Princess Lyn: Fleeting Dreams 101 The Town Of Thieves

Following morning, Year 4014- Snow Kingdom

"Rhys, let me ride with you," Lyn asked.

Rhys looked at the girl dumbfounded, huh? What? But she was already climbing onto his horse. Weird, definitely weird. No matter how much he thought about it, this situation was beyond strange. Still, it was high time they got going. He didn't say a word and climbed on the horse; his gaze fell on the girl riding with him. While this situation may be strange, the fact that they can ride together is nothing short of a miracle for him.

There are many ways for him to take advantage of her while riding a horse. Like this one, Rhys leaned forward until his lips brushed against her hair, and Lyn flinched, "S—stop it," she muttered.

"You and Kazuya are clearly fighting, so let me have my fun," he said. Rhys isn't exactly sure whether they are fighting or not. But last night, he did see Kazuya sleep on the couches outside their two rooms while Lyn went inside the room. Rhys figured that Kazuya was just too tired to return to the room after having a meeting with the others. Yet, during breakfast, he noticed how the two barely spoke a word to each other.

Lyn simply shook her head, and Rhys brought his lips to her ear and lightly bit her. Seeing her turn red to her ears, he wanted to laugh out loud. 'Simply adorable,' Rhys thought. He teases her for a bit along the road, and the whole time Kazuya said nothing. Even though he knew his friend could clearly see what he was up to. At first, Rhys found it funny, but the more time pa.s.sed by, and Kazuya did nothing. The more irritated he got. The girl's reactions still made him happy, but Kazuya was doing a great job at annoying him. What is this idiot doing? Is he okay with him hara.s.sing his girlfriend?

"According to the tip we got from that soldier, Prince Ereland suddenly moved his quarters to the village connected to this one named Suri," Kazuya said, breaking the silence.

'Young animals?' Well, if it were written in the eastern language that's what it would mean. Or even pickpocketing, the second definition would bother him more since the word pick-pocketing is a.s.sociated with thieves. The last thing they needed was to go into that sort of town.

"And that's why we're heading out?"

"The two cases appear to be connected. People are reporting that the missing women are in that town too," Kazuya trailed off, "The only thing that bothers me is what I heard from the soldier's wife."

"What did she say?"

"Prince Ereland supposedly has a wife."

"That's not unusual; he is a Prince."

"And yet he's trying to get married to a Princess from the Mist and Snow Kingdom? That's normal, too; maybe he wants a better marriage deal. However," Kazuya tapped his fingers, "Why drag in and beat other women for?"

"It's like he's uneasy about something like he's trying to cover something up," Rhys immediately caught on.

Kazuya nodded, "And the terror he brought on those villages, it seems to be just a game to him. It feels like he's only doing it to intentionally divert people from finding out what he's really up to."

What is that man really up to? Honestly, Rhys didn't want to get further involved with that snot brat of a Prince. It's not like Prince Ereland is a dangerous man, despite everything he's done. Rhys doesn't see him as a threat. However, there's something about him that rubs him the wrong way.

…..

Village Surri -

Earlier he played with the idea of it being a town for thieves. However, Rhys didn't expect his prediction actually to come true. After all who names a town after thievery? Isn't that just an announcement for the officials to come around? Despite it being a thief town though it was moderately clean - and not run down. However, Rhys immediately knew it was a town for thieves with the way people interacted with each other.

"This was initially a trade town, but it seems like things changed after Prince Ereland came here. The name of the village was intended as a pun," Kazuya said.

A pun? Look how that ended up. Not that Rhys believed in superst.i.tion of any kind. More importantly, "Princess Lyn, I'm sure you understand. This isn't like the last town, stay put and listen to whatever I say, okay?" Rhys said, his tone serious. Usually, he would joke around about her causing problems. But, his gaze darkened when he caught the way some people walking past were looking at Lyn.

"Okay."

That's it? She isn't fighting back or anything?

"Let's discard the horses," he muttered. They stand out this way.

Kazuya nodded, "I'll do it. Find a place to get some food or something; Lyn didn't eat much breakfast."

For somebody who was giving her the silent treatment too, he sure was paying attention to her. Rhys nodded, and with that said, he took Lyn's hand and dragged her away. He didn't want Lyn to feel touched that Kazuya was still looking out for her. If they are fighting, this is his chance, right?

Once they were further away, Lyn spoke up, "Rhys, my hand hurts."

"Uh, sorry," he murmured as he drew his hand back from hers. Did he put too much strength? It was on the spur of the moment for him, holding her hand like that. Rhys looked at his hand, 'Stupid, your stronger than her, naturally you'd hurt her if you use that much strength,' as Rhys thought this to himself. He didn't notice Lyn getting closer.