Chapter 957: Going Out To Town
Rowena broke down in tears.
"...I do miss him. We always celebrated my birthday together even if I insisted that we do not." Rowena"s eyes brimmed with tears as she clutched Raphael"s s.h.i.+rt. "I miss him so much, so terribly that I can"t find it to let him go—even though I should."
She continued, "I feel like I"m just hurting myself, but I"m clinging so hard. Whenever there"s a moment, where there"s silence, a shadow... I can find him there."
Those words would have made Raphael feel a little jealous, except for the fact that he heard the word "birthday" and immediately became shocked.
It was Rowena"s birthday? It was, wasn"t it?
How could he forget such an important day?
As Lucent, he was even brought back to Rowena as a gift—so how could he have forgotten that?
But then Raphael caught the last parts of what Rowena said and thought about it some more.
How to kill two birds with one stone?
"You know, since it"s your birthday... how about we go out today?" Raphael offered gently. "Maybe being outside would help you feel better?"
Sometimes when people were sad or upset, the best way to deal with them was through a distraction. It was not always a good choice, but Raphael would also like to see Rowena smile and lighten up.
They had been together at the hut for three months now, but not once did she choose to step out or go out. Raphael was afraid that she was retreating inside of her, and he hoped to help her realize that it was fine to go out again.
"Being outside..." Rowena slowly started.
"That"s right, whether you would like to go out and eat something different from my cooking or yours, or go to a carnival and see the sights?" Raphael offered.
The Seventh Prince mostly spent his time around the valley too, luckily for him, he received news from a little bird about a festival.
Rowena smiled for a moment then nodded. "Sure, that sounds like a good option—but I don"t think we can make it there in time."
"Hmm?" Raphael raised a brow. "Why is that?"
"Well, I left Cinna and Hades in Verona... and I don"t think it"s a good idea to try and fly, or suddenly arrive out of nowhere in the nearby town, right?" Rowena explained. "People would find it absurd to see you suddenly appear and since you pulled it off in Verona, I think if word spread about you flying us there—my father would quickly catch word of where we are."
Raphael"s expression became a little grim at the mention of Rowena"s father. Despite the rather tragic events in Verona, the last the G.o.d of Aviary heard was that King Draco left without another word.
The man didn"t care about bringing a kingdom to absolute ruin as long as he succeeded with his plans. As much as Raphael wished to think about it right now—he first focused on what Rowena said and smiled.
He really went crazy by revealing his powers back then, didn"t he?
"Don"t worry about me trying to do what I did before... I can only do it on certain occasions," Raphael said. "But as for our rides, I believe you might be interested in seeing these lovely two horses."
When the Seventh Prince let out a whi
stle, the air stirred for a moment, and then two beautiful horses, Hades and Cinna, erupted out from the nearby forest and ran towards them.
"How... how did you do this?" Rowena asked but then bit back from asking it loudly.
Instead, Rowena could only look at Raphael in suspicion and was once again reminded of what her father said.
The man that stood in front of her was a G.o.d—even when he tried to downplay his strengths and abilities, it was clear that he was at a level beyond that of theirs. Even far more than Prince Jadeith or the King of Mermaids if Rowena could trust King Draco"s words.
Instead of confronting Raphael about it though, she shook her head and chose not to ask.
"Shall we go, Rowena?" Raphael offered a hand to her. "I can help you—"
Rowena looked at his offered hand for a moment, but then quickly ran towards Hades and vaulted on top of him. "I"m good. Thank you so much for bringing back these two, I missed them quite much."
She didn"t quite meet his gaze and instead focused on petting Hades" mane while Raphael boarded Cinna.
Rowena glanced over at Raphael and inwardly sighed once more. The more that she wished for Raphael to open up to her, to simply become honest and reveal the truth, the more he hid it from her and refused to say anything.
Rowena wanted to respect his decisions, but since Raphael continued to insist on being a part of her life—shouldn"t he be a little more honest?
Or was that not the case? It made Rowena unsure of where she stood in Raphael"s life.
***
As the two of them rode to the nearby town for the carnival, Rowena couldn"t help but become lost in her thoughts. She idly glanced at Raphael who rode quite well, a carefree expression on his face and a smile on his lips.
Maybe she really was just a person that he helped because he wished to pay forward the kindness? If that was the case, even if he was going through such insane lengths—it would end someday.
He was going to leave.
And that made Rowena"s chest ache in a funny way.
"Let"s go faster, Hades." Rowena beckoned her beloved horse to ride faster and faster that she could only feel the wind in her face and escape her thoughts.
She just wanted to have fun for today and let go of all her worries. Soon enough, the two of them arrived at the nearby town and it was as crowded as she expected.
A smile graced Rowena"s lips before she glanced over her shoulder and saw Raphael"s expression. He suddenly reminded Rowena of herself for a moment.
Raphael wore the expression that Rowena probably had when she visited Almere with Lady Liz for the first time.
The Seventh Prince was always calm and collected, but for a moment, his eyes shone as he glanced around the human settlement—and Rowena thought he looked cute.
Cute?
Rowena coughed and then scrambled down her horse, leading Hades to a nearby stable. "Raphael, come over here."
The two of them left their horses there and now they were finally free to go wherever they wished.
Rowena glanced at Raphael with a bright red
face. "Thank you, I think I just wanted to go out that... that I forgot that I had left most of my stuff in Verona. Unless you also managed to retrieve that?"
It made him cough lightly and waved a hand. "Think nothing about it. My finances are in order that you need not feel disturbed—is there anything that you wish to go first? This is quite a lovely place isn"t it?"
Rowena smiled and knew for a fact that Raphael also liked being there. She followed his line of sight to a couple of performers and got an idea.
She reached out and grabbed his hand. "Alright, I"ll be the one who"ll lead the way, I don"t want to get separated from you, Ice Prince. Let"s go."