Kora looks at Loki nervously and sighs.
"Well, it's understandable if you don't believe me."
"I'm unsure...You certainly are too...unintelligent to be a spy. But I can not let my guard down. You do have an advantage though. The Veldenwares are trustworthy people to me."
"Um, are you perhaps trying to make me feel better?"
"No one likes to be wronged. Even that 1% chance that you are actually unrelated to the Frendrilks makes me not want to mistreat you."
Loki looks away.
"Just basic manners towards a lady, I guess."
"Awhh, your highness-" Kora says, touched.
Loki glares.
"Don't say that. I thought you were a little clever. Don't come here anymore, either. There's nothing valuable here for you to find."
"Okay..."
A "not so nice" nice person, I see. But at least he's not as cold as I originally thought he was. For now, he even sounds pretty reasonable. As long as I don't do anything suspicious, I'm sure he won't hurt me... I hope?
"By the way, why are you so familiar with this place? I was pretty surprised to find you here."
"I know every place in this kingdom. It's nothing special. I don't come here often, though. But as you can see, there aren't that many people here helping out because of the battle so I came to help out since they were short on staff."
Kora looks down at the ground as her eyes sadden.
"I don't know if I should say this but... I don't think these patients would get better in a place like this even though I know your highness is trying your best to help..."
"I know."
Loki's eyes sadden as well. However, it is difficult to see his expression under his cloak.
"I know..."
"Maybe you could bring in more staff or something to help them...?"
"It is not something you should worry about. You shouldn't come again. I don't know your intentions. Even if it was out of goodwill, you shouldn't risk your life to come here. You could get infected."
"Didn't you say there were volunteers though?"
"They have medical equipment, of course. You came here wearing plain clothes and nothing to cover your mouth and nose."
"But, what about your highness?"
"I can use magic to protect myself."
Kora looks at Loki's eyes, excited.
"Magic!? I've read about it in books before. So that must've been what you used for the patient before, right!?"
"Congrats. You finally got the answer. Anyways, I need to get going now. It is getting dark out. You better hurry back too."
"Oh no! I completely forgot about the time...Emili is going to kill me..."
Kora looks at Loki nervously and stutters. Then, she looks at him with an awkward smile.
"U-um...is it possible for you to give me an excuse...?"
"No. To be honest. I wasn't supposed to come here either, so I can't help you with that. Besides, you should get punished since you came to such a dangerous place.
Loki looks at the paper in Kora's hand.
"Also, I think it's best if you keep it a secret that you met me in West Street from Jek."
"You know Jek?"
"I told you. I know every single person in this kingdom," Loki says as he is ready to leave.
Prince Loki...I think I understand why the people here admire him so much. At least from what I have seen, he's a pretty responsible prince who cares for his people. Although, I'm not sure why he doesn't fix the problems here. I'm sure there are other problems I don't know of. After all, the information I know is limited so I shouldn't judge anyone yet.
"Wait, what am I still doing here? This isn't the time to be thinking about all this! I need to get back as soon as possible! I hope nothing bad happens when I get back...ugh. Maybe I should blame Jek- No...that's a little too mean..."
"Ahhh, what do I do!!"
Kora runs as fast as possible, hoping to make it back to the bakery before the sun sets. Just then, she thought of an idea. She looked around on her way back for a flower shop.
By the time Kora returned to the bakery, the sun had completely set. Kora stands at the front door, feeling nervous and scared.
Argh...I feel so scared that my stomach hurts. I brought some flowers for Emili using the extra money Jek gave me...I hope that would settle her anger even just a bit.
A silhouette figure appears on the other end of the front door and then the lights turn on inside the bakery. The figure behind the door begins to look more visible as the lights turn on.
Kora jumps as the door opens.