Chapter 864: Pillow Fight!
The day after their arrival in the city of Kilshade, Rowena and Julian managed to secure a booth among the numerous stalls in the marketplace and heart of the city. It was their first night as magicians and they were going to use the same exact trick of Magician Jack.
"Gather around together for a sight that you"ve never seen before," Julian called out to the crowd. "We have come from a faraway place and you are bound to be amazed at what magic we could do!"
Rowena helped him as best as she could to entice other people to come over and watch, but it seemed that Julian"s humble background suited him more in knowing what to say that attracted the crowds.
Now Rowena also helped by making Julian, a boy who wasn"t even that much of an adult, to appear like a talented magician. The way she a.s.sisted and helped him out was more than able to give him credibility.
It also helped very much that she had a way to attract the eye. Even though she wore a very simple outfit, her beauty was too prominent. She caught the eye of the people first before Julian"s magic made them stay.
Even though it seemed strange at first, and it reminded Rowena of the times that her father presented her to n.o.bility, amba.s.sadors, and guests at numerous parties as a beautiful and perfect princess… this time, Rowena was doing it on her own terms.
She wanted to help Julian and herself earn money.
This was for their future.
Rowena smiled and kindly explained the performance that Julian would be doing. Amongst the crowds of onlookers who watched Julian perform, she approached those who looked wealthy as she asked for gold coins to be given to Julian.
Of course, the men were more than happy to give them to her. They all competed to show they had more money than the other men.
Besides, it was hard to say no to Rowena and even more when the other people in the crowd clapped. This method ensured that everyone partic.i.p.ated even if they were unwilling at first.
Luckily, both Julian and Rowena had their ways to ease up and attract people. There were actually some moments where Julian almost slipped up, but Rowena would quickly intercept and ensure that the crowd didn"t catch on to the trick.
When they were finally done for the day, the two were exhausted as they returned to their inn room. Even though some people invited them to enjoy some drinks and a meal because of how entertaining or interesting they were, the two kindly refused.
With hushed voices, Rowena and Julian entered their room.
Julian practically collapsed on the bed, stretched out his arms, and sighed aloud. "Man, that was so exhausting. My hands were getting so sweaty."
"Why? Were you getting so nervous?" Rowena chuckled.
"No, of course not." Julian chuckled. "It"s just really tiring. While I practiced it by myself and the magician made me do it a couple of times, doing it for hours is so straining… So, thank you for your help, Rowena."
"Not a problem." Rowena smiled as she wiped the sweat off her brows. She sat down on the chair and placed the heavy coin purse o
n their table. "It was for the sake of us too."
Julian eyed her exhausted figure as Rowena slumped over her chair and realized his mistake. Since he was so tired, he went to bed, but she was also tired.
He scooted over to the side of the bed and said, "Rowena, you deserve to rest on the bed too. I scooted back and since you"re little and thin, the two of us can fit here."
"Oh, I"m fine." Rowena waved a hand and smiled kindly. "You slept on the floor last night. I don"t mind if you use the bed for a couple of minutes or even a couple of hours. You did most of the work."
"You also did very important work too," Julian said. "Besides, the innkeeper gave us soft blankets and pillows so I slept like a baby on the floor."
Since the festival made it that only one room was available, Rowena and Julian were forced to share a room. Like a gentleman, Julian insisted that she take the bed. Unfortunately, there was only one chair and so he slept on the floor.
Now, Julian offered Rowena to join him on the bed which was something a man didn"t usually offer to a lady. Rowena was sure that there were no ill intentions, similar to when he offered her the bed, but she was uncomfortable with the idea.
She had to let him know that.
Rowena sighed and paid attention to the coins they had collected. She started to pile them and then made a small tabulation. They made some money, but she also deducted the cost of the stall and the innkeeper"s rent.
Since Julian wasn"t good with numbers, it was up to her to take care of their budget.
"Rowenaaa? I can see that you"re tired. Come on."
Her back ached along with the rest of the body and the offer now seemed incredibly tempting. She needed to turn it down.
"That may be true, but you know how weird it is if I lie down beside you," Rowena said. "I appreciate the offer, but no thanks."
"Oh right. I forgot that you guys are really strict about that, my bad." Julian scratched his head. "Back in my hometown, not Almere, people just laid on the gra.s.s and didn"t care if you were a boy or girl. Everybody just stared up and watched the clouds."
For a moment, Rowena stopped scribbling with her quill and tried to imagine what that was like. Her interactions with men were scarce and few, her father was detached, the n.o.blemen and visiting delegates wanted to get on her good side.
Knight Jarvis was much older than her and polite, but that was it.
Rowena had never really experienced what it was like to have a friend that was a boy.
Now the image of being on a gra.s.sy meadow, accompanied by Julian as they watched the clouds and looked after Lucent happily flying over the sky seemed wonderful. There was no concern or judgment because they were of the opposite s.e.x, just companions.h.i.+p.
It was also a good practice if Rowena was going to disguise herself as a male again and not be too weirded out or concerned if she b.u.mped or got too close in contact with other people. There was no more Lady Liz who"d push young men away, after all.
Before Rowena made the decision to join Julian because her entire body wanted to rest on the mattress, Julian suddenly added.
"Since we were working all day, you probably stink a lot too, Rowena. So I have no interest whatsoever in getting close because ew."
Rowena sauntered over to the bed with a smile.
"Oh, did that finally convince you?" Julian raised a brow.
She leaned over towards the bed, then suddenly hit him with a pillow in the face. "You"re a lot more stinky than me, Julian. Watch your words."
"Ha!" Julian sat up, grabbed the other pillow, and laughed. "Pillow fight!!!"