Bright lights shone into the window and onto Liam, who was still sleeping dreamily on a fluffy bed. He was still asleep even with the lights and sun shining brilliantly at him until they hit his eyes.
He groaned and grabbed a handful of blankets to cover his face. Then, continued to sleep.
"Liam? Are you awake yet?"He heard someone calling him but he didn't care and wanted to continue his good slumber.
"I guess he's still asleep..."He heard the person talking, he must be talking to someone.
"Such a lazybone..."He heard another voice say, which made him so mad that he threw the blanket off.
"Who you calling lazy?!"He yelled and noticed no one was in the room.
Leo and the guard were gone. He then stood up from the bed and walked to the door, checking if they were outside.
"Oh, you're awake."He heard someone from his right say.
He flinched and turned to see who it was, immediately. It was Leo, he was in the bathroom. He was naked and only with a towel tied around his waist which managed to cover his lower half.
Liam panicked, seeing his topless state.
"What are you doing not wearing any clothes?! If someone entered this room, they would misunderstand the situation!"He spluttered out, embarrassingly as he kept darting his eyes to the door and to Leo.
"Already done it, "A voice came behind Leo and it was the guard.
He was already prepared with his suit of silver armor worn on his body but his helmet was still on the basin. But that wasn't the main point to Liam, the point was that he was there, in the bathroom the whole time!
"The only misleading thing is that you're blushing...Your expression is the only thing weird here."The guard continued with a casual expression.
"What do you mean by that?!"Liam shouted while flushing even more brightly.
"We're all guys here so I don't think there's anything weird here."He said without a care in the world as he looked to the mirror, that was hung on the wall and combed his hair.
"But that still doesn't mean we should be fine with...you know! Looking at each other's body!"
"Calm down, "Leo finally managed to utter a word to stop them from furthering their argument."It's not like the first time we've done this."
Liam was about to protest but Leo continued to speak.
"Could you please wake the princess? I still need to wear my clothes before I join you."
"Sure..."
Liam slowly walked out of the room, his expression stunned and embarrassed. He couldn't understand how Leo and the guard were so chill about the whole situation and continued their routine even with random people around. Like who would be fine with sharing a bathroom with someone, who you just met and not only that, being naked with only a towel!
He was silent for some time, trying to process what had happened before continuing with his task.
Now that I think about it...My first encounter with Leo was no different...He even slept in my bed topless and changed his shorts outside...It's that normal living as an adventurer?
Liam threw away all his thoughts when he stood in front of the princess's room. There was another obstacle he was about to face and that was waking up the princess...How was he going to do that?
He stood there for a few seconds before summoning up the courage to make his first move. He knocked on the door and softly whispered.
"Princess?"He mumbled, nervously, his heart beating loudly in his chest.
No response and only silence...
"Princess..."He mumbled again a little louder but there was still no response which made his heart drop.
Is she eaten by the monster or ghost from last night?...No, no way, they ain't real...But the guard did say that he didn't do the knocking...nor did he hear any...Are there really creatures lurking in this hotel?!No...no, calm down. Let's try this one more time.
He breathed in a deep, shaky breath before knocking on the door and repeat.
"Prince-Ahhh!"He shouted when a thing suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"Did I scare you?"A voice suddenly said from behind him.
He turned around slowly, still from the fright, his heart beating wildly in his chest, his sweat was dripping down his face as well. His heart immediately relaxed when he saw that it was Leo.
"Sorry for scaring you..."Leo apologized and suddenly a loud and hysterical laughter came from behind Leo.
"Why are you screaming like that?! Like a girl! You scardy cat!"That's definitely Liam's so far most hated person during their fresh start, the guard. (beside the princess)
"Please don't laugh at him...It's normal for people to be afraid or paranoid in places they're not familiar with."Leo defended Liam because he knew it would break Liam's emotions even if he didn't show it. (Leo knew this little fact about him after spending their time together)
"Even so you can't disagree with me, he even hallucinated about the sound of knocking late at night."
"I told you it's real!"
"Stop arguing the both of you! You two aren't helping at all!"Leo shouted at them, he had enough of their arguments and not only is that, they will disturb the other guests."You two go to your rooms and makeup! I will join you after I wake the princess-"
He stopped talking when the door behind Liam slowly opened and revealed the princess. She was wearing a silk nightgown, which revealed a lot of her skin. Her nightgown was half transparent so all of them could see her underclothes.
The guard panicked and leaned in to cover Leo's eyes but it was too late(and the guard was too short to do so, he was only taller than Liam a little) But Leo managed to save Liam. As Liam was about to turn around, Leo dashed to him and covered his eyes before he was able to see anything.
"What's going on?! Why did you cover my eyes?"Liam yelled as he held onto Leo's muscular hand, which was blocking him.
But Leo didn't reply to him, his heart was pumping so loudly in his chest as the princess was now so close to him. The princess soon realized what she had done and immediately shut the door on his face.
Leo sighed and let go of Liam.
"Why did you do that for?"Liam asked as he turned back to look at Leo but when he saw his reaction, he went silent.
"It's nothing!"Leo replied, his face was burning red and he tried to use his hands to cover, to make his flushed face not so obvious. But from his sound and the way he moved, made them more obvious.
Liam was stunned by Leo's reaction, then turned to look at the guard, who was wearing the same face as Leo but less red.
"Let...Let's get moving..."The guard then, said, his face was still pink but not so bad now.
Leo nodded and Liam tilted his head, confused.
"Shouldn't we call the princess?"He curiously asked but he should have just shut up.
"No!"Both Leo and the guard yelled, which Liam bet all the guests staying here could hear.
Then Leo continued alone, still in an embarrassed tone.
"The prince- princess is already awake. We don't need to bother her now...Let's go down and wait for her."
"Ok..."Liam replied, still confused but dared not ask again.
They all went back to their room to keep and get their stuff. After a while, they all came out with bags on their shoulder. Liam and the guard were in the front and Leo was walking behind them. Since he was the last one, he was responsible for letting the princess know they were waiting below.
"You guys go ahead first and here's the key."He said as he gave the guard the room key."I'll inform the princess about our whereabouts."
"Alright, "Liam and the guard replied before walking down the corridor and soon their figures disappeared into the dark.
Leo turned around and faced the door, he was panicking, he didn't know what to do. Should he apologize? Or act like he didn't see a thing? But obviously, the princess knew he saw her and Leo couldn't act knowing that fact already.
Leo's face was blushing, his heart beating nervously in his chest. He slowly moved his hand to the door and...
Thud thud...
He knocked on it and waited for a response. After a short while, Leo sighed, the door was still closed and he leaned his head on the door.
It made a soft thud and suddenly the door opened. He almost fell but managed to catch his balance. He stood back up straight and he met eyes with the princess. He was stunned for a second. Then, felt his cheeks burning hot when his mind played back to that unfortunate scene.
He quickly avoided eye contact by looking to his right.
"Come in..." He heard the princess murmur, which made him reply.
"What?!"He was so confused and flabbergasted that he stepped back a little. Then, hastily replied."No!"He shouted but quickly switched back to a normal tone, still shaky and nervous."No, I don't want to invade your privacy. It would be rude for me to do so..."
"I said come in!"The princess now ordered in a demanding tone.
"Alright, Your Highness..."
He entered her room without making the slightest eye contact with her. The princess then slammed the door shut with a loud bang, which made Leo jump and turn in her direction.
He noticed she was now wearing a bathrobe, just a bathrobe! She wore it in a seductive manner even Leo could see her chest. He immediately turned away but her next action shocked Leo. She slammed her hands on the wall on either side of his arm(she couldn't do it on his shoulder-length since she was small), which forced Leo to stare at her.
He was so confused, scared and embarrassed, his mind was a total mess! But even so, he knew what came next wouldn't be good.
"Prince- Princess?"He managed to blabber out.
But the princess ignored him and continued.
"I thought you were alone just now so I opened the door..."She said her cheeks were flushing a little while Leo blushed so brightly like he was about to explode.
The princess chuckled, sheepishly, seeing his expression and continued.
"You looked so cute, blushing so madly."She teased and gave a devilish smug."Is my prince charming not going to make a move?"
Hearing that Leo could feel his whole body burning hot and a shiver ran up his spine but what made him lose his mind was when the princess's half-exposed breasts touched his abdomen.
"Princess!"He immediately replied, panickedly."We shouldn't be doing this!"
He pushed her away from him and quickly dashed out as he yelled.
"I'll be waiting for you outside! Please come out when you're done!"
Leo shut the door behind and leaned on it.
What just happened?! His mind kept repeating the scenario in his head, which made him blush worse than ever. Did she want to take our relationship to the next level?! But we weren't even dating!
After panicking for some minutes, he slowly calmed himself down and soon relaxed his mind, which could temporarily make him forget about that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Was I rejected?...
The princess thought as she lay on her bed. She was flung onto her bed when Leo pushed her and dashed out the door.
Tears began to drip down her face and onto the soft mattress. She couldn't believe what had happened, most of the princes she met would be insanely in love with her beauty but how could a normal adventurer just ignore that?
She lay there, defeatedly as she felt her heart aching in pain and that moment kept repeating in her mind.
After some time of sadness by rejection, she finally cleared her head.
Maybe he was just shocked by my sudden action. She thought as she sprung back up full of determination. Or he might have been scared by the fact that I am a princess, a royalty...If that is the case...Then, I am not rejected! I still have a chance!
She hastily dashed to the bathroom and prepared herself.
After half an hour, she was finally done. She wore a gorgeous red dress and tied her hair into a bun, which made her irresistible ocean-blue eyes stand out, she was so dazzling like she was attending a ball.
He can't resist me now. She thought, proudly as she skipped to the door. Then, quickly switched her personality back to the serious-looking princess.
Let's go win him over.
She pushed open the door and stepped out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Leo heard the door open and turned around. He saw the princess, wearing a beautiful gown, her hair tied up into a bun, revealing her eyes.
He was silent for some time and noticed the princess's mouth tipped up a little, making a small smirk.
"Princess..."He finally spoke and the princess seemed a little too excited, her mouth revealing an obvious, confident smile."Why...Why are you wearing a dress which has a lot of layers?... Wouldn't it be hard to walk? Your dress will get dirty..."
The princess's excited and happy smile immediately swapped to a frown. Leo noticed her sudden change of emotion and wanted to correct himself by giving her compliments but it was too late.
"Let's get going. You say the others were waiting, we shouldn't let them wait any longer."She mumbled as she quickly walked in front of him, taking the lead.
While Leo silently followed behind her.