Exhaustion had finally caught up to Eden after three weeks and she came down with a cold. It was during that time Aciel realised that Eden never had a chance to rest. As soon as Zula’s betrayal happened, Eden was in survival mode. She got them into safe housing after the escape during the middle of the night. She started working, without the intention of telling him because he was a prince. She did everything in her power to make him feel safe and that his life never changed. While he was betrayed by his friend, she was betrayed by her friend and partner.

“Eden it’s time to eat.”

It took a few tries before Aciel managed to get the hang of it. The first day Eden came down with a cold, Aciel managed to drop her breakfast all over her covers when he tried to help her up. During her nap, Aciel tried to help cool her down by wiping her sweat and then dropped the bowl of water as he left to dump it out.

“It’s fine, I can hold it by myself today. Thank you Aciel.”

“How are you feeling today?”

“Better, I might need one or two more days before I’m back to normal. My apologies, you shouldn’t be taking care of me like this. I should have taken better care of myself.”

“Why are you apologising? I should apologise. You’ve done so much for me and I didn’t even realise until now. Even when I tried to help you I mess up. I’m just useless.”

“Aciel.”

“No,” he interrupted. He didn’t want to hear empty reassurance. “This is my promise to you. I promise to get stronger. I promise to not be useless. I promise to be someone you can be proud of serving.”

“Well then, I look forward to serving you, Your Highness.”

Eden felt better the following day but Aciel insisted she take another rest day just in case. In the end they negotiated for another half day of rest. After being bedridden for three days, Eden and Aciel went to spend the half day in the local marketplace.

“What’s this?” Aciel asked, pointing to a silver tassel in his hand.

“It’s a good luck charm from Kingdom of Spektar, island of Alphenrose. I believe from the Burgundy Dukedom if you want to be really specific.”

“Good luck for anything in particular?”

“The one in your hand is for general luck. This silver one with the red charm is for good health. This blue bead is for luck in fortunes. I see you took a liking to the general luck and good health ones. You have a good eye, how about I sell you both for five kkoch. How about that?”

“Make it four,” Eden interjected before Aciel could agree.

“4.50 kkoch.”

“You sold it to the lady before for four.”

“Alright, alright, four for both.”

Perhaps it was still the residual side effects of getting over her cold, or the busy marketplace but Eden didn’t notice the thief until he was running off with the coin pouch Aciel was holding. In fact, it was Aciel who reacted first.

“Eden.”

“I’m following him.” Eden shouted as Aciel grabbed the charms he purchased.

The thief wasn’t particularly fast however the crowded market did not make chasing after the thief a simple task. He was incredibly agile but luckily for Eden, the two left the crowd for a small road. There, she was able to use some pebbles she picked up on the road to throw at him to dictate which direction he’d run in.

“Now!” Eden shouted as she threw two rocks at the thief’s feet and he tripped right into Aciel’s arms.

“I did it. I got him.”

“I’m surprised you understood my signals.”

Eden had noticed Aciel managed to escape the crowd and signaled for him to go to the alley they were currently in. All she had to do was get him to run the way she wanted and since the tactic previously worked on her, she figured she should use it on him.

“Stealing is a crime kid.” Eden said as she took back the pouch and handed it to Aciel.

“Please,” he begged, “I need it. My family needs to pay the rent but the collectors. They said the money wasn’t enough. They’re lying. There’s enough but they won’t let it go. They won’t let my sister go.”

“How much do you need?”

“Five hundred kkoch. Please. I need the money.”

“I don’t believe you.” Eden signaled for Aciel to be quiet.

“Follow me. I’ll show you. Please. I only have until the hour. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Eden. Let’s follow him.”

Eden stared at Aciel before looking at the kid, “Just to let you know, this sword isn’t for decoration.”

“I’m sorry. Please help me get rid of them.”

The group had arrived in the poorer side of the faction that Aciel had never seen. The streets were dirtier and the people were less lively. There was less grass and everything seemed to be a shade of brown. The kid led them through the gates for this community not at all fazed by the sudden change.

“This place, you were originally from Basileios?” Eden’s question was ignored.

“They’re there.” He pointed to a small old sanheyuan, a three sided, u-shaped, courtyard house. “Please help me. You people already took my home, don’t take my family.”

“I can’t give you that money kid.” If Aciel was still a prince, he would have been able to but now, they only had 50 kkoch to their name.

“Eden.” Aciel wanted to ask her to help him another way but she was already a step ahead.

“I’ll help you in a different way instead. How many people are there?” Eden took out the coins in the pouch and replaced them with the talismans.

“Three.”

“Here, give them this.” Eden handed the kid the pouch but pulled it away before he could take it. “Consider yourself lucky that you stole from us. Don’t do this again.”

“What now?” Aciel asked.

“You keep your head down and make sure this hood doesn’t fall off. Stay out of the way and I’ll get your talismans back.”

“You better, they’re good luck.”

As Eden snuck into the building, Aciel hid into the alleyways. He was playing with the coins in his pocket when he noticed a group of palace guards.

“Are you sure she’d be here? This is Basileios territory.”

“This is the easiest way for her to sneak out of the castle to the market according to Advisor Baeksoo.”

Aciel knew who they were talking about. Baeksoo that was a new name to his list.

“How do you lose a queen and only send a small search party out.”

“We didn’t lose her. She snuck out and Advisor Baeksoo wants her back.”

“I heard he became an advisor thanks to some connections.”

“The walls have ears, I don’t want to get in trouble because of you.”

Aciel tried his best to follow the rest of the conversation after hearing them mention Zula. It did make sense, she always went to the market when merchants came back from the neighbouring lands.

“This is a great opportunity,” he told himself.

“What is?” Eden, who suddenly appeared behind him, asked.

“You’re back already? How did it go?”

“Tied the three up and told the family to call for guards after we left. I also made sure the kid, his name is Silas, was sure that he will never steal again.”

“Mister,” Silas ran out of his house, “thank you for believing in me. Thank you for helping me Miss.”

Aciel bent down to Silas’ height, “I’m glad we could do something. And here, a good luck charm all the way from Spektar. And, and I’m sorry that we took your home.”

“Hey mister, could you talk to the new queen for me? I want to be able to go home.”

“I’ll try my best.” A tinge of sadness and guilt appeared as Aciel shook Silas’ hand.