There was a tense moment of silence between them before Kasser leaned forward in concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She blinked and nodded. “Yes, I’m okay.”

Isthisguypurelynaïveorjustsoft-hearted?

Kasser had faithfully kept his contract with Jin. But since Jin betrayed him, he must have been very infuriated with her.

Eugene remembered the day when Kasser barged into her chambers with a terrifying face. That day was full of resentment and anger, but looking back, he indeed deserved to be that furious with Jin.

Even though she’d lost her memory, it was most likely that she was the one at fault here. But after knowing of the memory loss, the king had not displayed any hint of anger nor brought up that topic again.

He did not even press her to regain the memories she lost at the earliest possible moment. He just replied to everything that she asked, gave her what she needed. And now, he wanted to escort her around the kingdom. He was such a busy man, but that only cemented his sincerity in the offer.

Her feelings of frustration soon subsided.

IfheknewthatIamnotJin—asamatteroffact,anentirelydifferentperson…Howwillhereact? She worried.

“Then, can we go outside without escorts?” She resumed.

Kasser sighed.

“No, we cannot go without them.”

“If that’s the case, can we go with only one escort? Or I’ll just shut myself indoors and stay depressed.”

She huffed in her chair, Kasser stared at her in silence.

How could she make her depressed state a tool for making compromises? But what’s odder was the fact that the very word sounded awkward coming from her lips.

Phwoosh!

A flare had suddenly erupted.

Kasser rose to his feet and hurriedly went to the windows to assess what was happening. Intrigued, Eugene followed him. She stood beside him and watched as the sunny skies were riddled with yellow smoke.

“Huh….” Eugene breathed in wonder, since her time here, she hadn’t seen any flares used with her own eyes. And she’d been here for three weeks, ever since the active period had begun. She watched in childish amazement as the flares gradually began to change colors.

Seeing the flares a couple of times, she began to feel dread settle in her stomach. She remembered that red flares meant danger in the active period. And she didn’t know when it would be, but she could feel that any moment now, it would arrive. Her hands suddenly felt clammy, her chest constricting as she kept watching the flares continue to burst above them.

And from beside her, Kasser moved. With quick hands and feet, he opened up the windows and ran towards the balcony. He stopped at the edge, glancing down, let out a shrill whistle. Eugene followed him, and stopped beside him once more, glancing downwards as well, wondering what the rush was about.

“What are you looking for?”

“Abu.”

As soon as he said that Eugene saw a black horse galloping towards them.

“Your Majesty.” A voice piped up from behind them, making Eugene jolt in surprise. She swiftly turned around and saw a knight, bending his knee to the ground as he offered a sword in the king’s direction.

As if expecting it, Kasser swiftly took the sword and turned back to look at her.

“My queen.”

“Yes?” She squeaked, and she looked at him, but his attention wasn’t on her.

“Let’s discuss the selection of the escort when I return.”

“All right. It’s not urgent anyway.” She agreed, waving him off when he suddenly hoisted himself over the balcony. In one hand was the sword, whilst the other clung on the rails as he prepared to jump over.

Eugene gasped in surprise as she saw him do so and exclaimed.

“Don’t! That’s dang–”

But he jumped off, effectively cutting off any of her protests. Eugene brought a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream and rushed to the rails, when she caught sight of Kasser, engulfed in blue wisps of energy, landing him safely to the ground.

It was the first time she was seeing the king openly use his Praz since the flare exploded. She watched him jump and swing his legs to ride the horse nearing him at great speed. However, no longer was Abu a horse.

The blue energy wrapped around him, and when it gave a burst, Abu had transformed into a black leopard.

She gasped as she watched them jump over walls and run vertically. Feeling the adrenaline leave her body, her knees gave away from beneath her, making her fall to the floor, as her grip on the rails remained.

“Your Grace! Are you all right?”

Several maids rushed out to the balcony to support her.

“I’m fine. I was just a bit surprised.” Eugene mumbled, as they grabbed her and gently escorted her back inside. She clung to them as her support. They sat her on a sofa, fussing over her before one of them left to bring her some warm tea.

The head servant restlessly moved around the sofa.

“Are you all right, Your Grace?” she asked again.

Eugene waved her concerns off.

“It’s not a big deal. No need to report this frivolous happening to the king.”

“Very well, Your Grace.”

The reason why Eugene was astounded was not that she was shocked, but because she got carried away. After all, it was not every day that she witnessed such an unrealistic, mystical scene.

Itwasindeedwonderful!

Then, images began flashing through her mind like a motion picture—the king leaping from the balcony with only one hand grasping the railing, his jumping veiled by his Praz in the shape of a snake, and hopping on to Abu’s back which turned into a beast—all of these scenes kept replaying inside her head like a film.

But she knew it wasn’t a fake video produced with fancy special effects. All of it was real, it had happened right before her eyes.

With both her hands, she brought the teacup to her lips as soon as it had slightly cooled. Her heart still throbbed. She was mesmerized by the king’s demeanour as he leaped over the railing.

He seemed a little indifferent, but he knew his strength quite well. She reckoned she now understood what the charisma needed to reign over the people meant.

The door of the reception room opened as Marianne rushed in. Eugene smiled as she gazed at her ghastly pale face.