The Extra's Reincarnation-Chapter 111 : Princess Of Elandria (3)

Aziel released her hair from the hood, letting it cascade down her back like a shimmering waterfall.

She gathered her dress and tied it up to her knees, exposing pale legs that had never felt sand or sea.

With a tentative step and then another, she broke into a run toward the water.

Laughter spilled out of her as she splashed into the waves, the ocean embracing her with open arms.

"I'm really here,"

Aziel called out frantically, spinning in the surf as droplets danced around her.

She giggled like a child, lost in her own joy until her gaze fell on Julian.

Her cheeks flushed pink as she realized he was watching.

"Do you... want to play?" she asked shyly, pausing at the water's edge.

Julian sat down on the sand, his usual calm demeanor unruffled by the spectacle of Aziel's uninhibited delight.

He shook his head gently.

"I can't," he replied.

But Aziel's spirit was contagious. She wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Splash...

She paddled back through the edge with a mischievous grin and flicked water at him.

"...!"

It sparkled in the sunlight as it arced through the air and landed squarely on Julian's shoulder.

He looked at her, pretending to be surprised.

"Oh no! It seems the wave managed to hit you from here. I think you gotta fight back!"

She gasped sarcastically, but couldn't hide her laughter when he sprang to his feet and charged toward her.

Kyaaaa!

The fight that followed was inevitable.

Water flew between them as they chased each other along the shoreline—Julian now every bit as engaged as Aziel.

Her laughter mingled with the sound of the waves, mirroring across the deserted beach while they forgot everything except for this moment.

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Neither knew how long they'd been playing when they finally collapsed onto the warm sand breathless and wet, Aziel truly felt happy.

As she propped herself up on her elbows, her eyes sparkling with the last light of day.

She looked at Julian with a soft smile playing on her lips.

"Thank you," she said with honest sincerity, threading through her words like silver.

"I've never... I've never been this happy."

Julian watched quietly as she spoke her out her mind.

"You're the first person to ever take me somewhere simply because I wanted to go. I don't think my father would've ever done something like that for me."

"You've never left Elandria before?"

She shook her head, droplets of water casting off like tiny diamonds.

"Not even once. I was always too afraid, and no one thought I should. But now I've seen the endless sea..."

Her words trailed into the evening air as she looked around, almost as if reassuring herself that none of this would disappear.

"And I've never talked this much before," Aziel added with a laugh that was bright and free.

"Not to anyone. I didn't think I could."

"Why not?"

"I was scared," Aziel admitted, drawing patterns in the sand with her fingers.

"Scared of saying the wrong thing or not being good enough. At home... at home, they only hear what they want to hear."

It was a different kind of freedom than she had felt by the sea—freedom to speak without fear or restraint.

"But not you," Aziel said earnestly, meeting Julian's eyes.

"You don't judge... you don't even expect a single thing out of me because I'm a princess..."

"It's strange. But that doesn't matter, after all, you listen... you really listen."

She paused as emotion welled within her again, a mixture of relief and gratitude so intense she barely knew how to express it.

"Thank you," she said once more, as if those simple words could carry everything she felt.

Julian smiled beneath his mask—a real smile that reached all the way to his red eyes.

For a moment, they both fell silent, but then Julian spoke first.

"We should get going now,"

Aziel, hearing his words, glanced towards Julian and hesitated before offering her hand to him, uncertain yet hopeful.

"Can you... help me up?" she asked softly, her cheeks turning as pink as the sky above.

"Sure,"

He took her hand without hesitation after all what could possibly happen from a gesture of consent?

When Aziel got on her feet, she kept her hand intertwined with Julian's.

"...?"

"W-What are you doing? Don't we have to leave?"

She seemed reluctant to release him after expressing her concern about going.

Julian tried his best to let go of her hand, but Aziel's grip was so tight that he eventually gave up and kept walking beside her.

As they journeyed back, neither spoke, the silence stretching between them like a fragile thread.

Finally, as they neared the city, Aziel gathered her courage to ask what had been on her mind since they'd met.

"W-What's your name?.."

"I'm sorry… but I can't say tell you. For personal reasons."

Julian had a simple and clear mindset when it came to character interaction. It's that those he comes close to will most certainly have an impact on his life.

"Why not?"

Aziel's face fell slightly, confusion mingling with disappointment.

She was aware of her otheworldy beauty and the irresistible charm that could captivate anyone she looked at.

Yet, this time, her charm fell short.

Not only did her beauty fail to enchant this stranger whom she just met, but she couldn't even extract a name from this individual, which deeply wounded her pride.

"It would be best if you forgot about me," Julian said quietly.

"I'll probably be a wanted man soon enough."

But still... the perseverance of a princess can never be swayed once she's started.

If there is one thing she wouldn't want to stop to get at, it's that she'll do whatever it takes to achieve it.

She was a princess, after all, accustomed to getting her way, even if that way was paved with gentle persuasion rather than royal decrees.

"What if I don't want to forget about you? What will you do then?"

"...?"

Julian turned to face her with eyes that were so shocked that for a moment, Aziel thought she had finally broken through his carefully constructed defenses.

His surprise was so obvious that even he cracked under the stoic mask he wore so effortlessly.

It was as if she had asked him a question he had never considered, a possibility that had never even crossed his mind.

"What do you mean?"

Aziel, emboldened by this unexpected reaction, stepped closer.

"I mean, what if I choose not to forget you? What if I want to know more about you? What if I want to… to be your friend?"

She held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest. She had never been this bold before, never so openly defiant of the expectations placed upon her.

But Julian was different. He had shown her a world beyond the palace walls, a world of freedom and connection, and she wasn't ready to let go of that.

Julian stared at her for a long moment. He said nothing, even his expression, though unreadable, had the pressure of silent judgment.

Finally, he faintly smiled back at the Princess.

It wasn't the warm, genuine smile he had given her earlier, but it was a smile, nonetheless.

It was a smile telling her that he had his answer.

"If that's your choice, I won't stop you. It's not exactly something I have control over, is it?"

They reached the outskirts of Silverleaf City, the west entrance soaring ahead like a portal back to reality.

"There's a side entrance you can—"

PYU!...

He didn't finish. Aziel wrapped her arms around him from behind, holding him tightly as though she feared he might vanish.

"If we ever meet again, I want to see you without your mask." Her voice broke slightly.

Aziel reached deep into the pockets of his cloak and pulled out a small hair clip without him knowing.

"haha... I don't think- uh... never mind."

Then, with a last wave, she turned and ran toward the side gate.

Julian stood there, watching until she disappeared from his view.

He touched the place where she had held him and then pinched his cheek.

"I fucked up…"