The streets were silent enough to hear a pin drop. A light fog covered the cobbled road, and the gas lamps flickered lightly, illuminating the uneven walkway and shedding some light on the stone buildings.
"Wow, I've never been here this late at night," murmured Crystal. "It's kind of creepy."
Vivian walked towards a back alley when they were close enough to the lodging she planned to book for the night. In the narrow alleyway, trash littered the ground, and puddles that appeared to be a mix of waste and water shimmered under the moonlight. Crystal was hesitant to follow but did so nonetheless.
Pausing in a dry area, Vivian dropped her bag from her shoulder and removed her knife.
Crystal's eyes widened. "You aren't acting like yourself, Vivi. Maybe you should tell me what's going on."
"That is no longer my name. I am now Luke, and please refer to me as such." Vivian raised the knife in her right hand and held a chunk of the left side of her hair in the other. With slight hesitation, she cut her tresses. The wind carried the red strands as they drifted down the street.
A gasp sounded next to her. "What have you done?? What kind of trouble are you in that you must go to such lengths to hide your identity?"
Vivian looked up at her friend. "I am in no immediate danger, I promise."
"You have to tell me something, Vivi. This is too much even for me."
Vivian raised the knife to her right side before sighing and lowering it again.
"To make a long story short, I don't want to be a victim anymore. I don't want to..." She tried to find a way to phrase it without divulging too much information. "I don't want to rely on someone else to resolve a problem I've been having. I know there's no way aristocrats would care for a woman's opinion, but I know they'd listen to a man... especially a man with a decent position in the royal knights."
Her friend grasped her hair; her jaw fell slack after realizing what her friend intended to do. After looking left and right down the alleyway, her eyes narrowed at her friend. "You can't join the royal army! If they find you're a woman, you're as good as dead!"
"..."
"Vivi!" She grabbed her friend's shoulders and shook them.
"I thought you had simply planned to leave for a day! You can't go through with something like this! It's far too dangerous! What are you trying to accomplish that would require such drastic measures?!"
Vivian removed Crystal's hands. "I told you that I can't tell you everything."
Crystal's hand returned to her hair, rustling it while she paced in a circle.
She stopped momentarily, facing her friend. "What about the man from the notes?"
A cold glint passed through Vivian's eyes, but Crystal was too frantic to notice.
"Like I said... I'll see him eventually."
After a pause and a deep breath, Crystal replied, exasperated. "Okay… alright… I know you wouldn't do anything reckless without cause. But Vivi… how long are you planning to keep this up?"
"I can't tell you that either… I'm sorry." Vivian looked down at her shoes. She had never held a secret from her best friend before, but she feared she would be thought to be crazy. She also stressed that if her friend knew too much about her plot, it would make her unsafe.
Edgar Conners' family were high-ranking aristocrats and the first cousins of those sitting on the throne. She wasn't sure what position his father held due to Edgar's sheltering, but she knew he had a seat in the council. Should anything happen, she didn't want her friend to sink with her.
Crystal squeezed Vivian's hand that wasn't holding the knife. "You know what? It doesn't matter. As long as you stay the same old Vivi, I'm not concerned."
Vivian looked at the woman with red-rimmed eyes. She wanted to release a floodgate of tears and hug her friend, telling her everything that happened and her traumatic experiences in that household. She also wanted to beg her friend for forgiveness for not being able to protect her. Most of all, she wanted to apologize for not being the same person. The Vivi she knew from the past was already dead and gone.
Crystal grabbed the knife from Vivian's other hand. "You know you'll do a poor job if I don't help you. You can't even see what kind of cut you've done. I didn't want to say this... but Vivi...you look insane."
Despite the overwhelming feelings swelling in her chest, Vivian laughed.
"You're probably right."
After Crystal completing her haircut, she pulled the men's clothing from her bag. The dark brown trousers and the light-colored button-up long-sleeve shirt fit her perfectly. Now all she had to do was wrap her chest.
Turning away from her friend, she put her hands inside the long sleeve shirt and covered herself with the cloth. Finishing up, she turned around while buttoning the last few buttons at the top of the shirt.
"Well, would you look at that..."
"Do you think it's convincing?"
Crystal's face scrunched. "Well, it was convincing until you used your voice. You're the prettiest man I've ever seen. If you can't manage to mask your voice, then this definitely won't be believable."
She figured her voice would be a problem, but she had some time to perfect it. She cleared her throat. "How about now?" She attempted to lower the pitch of her voice.
Crystal stared at her for a few moments. Then she clasped her hand over her mouth, but a stream of giggles still erupted from her throat. Vivian gave her friend a straight face in response.
"I'm sorry!" Her apology didn't seem genuine, as she was still laughing. She hunched over and placed her hands on her knees, attempting to catch a breath.
"Okay, okay, I'm done," she said while wiping the tears. "We just need some time to work on it, that's all."
Vivian didn't respond and just packed her old clothing into her bag. looked up at the starless sky, then back at Vivian.
"Speaking of time. Where shall we stay for the night? It's beginning to get a little chilly." She shivered to drive her point home.
"I know a place. We can walk there now"
"Lead the way, my good sir." Crystal exaggeratedly curtsied. In return, Vivian exaggeratedly bowed.
"As you wish, madam."
Both of the girls laughed and set off down the road.