"Hey, Micha. Are you free tonight?"
Michaelis gave Rezal a sideways glance before he took another big gulp of water after their training session just now.
"Why?"
He dapped a towel onto his sweating face and brushed back his white hair.
"I have an idea."
Rezal began to whisper while looking around for anyone in their vicinity. He can't let anyone hear about this if he wants his plan to work out.
Michaelis raised an eyebrow at the sudden act of secrecy.
"What the hell are you trying to do now?"
"Shh, shh, don't talk out loud! And stop cursing! You are younger than me!"
Still in whispers, Rezal scolded him. Michaelis frowned in confusion and then rolled his eyes—not like Rezal had never cursed before. Maybe he should be the one to blame, actually. He should've filtered his words around kids; he is still an adult after all. He is glad he never cursed or did anything in front of his family.
He looked at Rezal with an accusatory gaze.
'Does this pink-haired kid try to cause trouble again?'
"Let's sneak out tonight!"
Rezal giddily said it with sparkling eyes.
Michaelis tilted his head with a question mark on it and asked with the most innocent expression ever.
"Are you crazy?"
Rezal widened his eyes at that accusation. He began to pout and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Micha, Micha, Micha. You need to listen to this big brother of yours."
"I'm not agreeing to this."
"Shh, shh, I know that you have never been out of this tall wall of the imperial palace before."
"And?"
"And why not now? Try to go outside and look at the real world outside this wall!"
Rezal opened his hands widely with a grin.
"You should think back on what you've said before giving me the idea of sneaking away at night."
"What? I have always done that since last year! It must be easier for you!"
Michaelis leaned forward and pointed his finger at Rezal.
"For your information, it will be harder for me to sneak out. What do you think of an imperial guard? How am I going to climb this tall wall you are talking about? And how do you know that I want to go out? I've never said I want to go out."
Rezal began to panic over Michaelis' rejection.
"That.. that is true. But you must feel curious about the outside too! Right? Right?"
"Nope! I will have the opportunity after I enter the academy."
"But that's too long to wait! You need...."
Rezal took out his fingers to begin counting.
"Four years more!"
"I am already ten this month."
"Then three years more! Too long for you!"
Michaelis sighed. He won't entertain Rezal this time.
"No. I'm not interested."
He stood up and walked away. Riri was still waiting outside the training ground, so he walked towards her. A fast footstep approached from behind before he got jumped by Rezal. His back hit the ground hard when Rezal tackled him from the front.
"Oi!"
"No, no, you must listen to me! I have a brilliant idea to take you out of this palace wall."
Rezal did not even let him go, even though he was pulling Rezal's hair. This kid is persistent. His grip on Michaelis is strong.
After a few minutes of failure, Michaelis calmed down. He patted Rezal's hair slowly and sighed. He has no energy left to have this fight. They had been practicing for hours earlier. He didn't know where Rezal got all this enthusiasm.
"One minute."
Rezal's head emerged from his body, and he grinned widely. The pink-haired kid crawled up to whisper to him. Can't they stand up first before talking?
"Sleepover tonight, and we'll be planning a sneak-out together."
Is this what he called a brilliant plan?
"No."
He pushed Rezal away with force. He stood up and walked away, ignoring the wail from behind.
×××××
So why is this becoming like this now?
He crossed his arms and leaned on his headboard.
"Don't say you don't want to continue after I've managed to secure us a sleepover for tonight!"
He rolled his eyes. He does not agree with this. How did Rezal manage to convince Sir Raihan to let his son sleep in his palace tonight? Is that why Riri keeps smiling at him when she is serving him dinner?
He should have guessed that Rezal wouldn't give up that easily. He was shocked when Rezal suddenly burst into his room while he was eating dinner. He choked, and chaos ensued for a moment.
"This is not my idea to begin with."
He picked up a book and began reading, ignoring every convincing word that came out of Rezal's mouth. That's not going to work on him; Rezal should know better.
"Micha~"
Rezal suddenly appeared beside him and tugged on his sleeve with a pout on his face. He flipped the book page and immersed himself in reading.
"Please~"
Rezal began to lean on him, making puppy eyes.
"Your Highness Michaelis, please entertain the idea of this lowly citizen making your night brighter today."
Rezal closed and opened his eyes repeatedly. Michaelis cringed.
"Stay away from me."
Michaelis pushed Rezal away, but Rezal stuck to him like glue.
"Think about it; we could have fun outside!"
He ignored it.
"They are having a festival tonight in the city!"
Now he knew why Rezal insisted on going.
"Micha, please, please, please! Just this time. I won't ask you to sneak out again with me!"
This continued for an hour before Michaelis sighed out loud.
"Fine!"
He closed his book loudly and looked at Rezal's happy face.
"Tsk."
He got up from the bed.
"Get change."
"Right away, Your Highness!"
His night was slightly different that day.
×××××
The bustling of people The lights brighten this city. The stores are still open at this time. Vendors are selling various kinds of food. The smell coming from the food made his stomach growl a little.
Damn, he wanted to try all those foods. He should not be hungry because he already had dinner. Fortunately, he brought money with him.
People are still walking on the street; for sure, they are only adults at this time. But it looks like there are actually some children if you look closer. With at least an adult by their side. When he looked again, was there any festival? Is this city having any festivals right now?
How could he forget that Rezal had said that tonight this city was having a festival? What are they celebrating by having a festival tonight?
He was mesmerized. It was not an unusual sight for him to look at a bustling city full of people; it had just been too long. He is also not fond of crowded places. He had been staying in the palace all this time, not wanting to go outside even for a bit to learn about this world. He got knowledge from the book, but the experience itself is sure to be different.
The difference between his old world and this new world he is living in is the activity that these people are doing. Sure, this world also has a bar and a diner. But the atmosphere here is completely different. People engaged in a conversation here and there and were not preoccupied by technology.
This is one refreshing sight to see.
"This is Ruby City! Beautiful, right?"
Rezal's gaze fell on the still-mesmerized Michaelis. He felt proud of himself because he managed to convince this younger boy to go out. Look at that face! He managed to make Michaelis look speechless like this!
Maybe he needed to do some bad things a little to make sure they could get out of the palace, but it's worth it! It's also been so long since he went out at night like this.
He would be scolded again, of course. He went out at night and stole two teleportation stones from his father. Yep! He would be scolded badly, and maybe he would be grounded. But no worries; he is ready for it!
Just to make it an experience going out for the first time for Michaelis! He just needs to make sure Michaelis is safe. He also brought his newly purchased sword with him! So, it's fine. He can protect both of them if something happens. If things escalated badly, he would just use the other teleportation stone to go back into the palace.
"Yes, it's beautiful."
His smile widened after he heard a slow reply from Michaelis. He adjusted the robe on his head before he pushed Michaelis from behind to move.
"Let's get moving! We don't want to be out late for too long, right?"
Michaelis just nodded, and they ran into the crowd of people. Two kids wearing robes were having fun that night.
This night is sure to be remembered.
Even the moon and stars are out there to give light to the night.