[Author's Note]
If anyone is reading that came from my friend's story. I appreciate your presence here.
I didn't even know my friend did this. I just came back today to start writing again and saw a sudden jump in collections and comments.
If anyone wants to check my friend's story, it is Reborn Inside How To Train Your Dragon World by Dungeo. It is way more popular than my story so I don't think you need my recommendation lol.
Thank you all for reading and have a nice Thanksgiving. Let's come back to the story.
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I sat still, recalling our moments together. To be honest, my eyes were teary, and I may or may not sobbed for a short amount of time.
A few hours went by and I was still in hiding. The sun that day was staying brighter and higher than usual. By the evening, the sky still looked like it was just noon.
All that time with nothing to do, I spent worrying how Ly Giai would be perceived by the people from South City with her sudden presence.
That worry grew over time. I became more anxious when I realized that I was too far up the mountain to see anyone down the village. I contemplated whether or not I should move down a little closer, at least enough to see people.
But that would increase the likelihood of them finding me, so I was in a back-and-forth.
In the end, I decided to come down. Saying worrying for Ly Giai was just an excuse. The fact was, I started to miss her already.
"Just a little bit," I reminded myself as I was carefully moving down the mountain. I constantly looked left and right in case someone was still in the mountain. But luckily, beside me were nothing but trees, rocks, and dirt.
"A little bit more won't hurt," I told myself as I continued moving down, farther than where I originally planned.
"There is probably no one left in the mountain, so a little closer is fine."
"I don't see anyone around. I can move down more."
...
...
Before I knew it, I was at the bottom of the mountain.
I was extremely scared and nervous about being found out, but there was no one nearby, so I took the risk of going into the village.
The village was small and clean. They were mostly agriculture with all the equipment and farms I ran by.
The sky hadn't turned dark yet, but the sun was starting to come down. I have to hurry, the people of South City could start moving soon before the night comes.
I walked slowly through the tiny houses with my back bent. I didn't know if lowering my back would make me smaller or not, or if it was just an unconscious action to make myself smaller. Whatever the reason was, the fear of being spotted while walking in an open street with nowhere to hide was unbearable.
Going through the houses, I finally ended up at one that was built larger than the others. Coming closer to it, I heard the sounds of people talking inside.
So I watched my step and got close to the wall to peek in. Finally, I have found Ly Giai.
Inside the house were the people from South City and the villagers. They were having dinner together. I saw the people talking and laughing, having a great time.
In the middle of the feast, surrounded by other ladies, was Ly Giai. She was the center of attention. I saw her talking and smiling with them naturally. I was relieved seeing her surrounded by people who appreciated her like that. Seeing her smile, I felt a bitter happiness that she left me for a better place.
I stood beside the window to watch her secretly, no different than what I did at South City. In the end, nothing has changed. Things were just getting back to how it should be.
Even though I had accepted the harsh reality, I wasn't willing to leave. I remained still, watching her dearly.
But I was too greedy.
"You! You're 'Grass'!" A voice from nowhere rose.
My heart sank.
Someone had seen me. I panickedly looked to where that sound came from, to see that it was from a man that had just come out from the house.
"You're not dead?" he asked in surprise as he walked up to me.
I watched his footsteps as they came closer and closer. The thing that I feared most had happened. I got recognized.
So I ran.
"Hey! Hey!"
I ran as fast as my feet let me. I didn't know where I was running, but I just wanted to get as far from there as possible.
"I got found out! I got found out!" I repeated to myself. I couldn't think of anything anymore. I was in full panic.
I looked back to see if anyone was chasing me. There was no one. So after a while, I stopped running.
My heart was beating like it had never beat before. I felt the pulses in my head, and I could hear it loud and clear through my ears.
I was dizzy, running out of my mind like that made everything I was seeing warped. Somehow, the land was curved? and the houses looked like they were floating.
I was dying for air. It was no better than being close to being out of breath in the well back at South City.
But after taking some time to rest and recover myself, something else came to my mind, something that feared me even more than being spotted.
"They are not going to tell Ly Giai about me, are they?"
I was horrified even when the thought just slightly crossed my mind. All tiredness instantly washed away. I stood up and began running back to the house.
"Please don't tell her! Please don't tell her! Oh heavens, please don't let them tell her!" I prayed and prayed as I ran back to the house as fast as I could.
When I got there, I quickly jumped to a bush close by to hide my presence. I should have done it in the first place. But in this bush, I couldn't see anything inside the house. I could only hear them.
"Old man!" someone called. He sounded like the man that saw me.
"What is it? You're disrupting everyone," the old leader spoke. I couldn't hear the laughs and talks anymore. He had drawn all the focus on him.
"I just saw Grass!" the man said.
I closed my eyes and prayed. My hands were all sweaty listening to them but I couldn't dare to do anything. I was frozen in fear.
"Grass?" The old man asked again.
"Yes!"
I then heard noises arise from the room. Most of them were about why I wasn't dead yet.
Among the talking, one stood out, "Who's Grass?"
"Ly Giai," I recognized her voice. "Please, don't tell her. Please," I desperately prayed, closing my eyes tight.
"You don't know Grass?" someone asked her, a woman's voice.
"No, I don't. Who is it? What did they do that you all reacted so strongly?" she admitted.
"I'm surprised that you don't know about him," the woman said. "He had been living in South City for many years now. Posters about him were all over the city back then."
"I didn't know. Who is he anyway?" Ly Giai asked again.
There was a long silence after Ly Giai's question. I hoped that the other lady wouldn't say anything. But my wish was only short-lived.
"Grass is what we call him," the old leader spoke. He must have overheard Ly Giai's conversation.
"There are many things we don't know about him, and to be honest, we don't want to know more about him. What we do know is that Grass is not from our country, Sa. He came from our enemy, Ly."
"Is that why you all despise him?" Ly Giai asked.
"No," the old man said. "Many Ly people were living in South City since it is the main trading center of Sa. We don't just hate him because of his origin.
We hate him for what he does."
"What did he do?" the old man stated.
"He sexually assaulted a lady."
"Oh heavens! He said it! He said it!" I cried in silence. Hopelessness filled me.
One by one, people commented.
"I heard that she is from Ly's royal family."
"His face and his crime were posted in every city throughout Sa and Ly. People called him Grass."
"Grass, as in, 'How dare a grass try to touch the clouds?'"
"Truly despicable! How shameless he was to stay at South City when everyone knew what he did!"
...
...
In those conversations, Ly Giai finally asked, "What is this Grass's name?"
One lady told her, "Do. That's his name."