Chapter 36 - Puppy
“Are you free after classes? Want to go sowhere?”
“...”
It was currently Tuesday, and Soren was sitting in the cafeteria with both Felix and Alia, as usual, but sothing was different today.
“Did you do sothing to the big bad wolf, little hedgehog?”
Soren ignored Felix and kept his attention fixed on the ‘big bad wolf’ sitting next to him.
For the past week or so, the distance between Alia and Soren had heavily increased, and there was only one reason for this.
– I’m sorry, but Miss Rose has sothing she wants to talk about with .
– Sorry, but I need to have lunch with Lily today. We can eat together tomorrow.
In short, it was Soren’s fault.
Ever since the agreent to give Lilliana so of his blood every few days, Soren had been turning down Alia’s offer to eat together more and more frequently.
Of course, Alia already knew about Lilliana’s race as she was a mber of the Einhardt royal family.
However, Lilliana had still refused to let Alia see, saying it was too embarrassing to be watched.
At first, Alia had taken this as quite a shock, almost entirely stopping her shadowing of Soren, but after hearing that Soren had been attacked at night, she had changed her attitude.
That left Soren in his current situation.
Alia was shadowing him anyti he wasn’t with Lilliana, yet she kept her distance and rarely spoke, making the atmosphere awkward.
Soren desperately wants to fix this, which led him to his current actions.
“Pretty please?”
“...”
She still didn’t respond.
“Isn’t she just going to follow you anyway? Is there any reason to ask?” Felix said, causing Alia to nod.
“Sigh, that’s not the point. I’m asking if she wants to do sothing together for once.”
Alia’s ears perked up at his words.
“Well, she looks interested, doesn’t she? Isn’t that a good enough answer?”
Her expression was bored, as usual, but it was clear she liked Soren’s suggestion.
‘Is it a matter of pride?’
That was the only conclusion he could co to.
‘Well, whatever, what Felix said is true, she’ll follow either way.’
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
After classes were over, Soren stepped out of the building only to find Alia standing in the doorway, clearly waiting for soone.
Thinking it was cute, he walked over and tapped her shoulder.
“Did you wait long?”
She shook her head.
“Wanna get sothing to eat?”
Nod
“Follow then, I know a good place.”
On their way to the restaurant, barely a single word was spoken between them; usually, that would have made things awkward, but the constant tail-wagging from Alia, showing her excitent, lightened the atmosphere that would have been unbearable otherwise.
Ding-a-ling-♪
Soren opened the restaurant door and held it open as Alia walked in.
Afterwards, he walked over to the counter, asking to be seated.
“Table for two, please, a quiet area would be preferred.”
“Of course, ma’am, this way please.”
Soren clicked his tongue at the common mistake, only to notice the slight curve on Alia’s lips, which washed away his bitter thoughts.
As they sat down at their table, Soren picked up a nu and gave it to Alia, whose eyes sparkled upon seeing what was listed.
‘I knew it.’ He thought as he smirked in satisfaction.
Soren had noticed that Alia was a fairly picky eater during their lunches together.
Because of that, he had brought her to a place that primarily focused on at dishes, which appeared to be Alia’s favourite.
Once again, he was grateful for his unique skill, which enabled him to recall even the most minor details clearly.
Gulp
Upon the food's arrival, an audible gulp was heard from Alia’s side of the table as she tried her best not to devour what was placed down imdiately.
“You don’t need to wait for , you know, eat up.”
With those words, it was as if her limiter had been released; she swiftly picked up her cutlery and sliced into the at, placing it in her mouth.
“!!!”
Her expression lted into one of sheer bliss as her tail wagged back and forth, showing her bright mood.
Soren knew enough about Alia at this point to gather that she never left the academy unless required, aning she had been stuck with cafeteria food for almost three entire months now.
Although the chefs weren’t bad as they were professionals, it was likely that they couldn’t compare to the Einhardt royal family's chefs.
That was why he had brought her here; it was a place he had found while he was hanging out with Louise, an expensive restaurant focused on at dishes that catered to high nobility.
It was the ideal location to bring a at-obsessed princess.
It was only after she finished devouring every bite of her al that she paid attention to Soren once again.
This ti, however, her expression was different.
Her lips were pressed into a line, her tail drooped, and her expression was timid.
It was a sight that anyone who knew Alia would’ve been shocked by.
Then she opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
The words she said caught Soren off guard; he had expected his current situation to be the other way around, with him being the one to apologise for being so thoughtless, but instead the princess had bowed her head to him.
“Why are you apologising?"
He didn’t understand; he was the one at fault for not giving Alia enough ti, not her.
“For being a nuisance.”
“You weren’t, though?”
“I kept following you around.”
“I didn’t mind.”
“I was being petty.”
“So what?”
“I was jealous…”
“Doesn’t mat—Huh?”
Soren stared at Alia in disbelief.
‘Alia was jealous?’
“Of what?”
“You have others, I only have you.”
He froze at her words that didn’t fit their short, only three-week-long friendship.
It was already apparent to Soren that Alia had no idea how to asure distance solely from her physical closeness.
Still, he couldn’t have expected that it was also the sa for her ntal closeness.
Alia’s words made him feel awkward.
He had agreed to be her friend, taking it lightly and not really thinking much of it, just thinking that it would be nice to be around Alia, but it appeared as if she had taken it in a much heavier way, which should have been expected, given the fact that she had never tried to make friends before in her life.
“I’m sorry.”
It was the only response he could think of to her awkward confession; he shouldn’t have taken her so lightly, and he regretted doing so now.
“It’s my fault.” She insisted, causing Soren to sigh.
“No, it’s not, I should’ve taken it more seriously. So don’t worry, Alia.”
He paused for a mont, considering whether to share his thoughts, and in the end, decided to just go for it.
“To be honest, having you around is comforting. I’m not sure if you heard, but not long ago, I was attacked and almost died while outside of the academy. Because of that, I had so anxiety about leaving the academy, but when you're around, that anxiety completely disappears.”
Soren rolled his eyes as he continued.
“And there are other reasons, too, obviously, no sane person would dislike having you follow them around.”
His words caused Alia to tilt her head in confusion.
“Why?”
Soren sighed at the obvious yet awkward question he was being forced to answer.
“Because you’re attractive.” He said bluntly.
He wasn’t trying to complint her, so he purposely spoke bluntly as a way to avoid embarrassnt.
“Oh.” Alia nodded, understanding his point.
Then she dropped a bombshell onto Soren’s lap.
“You’re attractive too. I like your face.”
The way she said it was so matter-of-factly, without the slightest change in expression, that he couldn’t even respond.
“Soren?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we still friends?”
“If you want to be.”
“Thanks.”
Her tail wagged back and forth as she wore a faint smile, happy that their friendship had remained..
And just like that, the week-long awkwardness had been solved by a simple conversation.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
“So… what’s going on?”
“I don’t know…” Soren said with a troubled expression.
Just yesterday, he had resolved the issue between him and Alia, and because of that, he believed that things were going to go back to normal, but…
Soren looked to his side, lying there against him was Alia, fast asleep, not caring one bit about the stares aid in their direction.
“For so reason, after we spoke, she beca like this…”
“Tch, lucky bastard,” Felix said with a face full of jealousy.
‘I an, he’s not wrong.’
Soren reached out and fixed her slightly ssy uniform, causing her tail to wag and an almost imperceivable smile to form on her face.
“She’s like a puppy…” Soren whispered.
“Cough! Cough! Soren?!” Felix started choking on his food as he stared at Soren in disbelief.
“What?”
“Did you seriously just call the Wild Wolf a puppy?”
Soren shrugged in response.
“Isn’t she?”
“Nnnngh–!”
Alia stretched her arms out as she slowly blinked her eyes open, taking in her surroundings.
“Too loud…”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” She said, leaning against him. “I’m hungry.”
Soren reached his hand under the table, opening his inventory before bringing it back up.
“Here.”
In his hand was a bag of jerky; it wasn’t anything special, but for a at lover like Alia, it was the best snack she could ask for.
“Thanks.”
“...”
Felix just stared at the entire scenario playing out in front of him with a look of awe on his face, which caused Soren to smirk in response.
“Told you didn’t I?”
“...”
“Told him what?” Alia asked in between bites of jerky.
“Don’t worry about it. By the way, I have tutoring tonight, so I’ll have to leave early. Is that alright?”
“Okay.” She nodded with a reluctant look on her face.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Alia Indras Einhardt POV
“Miss, please wake up…”
A maid was frantically shaking the shoulders of the mistress she had been instructed to look after.
The mistress in question was, of course, Alia.
Shove
Alia shoved the maid’s arms away before turning over and drifting back off to sleep, causing the maid to panic even more.
“Miss! If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late for classes.”
‘Doesn’t matter…’
“What about your new friend, Miss? Your father was overjoyed when he heard about them. You weren’t lying, were you?”
At the ntion of her possibly lying, Alia’s eyes shot open, and she jumped up from the bed.
“What–!” Her eyes were narrowed, a sign that she was annoyed.
Seeing that the maid stamred out an apology, bowing her head to Alia.
“F-Forgive , I just d-didn’t want Miss to be late for class.”
“He’s real.”
“S-Sorry?”
“He is real.”
“Y-Yes, of course. Apologies.”
It wasn’t evident at first glance, but Alia was pouting; it was an expression that almost nobody had ever seen before, yet she was showing it for the simple reason of her friend being doubted.
‘Soren is real.’
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Classes were over for the day, but unfortunately for Alia, she had nothing to do; Soren had already set off towards Lilliana’s dorm for tutoring, which left her with nothing to do.
Ordinarily, she would’ve just used that ti to nap or find an opponent, but today she didn’t feel like it for so reason, leading her to return to the dorm early.
There on the table of her desk was a letter, a letter with a seal that even the Wild Wolf herself feared.
It was the seal of the king of Einhardt.
Alia snatched up the letter and tore it open with her sharp nails, nervously scanning the contents.
Only after she had finished did she finally catch her breath.
The contents of the letter were normal for the most part.
– How is my cute youngest doing? Are you adapting well to your studies? That's a silly question, isn’t it? My princess is the strongest there is…
It was clear from the letter that the king, Alia’s father, was a simple, doting dad when it ca to his children, and because of that, he liked to send frequent letters to keep in touch.
That was why Alia had skipped through most of the letter, given that it was a repeat of the past few she had received.
For the most part, it was the sa, except for one singular section that appeared to have been scribbled in a rush at the end.
– P.S. I heard my daughter finally made a friend! You have no idea how overjoyed I am at the news. I do hope you’ll bring them ho with you during the break. Your mother is also desperate to et the person that our picky princess has chosen…
Those words caused beads of sweat to form on Alia’s forehead.
“Papa wants to et Soren?”
There was a reason for Alia’s hesitation; there had been a similar situation in the past, though not entirely the sa, where her older siblings had brought ho their partners only to have them be criticised and chastised for days until the partners left of their own volition.
‘Papa wouldn’t do that to Soren, right?’
Unlike with her siblings, Soren was just a friend, a friend that she hadn’t even known for that long.
There was no way her father would do the sa to Soren, right?
It was in this way that a future eting between the king of Einhardt and Soren Arden had been established.
————「❤︎」————
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