'Do I include this in my report…?' Kai thought, clearly bewildered, as he and Morgan sat in the small, yet surprisingly rich looking café. Morgan had already ordered for both of them, not even giving him a chance to look at the menu. Kai couldn't help but feel a bit thrown off by that.
Naturally, the two of them were drawing everyone's attention. The knights and squires outside peeked through the windows, while even the workers of the establishment struggled to focus on their work. Luckily, the other guests in the café were smart enough to leave once Morgan and Kai entered, sparing him from too many stares.
'What do I even do in this situation?' Kai wondered, glancing at Morgan from the corner of his eye. The princess, meanwhile, was resting her chin on her gloved palm, staring at him without shame, her straight black hair tucked behind one ear.
Kai cleared his throat and looked up, meeting her gaze. "It's truly my pleasure to accompany you, Lady Morgan, but I think I really should-"
"You're testing my patience, you know that?" she interrupted, the air around her growing noticeably sharper. "Just sit back and enjoy being in my company."
Kai gulped and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said instinctively. Thankfully, it was enough, since the atmosphere shifted back to something more comfortable.
Before either of them could say another word, a waitress approached their table. There was a silver plate with food in each one of her skinny, shaking hands. Her forehead visibly sweating. 'Poor girl must be stressed,' Kai thought apologetically, guilt flaring up in him. He hated making people feel uncomfortable.
Flashing her a reassuring smile, Kai gently helped her place the two plates down. "Thank you-" He quickly glanced at the badge on her chest. "-Elisabeth."
The waitress seemed to calm down -more or less-, her trembling hands steadying as she smiled and gave a quick bow to Morgan. Without wasting another moment, she hurried back into the kitchen.
Morgan watched the entire exchange with a raised brow. "You like shy girls?" she asked suddenly, lifting a fork off the table with her gloved hand.
"Pardon me?" Kai blinked, his confusion clear as day.
The breathtaking woman before him dug into the food on her plate -an odd mix of meat, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Kai had expected something more exotic, but instead, it looked... surprisingly normal.
"Do I have to repeat myself?" she asked calmly, placing the fork with a bite of meat and vegetables into her mouth. Her pearly white teeth clinked softly against the utensil before she dragged it back out.
Kai carefully picked up his fork, his plate mirroring hers with the same hearty meal. Though he wasn't particularly hungry, he didn't want to risk offending her by not eating when she had clearly invited him.
"Apologies, Lady Morgan," he said, trying to mask his nervousness with a light chuckle. "Your question just took me by surprise."
Thinking about her question for a moment, Kai took his time before answering, "I don't really have a preference. I think if I like someone, it becomes clear to me." He chose his words carefully, his hands steady as he cut into the Nightmare Creature meat in front of him. One hand held the meat in place with a fork, while the other worked the knife, the quiet sound of it slicing through the tender flesh filling the space between them. 'Awkard…' he thought to himself.
Morgan scoffed, taking a delicate sip from her wine. Her vermillion lipstick lightly stained the edge of the glass, for some reason pulling Kai's attention. It was his first time being on a dat- Having a dinner with a princess, so, he was naturally nervous. He found himself noticing every little detail, from the way her hair fell over her shoulder to the way she held her glass.
"Of course you'd say something like that," Morgan replied, setting the glass down with a clang and drawing him out of his thoughts.
Kai blinked, caught off guard by her reaction. "Is there something wrong with my answer?" he asked, his voice innocent, not realizing that his question might sound disrespectful in the moment.
Morgan looked at him with a piercing gaze, her eyes almost boring into him. "No," she said flatly, "You just seem like the type of person who doesn't have a definitive preference." She shrugged.
Kai couldn't understand what was wrong with his answer, so he decided to press on, the conversation also helping him ease some of his nervousness. "I just think you can't really choose who to love," he said thoughtfully. "Sure, you might think someone looks pretty, but that's just admiration, right?"
The princess raised an eyebrow, her fork hovering just an inch from her spread lips. "So talkative all of a sudden?" she asked -her voice filled with amusement- before finally putting the fork into her mouth.
Her words caught Kai off guard, nearly making him choke on his food in embarrassment. He quickly coughed, grabbing a napkin from the table to wipe his mouth. A slight flush appeared on his painfully perfect face.
"What?" Morgan couldn't help but chuckle at his embarrassment. "You were all nervous moment ago, but now you are talking about true love to me, dragon?" she teased, her voice full of mockery. Morgan was clearly enjoying his discomfort.
"Apologies, lady Morgan," Kai muttered, clearing his throat with a cough and quickly placing the napkin next to his plate. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes out of embarrassment. 'Kai what are you doing?!' he judged himself.
Morgan's lips curled into a smile, but it wasn't a kind one. It was a smirk, one that seemed to enjoy his discomfort. "Don't apologize," she said, her tone almost playful. "In fact, keep talking. Whenever you are nervous it makes me want to cut you up," she added, the threat falling from her lips casually. Too casually.
That, of course, did not help Kai be any less nervous than he already was, especially since he knew that she wasn't lying because of his Flaw. Not about the mockery nor the threat. 'I just want to leave…'
Calming himself, Kai took a sip from his drink. It was wine, probably from the same bottle Morgan's was. He couldn't help but ask himself the same question again, 'What do I even do?'
But then, a thought came to him. 'Just treat this like a business dinner. Yes! We're basically business partners, right?' He reassured himself with the new plan.
"I didn't know you were supposed to down the whole glass in one go?" Morgan's sharp and amused voice broke through his thoughts. Kai blinked, he hadn't even noticed that he downed the whole glass of wine.
'How embarrassing…' Kai's face flushed once more, the warmth spreading across his cheeks just as he'd finally managed to calm himself.
Morgan, clearly enjoying his discomfort, couldn't hold back her laughter. She covered her lips with her gloved hand, but the soft laugh escaped anyway, drawing the attention of everyone around them.
"I was really thirsty," Kai muttered, trying to play it off as both a joke and a reasonable excuse.
Morgan waved him off, still recovering from her laughter, and called over a waiter. Kai, however, couldn't resist stealing a glance at her face. The little smile on her lips that remained from her earlier amusement only made her look more mesmerizing. He hadn't seen the princess of Valor smile like that before, and something about it caught him off guard.
Kai didn't even notice when a new waiter approached and refilled his glass, barely catching Morgan's words. "Bring the whole bottle, my companion here is apparently rather thirsty," she said with a smirk.
Kai let out a soft sigh, shaking his head. "You really are enjoying this, princess," he muttered, finally picking up his fork again.
Morgan's smirk widened as the waiter walked off with a clear goal. "I definitely am," she replied, before biting down on her fork, chuckling softly. "C'mon, you can't be that nervous," she mumbled around the fork. Rather unladylike again.
It was as if she was completely at ease around Kai, seemingly out of nowhere, not caring at all about maintaining her usual composed image. Her relaxed demeanour only seemed to make him more aware of his own nervousness. 'If she can be so calm, so can you Kai!' He thought determinately.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous," Kai chuckled lightly, easing back into his usual self -well, at least something close to it. "Who wouldn't be, when you're around the Princess of Valor?" He added, taking a bite of the grilled vegetables as if the whole thing was completely ordinary.
That calm demeanor of his didn't last long, however, when Morgan spoke again.
"Then think of me as just a normal woman, could help make you at ease," she said, her smile turning amused, but with a hint of something wicked. "I can't promise I won't cut you into pieces if you overstep, though."