Chapter 26 Coping Prince
Having dinner with Zhier in my room struck me as odd.
It's been almost a week since we went to the fairy market.
By that time, Zhier seemed to have taken the initiative to always join me for dinner.
I didn't question him about his recent change in demeanor toward me because I suspected he was stressed.
I figured that spending time with me might be an excuse for him to temporarily get away from his responsibility as a prince to the princess and his mother.
"What's wrong?" Zhier inquires when he sees me pushing aside the bowl of fruits. "Is the taste not to your liking?"
"Hmm?" I look up at him before I realize what he meant by his question. "Oh, it's not that. It's just..." I look away for a second. "I just...miss human food." It's not the whole truth, but it is closer to the truth than telling him that I miss eating meat.
I have a love-hate relationship with the fairy realm because things are always trying to kill me there, but after learning the rules, I've begun to appreciate its beauty.
Actually, I believe a big fraction of me would be in love with the realm if it weren't for the fact that our meals are either vegetables or fruits.
I also miss my parents. I have been here for so long that I wonder if they are still looking for me.
"What kind of human food are you missing? If you want, I can secretly bring it here for you." Zhier offers, which greatly surprises me.
"You're kidding, right?" I raise a brow at him.
"I'm not. Tell me, is there anything that you wish to eat?"
"Anything?" I repeat.
"Anything." Zhier confirms with a nod, his gaze unfaltering along with his firm words.
I let out a short laugh before leaning back and crossing my arms. "Even meat?" I try to tease him since I know that he doesn't like the human food because we kill animals for nutrients. I'm already prepared to tell him that I am joking when his next response catches me off-guard.
"Are you being serious?"
"I don't lie, Livia. You know that."
It seems like my teasing backfires on me and that my head suddenly begins to throb from confusion. "Zhier, you do understand what I meant when I said 'meat', right?"
"Yes, I know." He uses a tone of voice that gives me the impression that he is an adult explaining things slowly to a young child.
"That..." I pause to try and think carefully of my words. "Zhier, I thought you didn't like humans eating animals? Isn't that why you curse human foods?"
"I still hate human food, and I hate the fact that animals have to suffer." He admits. Zhier sets the cup of tea that he was drinking a while ago down so he can look at me. "But if you wish to eat human food once again, then it is only imperative that I should go and get it for you."
"That sounds great, but I don't think that I should trouble you about it.
" I say, but then I start to remember the recent letter that I got from Efeiza.
According to her letter, she agreed to take me to the Unseelie Kingdom three times every week, starting tonight.
According to her, I should find an excuse to be alone.
"Actually, if you really insist, I would like a burger, but that meal is usually eaten for lunch rather than dinner.
In fact, most human foods are at their best when eaten during lunch.
Do you think that we can meet for lunch instead of dinner thrice every week when you bring human food? "
"Lunch, huh." Zhier ponders over the decision for a while. His brows are meeting as he seems to be considering it. "I guess I can manage."
"Awesome." My gaze flies to the blooming flower, which is what usually tells the time here in the fairy realm. "Zhier, do you mind if I head to bed early? I think that I must have overexerted my eyes while reading earlier."
"Do you need some medicine?" He asks out of concern, which suddenly makes me feel guilty for lying. Zhier gets up from his seat and, surprisingly, touches my cheek while lowering himself to look at me at eye level. "Your face is turning red. You must be catching a fever as well."
"I–I'm just tired!" I quickly pulled myself away from him.
I suddenly feel a little embarrassed at how quickly I got up from my chair.
"S–See? I am not sick. I am just tired. I need to rest and so do you, Zhier.
" This time, my gaze turn serious when I note how he has lost some weight and how the bags under his eyes are growing darker.
"Zhier, if you need me to do anything for you or if there's something that you wish to talk about, you know that you can tell me, right? "
Zhier's lips start to quiver. He lowers his gaze and covers his face for a brief moment before turning it back up. This time, a firm yet delicate smile replaces his expression, as if something were hurting him and he was attempting to cover it up.
"I'm fine. Sometimes the responsibilities as a prince is just too much for me.
I don't even know what I want to do anymore.
" He tries to laugh, but it ends up becoming a shaky breath.
"I don't even know who I am supposed to be.
" He mutters, his gaze turning dark, like he is being swallowed up by something.
I head over and give his shoulder a strong pat, making him look up at me in surprise.
I give him a small smile. "Instead of focusing on your responsibilities, why don't you try just being Zhier?
I don't understand your responsibilities, nor can I imagine how difficult it must be, but you should not lose yourself in the process.
Where was that arrogant and racist prince who I met in the forest before?
" I start to laugh at the memory of how I genuinely felt scared and intimidated by him before.
"It looks to be that the fairy prince before me has become so timid and soft that I am afraid that he might collapse if I nudge him a bit. "
Zhier raises a brow at my joke, but it did earn a playful smirk and a laugh in the end. "Call me timid again, and I might drag you out to the hallway and leave you there."
"Ah, there he is. There's the Prince Zhier that I know." I laugh for a bit before a look at him with worry. "But just to be clear, you are joking, right?"
"Who knows?" Zhier grins before ruffling my hair and pushing my head slightly down so I can't see his expression.
"Thank you, Livia." When I feel his hand moving away from my head, I try to look up at him, but he already has his back to me as he heads for the door.
"I'll call for someone to clean up. Get some rest." He thoughtfully says. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." I respond.
After Zhier left, I headed into the bathroom to wash up and change into some clean clothes.
When I got back to my room, the small table where Zhier and I had been eating was already cleaned, but one seat is occupied by a hooded figure.
I would have been alarmed if I did not see Jade lingering under the shadow's feet while eating emerald crystals that it was feeding it.
"Efeiza?" I ask as I carefully approach the two. "That's you, right?"
Efeiza reveals herself by dropping the hood, which brings a sense of relief to me. "Hey, Lady. Long time no see." She gets up to greet me. "You were taking your sweet time, so I figured that I should come and find you. The prince sure was taking his time to leave."
"You were here that whole time?" I give her a look of disbelief. "How come I did not notice you? How come Zhier did not notice you?!"
"Everyone is going to notice now if you scream it like that.
" Efeiza chuckles, placing a finger over her lips in amusement.
"I am part of a special elite of 'knights' for the prince.
We work in the dark and take care of those with whom he wants to deal in secret.
Hiding in the shadows undetected is but a mediocre task for me. "
I don't even want to question what she means with her words. All I know is that I don't want to get on her bad side.
"Sorry for the delay, but I have already taken care of our schedule. Hopefully, by next week, we can leave early."
A smile forms on the corner of Efeiza's lips.
"I heard. The prince must have taken a great liking to you to give you the privilege of eating human food.
Everyone knows how Seelie despises human cuisines.
" I wouldn't have thought much about her words if only Ihad not seen the teasing smile plastered on Efeiza's lips.
"Be careful, or the prince might really fall in love with you. "
"Stop teasing, Efeiza." I turn away to hide my embarrassment. I am not used to such situations, so I easily get shy about it. "Are you going to escort me or not?"
Efeiza tries to hide her chuckle but fails, which results in her laughing.
"Alright, my lady. First of all, you will have to ride on the emerald beast's back because, in order for us to sneak off of the palace, we have to act quickly.
Who knows what they would do if we were caught.
" Upon hearing her mutter the last part, I don't think that I want to ask what happened to the others who were caught.
Nonetheless, I followed her instructions and rode on Jade's back after securing a cloak around me to both hide my face and protect me from the cold.
"Alright. Lead the way, Efeiza."