Chapter 39 - Princess Lyn P11

Year 4014 Mist Kingdom

Lyn must have passed out because when she woke up, she discovered that she was already back in her room in the Mist Kingdom. At least that's what she thought so initially. But when Lyn looked around, she noticed it was a lot smaller than hers. A low ceiling, broken looking floorboards. In fact from where Lyn lay, only the bed seemed slightly decent and the cabinet. The rest of the things in the room such as the desk and chair looked worn out and battered. The couch had a broken spring.

A frown appeared on her face, where is she? Wasn't she in the restaurant, and with Kazuya too? Instead of returning to where her Father and Allen were, Kazuya used the rear exit and brought her back. Her thoughts broke off when the door opened with a creak. When she saw Kazuya, a relieved sigh passed her lips. She knew she was in the Mist Kingdom Palace grounds but Lyn didn't recognize the area, so it worried her that she troubled some stranger.

"Um, where?"

Kazuya smiled, "My room, well the room they gave me here. Sorry, it's a bit cramped. Nobody was at your gate to let me in, so I couldn't go through the barrier."

Lyn slowly nodded. Despite her muddled senses, however. So, somebody let him go through before? Who was it?

"Don't move about so much; you're still sick."

She realized something immediately and looked down at her clothes, noticing that she wore something different. Her cheeks grew hot, "D-d—don't go near me!"

Kazuya turned red, "Hey wait, it wasn't me. I just asked Rhys, girlfriend.."

Her ears perked up at that, "Rhys has a girlfriend?"

"Well more like the girl he sees the most. According to Rhys,e doesn't need things like a fixed girlfriend and stuff. But if you ask me, he dotes on her a lot."

'Beth,' Lyn recalled where she heard the name before. It must be the one from the opening day — the one where she caught them in a compromising position. Her face turned more flushed as she recalled it. Kazuya reached over and brushed his hands on her face.

"Mm, your fever is rising."

"Kazuya."

"I know it's a small place. But make yourself at home yeah?"

Lyn slowly nodded, and Kazuya drew his hand back, "Wait, let me get your food."

She nodded again and watched as he left the bed.

Lyn peered at him from her blanket. She found this whole situation odd. Who wouldn't? Lyn looked around the room again and frowned. He's supposed to be a distinguished guest from the Sound Kingdom. Why is his place like this? But then again judging from the amount of hate he gets. She supposes it should be normal.

"Kazuya," Lyn softly called out.

"Mmm?"

"Um come here for a second, please."

He didn't respond so Lyn thought she was asking for something unreasonable. When she felt his

"I want to cuddle," she shyly asked him.

Kazuya blinked and muttered something under his breath that she couldn't quite catch.

...

"You want to learn more about me?" Kazuya asked.

Lyn nodded, "Ah-huh."

"Well, there's not much to say."

Oh.

Kazuya saw her dejected look and shook his head, "It's more like there's a gap in my memories somewhere. Yes, I'm just like you in that department."

So Kazuya's past is also blurred for him? She wonders how that feels; he's actually conscious of it. Lyn never thought much about her losing her memories. Though it would be nice if she recalled things. At the same time, she felt this was okay.

When she is with this person, she feels safe. A safety she hasn't felt in a long time.

"Lyn, do you like reading?"

"Ah, yes."

Kazuya smiled, he let's go of her for a moment and pulled out some books from the corner. She looked at the first one Kazuya pulled out.

"Heart of darkness?" Lyn murmured.

Kazuya nodded, "The novel is about a sailor who goes on a business expedition to the Congo and becomes stranded after his only mode of transportation gets destroyed. He travels from a civilized city to a new world. But during his travels, he changes after witnessing the cruelty of the world. His experiences shaped who he is as a person since it taught him about the things he often overlooked and dismissed before. Humans can cause chaos to the point where they disregard social values and moral standards. In the end, nobody had a choice when it came to choosing since both sides were evil. Choosing the lesser of the two evil was still considered evil."

Lyn looked at the book curiosity; this was the first time she saw such a book before. Then again, half the books she has on her shelves are matters regarding politics. She seldom had any actual stories. Eldest Brother chose all the books she had. Previously there were no stories

Kazuya passed the book to her, and she flicked open the page. Kazuya more or less summed up the story, but she still wanted to read. However, after reading the first line, her vision blurred. Kazuya noticed and took it from her.

"You have a fever, I'll read it for you," Kazuya offered.

Lila nodded, as Kazuya started.

Kazuya's voice was quite soothing to listen to.

.....

The end of the story felt quite lacking to her. The sailor returned to civilization - after all the turbulent trials he faced to pursue knowledge and truth. Kazuya chuckled, "Did you want him to continue facing more trails? The book would get boring then."

"It's more like; I thought he would try to do something with the knowledge he gained."

"But didn't he? He recited his version of the truth, based on the experiences he saw."

Lyn didn't respond and continued to frown. What a complicated situation. Maybe because for her the truth was hard to swallow. For her, that meant adjusting to the reality of her situation.

She looked at the other books in the pile Kazuya brought out.

W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage.

Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty. The maiden in the castle of thorns who slept for a hundred years.

Proust Swann's Way.

The third one she was familiar with, the narrator tells the story of a past love affair that had taken place before his birth.

Before she could pick up the book; however, Kazuya gently laid her back down.

"Now, go back to resting."

"Kazuya, I want to chat some more."

Lyn just realized that he completely shifted the topic with the books and frowned. Does he not want her to learn more about him? Or for Kazuya is there something so painful regarding the past, or even his current situation that he doesn't want to mention? During the second day, she got to know him quite well. He told her a lot of stories. But after a few weeks went by. Lyn noticed that he always evaded talking about himself.

All Kazuya's stories are regarding his friends in the Sound Kingdom; half of them were about Rhys. Back when he first told her the stories, Lyn thought nothing about it. For her, everything that came out of Kazuya's mouth was new and exciting. A whole new world, stories about people and a world beyond the place she lived in for the past sixteen years.

Kazuya looked troubled, but she continued to ask, "Please?"

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "You really are stubborn huh Lyn? But what can I do, I guess I'll tell you. But I wonder. Will you still look at me the same way?"