"Come, I'll pick you up."
That one sentence sounded the most suspicious and the most absurd thing Avian had heard that day. But again, her whole day sounded unbelievable already. The young woman simply stared at the guy; she could not see his face yet.
As the sun was setting right behind him, slowly shying away under the horizon, the darn shadow on the man's face was slowly fading. Earlier, Avian could not even make his face, but now she was seeing a bit more. She rubbed her eyes, thinking about how the guy was not completely unfamiliar to her.
'I feel like I met him somewhere. His figure is familiar to me.'
"Why aren't you coming?" The man asked her after a while, thinking she must have had enough time to think about his question, tilting his head to the side a little confused.
"No, wait, I don't even get it."
"What do you not get?"
"Can you at least come to my level? I can't even see your face."
The man looked at her as if she were a lunatic. There was a loud cough behind him, which he guessed to be his aide's poor attempt to conceal his laughter.
Regardless, the man sighed and decided to step on his ego. He kneeled beside the confused Avian, which finally revealed his face to her.
"Ah?"
His handsome, gentle face was immediately recognized by Avian. She looked at him, and her gaze immediately fell to his lips.
A little plump and having a faint, beautiful orangish hue coating them. They were clearly soft, fitting with his smooth, fair skin.
"Carlos."
Only then did she finally remember who this person was. Carlos Nightshade, the Crown Prince. Their only meeting was at her coming-of-age party. And by the Lord, it was one of the messiest meetings.
"You are still calling me that? How disrespectful."
She blinked again, then finally realized they were not alone. They were in a dark, messy alley at night. With a few people, who appeared to be Carlos' aides, behind them as well. In addition to that, some people were walking around for sure.
'I am being a mess again; every time I meet this guy, it's a mess.'
Grumbling internally, Avian bowed her head. "My apologies, your highness."
Her slightly puffed cheeks showed her annoyance, which the Crown Prince laughed at before standing up and pulling her by her arm.
"Get up; enough staying in this filthy place."
"Ah," Avian let out a soft yelp as she caught herself before falling completely into the prince's arms. Given her current guise as a man, hugging so closely may alert him since he was sober this time.
Last time passed only because he was too drunk to notice how her chest was way softer than it should have been.
"Your highness-"
"Just let me pick you up. Be a doll, like that night, hmm?"
'Why are you reminding me again and again?'
Holding back that comment, Avian was about to push Carlos away at the very least. But the Crown Prince did not give her the chance; he picked her up bridal style and took her to his carriage.
"This should do enough. Stay still."
"Goodness, what."
"Just stay still."
Ignoring how everyone was looking at him with their jaws almost touching the ground, the Crown Prince took Avian with him into the carriage.
'My goodness, what is happening to me today?'
Avian moaned internally, afraid of saying something and challenging fate. Whenever she said something along the lines of 'this day couldn't get any worse', fate felt offended and managed to make it worse.
Thus, she took it upon herself to not say something similar as long as she could help it.
In addition to that, Avian was not that fearful of the Crown Prince. The only thing that she wanted to know, though, was how did he arrive at her place so timely?
Without asking out loud, her eyes were spilling all of her doubts. Carlos sighed and gave her a gentle hug before ordering the carriage to move.
"To the Palace, now. No need to rush, though."
"Carlos."
Silence.
"Carlos."
Again, there was no response to Avian's call.
"Carlos Nightshade, won't you answer me?"
"What do you need?" With a smile, he looked down at the 'boy' who was still in his arms. His smile was tender and a little playful.
"You look so happy; why is that?"
"Because I'm picking up my treasure that dared to escape me before."
Avian sighed, then leaned her head on his shoulder. The carriage started to move, and the soft rocking movements made her soothed a bit.
Finally, she was able to think clearly about her situation at least. Carlos was an unexpected, pleasant gift from heaven for her. Their relationship was not the closest, but it made her feel safe.
The Crown Prince had no reason to hurt her. He picked her up willingly, and she knew he was attracted to her after that night. Thus, overall, it was nothing concerning.
With a calm mind, she thought about it.
'That man, Zenith, was it? He clearly was interested in me,' hummed Avian while chewing on her nail. 'I can take advantage of that.'
Avian was always open to having various relationships, but she had never taken it to the next level for obvious reasons, such as her hidden gender and her status.
But she had lost them all earlier.
'I have nothing to lose anymore, so I may as well play it wild to the extreme.'
Nodding to herself, Avian felt satisfied. If she wanted to ensure her golden spoon again to live a luxurious and easygoing life, this much was needed.
"I thought we agreed before," a soft whisper attracted the Crown Prince's attention as he was watching Avian's expression change; he soon saw her adding, once they made eye contact, "It was a one-time thing."
Smiling at her, the Crown Prince held her by her waist. "Which is why I let you escape me before, little Avi. But shouldn't you be telling me something?"
Carlos was slowly closing the distance between them, making Avian tense up, wondering what the Crown Prince was up to do.
Then again, she had just decided to embrace her new life. Having a relationship with the Crown Prince would be a good thing. So, she did not bother to dodge despite how close they were.
It was not their first time together, after all.
Their lips were inching closer and closer to each other, almost touching. Carlos' hot breath made Avian unconsciously blush, her hands gripping his arms a bit.
"What do you mean, Carlos?" She barely managed to get those words out before Carlos caused her to choke with a question.
"Why did you try to hide your gender from me? Was it fun playing with me as a man that night?"
'My Lord…'
Avian stared wide-eyed at the Crown Prince, who was laughing at her shocked expression, unsure about what she was supposed to say. Just a minute earlier she was thinking of truly going wild, which meant exposing her gender and all.
But now that she was suddenly exposed…
"You are doubting my gender?"
Only God knew how stupid she felt at that moment after uttering that question.