A Night Walk

Before Amelia went out, her maidservant, Rae, had advised her to stay where the crowds were. No idiot would dare to harm her in crowds. Rae also told her that she should run towards the nearest guards and request help if anything goes wrong.

Amelia pulled her hoodies to cover her face and stepped backward slowly, planning to make a run. She stopped when she bumped into a hard wall. Or rather, someone. It was when she realized that the person was Laif that Amelia let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?"

Amelia nodded in response. Her gaze never left him.

"Sorry, I have to buy some stuff since we're out here," he laughed a little. Then he straightened his posture and raised a brow to her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Amelia shook her head, dissipating her fear, and thought that he had left her. She forced a smile and spoke, "It's nothing. Just that, there are so many people here. I was afraid that we might lose each other."

"Oh," the smile on his face returned. "Come on. Let's go. We don't want to waste time before we get to enjoy for fresh night air around the city." He paused to look at her with a raised brow. "You're a local here. You should know a few good spot or two. Do you mind giving me a tour of the city?"

"I'd like to. But I never get much chance to wander around the city," she said, almost quietly. "The King never gave me any permission to get out of the palace. When I get to travel outside, it was for official matters, and most of the time I have to travel with guards. I didn't get the chance to look around."

"How long have you been living in the palace?"

"Since I was very little," Amelia replied.

She was born and raised in the palace. But she wasn't going to tell that to him. There's no way she was going to reveal her identity as the princess any time soon.

"So you have been serving the royal family your whole life?"

"It was something like that." Amelia chewed the inside of her mouth when Laif started to frown. She wondered if he had suspected anything. She tried to think of something to change the topic. "Perhaps we could just take a walk around the city. I always wonder what the city looks like during the night."

His gaze lingered on her for a while before he nodded. "That sounded like a good idea."

...

Amelia walked around the city, savoring the night scenery that she rarely had the chance to witness. She never thought that the nightlife in the city could be this lively.

Colorful lights and lanterns were lit everywhere and the townspeople were still awake to enjoy the night view as she was. There were a lot of merchants along the street, selling clothes, shoes, jewelry, food, and drinks. Some of the goods were very strange and unfamiliar to her.

The two of them strolled around the city in silence. There were a few times when they had a brief chat on the view or the strange things they found the town merchants were selling.

Her eyes flickered for a moment at the man beside her. She studied his build from the corner of her eyes. Slowly, her gaze traveled from his silver hair and paused when she noticed the sword he was carrying—a double-edged sword.

Amelia had seen him wielding the sword a few times. The first time she had seen him wielding the sword was the night he saved her life. It wasn't very usual to see anyone carrying a double-edged sword in Noa Kingdom. After all, most of the knights in Noa Kingdom would carry a single-edged sword with them.

She had seen her brother, Asher, practiced with a single-edged sword one time, and recalled that her brother had once said that a double-edged sword is heavier as compared to a single-edged one.

"You have been staring at me for quite sometimes," Laif pointed out.

Amelia snapped out of her trance and looked up. Her gaze met with Laif's blue eyes. Suddenly, she could feel blood gushing up to her face. She didn't notice that she had made it too obvious. Amelia looked away to the ground and coughed dryly. "I'm sorry."

Laif smiled at her. "It seems that you have taken an interest in the sword that I was carrying around."

"It was rare to see anyone carrying a double-edged sword in this country," Amelia told him. "Most of the guards and soldiers from the palace carry a single-edged sword because it was lighter."

Laif raised a brow in fascination. "I see that you know a thing or two about swords. Do you have an interest in weaponry?"

"No. I don't." Amelia acknowledged. A faint smile graced her lips at the thought of her brother. "But the King had a collection of swords and other weaponry from all over the place. I saw him practicing with a double-edged sword a few times."

"I've heard the King was a fan of martial arts," Laif said. "So it is true then."

Amelia nodded. She tilted her head and her gaze met with Laif. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

Amelia bit her lips, weighting whether this was the good time to take her chance to ask him whatever was she curious about. "Where are you from exactly? Judging from your accent, your martial art, and that sword you've been carrying, I know that you're not a local or anywhere from our neighboring country."

His gaze lingered on her face for a moment. Then, he smiled. "I did tell you that I'm a prince from a faraway kingdom, didn't I?" Laif chuckled, noticing how she was scowling at him. "Alright, I came from the Western Continents."

Amelia paused as she heard his words. "Western Continents?" She then whispered. "Are you a magic practitioner then?"

"Not everyone in the Western Continents is a magic practitioner," Laif said. Of course, he did avoid her initial question. "In Western Continents, the practitioners and non-practitioners live together well. It was different than here."

Of course, Amelia had heard about how the two had lived together in Western Continents. Her friend, Lady Evans was a merchant. Sometimes, Amelia had heard some stories through her friend and found out how the two groups had set rules to live harmoniously together.

If the war did not happen, perhaps the two groups will live harmoniously together too.

Hundred years ago, the rulers in the Eastern Continents were magic practitioners. Because of their power, they had abused the non-practitioners. The non-practitioners had to live in fear. They were suppressed. If they do something that the practitioners did not like, they would be punished.

To be punished by magic was not something that the non-practitioners could bear.

One day, the rulers stumbled into a cave of pretty stones. They used the non-practitioners to mine the pretty stones but soon found out that there was something wrong with those stones.

Once the miners knew about the practitioners' weakness, they started to mine the stones in large quantities. It was then that the rebellion began.