Aravel

Chapter 69

A/N: This chapter contains smut, proceed with caution.

Kaze waited until it was late at night before making his move.

It was a little past 11 when the door to Kaze's room creaked open gently. Peeking to see if there was anyone around, Kaze made use of his sharp senses to sneak out of his room and through the palace grounds.

Despite having been shown the way only once, Kaze remembered the rough path to where Lunaria's room was from memory. All he had to do was retrace his steps and it would lead him straight to the hallway and stairs leading up to the royal family's private quarters.

The entire time he sneaked past guards and maids, he could feel his heart pounding loudly. This was the first time he had attempted something that felt so illegal, yet already approved by the Empress herself.

"Maybe I should have chosen tomorrow to do this..." Kaze muttered to himself, regretting the fact he was snooping around the palace when he was explicitly told not to.

When he arrived at the foot of the stairs leading to the sleeping quarters of the princesses, Kaze took a deep breath to calm himself first before proceeding.

"What're you doing here?"

"Geh?!"

Kaze turned around to see Lunatea standing there, her arms crossed across her chest. Dressed in what looked to obviously be a sleeping gown, Lunatea had her long red hair tied into a ponytail for convenient sake. She had a slightly suspicious look on her face when she caught Kaze sneaking around.

"Uhh, hello Lunatea... I was wondering if I could look for Lunaria?"

"My sister? Is there something you need from her?"

"Yeah. It's about... Ash."

To this, Lunatea seemed unfazed even though she visibly twitched upon hearing his name. She only continued to stare at Kaze silently.

"... It's already really late. You're going to disturb Lunaria-nee if you visit her now."

"I know, but Laevia-sama gave me permission."

"Mother did...? ... You don't seem to be lying."

With a loud sigh, Lunatea walked up the stairs past him, dragging him along with her once she took his wrist.

"Seriously, showing up snooping around like that. If it was based on my magic sense alone, you would be caught for trying to sneak around our private area."

"S-Sorry. I had to avoid getting questioned by the guards."

"Mother sure is weird. Shouldn't she have informed us about this beforehand... Anyway, you know the direction to Lunaria's room, right?"

"Yes, she showed us the way before."

Letting go of his hand at the living room connecting to the hallways leading to their room, Lunatea placed one hand on her hips and lightly jabbed his forehead.

"I'm going to sleep now. I trust you won't do anything bad to Lunaria-nee right?"

"Even if I wanted to, Lunaria would probably beat me up first..."

"Heh, at least you know that much. Good night."

With Lunatea disappearing into her room, Kaze headed straight to Lunaria's place. As he walked down the hallway that had seemingly become much more menacing and long, Kaze began sweating bullets when thinking about what he was going to do.

"I-Is my clothes too informal? Should I have brought along Felta?" Kaze muttered to himself, looking all around the area to double and triple check he was alright. "Ah, damn it. Here goes nothing..."