Chapter 858: Let"s Go On Adventures!
"So did something happen?" Julian coughed. "I mean you don"t have to say anything but I heard you"re crying and…"
"I"m fine," Rowena quickly answered. She cleared her throat and smiled awkwardly. "I"m… I"m fine now, Julian. So you don"t have to worry about me at all. I"m just glad you found me or else I would have been lost."
"Lost?" Julian raised a brow and chuckled. "Doubtful."
She raised a brow at him. "What?"
"You"re the person who single-handedly managed to let me escape from the most dangerous person in the entire land. You freed me from the prison of King Draco and you say you"d get lost? I have confidence that you"re more than ready to explore the world."
"You praise me too much," Rowena sheepishly said.
"I"m not, I"m honest to a fault." Julian grinned. "If I thought you were a horrible person, I would say it without a moment"s hesitation. If I think that you"re good then it honestly means that you"re good. So be proud of yourself, you are my savior after all.."
His words surprised her.
She really didn"t feel like that at all.
"You know you got imprisoned because of me, right?"
"Yeah, but it wasn"t your fault at all. More importantly, even if it was dangerous and you could have gone away without any harm to yourself, you risked your life and helped me escape." Julian grinned. "If that"s not what a savior means, I don"t know what does."
Rowena scratched her cheek. "Savior is a bit of a…"
"It"s accurate and you know it," Julian chuckled but then cleared his throat. "Which reminds me that I owe you for my second chance at life, so it"s practically in your hands now. Although it"s kinda silly since I promised to help you out of h.e.l.l…"
"Well, I"m already out of the palace," Rowena said as she leaned against the tree. "And I helped you because I wanted to, so don"t feel too indebted. On the other hand, it would be a great help if you could show me the ropes on how to survive in the world though?"
"You don"t have to ask me for such a thing." Julian chuckled. "It"s like you haven"t heard a single word I"d just said… but how about I bother you again? I might need your a.s.sistance once more."
"Huh?" Rowena tilted her head.
Julian swiftly rose to his feet and met her gaze. He stood in front of her and extended his hand. "How about you go with me far away from Ashland and have countless adventures to fill an entire lifetime?"
Rowena"s eyes widened. "That"s…"
"You"re asking for help to get in touch with the world and I"m more than happy to do that." Julian"s eyes twinkled. "Unfortunately, since I still have the entire kingdom of Ashland watching out and preparing to kill me on sight presumably… I can"t stay here. I"m not sure about your plans, though."
"Well, there"s not much of a place for me here," Rowena smiled back at him. "Unless I want to get dragged back to the palace. So I"d like to join you in this adventure of yours."
"Are you sure?" Julian seemed shocked.
"Of course!" Rowena"s smile grew wider a
s she grabbed Julian"s hand and pulled herself up. "What did you think I"d be doing after I escaped the palace? Find a small obscure village and live there for the rest of my life?"
"I mean no, that doesn"t suit you but…"
"Here I thought you were asking for me to join you and yet you seem to be discouraging me." Rowena grinned. "What is it really? I thought you believed in me."
Julian coughed. "Well, let me tell you firsthand that I have plans to go around the entire world. So, I want you to be prepared for that and not regret it. We can"t be halfway across the world and then you suddenly become homesick."
Rowena rolled her eyes but then curiously asked. "How come you never did that before? Travel by yourself?"
"Well, there"s no doubt that I could head to distant places by myself, but it would suck if I went alone," Julian said.
"But you"ve…" Rowena cut herself off. She didn"t want to be rude and say that he had already been alone before, so what difference would it make? She asked carefully, "You really want to take someone like me?"
"There"s nothing worse than empty roads at night when you travel and don"t have anyone to talk to. That"s why I"m hoping to bother you and have you join me. It"ll definitely make the adventure better." Julian grinned. "And of course, you"ll gain valuable expertise from me, your senior."
"You"re not really much older than me though." Rowena pointed out. "How old are you? Seventeen?"
"That"s beside the point." Julian chuckled and wagged his finger. "It"s not like you have much of a choice. I mean, you"re free to find someone else. I"m not entirely sure, but I presume that you still have allies who might want to take you in and protect you."
For a moment, Rowena thought about Lady Liz. Perhaps the woman was willing to take her in and hide her temporarily… but the prospect of going on adventures filled her with energy and unbridled enthusiasm.
She wanted to see the world more than be stuck in a kingdom
"When are we leaving?" Rowena quickly asked. "What"s our first adventure going to be?"
"Oh, well, I"ve never seen the sea before." Julian grinned. "But are you really up to it? Have you been to sea before, Rowena? I heard people can get awfully seasick and there are monsters there."
"What are you talking about?" Rowena tilted her head and smiled broadly. "I know the ocean like the back of my hand. I may have never seen it before, but I"ve read all about them in books and I want to taste the salty breeze."
"I guess that counts for more knowledge than me then." Julian chuckled. "So our destination is for one of the harbors, then we"ll sneak into one of their s.h.i.+ps. We"ll have to ask around though and figure out where the closest one is…"
"We"ll head to the south." Rowena answered.
"The south?" Julian was surprised. "How did you know?"
"It"s on my map," Rowena grinned. "So don"t underestimate books."
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sp;
From Missrealitybites:
Don"t you think Rowena"s and Julian"s relations.h.i.+p reminds you of Emmelyn"s and Maxim"s friends.h.i.+p? We already know that she will end up with Raphael, just like Emmelyn ended up with Mars.
And by the way, if you didn"t see my reply to comments, these are the hints/clues about Julian:
1. Are Julian and Raphael the same person? No.
2. So, is the Julian in the future (that Harlow saw) a ghost or an immortal or only her imagination? I can"t say, unfortunately.
I can, however, say that even until one thousand years later, Julian would still be around Rowena (Harlow).