The moon was already up in the sky when Gavin somehow reached the top of the mountain. They had been running nonstop, climbing and going to the deepest parts of the forest to reach the other side. To be able to continue, they would need to rest for a bit first.
"What did you see earlier?" Gavin asked Princess Carrie as they decided to stop by a nearby fresh spring they accidentally found near the top.
Princess Carrie, freshened up slightly from the cold water she used to wash her face, stood up from her crouching position. "It's nothing."
Turning, she was about to leave when Gavin grabbed her arm.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me anything," Gavin said, remembering those lessons they had when they were in the academy.
Princess Carrie looked down, face looking as if she had the same confusion Gavin was feeling. She slowly pulled her arm away from Gavin and faced him, "You shouldn't and won't be able to help me even if you know, so it doesn't matter now, does it?"
"It does." Gavin took a step closer to Princess Carrie. "It does matter to me. And whether I can't help or not, whether I do want to help or not - that is for me to decide."
Princess Carrie frowned, eyes fueled by something that was too difficult to see the meaning of, "I will appreciate it if the Second Prince refrain from saying such things that could impose things that can be easily misunderstood."
Gavin frowned back, "Do you think I'm just playing around? Do you really not know what I am doing all of these for?"
Taken aback by his response and confused at the same time, Princess Carrie took a step back and looked away. "You're too full of yourself. Always playing hero and wanting me to owe you or something..."
"Is that what it looks to you?" The look on Gavin's face changed, from anger to hurt to disappointment to everything all at once. A sigh came out of his lips, mind almost exploding as he remembered how proud and stubborn the woman in front of him was.
"Do you want to die then? Is that what you want? Be captured and die by the hands of those traitors?" Gavin asked, voice becoming colder and harsher.
"What do you know about me? You don't know anything! If they want to kill me, it's because of a reason. Why aren't you asking them about it and just saving me as you please? Have you ever considered the reason why they want to make me disappear?! Have you ever considered the possibility of me doing something evil? - too evil that I make everyone around me hate me enough to kill me?!"
"Then tell me! Did you really do something evil? Tell me if you did! Otherwise, I will keep protecting you like this!" Gavin took a shaky breath, looking away from the woman that had occupied his head for ages.
"Those rumors," Princess Carrie whispered.
Gavin halted, turning to look at the princess.
"What if I tell you they were true?" Princess Carrie asked, eyes looking at Gavin, directly, vulnerable, and brave. "This body... This soul... Everything. What if it's not mine? What if it's never mine?"