Eternal Love (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 10

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Sana was the next to come in.

"Good morning," she greeted.

Gulf told himself that Sana knew nothing of what had happened the night before. This let him pretend that nothing really happened.

"Good morning," he replied pleasantly. "Although it's already afternoon. I guess  I was really worn out."

Sana smiled at him. "I'm glad you slept well. You look much better than you did yesterday."

He had mixed feelings about her compliment, knowing what it was  that had made him sleep so soundly. "...Thank you."

Sana pushed a cart loaded with food into the room. He wanted to be stubborn and refuse the food, but his stomach was completely empty. That was only natural, since he hadn't eaten anything since coming to Saria.

"Thank you for bringing it all the way here," he said.

"Not at all," Sana answered. "Prince Mew asked me to bring it to you. He had to go to the palace in Madina on official business, but he plans to return this evening."

"I see," he murmured.

So Mew couldn't take him to the main palace in Madina after all. He realized that Mew's choice of the Saria palace was motivated by the fact that the man didn't anyone to know Gulf was there. If others knew that the prince had abducted someone, even a man as powerful as Mew have some question to answer. And if his family decided to investigate the relationship between them, Mew would never be able to tell the truth.

"Would you prefer coffee or tea?" Sana inquired.

"Tea, please," Gulf said.

He had a turkey and ham sandwich and fruit then yogurt. It was a menu just as well-suited to breakfast as to lunch.

"I'll leave your clothes here," Mew said.

"Thank you."

Sana looked uncomfortable at the gratitude Gulf showed for everything.

"Please don't thank ne," she said. "This is my job, and his majesty asked that I treat you as a nobleman."

Arabian countries were different. This was a country where class divisions had been inherited for generations. The more Gulf acted polite, the more uncomfortable Sana would become.

"All right," he agreed pleasantly and changed the subject. "In that case, I'd like to see more of the palace. Can I take a look outside after I eat?"

He presumed that she saw him as a guest of Mew's. He approached the subject casually, as if he only wanted to sightsee. That would be natural for a guest. But his real intention was different---he was going to find a way to escape the palace.

The country of Madina was big. Like the majority of Arabian countries, the better part of Madina's national wealth was generated by oil. The huge amounts of oil money that Madina took in made the country prosperous, and, at the same time, enriched the coffers of the royal family. The lifestyle of Madina royalty was at a level of luxury that not even the wealthiest people could begin to approach.

And the amount of money that tourists contributed to Madina made up a not insignificant percentage of the nation's income. Guidebooks publicized the country's appeal, always mentioning the extraordinarily lavish public buildings and the deserts that tourists could visit unguided.

"We're close to the city, right?" Gulf asked. "So tourist should be able to go hiking in the deserts here?"

"Yes," Sana answered. "It taked less than two hours to get from the city of Madina to Saria."