The crowd that formed around Stygia's enormous city hall seemed endless as creatures from all walks of life gathered to witness spring celebrations alongside Exousia and Imnolyn royalty, a first in the history of the nation.
Standing in a corner far enough from all the prying eyes, Lex scanned the growing crowd for any suspicious activity before he was to walk up to deliver his speech in a few hours.
He found the tradition somewhat outdated, but he didn't care enough to have it changed as he loathed Arius' nagging more than his own discomfort.
It was still a work in process, but many Roseabelles still despised the humankind for being the imminent cause of their falling out with the Kaxarenes and the last thing Lex needed right now was yet another casualty to take place within his borders.
'They would definitely make yet another stellar headline just like before.' He thought, a deep frown forming when he remembered a similar incident that had taken place a few years back. 'It's like the only talent humans seem to have is reducing us immortals into nothing but a mere spectacle.'
The people of Stygia did not take it well when he decided to open its borders to their neighboring nations as part of a trading deal a few years back, even when it caused their economy to grow exponentially.
A group of young Roseabelles thought it'd be clever to stir up trouble in a town where most human merchants stayed during their visits as a way to rebel against their new emperor, Lex.
As a result, a handful of merchants were murdered viciously, and this forced him to punish the Roseabelles accordingly, a decision many thought he wouldn't dare to do.
Lex was left with no other choice but to execute the delinquents as an effort to keep the peace with Imnolyn, a nation that had the full support of Exousia behind them.
Now, no one dared to misbehave, but their opinion of him only grew sourer but they knew better than to go against him now.
Roseabelles were rebellious creatures by nature and many hated Lex and his tyrant-like antics, but no one could deny that the nation was prospering under his rule.
His watchful eyes naturally landed on a familiar figure, drawing even more of his attention the more they tried to hide themselves amongst the crowd.
"Aren't you going to go get her?" Amrit, who had been with Lex the entire time, asked with a sly grin, fully aware of exactly who he was looking at. "From what I've seen you've seemed to have developed a rather close bond with that human."
"... She'll do fine on her own." He replied half-heartedly, as if he didn't want to talk about it. "She'll never learn anything if I keep treating her like a child that knows nothing."
'Oh? This is new.' Amrit thought, his eyes widening with interest.
"Did... you two have an argument?" Amrit tried his best to remain as calm as possible though it was pretty clear that he was failing.
"Of course not." Lex defended strongly which took Amrit by surprise. "Why would I ever waste time arguing with a mere human?"
'It was actually a mutual agreement.' He thought, recalling the brief conversation they had a few days prior. 'Though I'm not sure why I decided to go along with it.'
"I'm being serious, Lex." Kaari insisted, unhappy with how unconcerned Lex appeared by her wishes. "I need you to act like we don't know each other, do you understand?"
"What nonsense are you talking about now?" Lex raised an eyebrow, confused by where the conversation was headed. "You should be focusing on the problems I gave you to solve."
"Promise me that you will." She urged as she reached out with her pinky finger extended.
Lex looked at the weird gesture with an uncomfortable frown, unsure of what to do.
"Come on." Kaari pressured, grabbing his hand and forcing his pinky finger to stick out so she could intertwine it with hers.
"This is making me uncomfortable, princess." Lex admitted, but he continued to let her do whatever shape she was attempting to make with his hand that were much larger than hers. "Is this some kind of weird courtship ritual that humans do?"
"O-Of course not! Y-You shouldn't say things like that so casually, Your Majesty." She stuttered out a response, her pale face quickly turning bright red in embarrassment while Lex chuckled at her adorable reaction before he eventually agreed to her conditions.
The corners of his mouth naturally turned upwards at the thought of her expression, and Amrit could only watch in disbelief at how much his emperor has changed over the past few years.
'He's head over heels.' Amrit came to his own conclusion as he shook his head. 'And it's only a matter of time before Arius finds out and chaos ensues.'
He turned to where the crowd stood again, and Amrit couldn't help but notice something odd.
"Um, Lexian?" He called out urgently, his gaze still fixated on the alarming sight occurring in the crown. "I think you might actually need to go down there, because the princess is heading the wrong way."
Though it appeared like any other crowd, the formation of it was specifically designed by Lex himself, ensuring that all the humans that chose to attend would be in a different section away from the Roseabelles using magical barriers.
Unbeknownst to Kaari, the unassuming human was walking straight into the Roseabelles' territory, with not a single guard in sight to protect her.
"Shit." Lex cursed under his breath when he finally noticed what was happening.
Before Amrit could say another word, Lex had already yanked the cloak off his shoulders and was on his way to Kaari, using the garment to shield himself from the crowd.
"Don't bother yourselves with her, gentlemen." The familiar voice stopped him in his tracks, and Lex instantly knew who it was without needing to turn around.
Varen walked towards the two Roseabelles until he stood directly in front of Lex, conveniently blocking him from heading elsewhere.
"I'm sure the humans down there will step up to protect their beloved princess if the need arises." The Kaxarene said with a sly smile that didn't quite reach his dark crimson eyes.
For the first time since Zeya's disappearance, Varen had finally decided to pull himself together and made himself look presentable.
"You mean they'll do anything to protect themselves at the cost of others." Lex corrected, unimpressed by Varen's dashing smile.
"Hm, can you blame them for being so scared?" Varen critiqued with his head tilted playfully. "Social rank doesn't really matter when you're about to get mauled to death, wouldn't you agree?"
"She was supposed to have your Valors escorting her." Lex went straight into business, his tone dark and brooding. "What kind of royalty just walks into a crowd without any guards to protect them?"
"It was a direct order from the headmaster." Varen defended himself, half-heartedly. "He's been rather... unhappy with me and as a result, my ability to command the Valors have been temporarily revoked."
"Like I said earlier, she'll manage on her own." Varen attempted to convince Lex from going down there to get him herself. "A little ignorance wouldn't hurt anyone. I highly doubt she's even aware of the fact that she's supposed to be up here."
Roseabelle's steady, unyielding glare told Varen everything he needed to know, yet he couldn't help but dig deeper.
"Oh? Don't tell me you're going to put the little girl up here with the rest of us?"
"What happened to all that talk about being a united front for the people?" Lex asked innocently, noticing the slight twitch that came with his question. "I thought you wanted all three nations to get along, so what's with this sudden switch in attitude?"
"Like I said, I'm simply following orders from the higher-ups." Varen emphasized with a soulless smile. "Not like you'd understand. You've always been the one to do whatever you please... even if it meant burdening others in the process."
"... She's still royalty, just like the rest of us."
"She's a human, Lex."
"A human that spent that past seven years of her life handling all of your mess that you chose to ignore just to obsess over finding a dead body." Lex challenged boldly, leaving the spectating Amrit stunned beyond belief. "If anything, she's more worthy of being up here than you are."
'Is he... defending the human right now?' Amrit thought, failing to control his expressions amidst the many eyes that watch them.
"You know, Lexian. I've been having this strange feeling that you've been oddly interested in the princess." Varen managed to keep his expressions in check, but something dark began to swirl in his eyes at the claim the Zeya was in fact long dead.
"But now, I can't help but think that my gut feeling's actually been right all this time. Dare I say that... you've perhaps grown attached to her?"
With each passing second of Lex's silence, the tension in the air only grew thicker, but rather than feeling alarmed, Varen found it oddly amusing.
"... It seems like I've unknowingly struck a nerve." Varen's voice dripped with sarcasm, a shameless glint of amusement flickering in his eyes as he met Lex's venomous glare head-on.
"Well, at least now I have a clear idea of where your priorities lie." Without another word, he silently admitted defeat and stepped aside, giving Lex room to walk past.
Lex simply walked past without a single word spoken, but his silence told Varen everything he needed to know.
At this moment, Kaari was no longer an enemy of the Roseabelles but an ally. An extremely important one.