Rhys sighed. What on earth is she trying to do? He doesn't understand at all? 'I thought her actions in the past confused me, but the current her puzzles me even more.'
"Rhys, do you truly want to be present in the meeting?" Lyn asked.
"Is there an issue if I go?"
Rhys could see the girl's expression turn sour and she sighed.
"Those people who were trying to set us up together will be there. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."
Those people, he has a vague image of the people who cornered Lyn in the forest. He has never spoken to them before but it seems like they knew a lot about him.
"It's alright, I planned to make it clear to them anyway."
After what happened yesterday, one detail about the incident stood out to him. Those goblins, rather than tarnish and ransack the village. They were more focused on getting to Lyn. The target was Lyn all along, they must have the knowledge that she always takes charge of those random attacks.
If he hadn't arrived, something bad may have happened. Lyn was winning the fight but if they attacked the villagers and took them hostage-
"Make it clear?" Lyn repeated.
"About courting you." Rhys admitted.
This contradicts what he told Zepher the other day but he changed his mind after seeing Lyn get attacked. They targeted Lyn, but it felt like the real target was him. The goblins' behaviour changed when he arrived on the scene. It felt like the creatures were trying to provoke him.
"Y-your not going to tell them that we-that we-did-" Lyn was struggling to get the words out.
He found her current behaviour very cute, but what stood out to him was how she wasn't letting go of his hand. When they were still dating, she would often run away after they did anything intimate with her. This is a refreshing change.
"Well, I think I will have to bring it up. Unless you want it to look like one sided courting, Queen?"
"C-can you at least, not phrase it strangely?"
Seeing her conflicting emotions, Rhys bent down and lightly kissed her forehead. "I won't do anything that you hate. We can go over my statement now if you want?"
"This makes it seem like I don't trust you, when I do." Lyn grumbled.
"So, you trust me now?"
"D-don't tease me, of course I trust you. I am just genuinely worried. You don't know Rhys but those people are like snakes. They latch onto you without hesitation and exploit you whenever they can."
"It seems you have suffered a lot. I am sorry you had to deal with that by yourself."
"I wasn't alone, well at the start anyway."
That's right, she had Kazuya by her side. Despite Kazuya's friendly and outgoing nature, Rhys knew that if those people harassed Lyn. He wouldn't let them get away with it.
"From now on, I will be right by your side." He kissed her forehead softly again. "So, if anything happens again you have to talk to me okay?"
He is hoping that his statement about officially courting her will stop those people from setting Lyn up with other men. But he knew it wouldn't be that simple.
His thoughts break off when Lyn leaned over and kissed his cheek. For a moment he blinked, not understanding what she just did there.
"I want you by my side more often. I-I know you have your work, but you're supposed to be my knight right now aren't you?"
Rhys had to stop himself from chuckling. Why is she behaving so cutely? Indeed, he is supposed to be her 'knight.' But now that he is officially courting her, that label gets in the way. It was almost like Lyn understood his thoughts since she quickly added.
"Of course that's just an excuse to keep you by me now."
He bent down and placed a kiss on her neck. "Do you need an excuse?"
"I-I believe I do."
How foolish, why does she need an excuse to be with him? She probably still hasn't come to terms with her feelings yet. The main reason for that is probably because she doesn't have her memories.
'If I wanted, I could give it to her right now. I could return her memories. However, this timing isn't good. The war with the Snow Kingdom has stopped only temporarily. Is this truly the time to bring back her old emotions?'
"R-Rhys, are-are you done?" Lyn stammered.
It took him a moment to realise that he was still kissing her neck. This is dangerous after all. Rhys pulled away and Lyn averted her gaze.
"You, I thought you had changed. But I suppose this part of you remains the same."
Rhys looked at her confused. She doesn't have her memories back yet- oh wait, he often harassed her before they dated. So she still remembers that much? It's true he only 'erased' her feelings towards him and the memories associated with it.
'If I wanted, I could have erased my presence from her life completely.'
If he did that then perhaps Kazuya wouldn't be so insecure. The battle three years ago, Lyn doesn't remember what happened clearly. She was injured so much and he used his own life force to help her. The only way he could do that was to ensure that their souls were still firmly intertwined together. But when he realised that she was still waiting for him, he decided to erase her feelings.
Rhys intertwined a strand of her hair in his fingers and brought it to his lips.
"You truly are an odd one." Lyn muttered.
"What is it?"
"Rhys, last night we--"
Rhys immediately understood and finished her sentence for her. "-kissed a lot, that's all we did."
"I-I see."
Sensing her silence, Rhys paused before asking her.
"Do you dislike it?"
Lyn frantically shakes her head. "I-I don't know what to think." Lyn admitted.
She doesn't know huh? He supposes this is still too much for her. 'I thought my advances towards her were quite slow. But, if I think about it perhaps it is too fast. I didn't expect to do it with her until the later dates after all.'
"Then should we practice?" Rhys suggested.
"Practice?" Lyn repeated.
"Kissing. You just said you don't know what to think. But if we practise you may know."
He waited for a few seconds not expecting her to agree. But, following her unusual behaviour Lyn nodded. Before he could lean forward however Rhys caught a glimpse of something, no there someone wearing a cloak not too far away.
*Unedited*