It was pitch black. I walked, taking small hesitant steps, not knowing where I was going – or where I was. I thought I was still in the town square, but there was no way of knowing for sure because I couldn't see anything. Not the light from a lamp post overhead, or the dim lights coming from window displays, or even the flicker of a candle.
Suddenly, I felt warm hands grab my shoulders and I shivered, cold dread filling me all the way down my toes. 'No,' I screamed as I struggled, already starting to cry. 'Please don't. Don't.'
"20, wake up," Alessandro said, shaking her gently by the shoulders. "You're having a nightmare." Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks by then, and his heart broke seeing her so terrified. Caio had sent a message that her two assailants were being held at the imperial prison. If 20 didn't need him at the moment, he would have went there and dealt with them himself. Getting a few sword injuries weren't nearly enough after what they did. He would make sure they regret even laying a finger on her, and he would do it excruciatingly slow, so slow that every minute will feel like an eternity in hell.
I opened my eyes to see 1 hovering above me and my breath came in shallow gasps, not quite understanding yet what was happening.
"Calm down," Alessandro whispered, using his thumbs to wipe her tear stained cheeks. "You're safe now."
I let my gaze wander, and I realized that I was in a nice, big bed with plush mattress and warm covers – definitely not my own bed.
"I told you I got a new bed," Alessandro grinned. "How do you like it?"
I gasped again, this time out of embarrassment rather than fear, and my cheeks turned red. The audacity of this guy to casually bring up the subject! I sat up and saw that he had already tied the handkerchief to my wrist. I could easily talk to him, then. 'I'm going back to my room,' I announced, not minding that I was barefoot. Perhaps I had lost my shoes in the town square. It didn't matter, I still had at least 2 more pairs.
"Wait, hold on," Alessandro said, hurrying to catch up with 20, who was already halfway to the door. "I won't mention it again, I promise." He held up both hands in the universal act of surrender, and I stifled a laugh in spite of myself. I didn't know emperors could give in so easily.
'I still have to go back to my room,' I told him. After the ruckus I had caused when I had accidentally spent the night in his room before, there was no way I would do it intentionally this time around.
"But you're not well yet," Alessandro countered anxiously. He was worried that she may have to struggle with nightmares again just like she did now, and she would be all alone.
'I'll manage,' I replied. I wasn't really keen about it, but I had also been living alone in Seoul several years before I had arrived in Luxentfort. And when you were alone you gradually learned to do things on your own by default, because you knew no one else will do it for you.
"Look," Alessandro said as he tried to reach a compromise. "If you really don't want to sleep here, then I'll come with you."
'To my room?' I squawked. 'But the bed is hardly enough for one person, let alone two!' Who ever heard of the emperor sleeping in the servants' quarters? The idea was absurd, like expecting to find a whale in a fishpond.
'Who's the one mentioning beds now?' Alessandro thought in amusement. But of course he was smart enough not to point that out. Instead, he covered his laugh with a cough. "So I'll sleep on the floor," he remarked. "It doesn't bother me."
'It bothers me,' I retorted. I could just imagine 19 knocking on my door in the morning – she always managed to finish getting ready before me – to discover that the emperor had stayed the night in my room. I had goose bumps just thinking about her drawn out lecture that would be sure to follow if she walked in on a scene like that.
"It's up to you, then," Alessandro said, smiling broadly. "My room or yours." He sounded like an auctioneer rattling off the last two items up for a bid. "Either way, I'm staying with you tonight."
I was torn. Neither prospects were particularly promising to ensure a peaceful sleep – at least not on my part. 'You don't have to, really,' I said in a last ditch effort to make him see sense.
"I just want to make sure you're all right," Alessandro replied, his voice suddenly without any trace of teasing. The truth was, she wasn't the only one who's had to deal with a nightmare. When he had his horse on full gallop, trying to reach the town square as fast as possible; when he was scouring through the side alleys without any sign of her; when he heard her harrowing screams and he thought he wouldn't get to her in time. That was his definition of a living nightmare.
'Why are you doing all of this?' I asked with a perplexed expression. He had already rescued me – that should have been enough. He didn't need to concern himself with inconsequential things like whether I was having a nightmare or not.
"You really don't know why?" Alessandro whispered, closing the short distance between them and stopping mere inches away, but not touching her.
'You know I hate it when you answer my question with another question,' I replied grouchily, trying to diffuse the tension when I felt his warm breath on my forehead as he looked down at me.
Alessandro chuckled at her sullen tone. She really didn't know? He must not have been as obvious with his affection for her as he thought he was. He would simply need to try harder, then.