lifted her glass of water, gulping everything down as if she was really thirsty. As they were waiting for their order to arrive, two guys entered the café along with a beautiful female.

The boy almost the same height as Harrison had blonde hair that was styled neatly, and his slightly-droopy eyes which made him have this gentle and kind expression were the color of gold and it seems like it was sparkling. The boy who was taller than him by an inch or two had bluish-grey hair and it was messy. His green eyes looked enchanting and beautiful, it looked like gems and it looked like it was glowing. He had a cheeky grin plastered on his face while the other boy had a gentle smile, from this, you could tell what their personality was.

Behind them followed a girl who was slightly smaller than them, she looked enchanting and there were imaginary flowers blooming in her background. Alexandra couldn't help but turn her head around and stare at the girl behind her, she was wearing a pink frilly and beautiful dress which suited her. The color of her hair perfectly suited her golden eyes, it was a peachy cream-colored one, it was the first time Alexandra saw that hair color and she could say that it looked cute. Her hair was tied in a low bun with the use of a red ribbon, some few strands of hair fell off her face like it was intentional. The aura that surrounded her was warm, bright, and gentle. Her golden-eyes looked way more fascinating and beautiful than the boy's earlier, it had hope and warmth within them. Its gem-like appearance was truly attractive, she looked like an angel. She was like the main protagonist of every book Alexandra read, her aura and appearance was just like them. She looked simple yet attractive.

Harrison couldn't help but notice where Alexandra was staring at and his eyes widened in shock seeing the three. I never expected them to be here, Harrison thought and mentally cursed inside his mind. If he tried to leave immediately, it will look suspicious and they already ordered. Alexandra might be disappointed or angry at him if he did so. Aside from that, he also altered their appearances, so it's fine.

The two boys roamed their eyes around and the same waitress approached the three and told them something before walking towards their direction. Harrison averted his gaze and decided to stare at somewhere but Lady Luck was cruel to him today. Just as he averted his gaze, he suddenly heard him spoke.

"Wait, Harrison..?" Harrison mentally cursed inside his mind and just continued to ignore them. Alexandra stared at them and at his eyes wide because of shock.

It was Jerich/Carlos and Luke, Harrison's two friends at the academy along with Elise, the girl who he danced with and he finds mysterious. What a great place to encounter each other.