"You're lying."
"Why do I have to lie that I'm an alpha to you, Lune?"
'That's true.' Lune knows that being an alpha means that he wields more power in terms of social standing among his pack, and also physically stronger since there's some kind of ritual that supposedly enhances it to greater heights. 'Is this why he can't visit since then?' She is kinda glad he is able to ascend to the alpha position, since most that challenged to be an alpha were recorded as dead after the fight, considering it can be a fatal one if the need to rise to position is high, adrenaline rushing and getting killed in the process. She shakes her head and asks quietly, "are you too hurt? I mean the battle with the previous alpha."
"it's fine. He was the one dead after looking down on me," he smirks from the memory and he is glad that it ended without a huge fuss, "in fact, I think he was too absorbed in the power that comes with the position that he forgets about the most basic trait an alpha needs, which is strength."
They remain silent after feeling unsure what to say, and Lune starts shivering when a cold night breeze blows towards her, where Chilve has taken notice of it and removes his suit jacket, "what's the use of having so much cloth on the skirt and not much on your top?"
She mumbles a quick thanks to him when she feels the jacket wrapped around her shoulders, and she smiles a little when there's a faint smell of woods and water on it, "have your pack been living in the woods?"
"The elders are, but most of the younger ones followed me to the city to make a living in a differe-" someone else approaches them and Chilve looks a little annoyed to have his little reunion with Lune disturbed, "Lord Chilve, here you are! I was looking everywhere for you."
'Lord?' She giggles at how he is called lord and he seems to be frowning, "Ford, what did I say about shouting my name in a public event?"
"I apologize, but we really need to go soon before the alpha from the other pack comes sniffing you out here and cause a ruckus here," the guy called Ford seems to have noticed that Chilve is not alone, and he bows a little at Lune and asks, "are you Princess Lune?" She nods at his question and he beams, "congratulations on becoming an adult! I hope my lord doesn't bore you with his constant talk of being strong."
And she laughs at the unsuspected side of Chilve that Ford carelessly revealed, and Chilve looks red in the face from the slip of tongue and he barks angrily, "stop talking unnecessary things! Let's just go right now," he turns to the laughing Lune and he complains, "if you laugh too loud, I'm not going to travel together with you and leave you to fend for yourself."
Wiping some tears that comes out during her laughter, Lune nods and smiles, "fine fine. Just go already," and after Chilve and Ford are out of sight, she enters the ballroom and realizes that Chilve's coat is on her, where she takes it off and carries it carefully on her arms, "I should give this to him next time I see him."
The rest of the night goes by in a blur since no one else dares to ask the princess for a dance after witnessing how the prince keeps scaring them away with his foul expression and glare. Once the door of her room is opened, she closes it and hangs the coat on the clothes rack carefully, and she sighs in relief that she is finally alone, away from the public eyes.
Slipping out from the dress is a lot easier than wearing it, so she doesn't call the maids to help her out. She removes the hair ornaments one by one, and when she takes out the flower, she is reminded that she really needs to find out about the so-called legend of it.
Meanwhile, Chilve has been travelling back to the town with Ford silently, and the moment they reach their lodgings, the receptionist greets them and Chilve asks, "anything happened while I was gone?"
"No, Lord Chilve," and he nods before climbing the stairs, where Ford follows right behind and once they reach the largest doors of the building, Chilve turns around and says, "I'm sleeping here alone tonight, so don't ever come here until the sun rises."
"But Lord Chilve, we have lots more to discuss on the matter we are going to fac-" the doors opened and closed without waiting for his sentence to finish, "-e tomorrow. Good night my lord," dejected like a kicked pup, Ford walks towards his own room which is a few doors away from Chilve's, and there's a door that opens suddenly, startling him, "oh my goodness! You almost hit my face!"
"I bet hitting on your face will make it look better, wanna try?" Ford groans internally when he realizes it's none other than the self proclaimed rival of their alpha, Adam Barin, and he is crossing his arms around his chest, "did Chilve just got back from whatever human function he attended?"
"Yeah," and he gets nervous when Adam starts marching towards Chilve's room, "he asked not to be disturbed during his sleep! We have a huge operation tomorrow!"
"Bah! What kind of alpha gets himself defeated in his beauty sleep? We don't need this kind of person leading us if that's who he is," Ford prays for Adam's safety and he walks back to his room, not wanting to deal with a pissed Chilve at this hour.