Chapter 4

Harumi admired her reflection on the floor as they walked closer towards the throne room. The floors were made of a stone that resembled marble, white in color with blue veins running through it. It was polished to perfection, Harumi's eyes staring back at her from the floor. The walls were made of the same material, blue hand painted details and golden accents decorating them.

They had left the Bounty for repairs, and followed the king's right hand, general Hailmar. Harumi had been around high ranked commanders before, and had worked in a royal palace, but this was nothing like she had ever seen. The elegance of this castle was out of this world, no wonder this whole kingdom was thought only to be a myth; how can something like it exist in the same universe as fast food?

Harumi took it all in, respecting all that she saw greatly. Though, she wasn't the only one. All the other ninja gasped all the same beside her, even Wu's eyes were glimmering with awe.

They walked down a long corridor, its walls decorated with paintings of former monarchs. Harumi tried to eye them all, but the most intriguing one was the very last one. The current king's portrait showed a young man with white skin and black hair. His eyes were a warm brown, a soft smile on his lips. He had a purple diamond between his eyebrows, which all the other monarchs seemed to have as well. None of them wore any type of headwear, so maybe their status was symbolised by that purple diamond. His painting was bright, the colors vibrant and the smile on his lips made the whole painting seem rather cheery. Something Harumi wasn't used to in royal portraits.

They reached the end of the corridor, stepping into a round entrance room. Big white steps rising to their left, giant doors at the top of them.

"This is it," Lloyd whispered under his breath, probably more for himself than for anyone else, but Harumi appreciated it all the same.

General Hailmar flew close to the doors, and pushed them open. The team walked the stairs up, walking into the throne room. It was round in shape, with a tall ceiling. Even though there were multiple windows that brought in lots of natural light, a chandelier hung down from the ceiling. There was a door on the right side of the room, walls decorated with gold detailed columns. In the middle of the room, stood a throne, on which the black haired man sat. Though the king was older than in his painting, he was still recognisable.

"It is with great honor, king Vangelis, that I present the famed ninja of Ninjago," Hailmar introduced the entering team as they walked closer to the throne.

"Welcome, welcome! I'm most pleased that you were able to accept our invitation on such short notice. It is an honor," the king spoke with the same eloquence as Hailmar, though his words came out in a calmer manner. He wore a white kimono, with blue accents and golden details.

"The honor is ours," Wu said, as the ninja reached the throne. They all bowed down. "Shintaro is beyond anything we imagined," Wu complimented, to which Harumi couldn't agree more.

"Your words flatter me, but I am only a mere figurehead of this kingdom. The citizens of our proud city are the true heart of this kingdom," the king smiled from his throne.

"Oh, they're here!" a voice entered the room from the door on the right.

Harumi quickly turned her head to see a woman fly in, a guard at her side. She was beautiful, almost doll-like, her skin white like porcelain, but her eyes green like the forest. Her hair glimmered under the sun like it was made of gold. Her golden hair was styled into an elegant bun. She was also wearing a kimono, but this one only had light blue accents. She had a big smile on her face, excitement covering her features.

"Ah, and please meet my heart, her royal princess Vania," the king introduced, as the woman landed in front of the group.

She quickly bowed down to them, the group doing the same, but then she practically ran over to them, eyeing them excitedly. "I am such a fan!" She exclaimed, giving Harumi a big smile, which Harumi returned with a smaller one. Now that she was closer, Harumi noticed that the princess also had a purple diamond between her eyebrows, only this one was smaller than her father's. "I've read all about your adventures, it was actually my idea to invite you to my birthday," she fathomed, stopping at the end of their row, in front of Cole.

"It's an honor to be here, princess. Is it too early to wish you a happy birthday?" Cole asked with a wide smile.

"Oh, my real birthday is not until Sunday, but I don't mind premature birthday wishes," she smiled with an even wider smile. "I wish to hear all about your journeys and what you have seen!" she claimed excitedly.

The king laughed behind her, Harumi's attention quickly shifting to him, as he flew down from his throne. "All in due time, dear. Let's let them get settled first, shall we?" He said, placing his hands on his daughter's shoulders. She nodded, her expression turning shyer. "We can first show you to your rooms, and for the rest of the evening, you can explore the beautiful city. Dinner is at eight," he smiled, walking ahead of the group, and leading them out of the throne room, guards trailing behind them.

The king showed everyone their individual bedrooms. They were all located in the same corridor, side by side. Harumi's room had a huge, king sized bed with columns and white sheets. A beautiful chandelier hung from the high ceiling, but there was also a smaller lamp on the bedside table. There was a small drawer, and a window showing the clouds and the beautiful city resting below.

Harumi wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do now. She placed her duffle bag on the bed, immediately fearing that she'd stain the white bedsheets. So she placed the bag on the floor instead. She looked around her room in awe, deciding to check out her view. She peeked out her window and breathed in the fresh mountain air. She had never been this high before, the air felt fresh and untouched, even though it was thinner than what Harumi was used to.

Then a knock was heard on Harumi's door. She left her beautiful window view, and opened her door, Princess Vania standing in her door frame with a wide smile!

"Oh, uh, afternoon princess," Harumi was taken aback, but quickly bowed, to which the woman immediately scoffed.

"Please, call me Vania," she waved her hand with a relaxed tone. "I've never liked the title, I don't think it suits me at all," she chuckled, while looking like a literal doll. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything," she asked with a worried expression.

"No, no not at all. I was debating if I should unpack or not, until I got distracted with the mesmerizing view," Harumi said with a small smile.

"It's amazing isn't it. I've grown up here all my life, but the view still amazes me each time," Vania sighed, her expression soft. "I just wondered..." she started, but stopped as she looked for the right words. "I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing," she then sighed, scratching her forehead with an uneasy expression.

"It's okay, prince- Vania," Harumi chuckled. "What were you wondering?"

"I just... I know everyone else that came here tonight. But I hate to admit it but... I don't recognize you," she revealed with careful words. "You're not Pixal or Misako, right?"

Harumi's palm started to sweat at the interaction. Suddenly she felt even smaller than she had felt before. Like an unimportant spec floating through space. Harumi tried to hide her discomfort with a smile and a chuckle.

"Oh uh, no I'm not indeed," Harumi coughed out. "I'm not surprised you don't know me, I'm a um... a new addition to the team," she tried to smile.

"Oh, you are!" The princess exclaimed excitedly, her eyes practically glimmering. "Oh, wow this is even more incredible! What's your power?"

Harumi coughed out uncomfortably again, the uneasiness making her jittery under the princess' gaze. "I uh... I don't have a power," she managed to get out, still trying to force that smile on her lips.

"Oh," The princess said, her expression dropping.

For a moment she was quiet, making Harumi feel even more uneasy. Great, she's disappointed... Harumi thought

"Well that makes you even more interesting," she finally said with a warm smile on her face. "I'm sorry I assumed you had powers, of course you don't need powers to be a ninja, that was dumb of me," she said with a sheepish expression.

"No, it's okay, that's a valid assumption," Harumi chuckled, now more sincere in her smile than before.

"Yeah, but still I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, may you forgive me?" the same sheepish look still on her face.

"Of course I do, honest mistake," Harumi shrugged.

"Oh, good. It's just that... I really wanted to make a good first impression with everyone, but especially you," she smiled.

"What? Why on earth?" Harumi laughed out, her insecurities floating away for a moment.

"Well, I just... when I saw you, you looked like no one else I've ever met. I mean, look at your hand! What's it made out of?" Vania eyed Harumi's prosthetic excitedly.

"My prosthetic?" Harumi chuckled, glancing at it. "It's just made of metal, the hospital made it for me after my arm was amputated."

"Oh dear! Why did your arm get amputated, were you in an accident?" Vania asked, her expression worried.

Harumi's mind traveled back to that tank, where she woke up without her left arm. She will never forget that feeling, never. But she smiled politely and swallowed the horror that returned to her. "Yeah, I was. During Garmadon's reign, I got... or my left arm got crushed and had to be amputated," Harumi explained, a sad sigh still leaving her lips even though she didn't want it to.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, that sounds horrible," Vania gasped, and Harumi smiled weakly. "I'm so sorry, if I was being pushy, I didn't want to bring back awful memories. I just get carried away with my curiosity from time to time..." Vania apologised, her expression sad.

"No, it's alright. I get it, you don't see an amputee everyday," Harumi smiled, pushing down her own sadness.

A small smile spread onto Vania's lips. "You must be the strongest of the team then, having to go through something like that," she smiled.

Harumi scoffed. "I don't know about that, the others have been through plenty of stuff too."

"But they don't have a cool arm to show for it," Vania smiled, a playful swirl in her eyes.

Harumi smiled as she noticed, her body relaxing. "Well, you got me there," Harumi smiled.

The princess looked at her a little while longer before smiling widely. "I'll leave you to it, I'm sure you want to get a look around the city before dinner," she smiled, stepping further away from Harumi.

"Oh, yeah right. I'll see you later pri- Vania," Harumi smiled, closing her door.

"Wait, one more thing!" Vania yelped, and turned around.

"Yeah?" Harumi quickly opened the door again.

"What's your name?" the princess smiled.

"Oh, right!" Harumi face palmed. "Harumi Sato."

Vania's smile widened. "Pleased to meet you Harumi, hope you enjoy your stay," she curtsied quickly, before walking away.

"Did you try the bed? It felt like it swallowed me whole!" Cole chuckled excitedly.

"No, but did you take a look at that view! Breathtaking," Harumi sighed.

The excitement shared between the team buzzed in the air as they made their way out of the castle and into the city. The sun was setting, and it was quite cold outside, so they all had put on jackets. After the rather odd, but also kind of nice, conversation with the princess Harumi had put away her clothes into the drawer, before Lloyd had knocked on her door, stating that the others were ready to leave.

"Have you ever been somewhere likewise, Master Wu?" Zane asked, as the group stepped outside, a cold wind immediately whipped Harumi's skin.

"I have seen many kingdoms in my time, but I have to admit, none of them have been like this," a small smile on Wu's lips.

"I wonder what kinda food they have here," Kai said, the tall white buildings rising all around them.

The paths were made of cobblestone, the streets impressively clean and well maintained. Harumi was surprised by the amount of gardens the city had. Almost every house had a rooftop garden, the streets were lined with flowers and there were impressive floral statues all around the city.

"There's a vendor, let's find out!" Lloyd pointed at a stall standing in front of one of the houses.

Citizens walked here and there, all looking at the group with intrigued smiles and small shy waves. The vendor finished with another customer as the group reached her stall. She turned to look at them with a surprised expression. She had black hair that was tied up into two buns, and she wore a simple yukata.

"Oh, you must be the princess' birthday guests!" The woman quickly curtsied, also speaking in the same manner as everyone else they had met so far. "This is so exciting, we haven't had an outside visitor in many years, let alone have they come down into the city," she smiled excitedly.

"We're so grateful we get to visit, after all your kingdom is considered somewhat of a myth where we come from," Lloyd smiled, the rest of the group gathering around the stall and eyeing what the woman sold.

The ingredients didn't look that different to Ninjago, though she didn't recognize most of the fruits or vegetables on the table. There was also some sort of meat wrapped in cloth, and pouches of something, maybe spices?

"It is amusing to know that your home is considered a myth somewhere, but we take it as flattery," the woman smiled.

"What's your name?" Nya asked with a warm smile.

"My name is Faelen Ventus,"

"Pleased to meet you Faelen, I'm Nya, this is Lloyd, Jay, Kai, Zane, Harumi, Cole and our Master Wu," Nya quickly introduced everyone.

"It is an honor to meet you all," she smiled.

"So, Faelen, can you tell us what are the most interesting things here in your city," Kai inquired.

"Oh, that is a difficult question..." she gasped, her right hand coming up to her lips as she thought about it. "First of all, you need to visit the royal gardens, they are a real haven of peace, even for us citizens. Second, I would recommend the city library and museum. We pride ourselves on our culture and history, so those places are very dear to us. Oh, and each Sunday the town square is filled with dozens of stands, each vendor selling something unique and handmade," the woman explained, her excitement spiking at each point.

"Wow, that's quite a list," Jay chuckled, but Cole quickly nudged him, Jay letting out a yelp.

"Could you maybe write down the locations, it'd be amazing to visit all of these places," Cole smiled.

"Oh, of course!" the woman squatted down and picked up a piece of paper, where she wrote everything she had just said. "Here you go, I hope you enjoy your visit," she smiled, handing the paper over to Cole.

"If I may bother you for a bit longer, could you tell me what all of these wondrous products are?" Wu asked, as the rest of the ninja stepped aside to study the paper.

"Okay, where'd you wanna go?" Cole asked.

"We only have 90 minutes before our dinner with the king. We only have the time to familiarize ourselves with one location," Zane reminded.

"In that case, I vote for the museum," Nya prompted. "Everything else we can do later, but if we visit the museum now, we could learn some interesting facts about this city, which we can elaborate on with the king over dinner," Nya explained.

"Sounds like a plan," Lloyd smiled.

"The museum it is then," Cole said determinedly.

The museum wasn't that far away, only a 15 minute walk. On the outside, it looked like all the other buildings, white in color with a rooftop garden. Only there was a sign above the door: "The historical museum of the Kingdom of Shintaro."

The group got in for free, as they were quests of the king. They asked for a guide, and an old gentleman agreed to give them a quick tour around the museum.

"I have given over 25 000 tours around this museum in my lifetime, please hurry me along if I get too caught up in my stories," the man had chuckled as they started the tour.

"Our ancestors moved to these mountains around a thousand years ago. Before settling, they were nomads herding goats, wandering these mountains for centuries. They had learned to use stone weapons early on, and utilize all kinds of metals and minerals. We have found ancient artifacts of the first wing designs our ancestors wore over 5 thousand years ago!" he explained as the group walked through the first exhibit, showing lots of artifacts: stone spears, pieces of stones that had carvings in them, and pieces of clothing.

"The discovery of this mountain's minerals was a turning point in our history, as that enabled development into sturdier housing, more versatile tools and it also marked the start of trading with other countries and kingdoms as these minerals were highly sought after," he continued as they stepped into the next part of the exhibit.

"King Vangelis was crowned thirty years ago, after his father passed away due to a sudden heart failure. He married Vespera Nix, the only daughter of a goat farmer. The king and the queen had been friends ever since childhood, and they were the sweetest couple. Princess Vania was born, as of next Sunday, 23 years ago to the happiest rulers in all the mountains. But unfortunately their luck ran out as queen Vespera fell ill only a few years after her daughter's birth and passed away," the man sighed sadly, as they were reaching the end of the exhibit.

"That's horrible," Nya gasped.

"The whole kingdom was devastated for months, not mentioning the king. He was heartbroken, but at our lowest point we show our greatest strength. King Vangelis set aside his feelings and stepped up for the kingdom. He lifted this city into prosperity and raised his daughter admirably. In his darkest moment, he showed us what true leadership meant," he had a sweet smile on his lips, his eyes tearing up a little.

"He truly sounds worthy of his title," Harumi smiled.

"He is, he truly is," the man sighed, as they reached the end of the museum.

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"And then Cole turned into a ghost!" Jay explained excitedly.

"You were a ghost?" The princess laughed, as she sat next to Cole.

"Sure was, not the height of my career," Cole chuckled.

"How on earth were you transformed back?" the king questioned.

"Well the following fall, on the Day of the Departed, I managed to do this ritual that turned me back into a human," Cole explained. "I got a scar as a reminder," he lifted his bangs and pointed at the scar still barely visible on his forehead.

The princess studied it closely, leaning in toward Cole. "Wow, that's so cool," she gasped.

"You have fared many tribulations on your journeys," the king smiled.

"Yes, we've faced many villains, but always manage to come out as a team," Lloyd smiled, knowing that that wasn't entirely true.

"That is admirable, your strength as a group," Vangelis smiled.

"Thank you, our master taught us well," Lloyd smiled, looking at his uncle.

Wu quickly looked up from his plate, and a small smile was put on his lips.

After the museum tour they had returned to the castle, quickly changing into something fancy and then heading for the dinner. As a starter there was vegetable soup made out of local vegetables, the main course was goat stew with some sort of potato, and now they were eating the dessert, a fluffy mousse made of local berries.

The food had been delicious, Lloyd couldn't remember the last time he had eaten this fancy. The princess had wanted to hear all about their adventures, which had taken most of the dinner. Though, the ninja also shared some facts they learned from the museum, earning an impressed smile from the king.

"Do you have any stories, princess Vania?" Nya asked, the princess looking slightly taken aback.

"Oh, me?" she chuckled, glancing over to her father. "No, no I haven't been on any adventures myself, my stories consist of pranking Hailmar or the other guards."

"She was quite the rascal when she was a child," Vangelis laughed.

"There wasn't much to do in this castle, besides reading books and causing harm," Vania rolled her eyes playfully.

"What kind of books do you enjoy?" Zane asked.

"Oh, I have loved folktales ever since I was young. Stories of the Great Spinjitzu Master, or of our local legends, like the mythical creatures that live deep in the mountain," Vania smiled. "When I was young, I got so wrapped up in those stories, I even had an imaginary friend, who lived deep in the mountain and came up to visit me," she chuckled, but something in her tone changed. The king laughed over her daughter.

"She had a wild imagination as a child, but those were all just that, imaginary stories," he explained.

Lloyd bit his tongue, almost blurting out "many stories begin in truth" as Master Wu had once told him. Instead he glanced over to his uncle, who was now following the conversation alertly. The two shared a quick look, Lloyd understanding that he had thought the same.

"Can you tell us one," Harumi smiled. "One of your local folktales?"

The princess' smile seemed to falter, ever so slightly, as she quickly glanced at her father.

"Sure," she had a small smile on her lips. "Have you ever heard of the 'Realm Drifter'?" she asked, and all of them shook their heads, even Wu. "According to the legend, thousands of years ago lived a man, capable of travelling between realms. He was a merchant, gathering his merchandise across the different realms and then selling them forward. An inter-realm merchant! But historians state that he was born as a Shintarian! According to them, he grew up in Shintaro growing his own wealth by selling rare minerals and once he had enough, he left the mountains for forever and started travelling between the realms."

"What happened to him?" Lloyd asked.

"No one knows, that's why even his existence is a controversial topic. Some say he died of old age, or was slain by a beast while hunting for rare items. Some even say he was cursed and passed away from going mad," Vania answered.

"Now that I reconsider, I may have heard this story myself as well," Master Wu noted. "But I believe most historians have come to the conclusion that it's just that: a story," he smiled.

"Well, true or not, it makes for a good legend," Harumi smiled.

"I think so too. It was one of my favorites as a child," Vania returned the smile.

After a brief silence, the King clapped his hands together. "I'm certain you've had a long day, we don't wish to keep you up too late. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, we should all get a good night's sleep," he prompted.

"Um, before we go, can I ask something?" Lloyd quickly added, as everyone was starting to stand up.

"Oh, of course. What troubles you?" The king looked at Lloyd with a surprised expression.

Lloyd's neck started itching as all gazes shifted to him. "When could we discuss the letter we sent you about a week ago?" he asked, his tone careful, yet determined.

The king's smile changed ever so slightly. It dampened down, his brows furrowing together. He sighed "Vania, dear, could you excuse us," he looked up at his daughter, who quickly nodded and rose up from the table.

"Good night, everyone," she quickly curtsied and left the room.

Lloyd's gaze returned to the king, who seemed much less cheery now. His hands rested before his chest as he started: "Your letter took us by surprise. A vengestone buyer? Sounds like utter nonsense, as we know better than anyone that vengestone is one of the rarest minerals in this world. For someone to buy large amounts of it, we'd surely know of it." The king sighed and stood up from his chair. He walked over to the big windows in the dining room, looking down into the royal gardens. "The mines under this city were once used frequently, but after..." the king quieted for a moment. "After an incident, the mines were deemed dangerous and they were shut down," he revealed. The king turned to face the table again, hands folded behind his back. His expression was now neutral, the smile had faded from his lips. "It is forbidden for anyone to enter the mines now, so whoever could be selling vengestone to this buyer, it can not be one of us. But if your concern is this grave, then I may send an expedition down there to make sure that no one is mining or selling vengestone from our mountain," he finished.

"Why were the mines shut down? What happened?" Kai questioned.

The king sighed heavily. "I do not have the capability to share that story with you right now," he rubbed his eyes with his fingers, his other hand leaning against the table. "But the more important point is that no one has entered the mines in two decades, I highly doubt any shintarian is down there selling vengestone," he continued.

"Could it be possible that someone else could've snuck into the mines, and started selling?" Jay asked.

"Highly unlikely as well, they would've had to first sneak into our city, avoid the dire bats, get access into the mines, and then somehow smuggle all that product out without anyone noticing a thing," Vangelis explained.

"That's true. And we're not even totally sure if the vengestone buyer is even real, it could just be a rumor," Lloyd pondered. "But, if it were possible in any way, undeniable proof of no one in the mines would be greatly appreciated. You don't even have to send your soldiers, we can also investigate the mines ourselves," he added.

"That is out of the question, you are our guests. I will not put your lives at risk while you are on vacation. I will send a patrol down there first thing in the morning," the king said determinedly. His hand rose to rub his temple. "If you don't mind, I wish to go lie down now. My evening migraines are starting to get the best of me," he seemed to wince.

"Of course, your highness. Thank you for giving us your time," Lloyd smiled with a bow as he stood up from the table.

All of them had returned to their bedrooms, the clock nearing ten. Lloyd sat on the edge of his bed, looking out the window. The night had fallen quickly, it was now nearly pitch black outside.

Millions of things coursed through his mind, his leg restlessly bouncing up and down. He was supposed to be going to bed, but he was feeling more energetic than he had the whole day. Something was uncomfortably twisting in his stomach, some feeling in his gut.

It had been a long day, maybe it's just that he's tired. Maybe he's just overwired about the vengestone buyer, fearing the worst.

His shoulders were nearly at his ears when he realized to relax them. He let out a sigh, and pushed himself up to his feet. He silently opened his bedroom door into the dark hallway. He slipped out and closed the door behind him. He walked across the hallway to the door opposite of his. He tried to knock quietly, hearing shuffling on the other side of the door.

The door opened, Harumi in her black Kuromi pj set on the other side. Her hair was up in a bun, makeup wiped off. But her expression wasn't sleepy, she looked to be just as awake as Lloyd.

"Can I come in?" Lloyd whispered, just loud enough that Harumi could hear.

Harumi nodded quickly, opening the door wider and letting Lloyd slip in. Harumi's room was similar to Lloyd's, some furniture was just in different places. Her bedside lamp was on, a yellow light emitting from it. The bedsheet was rolled open and a sketchbook laid on the bed next to a spot where Harumi had been presumably sitting. Harumi closed the door behind her quietly.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice still just above a whisper.

Lloyd turned to look at her. This was Harumi at her barest, no makeup, no thought-out outfit, no styled hair. Yet Lloyd thought she was the prettiest woman on the planet. Lloyd couldn't help himself but to admire this woman. But when his thoughts turned to what might lie under the pyjama, his ears started to feel hot. Harumi sat back onto her bed, patting for Lloyd to sit next to her.

"Are you okay?" Harumi asked again, this time her expression turning more worried.

"Oh, yeah sorry," Lloyd coughed out, his ears burning at the fact that he had been caught. "I uh..." Lloyd stumbled on his words, sitting next to Harumi, now looking at the floor, avoiding Harumi's gaze. "I just..." he sighed, trying to push his other thoughts back as he tried to remember why he came in here in the first place. Before he was distracted by a literal goddess in front of him. "Does everything seem alright to you?" he finally managed to get out, now turning back up to look at Harmi.

"Alright? What do you mean?" Harumi's expression was puzzled.

"Like does everything seem alright here?" Lloyd tried to make sense of his own thoughts.

Harumi was quiet for a second, now her gaze shifting to travel across her room. "I think so? I mean, I've never been to a fabled kingdom before, I'm not sure what it's supposed to be like here," she said with a shrug and a small smile. "Do you think something's wrong?"

"I'm not... sure," Lloyd sighed, his hand rising to scratch the back of his neck. "I mean, the king seems like a great leader and the princess like a nice lady. The city seems to be more than pleased with their royalty, but I can't help but to feel like... something's wrong, you know?" Lloyd tried to explain the weird swirling in his gut.

"Could it just be about the buyer? Maybe there is someone down there, mining and selling vengestone in secret from the whole kingdom. I mean, this is a big mountain, I think it's a pretty good possibility that somewhere down there some shady business could be happening."

"Yeah, it could just be that. I hope it's just that. Or more so I hope the patrol won't find anything and we'll just go home empty handed and this whole buyer thing will turn out to be just a rumor," Lloyd chuckled.

"That would be the best case scenario. But even if there was someone down there, they're no match for all of you," Harumi smiled, Lloyd's and her eyes meeting.

"All of us, you mean?" Lloyd said with a smile.

Harumi shifted her gaze off Lloyd with a chuckle, but returned shortly after. "Right," she said with a smile, but this one didn't quite reach her eyes.

Lloyd's brows furrowing together, he asked: "Are you alright?"

Harumi sighed deeply. "Yeah, I think so. It's just been a long day, we nearly crashed into a mountain, and now I'm in a castle I couldn't have imagined even in my wildest dreams," she said with a tired chuckle, rubbing her eyes.

"That's true, I'm sorry that I bothered you," Lloyd said, standing up from Harumi's bed.

"No, no, you could never bother me," she said quickly, lifting a hand after Lloyd.

Lloyd's ears turned red at the words, his throat drying up. But a wide smile spread on his lips, his gaze softening as he looked at the woman of his dreams.

"I-I mean," Harumi coughed, a redness rising to her cheeks. "You've always listened to me, and been there for me, I just... want to do the same... for you," she quickly plastered a smile to her lips, her hand retracting to her side.

Lloyd leaned against the pole of her bed, crossing his arms across his chest. "You don't owe me anything, you know that right?" he said with a shy smile.

"I know," she said, her expression turning determined. "I want to be there for you," she smiled.

Lloyd's head dropped to look at his feet, the grin on his face too wide to let Harumi see. He tried to contain himself, running his hand across his mouth trying to wipe the grin off his face. "I appreciate that," he said with a smaller smile. His eyes traveled to her sketchbook. "What are you drawing?" He nudged his head toward the book.

Harumi looked surprised once again, her head turning toward her sketchbook as well. "I uh..." she grabbed the book into her hand. "I started to draw the view from up here," she looked at her window. "I think it's the most mesmerizing I've ever seen," she turned to look at Lloyd, a heavy blush on her cheeks, a small smile on her lips.

"You're going to have to show me once it's done."

"Well see, if you're worth it," Harumi smirked, with a chuckle.

"I'll try to be, promise," Lloyd raised his hands as a sign of defeat. He shifted his weight back to his feet. "I'll leave you to it," he said as he turned and walked to Harumi's door. "Thanks again for listening to me," Lloyd smiled from the door.

A smile spread to Harumi's lips as well. "Anytime," she smiled. "Good night, Lloyd the court jester," she smirked from her bed.

Lloyd chuckled. "Good night, princess Harumi," he whispered, before opening the door.