Chapter 48: Strange girl 2.

"I thought I might find you here."

The voice was warm and calm, almost patient.

"Hmm?" Star turned, only to find Kezara standing right behind him with her hands behind her back. Apparently, standing like a maid had rubbed off on her, and now she stood with the same graceful posture.

"H-how did you know I was here?"

She gave a little shrug. "I just thought of the place with the better view. I know how much you like watching nature."

Star couldn’t help smiling. The fact that she’d come looking for him and remembered such a small detail about him surprised him more than he expected.

"May I?" she asked, gesturing towards the crimson bench.

Star nodded, then shifted aside.

She gently moved forward and sat down.

Star swallowed and began looking down at Diconoc Kingdom with renewed interest.

Kezara also gazed down at the village, where tiny golden lights from candles and fire torches flickered across the darkness.

"You know, it would have been more honest to say you were watching nature if it weren’t already dark."

Star snickered. ’Yeah, you’d be surprised at how clear everything is. Clearer than during the day, even.’

However, he glanced at her. "I think I’m just enjoying the cool night breeze now. Wouldn’t you say it’s... refreshing?"

Kezara let herself feel the night breeze. "Yeah," she said simply. "It’s actually refreshing."

Star smiled. "I think it helps me clear my head and think straight."

Kezara turned towards him, studying him closely. "I heard about what happened earlier." She softened her voice. "And if it helps, everyone is worried sick about where you’ve been. Also..." She hesitated briefly. "Your girlfriend and I have been taking care of Yennefer."

"She’s not my girlfriend."

"Oh." Kezara stared down at her fingers. As a matter of fact, she’d heard him say those words before, but hearing them again now felt good. Relieving, even.

Star’s brows suddenly furrowed. It was as though he’d only just heard what she’d said. She and Sarah... working together? Peacefully? Yeah maybe, Kezara hadn’t complained about it.

He looked at her with such intense scrutiny that she began to feel uncomfortable.

Before he could ask any questions, she quickly changed the topic.

"You know, Yennefer claimed to have been attacked by two men."

"She said that?"

"Yeah. They wanted to force themselves on her..."

Star frowned as he tried to remember whether he’d seen that happen, but nothing came to mind.

"...She said she could fight and managed to kill them, but she was badly beaten in the process. However..." Kezara shook her head almost dreamily. "She was actually a sweet girl. No wonder you insisted she be helped."

Star snorted, laughing more at himself than at the notion. That caused Kezara to stare at him somewhat curiously.

"You know the worst part?" he murmured. "I can’t even remember any of that. I can’t remember why I wanted to help her so badly that I ended up yelling at my friends." Regret flickered across his expression. "All I can wrap my head around is that, at that point, I just wanted her to notice me." He frowned, trying to find the right words. "More like... to make her happy."

His eyes narrowed as he tried to recall anything else, but that was it.

A dead end.

He turned towards Kezara, who remained staring at him.

"Yeah, I know... I’m being weird."

"No!" Kezara replied quickly. As she spoke, her hand had already moved to rest on his lap before she’d even willed it to.

"Mm?" Star’s breath caught. He stared down at her hand, then up at Kezara, before quickly looking away.

Kezara seemed just as surprised by her own action, but she soon gathered her confidence.

"No... It’s not weird. Not at all." Her voice softened into something tender and intimate. "If anything, it shows how much you care. Unconditionally. Stranger or no stranger, you just want to make everyone happy, to the extent that you even forget why you wanted to do it in the first place."

Star’s ears grew even warmer. He found himself staring at the villages below, where candlelight and fire torches shimmered like scattered golden stars.

Those words melted him. But it seemed Kezara had got the wrong idea. He really had forgotten why he’d wanted to help Yennefer, and that was unlike him. Perhaps that was what made him so angry about it.

"Thanks," he answered anyway. "But don’t you think you’re giving me too much credit?"

Kezara traced a finger across his lap. Star felt shivers run down his spine, but he swallowed, determined to hold himself together like a real man.

"Remember that night in front of the Queen’s chamber?" She glanced at him and forced a short smile. "She was angry. So, so angry, and I was meant to bring her tea."

"Then you fell," Star supplied as the events of that night clicked into place.

Kezara laughed. "Yes!" Star laughed too. "The ceramics broke, and it made such a loud sound that the Queen’s anger only seemed to rise even further. Gods, it was awful," Kezara added.

"Who’s that devil-sent, brainless, good-for-nothing whore who thinks she can stand in front of my chamber?" Star said, mimicking his mother’s voice from that night.

They both burst out laughing.

"Universe... She would have demanded my head!" Kezara cried amidst her laughter.

"No doubt," Star replied, laughing too. His mother was lovely, but the exact opposite whenever she was angry.

And once she got that way, she wouldn’t mind killing you, then crying over your corpse later.

Their laughter gradually faded, and Kezara turned towards Star.

"I’m not giving you too much credit, Star," she said, a warm smile resting on her face. "You chose to be the devil-sent whore standing in front of the Queen’s chamber just to save my poor ass."

She glanced at his lips, then slowly leaned towards him. "That’s not something every prince would do, let alone for a mere servant."

Star stared at her, caught between surprise and an attraction he could no longer easily ignore. His gaze lingered on her lips, and for a moment, neither of them seemed willing to look away.

"You know, you were never just a servant in my eyes back then."

She smiled, but the smile almost vanished instantly as all her attention settled on him.

Her head continued moving closer, and Star found himself leaning towards hers as well.

Everything else blurred into irrelevance.

He could feel her warmth drawing closer.

A tinge of pleasure shot through him, and he instinctively closed his eyes.

Kezara’s eyes fluttered shut too, her lips parting slightly.

Their lips came together, and...

"No..."

At first, it was barely a whisper.

But then Star opened his eyes wide.

"No..." He drew back. "I-I-I’m sorry," he stuttered nervously as he rose to his feet and began walking away hurriedly, as though he’d seen a ghost. A very scary ghost.

Kezara’s face burned with embarrassment. She quickly turned towards him.

"Wait!"

Star halted.

Kezara’s eyes gleamed with tears of sheer embarrassment and disappointment.

"Why? We used to be together. We used to be like that before."

Star inhaled slowly, calming himself, then

exhaled.

"It isn’t right anymore, Kezara," he replied, tilting his head just slightly to look at her.

"And I’m pretty sure you know why."