Some quiet days (2)
Eldric stood next to her, looking out at the city below them. He had an impassive face that Lia could not tell if he was excited to be going home or on the off chance, dreading to come back.

She waited for him to say anything and for a while, they settled in comfortable silence. It was Eldric who broke it first.

“Will you come to the palace with us?”

Lia blinked a couple of times before realization dawned on her — he was asking her to go to the palace. She stared at him as if he began speaking in a foreign language. A crease formed on his forehead as he looked back at her expression. She expected… well, she did not know what she was expecting. His invitation was just too far from any choices she had imagined. Going to the palace under his wing was not one of them. If this offer goes hand in hand with being taken to this guy’s harem…

“I-I can’t,” Lia managed to answer.

“You would be safe in my harem,” he said.

She facepalmed inside. This guy… was this how he invited all of his women to join his ever-growing harem, not to mention the ones he left behind in every town he had been? She straightened up. “No, I can’t. And doesn’t it mean that joining your harem would make me your wife or mistress? No, I can’t do that either.”

He set his jaw firmly, studying his features, his crease deepening at her words. “Why not?”

Lia sighed. “Firstly, the obvious, we are not in love with each other. I don’t know about you… or about the customs of this country, but I’ll only marry the person I’m in love with, granted, he loves me just as much. And,” she willed herself to look at him directly, “I don’t like being second, third, fourth, fifth, hundredth wife. I want to be the only wife. If I can’t find a man like that, I’m better off alone. I can manage.”

Eldric did not say anything and continued to stare at Lia. He looked like he was turning over her words in his mind. Lia continued anyway.

“Secondly, I want to enter the palace on my own work, not because of my connections. I also have other things that I want to do. I appreciate everything you have done for me but I’d like to be on my own from now on.”

He swallowed, looking unconvinced. Lia did not care if she got permission to leave or not. If push comes to shove, she would just escape. Easy peasy. But she did not want to leave with any bad blood between them.

“Then what would you do?” he asked.

She raised one shoulder in the form of half-shrug. “I remember Jeremiah offering to write a recommendation letter for me. That might give me passes to enter so late.” The submission for the exam had ended last month and while she said she did not want to use connections, she needed this one. “And then find a cheap inn and a job, I guess.”

She said it as if she had just thought about it on the spot when she had thought about it a lot of times. The thing about Jeremiah was the only one that was up to her luck. As far as she was concerned, she had rejected the idea before. But things were different now. Besides, she did not know where and how to find Jeremiah. She would certainly not ask Eldric for that.

Once they reach the capital, like what she told to Eldric, she would find a place to stay and a job to keep her alive. And then, find a way to find her mother. Though her best bet to do that was when she passed the exam. She figured that even the name national scholar would have a bearing and would give her access to other things and places.

Still, in case things went south, she had a backup plan.

But of course, she did not need to tell all that to Eldric.

“Are you sure?” Worry was all over his face that Lia’s steel resolve softened a bit at the sight. It was sad to leave him but she was getting used to it too.

Lia nodded. “I’ll still be one of the guys, right? We’re still friends?” Gosh, she was being sappy and sentimental today. Maybe it was the fact that she would be alone again in an unknown place. It was like moving out of the house, leaving all your friends and family behind. But she had survived a lot of things as of recently and she knew that she would be okay.

“Friends.” Eldric gave her a firm nod and a tight smile.