With various thoughts in his mind, the Prince continued to wander along the street, sometimes waving absent mindedly and offering a polite smile as a response to whomever greeted him on the street. Even though he was dressed pretty simply, with very few expensive things on his person, Dorian was quite the handsome fellow, with unmistakeable blood red hair and lively purple eyes - those were his trademark features after all.
As he continued to walk alone, he happened to bump into a young lady with red hair, walking the opposite direction. They did not collide hard enough to knock each other over, but it was enough for the Prince to snap out of his thoughts and attempt to support the lady, apologizing for his mistake.
"Ah, im terribly sorry, i wasn't paying attention"
Dahlia stumbled back a bit, then bowed her head a bit, “My apologies as well, I could have avoided …”
She looked up to face the Prince. Even if this wasn’t that big of a deal, she couldn’t help but feel a bit worried and anxious. There was no way the Prince knew about her, but there was no guarantee right? It wasn’t like she was that important. Her mind skipped to the worst case scenarios, but she managed to shove it all down.
She cleared her throat, “I could have avoided walking into you. Again, my apologies Your Royal Highness.”
The Prince smiled at her apology, rubbing his nape in a guilty manner.
"Ah, no need for all the formalities, it was my fault for walking into you so carelessly. I hope everything is alright?" he responded, waving his other hand up and down at her like he was signaling "its fine, its fine"
With all the "royalty" thing going on, Dorian sometimes enjoyed to blend in with the crowd, seeing things from their perspective and so on, this very thing being the reason why he was liked among the people.
"Please, call me Dorian." he added.
“Everything is alright … Dorian,” she hesitated saying his name. “Thank you.”
Now was that golden opportunity to ask about what happened in the forest. It might be rude to suddenly ask though … or there could be reasons that everything was being kept on the down low. Would it work if she inadvertently asked? She couldn’t risk anything though.
“Might I ask what you are doing out here still?”
"No problem." he smiled again.
The Prince had stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking at the sky or at the surrounding buildings, then turning his head towards the girl when he was asked.
"Me? I just went out for a small stroll, to clear my head. You know, that kind of evening walk. Things today didnt go as smooth as we expected."
His gaze shifted down at his feet, pretending to admire his shoes.
"I take it you've already found out about what happened. How i came back earlier and all"
She nodded, “I did. Though I still wish to know what happened … or rather, what was found.”
There she went and just plainly said it. It wasn’t technically a question, but it was very evident she wanted answers. She’d just need to hope that she didn’t over share or that one of those worst case scenarios came true.
“I assume information is being withheld for a reason though.”
Dorian looked at her with his soft purple eyes, mentally asking himself if he should tell the truth or not. He did not want to worry the town's people for nothing after all.
"Mm, i would tell you exactly what happened but i dont want to cause any unwanted ruckus…" he finally answered. "But you dont seem like the type of girl to gossip, so i think i could share some of the information with you, miss…?"
(Sorry for not replying yet! I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning this. I’ve just got this chunk of school work that I procrastinated about to the last minute that I need to get over. I’ll reply as soon as I can!)
(tis ok man, take ur time)
(I finished a few huge projects and my renaissance painting, so I should be able to respond regularly now.)
“I’m Dahlia,” she said. “Though I don’t wish to cause you any trouble. There is no need to tell me a thing.”
She was rather dying to know, especially since it was a nice pass time to care for injured animals. If this was one at all. It was pretty natural to feel curious anyway. Though, she really needed to play it safe with someone of such high status.
(gz on finishing them :D)
"Ah, miss Dhalia, a pleasure." he smiled, nodding his head in a greeting motion. "I'd mainly avoid speaking of the past event for fear of gossip spreading it around. It's not something i'd like to have going around…"
His gaze was directed at the street as he spoke, looking for anyone who might come their way. Finding no one, he relaxed a little bit, looking back at Dhalia once more.
"But if you could keep a secret, then i guess i could share it with you."
She shook her head, “I’m in no right to make you say anything. Though, it would seem the only one’s I’ve got time to share with are the children.”
Now it seemed a bit more like this story was rather interesting. What could be so possibly secretive out there? What it just something that special? Whatever she would be told, it would always be kept to herself. Depending on what, the children would only hear it like a made up story.
"Children, ah, i see" he said. She looked way too young to have kids of her own, so he assumed it wasnt her kids she was talking about. The town's children? Most likely. "Walk with me?" he asked, pointing towards the street.
He slowly continued his walk, with Dhalia by his side, looking ahead of them, like they were just two friends out for an evening stroll. The light continued to dim, but it was a lovely weather for a walk outside, with a gentle breeze blowing to cool things off after the bright sun.
"About the forest," he spoke up again. "We umm- encountered something there. Something big and potentially dangerous, somethings you might make you think im crazy if i told you its name. I don't want you to think im insane, but i can swear i saw it with my own two eyes - a white lindworm. It didn't attack us but my friends were seriously unnerved by it. For a second i…."
He hesitated for a bit, biting his lip.
"…I thought i could hear it speak. I can't remember what it said but i could have sword i heard words."
Dahlia cracked a bit of a smile.
“You seem a bit more like a little kid proclaiming his great adventures gone wrong …”
Now the story was confirmed to be interesting. What could there be that was cooler than a lindworm? She knew something about what had been found now, which was a bonus alone. Though, she found herself only more intrigued after hearing this.
“Ah! I, um … I didn’t mean- Sorry!” she cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to seem like I think ill of you. Though I must say that seems quite a bit like children’s story.”
Dorian began laughing at the comparison, finding it genuinely funny.
"A little kid, hahah - thats a good one. Its fine, its fine, i dont mind the comparison, its actually really cute. And i do agree with you, it does sound crazy, thats why i hesitated to talk about it."
He kicked a tiny pebble with his foot as he walked along the road, still smiling softly after the little laugh he'd had earlier. The breeze lightly ruffled his hair, giving a pleasant chill feeling on the skin.
"I dont want the details to run around, not yet at least. Until we know for sure what to do about it, things need to stay low. But you look sorta trust worthy to me, therefore we can keep in touch if you'd like."
She wrung her hands. Rarely did she get nervous, but there was a good reason to be right now. Despite how the Prince acted, one could never be so sure.
"You won't need to worry about me letting something slip. This doesn't seem like something I'd be very involved in, so I may end up just forgetting it all."
There'd be no way she would forget any of this. Probably because of how stressed she felt on the inside, but also because it was so intriguing. She hated to admit she'd most likely never be associated with any of this ever again. Staying in touch was also appealing, but she didn't know if she could afford. Who knows what would happen if her 'family' found out?
"I am unsure if I should stay in touch, though I truly desire to know how this story will end."
"Then its a plan! We could like, meet up somewhere and talk about? Anywhere is alright. Just name the time and i'll see what i can do"
Dorian seemed pretty eager about the whole thing, or probably just because he had someone to talk things about in a different light. His parents seemed to have more knowledge in the matter but he didn't want to press, not at this hour at least - tomorrow on the other hand, would be an ideal time.
He kicked the pebble again, watching it go down the road ahead of him.
"No need to worry, i won't bother you that much if that's what you meant. Like, it doesnt have to be a regular meet-up, you could just drop by whenever you have the time and i can tell you then."
The fact that he could have sworn he heard words coming from the great white beast would not leave his mind, and as eager as he was to share it with someone else other than his parents he still understood she may not have the same free time to her disposal as he had.
“If you insist then I can’t exactly refuse, can I? Though it does seem interesting in itself … and there’s really anything exciting that happens a lot,” Dahlia pondered and looked through the choices she was presented with. “I have plenty of time in the evening, ,y day breaks aren’t normally that long. So unless there’s an emergency during the night … I’m free then. Like from about this time today and onwards until morning.”
Dahlia could feel herself becoming more relaxed with Dorian. He definitely gave off a good impression and was very different from the nobility she thought she knew so well. But she still wrung her hands and her shoulders were stiff. Even if he was such a seemingly good person, what if she made a mistake? Then only horrible things could follow.
"Evening onwards, got it." he did a brief recap in his mind. "Is there any specific place you'd like to meet at?"
He didnt mind taking a stroll every evening to this street, if she chose this one as their meeting place but at the same time he didn't really know where she lived so maybe she would prefer a place that's closer to her. Either way, he was ok with whatever she chose, as long as they managed to meet and talk to their heart's content.
He seemed to notice her nervous gestures, so he gave a small reassuring smile, trying to calm her down. It wasnt like he was going to bite her head off any moment, he was simply human like her, nothing more, with just the social status to separate them.
"I'll try keep you updated whenever i find out something new"
Dahlia took it that Dorian was trying to calm her. It was slightly reassuring to know that, but there was no way to prevent her from twisting everything to see something else. Though for now, she could relax a bit, knowing she wouldn’t get executed right away.
“I like to read at the second last tree, over at the field by the stream. The one with the yellow wild flowers. We could meet there, if it isn’t too much to ask.”
Dahlia tried to smile a bit, not sure as to whether Dorian would take it that she felt a bit more relaxed. Though, she knew it would probably just come off as an awkward smile.
Dorian returned a sincere smile, nodding his head.
"That sounds great! I've never really been there before but im sure i can find it. Would you like me to come there every day or just when i have something new to tell? I wouldn't want to bother you too much."
He had a rough idea about where the field and the stream were but he had never taken the time to look at the trees; though he should be able to find the one with yellow flowers, it honestly could not be that hard.
Dahlia blinked. The Prince seemed very into this topic, which surprised her, but not in a bad way.
“If you can’t find it- or myself, you can always ask someone from around here. As for when you come … it is entirely up to you. You can arrive whenever you wish.”
Dahlia hoped she was making the right decisions here. It was hard to talk formally though, especially when the Prince seemed like such a good person. She was still on edge, since she didn’t want to become too comfortable, too fast. She was a bit torn.
Dorian nodded again with a smile, before looking up at the darkening sky.
"It's starting to get dark, perhaps its best if i don't keep you busy any longer - wouldn't want your family to get worried. Do you wish for me to accompany you?" he asked.
The city was always relatively safe, but then again she was a lady and he found it to be polite to ask if she would like to be assisted.
Dahlia flinched. Then hoped that the Prince hadn’t noticed. It was perfectly normal for the Prince to think her family would be worried. There wasn’t much she could do about it either.
She took a breath, “M-my family is out on a trip for awhile. So I’m in no hurry to b-be anywhere …”
It hurt to say family, since she didn’t consider her parents a family. It was just her mother. Since Dahlia didn’t know how to define what a family was, she just went with the fact that she didn’t have one. The Prince had only just mentioned a potential so family parroting about her, but all sorts of things crossed her mind right away. She’d have to hope this bluff would blow over.
"Ah, i see." he answered. "But still, i assume you'd like to go home? Unless you'd like to spend a bit more time with me if that's ok?"
He really didn't want to keep the girl stuck here with him more than she had to, so he wanted to be sure if it was all okay for her to stay up late talking to him.
Walking along the road, both of them ended up near the palace and Dorian led the way towards the garden, enjoying the dim light and the plants they could still see
