Chapter 494: Chapter 482: The girl
[Realm: Uhorus]
[Location: Galadriel]
[Capital City]
"Still so quiet around here..." The comnt slipped from Mirabella more softly than she probably intended, her voice carrying easily through the city to acknowledge the emptiness around them as she and Agatha moved through the city streets at an unhurried pace.
Their footsteps rang out on the stone, the sa dullness that had settled over the park lingered here as well, clinging to the air, making it difficult to ignore. Only a handful of people moved through the streets—so slipping into small, warmly lit buildings as if seeking refuge, others lingering by market stalls with distracted, restless movents. Transactions were quieter and much quicker. No one stayed longer than they needed to.
Both girls had seen it enough tis by now that it no longer surprised them.
But that didn’t an it sat well.
"Why are so many of them still so damn scared?" Mirabella continued, her irritation building as her gaze swept across the street. Her brows furrowed, with her arms folding tighter across her chest. "That hag Guinevere herself put up the city’s defensive wards. And it ain’t just so rushed barrier either—she made a whole display of it." She clicked her tongue lightly. "Hell, father even made it clear just how safe the city was supposed to be."
Agatha stopped walking.
Agatha didn’t look at her right away. Instead, she lifted her chin slightly, gesturing toward the sky above them.
"Even you cannot be that dumb," she said flatly, her tone devoid of any real bite, but not softened either.
Mirabella’s eyes narrowed slightly at the remark, but she followed the gesture anyway.
The sky answered for her.
Dark, torn, and unnatural.
"When the sky looks like that every waking mont," Agatha continued, her voice quiet, "it tends to unnerve people. You never know just what might co out of it."
There was no exaggeration in her words and no attempt to dramatize it.
Mirabella exhaled slowly, her shoulders dropping just a fraction. "Yeah... I get that much," she admitted, though her tone carried lingering frustration. "I’m not blind." Her gaze lingered upward for a mont longer before dropping back down to street level. "But everyone’s so skittish now. It’s like..." She paused, searching for the right words, her expression shifting slightly. "You can barely do anything in the capital anymore because of it. Everything feels smaller." She gestured vaguely ahead of them. "I an, so shops are even closed now."
Agatha glanced at her then, one brow lifting just slightly.
"You’re annoyed because shops are closing down?" she asked, her tone as dry as ever, though there was a small hint of curiosity beneath it.
Mirabella let out a small scoff, rolling her eyes before answering. "Not just that," she muttered, though she didn’t deny it either. Her voice shifted, losing so of its edge as she spoke again. "There was this really great place—sold these pieces of different ats on a stick." She unfolded one arm just enough to gesture loosely, as if recalling it in motion. "Simple stuff, nothing fancy. But it tasted good. Actually good." A small pause followed before she added, quieter, "Even Val liked eating there."
Agatha studied her for a mont, her expression unchanged but her attention clearly there.
"I gathered you princesses preferred more refined als," she said after a beat, her tone contemplative.
That earned a snort from Mirabella.
"Hell no," she replied imdiately, shaking her head. "The portions they serve at the castle are too small. Everything just looks amazing, sure, but half the ti it tastes..." She made a vague motion with her hand, as if dismissing it entirely. "...average." Her lips pressed into a thin line before easing again. "That’s why
and my sisters used to sneak out here whenever we could. The food in these shops—" she glanced briefly toward an empty stall they passed "—it just tasted better for so reason."
Agatha’s gaze followed hers for a brief mont before she spoke again.
"Perhaps eating with those close to you makes it taste better," she offered.
It wasn’t said teasingly or even frad like an observation ant to provoke.
It was simple, almost sincere.
Mirabella blinked, the response catching her off guard more than the words themselves.
"You’re the last person I expected to say sothing like that," she admitted after a second, a small smirk tugging at her lips as she looked at Agatha more directly. "I forget sotis that you’re not actually the ice queen you make yourself out to be."
Agatha didn’t react much. She just continued walking.
"Your nicknas could use so work," she replied dryly. "A child would be more creative."
Mirabella let out a short huff of amusent, shaking her head as she fell back into step beside her.
("I also forgot how snarky she could be...") she noted to herself, the thought carrying a sense of familiarity that, in its own small way, made the emptiness around them feel just a little less suffocating.
"Anyway, are you still going to see your brother?" Mirabella asked as they walked along the street, her tone lighter, though the sight of the dull city remained unchanged.
Agatha nodded slightly without slowing down. "Unless he decides to venture out on his own to find ."
There was no frustration in her tone. If anything, it sounded like a matter she had already accepted.
Mirabella let out a small snort. "That guy worries too much," she murmured. Her eyes briefly drifted to the side of the street, not really looking at the stalls anymore. Another thought had slipped in uninvited. "Kind of like Astrid."
The na lingered for a mont.
Agatha glanced at her, then looked forward again. "Siblings are just like that, I suppose," she said, her voice neutral. "Especially ones so adamant about our safety."
Her tone remained flat, but Mirabella noticed what was absent.
There was no annoyance, impatience, or even a hint of complaint.
Just acceptance.
Mirabella looked at her a bit longer than usual before facing forward again.
("I guess she is also a lot more open these days,") she thought.
Agatha still appeared like a girl made of stone. Difficult to read and difficult to rattle. But when it ca to her own feelings, strangely enough, she was honest. Not expressive or soft, just honest. For soone so stone-faced, it was almost the last thing Mirabella had expected when they first t.
A crooked smile appeared on the princess’s lips.
"You know, blondie," Mirabella began, drawing out the words a little as if already amused by herself, "you should show more emotion."
Agatha glanced sideways at her. "And where is this coming from?" she questioned.
Mirabella shrugged. "You’re always so stone-faced. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were just so emotionless girl." Her smirk widened slightly. "A really judgntal emotionless girl, at that."
Agatha’s expression remained unchanged. "I smile when I want to," she said. "And frown when I want to. That is all."
The dryness of her response made Mirabella roll her eyes.
"See? That." She pointed at Agatha as if presenting evidence. "That right there. You say things like you’re reading them out of so boring book."
"And yet you continue speaking to ," Agatha noted.
"Soone has to make sure you don’t forget basic emotions."
"I believe that role belongs to William."
Mirabella let out a short snort despite herself, a smirk returning to her lips almost imdiately.
"Heh," she said, tilting her head slightly. "I bet a certain soone can bring a smile to that face consistently."
She expected at least a pause, a blink, or a small stiffening.
"Mikoto could, yes," Agatha nodded without hesitation.
Mirabella blinked, then blinked again. She simply stared for a mont.
The lack of resistance took all the wind out of the mont, her shoulders sagging as she let out a long, theatrical sigh.
"It’s no fun if you just admit it," the princess mumbled, sounding almost genuinely disappointed.
Agatha’s gaze remained forward, but there was a hint of sothing in her voice when she replied.
"You asked."
"That’s not the point," Mirabella muttered. "You’re supposed to deny it first. Or get all awkward. Or at least pretend you don’t know what I an."
"That sounds useless."
Mirabella gave her an incredulous look. "You really make it hard to tease you."
Agatha was quiet for a mont. Then, unexpectedly, she spoke.
"He did make
smile often."
The words were simple and not especially soft.
Mirabella’s smirk faded a little.
Agatha kept walking, eyes forward, voice level.
"It was annoying at first," she admitted. "He would say whatever ca to mind. He had no regard for what he said. No regard for whether anyone wanted to hear it." A brief pause. "And sohow that made talking with him better."
Mirabella said nothing.
The city around them still felt distant. The occasional shuffle of feet. The muted sound of a door closing sowhere down the road. A rchant packing sothing away before a hidden sunset. Beneath it all, the heavy silence of people waiting for the sky to worsen.
Agatha’s erald eyes lifted briefly toward the torn skies.
"It has been more than a month," she said. "And I still catch myself expecting him to appear around a corner saying sothing dumb."
There was no sadness exactly, but sothing close enough that Mirabella felt it.
Her gaze dropped to the stone path beneath their feet.
"Yeah..." she said after a while, her tone quieter. "I know."
She exhaled through her nose.
"That idiot had a way of doing that."
Agatha glanced at her.
Mirabella tried for a scoff, but it ca out thinner than intended.
"Just showing up," she continued. "Acting like he owned every room he walked into. Saying whatever nonsense he wanted. Picking fights. Making his stupid little jokes at the worst possible ti." Her lips pressed together. "And sohow..."
She stopped herself.
Agatha did not fill the silence.
"...And sohow it made things feel easier," Mirabella finished at last.
Agatha nodded slightly.
"Yes."
For a few steps, neither of them spoke.
Mirabella opened her mouth, perhaps to say sothing lighter, to lighten the mood before it settled too deep, but soone beat her to it.
"Hey, Mirabella!"
A familiar and soft voice called out from behind the duo.
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