"Wake up, Celestia" a vague voice and a light shake made Celestia slowly opened her eyes.
She is still groggy from the long day she had, it's been a while since she felt this tired.
"What Ted?" she asked while brushing her eyes and yawning.
"It's already 9 pm, are you not going back to the castle?" Ted asked in a mellow tone.
And surely it is already dark outside, Celestia has been sleeping for 7 hours! Well, who wouldn't get tired after carrying a man twice or even thrice as your size and even stitching his wounds? She went out of the castle after lunch which means they performed the surgery until three in the afternoon.
It is physically and emotionally tiring for a woman like Celestia, it's not like every day she encounters a wounded man that has the face of Greek Gods every day.
In her 20 years of living this kind of incident only occurred now, and looking at it, the Thusha empire clearly weakened its barrier against outsiders, the reason for the man's gunshot is still a mystery to Celestia. 'A gun? In Thusha?'
With a huff, she discarded the unbelievable thought and replied to Ted's question.
"It's okay, I will stay for the night, my maid will know what to do when I'm out overnight anyway, I'll just stay here and watch over him"
"Oh, that's sad, I thought I will have an alone time when he wakes up, you evil stepmother!" Ted jokingly said followed by a chuckle.
"If only your house is not the nearest I would probably not come to you! Who knows what you will do to him?" Celestia retorted with a small smile, her bugging thoughts before were clearly overshone by having little banters with Ted.
Well, its the reason why she discovered that forest anyway because of Ted, she visited him once in a while but his place is secluded and is near the forest she was wandering a while ago.
"W-why you! I am deeply hurt Celestia, I am your best buddy remember? The only one who knows your secret PRINCESS, won't you become a little nicer to your best buddy" Ted whined, Celestia is normally in good terms with Ted, maybe she's just tired this time but still, she smiled at the remark.
"Okay okay, I'm tired of playing mean anyway, just don't touch him secretly okay? You can when it's related to curing him but other than that? Stop Ted, we are abusing him if we do that, we are righteous citizens okay?"
'Wow, big words Celestia, did you forget how you drooled in his six packs a while ago?' Her inner voice reprimanded her.
"Yes yes, by the way, where is he from?" Ted ask curiously, who would shot a perfectly carved man?
"I don't know but I think he is from the empire based on the clothing that is" Celestia responded after looking at the man lying beside her, she examined his clothing, a man wearing a high-quality tuxedo and a luxurious watch that is clearly made out of gold.
"Oh, this will be my first time talking to a person who lives in Empire" Ted voiced out excitedly.
'Same Ted.'
The empire is the place where tons of building is already standing, where different kinds of clothes were made for fashion. High equipment and fast mobile service, in other words, the opposite of the Thusha kingdom. It's like living in two different centuries!
"Ted do you have any food? I'm famished" Celestia can't help but ask, adverting the topic. How she would like to go to the empire, where modern men exist and not just fat noblemen.
"Oh, I forgot to cook, actually I am also taking a nap just now so yeah and you know I'm not really fond of cooking as much as you do so can you please do the deed? I've been wanting to taste your cooking for a while now Princess" he pleaded with both hands combined.
"What choice do I have? I'll try to make something from the ingredients you have, just take a little more rest okay? I know you are still tired" Celestia felt guilty for making Ted work in his day-off.
"Thanks! There's also a spare girl's clothes on the second floor, Ashley left some when she stayed here last week"
Ashley is Ted's younger sister, the one who brought a lump of frozen goods and instant foods to Ted.
"Okay, thank you too, Ted, sorry for the trouble" she voiced out her feelings.
"Always welcome Celie" Ted smiled, they have been friends long before he discovered that Dave, his crush, is a girl and a princess nonetheless.
Celestia can't help but smile, he's such a good friend, what did I do to deserve him?
Celestia hurriedly went to the kitchen and started cooking porridge and since there is only a limited amount of seasonings and ingredients available in Ted's kitchen, she made enough to feed at least four people to include the wounded man of course. After a few minutes of cooking and humming at the same time, Celestia decided to call her beloved friend.
"Teeed, the food is ready!" She shouted loud enough to be heard in the other room.
Maybe I should just eat in the room with that man to observe him if he's still breathing that is.
Celestia scooped enough porridge and went to the guest room where the man is lying and did not wait for Ted to come down the kitchen, Ted is probably in his room, he will descend a few minutes later I bet.
She rested in the chair where she was seated a while ago, the chair beside the sleeping man, Celestia blew lightly the food to cool it off and as she does it, she can't help but look at the man's face.
Oh his long lashes, high cheekbones, and his pointed nose, this must be a greek god!
Indeed, looking at him you will suddenly believe in love even though you are the empress of Theavarian Kingdom, well, for Celestia even though she is a hopeless romantic, she is not a big fan of love at first sight, it does not make any sense for her because in her perception love is deeper and beyond what can be seen by the naked eye of a human. It is more than a composition of facial features, it is a surreal feeling, an ad-infinitum.
I wonder what will the color of his eyes, will it match his charcoal-like hair?
Well, you can't love a person at first sight but you can surely be attracted.
She was almost done eating when that man started mumbling.
"W-w-where a-am I?" A low husky voice grunted.
OMG!
"What do you want? Water? Food? Clothes? Me?" Celestia started panicking a little bit.
The man just looks at the bowl she is holding.
"Oh, you want this? Wait, I will get you another one" She stumbled a little while trying to get up but failed completely when the man grabbed her arm.
"I'll eat that" his low and weak voice lingered in the princess' mind.
At that moment Celestia felt she could exchange places with the wounded man and be the one in the bed, this man has the ability to make any woman faint with just three little words and it's not even I love you.