Bodyguard's Love

Chapter 9

Luana walked into the salon and saw Azusa sitting on a chair by the window. The latter was dressed in a pretty mauve, long-sleeved dress with a pair of black pumps. Her hair was styled in a braid.

She turned her head to look at Luana and gave her a very big smile.

"Good morning, Lulu," she greeted, standing up to hug her.

"Good morning, Azu. It's been a while since we've seen each other," the princess replied.

"Yeah, that's right. I missed you so much."

"Me too. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."

"No, not at all. I just arrived."

"That's good."

"I heard the news of the death of that bastard Slater. Dad told me what happened yesterday."

"Yeah. He died from a suicide spell."

"A suicide spell ?! That's horrible !" said Azusa, horrified.

"You can't imagine how bad it is. Especially when viewed up from close."

"Did he reveal anything ?" she asked, hopeful.

"He confessed that he putted the deadly potion in the drink he gave my parents as a wedding present. He also gave us the name of the antidote and where to find it."

"That's wonderful ! That means we can save your father !" Azusa exclaimed with joy.

"It's not that simple. The antidote is actually a very rare plant that only grows in the center of the Neldor Forest."

"The Neldor Forest ? I've never heard of a forest named like that."

"Neither do I. We think that it's a very secret place that only a few people can access to. That's why I went to the library this morning with Lucas to look up some details about it in books."

"Lucas ? Are you talking about Captain Koraxos ?" Azusa asked, surprised.

"Yeah ? Why ?" replied the young princess, puzzled.

"Since when do you call him by his first name ?"

"I don't know ? Since the time he asked me to ?" she answered nonchalantly.

"He asked you to ?! And you didn't tell me ?! When did he do ?!"

"It's not really that important for me to tell you. And he asked me after my birthday ball, I think..."

"Of course it's important ! Besides, are you sure there's nothing going on between you two ?~" she asked, teasing her.

"W-what ?! W-what are you talking about ?!" asked the princess, blushing slightly.

"It's just that you seem to be very close to each other~ Especially these last days~"

"N-no... There's really nothing between us. You're just imagining things..." she whispered.

Suddenly she remembered when Lucas saved her from falling off the ladder, earlier. Her cheeks, which were initially pink, turned red like tomatoes.

'Why am I thinking about this now ?! It's not like there's anything going on between us... He just saved me... It's his duty after all... But... Why is my heart beating so fast when I'm just thinking about it ?'

"Lulu ?"

The princess stayed silent.

"Lulu ?"

No answer.

"Luana ?!" Azu called out loud.

"Y-yes ?!" she jumped, surprised.

"Are you okay ? I called you a few times, but you didn't answer me. Besides, you suddenly turned all red. Are you sure you're okay ?" she asked, puzzled.