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You lean back against the tree trunk, your fingers grazing over the rough bark that’s become all too familiar by now. It’s the same tree you first laid eyes on an hour ago—the same twisting roots at its base, the same small cluster of mushrooms growing in a neat little circle, the same six daisies nodding gently in the breeze, their white petals almost taunting you. Beside them, a patch of buttercup flowers seems to glow under the soft light, their golden hue vivid against the green grass.
In normal circumstances, you’d think this was a pretty place. Now that you’ve seen it 16 times, it just annoys you.
You sigh in frustration, your eyes narrowing at the scene before you. Sixteen times now. Sixteen times you’ve passed this same damn tree, the same mushrooms, the same flowers. It’s like nature itself is mocking you, caught in some kind of endless loop that you can’t seem to break out of.
The realization that you’re circling the same spot tightens the knot of irritation in your chest, and you kick a small pebble near your foot, watching it roll away as if it knows the way out when you clearly don’t.
“This is fucking ridiculous…” you said as you slumped up against the trunk, taking out your canteen to drink some water. The hood that covered your head fell down, exposing your h/c hair.
You were doing some commissions from the Adventurer’s Guild to earn your living expenses. If you weren’t doing comms, you’d be working at a small tavern in the heart of the Germonia Kingdom. Nowadays, you sort of lessened your time at the tavern, since the Queen of Germonia had become obsessed with finding this ‘beautiful prince’ from the neighboring country.
You had never seen the prince, but apparently he had skin as white as snow, hair that shined and glimmered in the sunlight, and eyes that were an enchanting red color.
You never really cared for politics and whatnot, but soon, news of the Prince’s disappearance rang out through the kingdom. The queen had become outraged at how the prince refused her proposal and ran away just to avoid her.
So now, she had ordered guards and bounty hunters to find and locate the lost prince. To the public, she announced it as a means of “helping” the neighboring kingdom find its lost prince, though everyone (at least those with a brain) knew she was doing it to get the prince’s hand in marriage as a reward.
That wasn’t any of your business though. You were nothing but a mere Rank A adventurer who liked to complete commissions for a living.
Which is what you were doing right now. The commission you accepted was specified for Rank S Adventurers. You were able to accept it because when ranking up, you have to meet a certain amount of reputation points and complete at least 1 commission of the higher rank. In this case, you already had all the rep points you needed and was now just missing the Rank S commission completion.
You thought it would be easy: Go to the Vanarana Forest and obtain 10 of the rare Viparyas Flowers and bring them back to the Guild for further authentication.
This “easy” quest, however, was proving to be quite the hassle. You sighed again as you ran a hand through your hair, some of the strands slicked with sweat as you looked back at your compass.
The compass had proven to be useless here. You weren’t sure why, but it seemed that the cardinal directions and the magnetic field in the forest was wacky, causing the needle of your compass to go haywire.
Another legend you read about the forest when you were researching it was that those who entered would get tricks played on them by these magical creatures called Aranara. Only those who held visions were able to see them and if they like you, they will allow you to pass through their protective barrier.
You didn’t know how you’d get these creatures to ‘like’ you, or if they even existed. But seeing as you’ve done a loop around the same area for 16 times despite only walking straight made you think that these Aranara’s were actually real.
“When will this end…” you whined as you placed the back of your head against the tree.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Prince Kaveh’s POV]
Kaveh was the first prince of the neighboring kingdom of Sumeru. He was loved by all and was knowledgeable in all his subjects, specifically architecture. Since his graduation from Sumeru’s Akademiya, he had gone over to the Kingdom of Germonia to study the kingdom’s architecture which differed from Sumeru’s.
Despite his younger sister, Princess Kusanali’s, pleas for him not to go away, he managed to convince her. “I’ll come back after 3 months. I just want to see the buildings there, okay?”
“Okay, but make sure you come back! Father, Mother, and I will worry!” the young princess said as she gave her brother a big hug.
“I promise!”
Of course, currently, he was breaking that promise. Being a prince, he had to meet the kingdom’s royal family first before he could do anything in the kingdom. Both for ensuring the safety of the kingdom’s prince in the case that anything happens to him as well as public relations of both kingdoms.
After meeting the queen, he realized that she had become obsessed with him. Always “coincidentally” running into him, punishing people that talked to him, and even going as far as to try and spread rumors of their engagement despite not even talking about anything of the sort.
Thus, he ran away. He was aiming to go back home, but something happened to the carriage he was on and it caused him to fall into Vanarana Forest.
He was scared at first, being lost in the forest of a foreign kingdom wasn’t something he had planned on. But after hours of walking around, he had seen a small village. And no, he didn’t mean a village with 4-5 houses, he meant a small village.
Everywhere he looked amongst the foliage were miniature houses with cute little creatures in them. “Ah, a human-nara!”
Catching the attention of his friends, the other Aranara’s appeared before Kaveh. “Wh-...what are you?”
The Aranara looked at each other before jumping. “We are the Aranara! Our home is the Vanarana Forest!”
Vanarana Forest? But I heard people get lost here easily…
“How did I end up here?” Kaveh asked, kneeling down onto the floor to better talk to the small creatures. “I thought this forest didn’t allow people in here?”
“It doesn’t!” another one spoke up.
“But you’re a good nara so the forest welcomes you!” another adds.
“I see…” Kaveh said before going quiet. “So I’m able to be in here because I’m a ‘good nara?’”
“Mhm!”
“Would you like to watch us sing?” a purple one piped up, appearing behind the prince who jumped slightly in response.
“Um…” he thought to himself for a moment.
Staying here wouldn’t be so bad, right? If the forest let me in here because I’m good, then that means it keeps out ones who are bad. So I’ll probably be free from the Queen of Germonia here…
“You know what?” Kaveh said as he looked back at the purple Aranara. “Why not?”
“Yay!!!” the Aranara’s joy filled the air as they led Kaveh to where they were going to sing.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Your POV]
Getting up from your spot, you sighed. You gathered your stuff into your backpack before putting it on and turning the way you came from. “If the forest is playing tricks on me, I might as well try later.”
It wasn’t like you were in any rush to become an S ranked adventurer, so you decided that for now, you’d set up camp nearby since the sun was starting to set. You’ll wait until the following day to try again. You put your hood up to keep the sunlight from your eyes and started walking.
As you make your way out of the forest, you hear a voice in the distance followed by the sounds of something else– something that you haven’t heard before.
Walking slower and quieter, you made your way closer to the sounds. You peeked over the tall shrub and your eyes widened.
A large pond with a plethora of flowers, shrubs, and other greenery surrounding it. There was a small stream that led into it, water gliding over the mossy rocks as they fell into the body of water. Both hovering above the water and scattered on the ground around the pond were these weird leaf-clay-like creatures. But that wasn’t what caught your eye. No.
Sitting on a rock near the miniature waterfall was a handsome man. His skin was as pale as snow, cheeks flushed like the soft hues of the evening sky, and hair as golden as the sunlight. He hummed alongside the weird magical creatures beside him. The dimming light of the evening sun’s light passed through the leaves of the trees casting a golden light around him that made it seem as if he was a forest nymph.
Unknowingly, you had already stood up all the way, not even bothering to stay squatted down to conceal your presence.
“A fairy…” you whispered to yourself when suddenly, the man’s head snapped to look at you. Startled by the sudden movement, you ended up falling back onto your butt. The man flinched back, scrambling to his legs while the creatures he was with suddenly vanished.
The man looks around with posthaste before bending down and grabbing a rather large stick that was almost half his size. Taking the stick, he points it at you.
“You! Who are you?!” he asked, voice full of authority. “Are you one of the queen’s henchmen out to get me?!”
You put your hands out in front of you, shaking them quickly. “Woah woah woahhhh, let’s calm down, shall we?” you asked as you paused, waiting for the man to relax.
The man softened his stance slightly, but he still kept his guard up, keeping the stick pointed at you. “Why are you here?”
“I’m Y/n, an A rank adventurer,” you greeted as you stood up, dusting yourself off. “I don’t know why the queen would have your head or whatever, but I’m just here to pass the qualifications to rank up.”
The man eyed your body, eyes glancing over your shoes all the way up to your hood. His eyes stayed narrow, showing you how suspicious he still felt about you. “Hm…what do you think, Arashani?”
“Ara-who?” you questioned before something spoke up.
“I think they’re telling the truth!” a mysterious voice says. You quickly look around for the origin of the voice when you see one of those creatures from earlier pop up right by your foot.
“Ahh!” you screamed as you jumped back. “Wait- are you an Aranara?? I can’t believe they’re real!!”
You lean in a bit closer to examine it, and unlike earlier, it doesn’t disappear or get scared. “I thought they were only in stories!”
Arashani placed its hands on its hips and huffed. “We are very real, for your information!”
You sweat-dropped, rubbing your arm awkwardly. “Right, I apologize.”
You look back at the man who stares back at you. He lowered his stick, the makeshift weapon no longer pointed at you.
Why would such a person like him be out here? He sounds like a little kid… The man thought as he looked over your stature once more.
“What about you?” you asked and the man was pulled out from his thoughts.
“What?”
“Your name? It’s kinda rude if you don’t introduce yourself, you know.”
“Pardon, I am Pr…Kaveh. Just Kaveh.” Kaveh introduced and you nodded.
“Nice to meet you then, Kaveh. Though I was wondering…” your voice trailed off as your head moved to look at the Aranara standing in between you and the man. “You’re…friends with the Aranara, right?”
“I suppose you can say that,” Kaveh answered as more Aranara started popping out, curious as to who you were.
“If it’s alright with you, may I please have a few Viparyas Flowers?” you asked as you showed him a picture of them so he knew what you were referring to. “I need them to level up in rank. Just one is fine…”
“That’s not my part to offer,” Kaveh said before he motioned for you to look at the Aranara’s instead.
“What will you give us in return?” Arashani asked as the others grouped closer.
“Hm…” you think for a moment before grabbing something from your bag. “What about these?”
The Aranara look closer before their eyes widen with curiosity. You pulled from your bag a Silk Flower you had grabbed before leaving the Kingdom to sell off since they make great perfumes when their scent is extracted.
“What is this thing, Y/n-nara?”
“Y/n…-nara?” you questioned before Kaveh spoke up.
“It’s their way of saying you’re a friend to them.”
“I see,” you said before handing it over to Arashani. “They’re called Silk Flowers that are grown in the Kingdom of Liyue. I have more flowers I can trade for the Viparyas Flower!”
Without much thinking, the Aranara’s collectively nodded. “Ok! Come with us!”
They were going to take you into their forest so that you didn’t get lost by the forest’s enchantment. You stood up and were about to move to follow the creatures when you saw a glint in the corner of your eye. Without thinking, your body moved on its own and you ran towards Kaveh before tackling him.
“Wah!” Kaveh screamed as he fell over with you on top of him. He heard you curse before getting up, leaving him confused on the floor. “Hey what was that fo-!!!”
Another arrow whizzed past you both and hit the tree trunk right behind Kaveh, barely grazing his face. “Quick, get behind me!” you yelled before getting up and bringing your sword out. Kaveh does as you said and gets behind you.
You made sure to keep your hood up, scared the assassins would recognize your face in the chance you both got away safely. You placed an arm out to guard Kaveh behind you while your other hand wielded your sword, its two-edged blade guarding your torso diagonally.
A group of 10 people appeared from behind the trees and bushes. They all wore clothes resembling regular adventurers, though you knew they definitely were assassins. The men didn’t even bother covering their faces, confident that they’d kill you both so that there were no witnesses.
“Give us the Prince, and we’ll let you go!” one yells out to you and your body visibly stiffens.
Prince?
Your head didn’t move, but your eyes did briefly look over at Kaveh. “And if I don’t?”
“Then don’t beg us to spare your life.”
With that said, the 3 men near the front raced forward as the ones in the back moved to reload their crossbows.
“Run!” you shouted at Kaveh before running forward to meet the 3 men in the middle. As one came to you, you raised your sword and sliced off the first man’s chest since he left it wide open. He screams in agony as he fell to the floor, clutching his chest.
The other two ran up on either side of you, the one on the left quickly swinging his short sword near your neck area while the other stood by to catch your next move. You quickly duck out of the way, kneeling down before reaching forward and grabbing the man by his belt.
With your strength, you quickly pulled him next to you, his footing becoming unbalanced as you launched his falling body onto his comrade, both men getting the wind knocked out of each other as they fell to the ground.
You quickly got back up to your feet and kept running, making your way to the men armed with crossbows near the back. One shot at you, which you quickly hit away using your sword. You take advantage of the man reloading his crossbow in a hurry and run up past him.
You swing your sword up before bringing the handle of the sword down onto the nape of the man’s neck. He grunts in pain before collapsing onto the floor. You quickly sheathe your sword and reload the crossbow with 3 arrows before continuing your offense.
From the corner of your eye you could see Kaveh dealing with a guy. Despite only having a stick on him, Kaveh was holding up pretty well, knocking his opponent unconscious after whacking him upside the head with the stick.
As you make your way towards the alleged prince, you notice a man sneaking up behind him. Steading your crossbow, you aim at Kaveh’s chest.
“Duck!” you yelled as the blonde's head turned your way. Swiftly, he drops to the floor and moments later, your arrow was where he was at. Kaveh hears a groan behind him and looks up, only to see a man clutching the arrow stabbed into his shoulder, two other arrows stuck onto the trees on either side of him.
That was close… Kaveh thought as he scrambled back to his feet. He looks back at you and something in his chest tightens. I wonder where this young man learned how to fight …
You jog back up to Kaveh, throwing the crossbow down as you catch your breath. “Prince? You were the missing Prince of Sumeru?”
You didn’t mean to raise your voice or for it to sound as if you were scolding him, but due to the out-of-breathiness and adrenaline coursing through your veins, you couldn’t help it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive you. I was just-” Kaveh’s explanation was cut off as you raised a hand up.
“It’s fine, I’m not mad. You can explain later, but for now, we need to get out of here.”
Kaveh nodded, agreeing that this place wasn’t the best place to hold a conversation like this– especially after the assassination attempt. “You’re right. Come, we can enter the Vanarana where they won’t be able to follow us.”
You hesitated. “But I thought I couldn’t enter that place? I was trying earlier for the flowers but I kept going in circles for hours.”
Kaveh shook his head, holding out his hand. “The Aranara approved of you. Remember? You gave them a silk flower.”
“I guess so. Alright, let’s go.” you said as you took his hand. Unbeknownst to you two, one of the men had gotten a hold of the crossbow you had dropped and reloaded it. All you heard was the sound of string being pulled back when your body moved before you could think.
“Watch out!” you screamed as you moved in front of Kaveh. You felt an excruciating pain rip through your abdomen as your voice got caught in your throat, rendering you unable to scream out. Only a pathetic whine escaped your lips as your body was caught by Kaveh.
“Y/n!!” the prince yelled as he grabbed the knife secured on your thigh harness and threw it at the assailant. The knife pierced into the man’s arm as he dropped the bow as a result.
Kaveh focused his attention back on you and saw how the arrow impaled your back. From what he could assess from the outside, it was far from any of the vital points and luckily didn’t pierce through your stomach, but the injury itself was something not to be taken lightly.
“Sorry, bear with the pain for a bit.” Kaveh apologized before he bent forward. Kaveh placed his shoulder near your diaphragm before wrapping one arm around your thighs while the other supported your lower back, making sure to avoid the area where the arrow was stuck.
He stands back up, lifting you off the ground as he runs through the thicket, avoiding low-hanging tree branches and vines that could get caught in the arrow’s fletching.
You grunted and hissed in pain as he carried you, feeling your muscles contract around the wound. Kaveh mutters strings of apologies, reassuring you that it’ll be all fine and to just bear with it until you get into the safety of the forest’s magic.
After what felt like forever, the scenery around you changed, the sky turning a hazy purple while the vegetation turned into something from a fairytale or other world. You see huts and houses of differing sizes, some with Aranara’s peeking out from the doorways and windows.
Voices around you seem muffled, but you can sort of make out Kaveh’s panicked voice. “Hurry!.../n in the…med…ne!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
You woke up, yet you couldn’t see anything. You wanted to open your eyes, but your eyelids were too heavy and your body felt too sore to care, so you opted to just stay put. You recalled the events before you passed out, but couldn’t remember anything after.
You realized your body was facing down on something soft like a mattress. Mattress? Did Aranara even have mattresses? Whatever it was, it felt really soft, fluffy, and relaxing. You hear something come into whatever place you were in before shutting the door behind them. Judging by the heaviness of the footsteps, it was not an Aranara.
Kaveh
Your eyebrows knit together as you force your eyelids to separate, quickly closing back as light pooled into your vision.
You blinked the light and blurriness away before your eyes focused on the prince’s back as he faced away from you, doing something on a table next to where you lay. You breathe in deeply, opening your mouth to speak but you suddenly get a flurry of coughs.
Kaveh quickly turns to you and holds a cup of water, sitting down next to you as he helps soothe your back. “Y/n! You’re finally awake!”
Your coughs die down and Kaveh slowly helps you up into a sitting position. He hands you the water and you hold onto the cup, but he continues to help guide the glass to your mouth, knowing that you still didn’t have enough strength to drink without spilling anything.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?” Kaveh questioned as he let you finish up your water.
You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand as you sighed, feeling his warm hand still rested against the middle of your back. “I’m fine. Thank you, your highness. If only I had noticed sooner or actually incapacitated them all, something like this wouldn’t have happened.”
Kaveh sets the cup to the side and faces you. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I was trained in combat since I was a child yet you did all of the fighting. If anything I should be thanking you. You didn’t even hesitate to get shot in my place. I should be the one apologizing. Especially since you’re a…woman.”
“Yes I am a wom-...wait, did you not notice I was?” you asked, expression going from apologetic to confused and bewildered. Did he actually think you were a man?
You notice a pink dust to his face as he turns away from you, coughing into his free hand. “I assumed you were a boy no older than 16 from your voice and build. But after carrying you back, I ended up feeling something against my chest and everything sort of came together…”
You didn’t even know what to say. I mean sure, you had your hood on the whole time even after meeting him, but was it that much of a difference? Hearing nothing but silence made Kaveh panic and begin spitting a plethora of words.
“O-of course I didn’t mean to touch anything! I don’t have that intention at all! I just wanted to make sure you were fine so I undressed you in a hurry but once I saw the top of your chest I immediately went to cover it back up and quicklymovedtoyourbackIswearIdidn’t-!”
You looked back up at Kaveh to see his face even redder than before, steam coming up the top of his head as he looked like he had just overheated. A smile makes its way to your face and you laugh. “I understand, your highness. You just wanted to heal me, is alright?”
Kaveh nodded but then frowned. He held your wrist and you looked up at him, eyes blinking in confusion. “That…don’t call me your highness. Just Kaveh is fine.”
“But it’s rude for a commoner to refer to one with such a rank as yourself just by your name!” you said and he shook his head.
“I like hearing you say my name,” Kaveh said, his eyes holding a soft look. “Only my younger sister calls me by that name. If she doesn’t call me that, then I believe I would have long forgotten that name myself. If it really is too much for you to just call me that, then think of it as an order.”
Your heart softened at his explanation. He didn’t really say much but you can tell what he meant. He’s always been called by his title– Prince, his royal highness, the sun of Sumeru, etc– never by his own name.
“Alright, I’ll call you Kaveh, then.”
Kaveh looked at you and smiled. He lets go of your wrist before getting up. “Good. Now, turn around so I can dress your wounds.”
“Oh, it’s fine, Kaveh. You’ve already done so much, I can do this myself.”
“Yeah right. I’ve been taking care of you for a whole week now so it's only fair that I see this until you’re fully healed.”
“A…A WEEK?!” you yelled, your sudden outburst causing Kaveh to jolt and drop a cotton ball.
“Y-yes…? You were out for a week…” Kaveh confirmed and you looked down at your lap.
A week? Why would I be unconscious for that long? It doesn’t even feel like it’s been that long .
As if reading your thoughts, Kaveh answered. “It turns out that arrow was poisoned. Thankfully it wasn’t a deadly one and was one I’ve come into contact with before, so I knew how to take care of it. Though, the Aranara did help me.”
Something he’d come into contact with before? That sentence made it clear that although he was a royal, that position was just as deadly, if not deadlier, than being any other person.
He probably had come into contact with assassination attempts like the one before where he could have had guards at his side, or when he was alone. Either way, you were glad to have been there to help him.
If the queen of your kingdom really hired those men to incapacitate him and take him to her, you were even more glad you were there to help. It boggled your mind that the nobility in your kingdom didn’t even think to try and keep the royals in check, but then again, with her being the highest ranking person, she had the ability to behead them.
Sensing your uneasiness, Kaveh rubbed the side of your arm, his warm palm coming into contact with your cooler skin. “Come on, you’ll feel better after changing out of those clothes. You just got over a fever last night, so you must be sweaty.”
Not waiting for your response, Kaveh went behind you and started untying the knot at the front of your shirt before beginning to unbutton the blouse. Your cheeks heated up before your hands held him in place.
“I can undress myself!” you said before he lifted his hands away from you and let you undress yourself. He sighs softly, glad that your thoughts were focused on something else now.
“Alright, let me know when you’re done. Do you need help standing?” Kaveh asked as he stood up, turning his back to you as you managed to undo all of the buttons of your shirt.
“If you could just stand there, I can prop myself up using your shoulder.” you said before slipping your shirt off your shoulders and letting it pool behind you.
Kaveh gave a curt nod as he felt your hand reach up and hold onto his shoulder. He stiffened up so that he wasn’t unstable and felt you put your weight onto him. Your legs are wobbly at first– it was a given since you hadn’t walked for a whole week– but you were able to steady yourself with Kaveh’s shoulder.
Once you felt like you were good to go, you slowly let go and started untying the strings on your pants. You let them pool to the ground before you carefully sat back down onto the mattress.
Now, you only wore your underwear, your bra folded nicely on the edge of the bed since it would have prevented your blood properly circulating to the wound. “Okay, I’m done.”
“Okay, let me get the cloth and water and I’ll help you.” Kaveh said before walking to the counter where he placed the said items. Instead of grabbing them and walking back to you normally, once he turned, you noticed his eyes were closed.
As if having done this a million times, he maneuvers to stand right in front of you, turning and bending slightly to place the bin of water, cloth, and medical equipment on the bedside table. He lifts up another long piece of black cloth and places them over his eyes before securing it around his head.
“Like I said, I haven’t looked at your body after learning you were a woman. It felt indecent to gaze upon your body while you were unconscious, even if all I was thinking of was healing you. I’ll start now, is that fine?” Kaveh asked and you nodded, mentally hitting yourself as you realized he couldn’t see.
“Yes, you can.”
Kaveh raised his sleeves up so they rested above his elbows before dipping the cloth a few times into the basin before wringing the excess water out. He held out his hand for you to take and once you did, he began wiping your arms down.
The coolness of the water both caused your warm body to jolt at the contrasting temperatures, yet it also felt relieving. The cloth travels up and down your arms a few times before moving up past your shoulders and behind your neck. Despite sitting down on the bed while Kaveh kneeled on the floor, your height was nearly identical to his.
You turned your head to the side to avoid his face from being in front of yours as he reached behind you. Carefully, he guides the cloth over the top half of your back, his other hand taking note of where the bandages were to avoid grazing over your injury.
The injury was nearly healed now thanks to the magic of the Aranara’s and Kaveh’s careful cleaning and maintenance. Though it still hurts to move around and strain. Kaveh felt your body jolt softly as he dragged the cloth down your back, assuming you were slightly ticklish.
Kaveh finished that area and withdrew, putting the cloth back to submerge into the cold water and wringing out the excess water once again. He hands the folded cloth over to you. “Here, in case you wanted to wipe somewhere where you don’t want me to.”
Getting his hint, you take the cloth and wipe your chest and nether regions. After you finished, you vocalized it to him and he quickly wrung it back out in the basin. Kaveh backs up a bit before holding his hands out.
“I’ll help wipe your legs now since you can’t bend down too much in case you strain the injury.” Kaveh said. You held onto his hands and he helped you stand back up. “You can hold onto my head or shoulders if you feel unstable.”
“Thank you,” you said before you placed your hand atop his head. His golden hair was so soft and light. You noticed his usual red clips were missing, his hair falling past his shoulders and framing his face perfectly. Your breath hitched as you felt coldness compress onto your thigh.
Seeing Kaveh kneeled in front of you, eyes blindfolded while you were 95% naked was truly a test of resilience. Had anyone walked in at this moment would think your hobbies were quite eccentric. Wanting to get these thoughts cleansed from your mind and replace the silence in the room, you opted for a little question and answer with Kaveh.
“Do you just live with the Aranara out here now?” you asked. This question caught Kaveh a bit off guard since he briefly stopped his hands from wiping before continuing.
“ A bit, yes. I’ve sent word to my kingdom that I’m fine and that they need not look for me. They know Germonia’s queen is out looking for me, but since we are a smaller nation with our supporting nations being on the other side of us, we cannot afford to start any wars.”
“I’m sorry about our queen…I don’t know why she has such a fixation on you. I mean you are handsome, but that’s no reason to act so desperately…” you spoke your mind, hoping there weren’t any Aranara who were friends with her to tell her that you were badmouthing the queen.
“It’s alright, it's none of the people’s fault,” Kaveh said as he finished cleaning a leg and moved onto the next one. “So I informed my parents and younger sister that I won’t return until I’ve a partner I want to marry.”
“Marry? But don’t royals need to marry someone near their social standing or equal? Like another princess or a duke’s daughter?” you asked, wondering if you got your knowledge wrong.
“No, you’re right. Though, my kingdom doesn’t care for that. Our nation believes in marrying for love, so my parents will be fine with my decision as long as I’m happy and that the person I pick is fit to be queen.”
“And what does ‘fit-to-be-queen’ necessarily mean?”
“Someone who is selfless, who cares for not only herself, but her family and the citizens' well-being. Of course they have to love me back as well, not for money or the title and rank, but someone who likes me for being me.”
“I see. Was that why you didn’t introduce yourself to me as the Prince of Sumeru? Because you thought I’d go for your money as soon as I heard you were of higher standing or had some ulterior motive?” you asked, teasing the blond man.
Although he couldn’t see you, you saw his eyebrows knit together as he looked up at where he thought your face was. “No! I never thought of you in that light. Plus, even after you’d learned my identity, you still helped me. Even going as far as to take an arrow for me.”
“What if I did all of that because I was aiming for a reward at the end?” you asked. You would never think of it that way, but it made you wonder just how much would Kaveh really let you get away with.
Kaveh was silent for a bit, genuinely thinking to himself what would he do if you were just using him to get a reward after. Truly he knew you weren’t. He knew you had a clear conscience based on how the Aranara’s let you into Vanarana and just his gut feeling about you. But the question you asked really put him in a tight position.
Kaveh rises from his spot on the floor and holds onto your shoulders, his face tilted at an angle so that it seemed like he could actually see through the blindfold.
“Then I’ll give you a reward.”
Skip.
Your eyes widened as your heart skipped a beat. The way his voice dropped into a lower, softer tone, and the way he gave your shoulders a squeeze as he said it. Something was wrong. Something definitely was wrong.
No way, Y/n…he’s a prince!
But his kingdom doesn’t care for status …
Even so, you can’t possibly be serious!
Your inner thoughts clashed as you tried to see which one you’d follow. You couldn’t possibly have fallen in love with Kaveh this quickly, right? A crush? Sure. Maybe. Yes. Finding people pretty or handsome is something regular. But love? Impossible. It’s too soon.
“In this drawer is a change of clothes. They’ll be a bit big on you since they’re mine, but they’re clean,” Kaveh informed as he pointed to the bedside table/drawer he had placed the basin on top of. “I just remembered you need to eat something and take your medicine, so I’ll clean these up first and bring them back. After you eat, I can help change out your wound’s dressings.”
“A-alright…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[Time skip]
It had been almost a month since your injury had healed. Once you had gotten better, you went back into town. Kaveh wanted to come with you in case those men were back, but you insisted on going alone.
The assassins from before never saw your face, so if you waltzed around in town, there was a very low percent chance you’d get attacked in the middle of town. Additionally, you may not be a noble, but everyone in the town knew you since you’d help them out so often. If you needed to hide from assailants, everyone would be more than happy to help hide you away.
Even if those assassins came back, it would be even more dangerous if Kaveh himself was there. Not only would it be easier to present him to the queen, but it would also cause more men to join in as back up, all focused on getting that reward money.
After coming back into town, you immediately gave the guild the Viparyas flowers and ranked up. Now, higher level commissions with greater rewards are available to you.
Walking around the corner, you ended up bumping into something. You stumbled back and heard something fall to the ground.
“Oh dear!” an old woman’s voice cried out as you looked down, seeing her and her basket of goods scattered on the floor.
“I’m so sorry!” you apologized profusely as you aided the elderly woman back to her feet. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you hurt or injured anywhere?”
You quickly gathered up her fruits and placed them back in the basket. Standing back up, you handed her her stuff back and she waved her hand.
“I’m alright, young lady. But what should I do…” she said before looking down at your torso. Your eyes followed hers and saw how your cloak was red and blue with seeds scattered around them. “I’ve dirtied your cloak.”
“Don’t worry about it! It’ll wash off.” you said waving your hand out in front of you. “Plus, it’s just a cloak.”
The old woman rummages in her basket before pulling out 2 small shiny red apples. “Please accept these at least! Don’t turn down this old lady’s only means of saying sorry…”
You looked at the apples before looking back at the woman’s face. If there was something you struggled with, it was dealing with old people. You hesitated, but ended up accepting it. “Thank you ma’am.”
. . . . . . . . . . .
That wasn’t the last you would ever see Kaveh, though. Since the Aranara’s treated you as a friend now, you were able to come in and out of the forest safely. While you didn’t need to, you would bring a variety of plants and flowers from other nations that Vanarana Forest didn’t grow.
The Aranara had a wonderful time seeing the cool new flowers and fruits and after you’d give them your weekly lecture over a new plant, you’d go to see Kaveh again.
From the village, you’d bring him Germonia delicacies he has yet to try or sometimes even cook for him. You also brought in books you had bought or cool new games you learned from the town’s kids.
Kaveh loved your company. Since he was taking shelter in Vanarana, he realized that he couldn’t really fulfill that letter he had sent to his family about getting a fiancé. No other human besides you and himself cannot go past the barriers the forest has up.
Hearing a knock on the door, Kaveh got up and jogged to the front. Before opening it, he straightened out his clothes and hair before holding onto the door knob. “Hey, Y/…n?”
Kaveh looked all over you. Instead of your usual Adventurer styled outfits, you wore a more casual, civilian outfit today. Your hair that usually was up or in a braid was down in its natural state. You wore a f/c sundress that reached right below your knee that complimented your skin, making you look more youthful and effervescent. It also hugged certain parts of you, accentuating the figure that your normal adventurer outfit would otherwise hide. Over your dress was your usual cloak, though, since you still had to conceal yourself even if it was for a bit.
“You…your dress…” Kaveh was at a loss for words, his eyes moving from looking into your e/c eyes back to parts of your dress and back.
“Does it look weird?” you asked, suddenly feeling warmer than usual. “I didn’t have any commissions today since there hasn’t been any new listings so I thought I’d wear something more casual…but I guess maybe I shouldn’t have worn this.”
“No!” Kaveh said rather quickly before regaining his composure. “I mean, no… you look especially beautiful in your casual clothing. Please, come in!”
You muttered a thank you before walking inside, ears feeling hot at his compliment. You’ve noticed in your more recent visits that Kaveh had begun to compliment you more or do things that would fluster you.
You weren’t sure if he was doing it on purpose, knowing the effects it had on you, or if he was simply just this charismatic, but you began to notice him in a different light.
When you’d play hide and seek together with the Aranara, he’d always be sure to go easy on you or help you out. Or the times when you both would go to the waterfalls and cross on rocks, he’d always outstretched his hand to aid you, making sure you never slipped.
You thought he would just do these things since he was a prince and a noble and it was normal for noblemen to treat women as such, but he’d do even more than what’s expected. Like that one time where you had bent down to refill your water can and caught him catching a glimpse of you, or the other time when he’d take off his shirt and put it over your shoulders when you two were caught in the rain and it was useless since his shirt was already soaked.
You placed your bag on the table before bringing out some groceries you bought for him. “I grabbed a couple of things from the market today! There were merchants from Fontaine who were selling Lumidouce Bell Flowers that smell so good and Bulle Fruits!”
Kaveh came to join you at the table and picked up a Lumidouce Flower, bringing it to his nose to smell its scent. “This does smell very good.”
“Mhm! Oh, and I’ve already given some to the Aranara to take a look at, so you can keep these all to yourself!” you said as you started peeling the Bulle, it’s peels releasing a nice citrusy fragrance that complimented the flowers. “Try one of these! They’re also really sweet.”
You brought one up for him to grab, looking at the remaining fruit pods to eat yourself. You bring a pod up to your own mouth using your free hand. Kaveh holds onto your wrist gently before leaning his head down, capturing the piece of fruit you held with his mouth.
His eyes stayed on your fingers, soft lips brushing ever-so lightly against your fingertips as he ate the fruit, humming in delight from its taste. He casually lets go of your wrist before reaching up behind his head to fix his hair pins.
“Mm. They’re good.”
Your face heats up as you place the peeled fruit on the table and push it closer to him before grabbing an apple. “Take the rest, I’ll have this apple.”
Kaveh looked at you while raising an eyebrow before brushing it off as you crunched on the apple. You were about to go in for another bite when you paused, seeing something near the core of the apple.
“Hm?” you said in confusion as you picked at the weird container. “There’s something inside…”
“What is it?” Kaveh asked as he began to lean in, but then quickly backed away, a whole 10 feet away from you. “IS IT A WORM?!”
“Pfft- no, it isn’t…it’s a weird lookin- wah!”
You closed your eyes as you dropped the apple, the container spraying you with this weird dust. You coughed, accidentally inhaling the dust when you were surprised by it before.
Kaveh had covered his nose as soon as he saw the dust, waving it away as it cleared. “What the heck…what was that??”
“I *cough cough* I don’t know…but we have to get rid of these apples.” you said as you gathered the apples in your arm. “There was this old lady who gave me these apples as an apology for bumping into me.”
“I don’t think she had good intentions seeing as how that weird dust appeared from them…” Kaveh stated as he walked closer to you to open the door for you.
You took a step when you felt dizzy and ended up falling to the floor.
“Y/n!” Kaveh yelled as he let go of the door, rushing to your side on the floor. “Y/n? Y/n, what’s wrong?”
You wrapped your arms around yourself, suddenly feeling something weird in your stomach. It wasn’t hurting or anything like a stomachache, but it felt tingly and really hot. Your breathing fluctuated as you tried to calm down, but you couldn't control your breathing.
“...I…think it was some sort of…drug?” you questioned.
“Oh no! Does it hurt? What can I do to help you?” Kaveh asked as he rolled the apples away, sitting on his knees next to you as he leaned down to look at your face to see if it was contorted in pain or not.
“It doesn’t hurt but- fuck!” you cursed as you hunched over even more. Your whole body felt like it was on fire, like you needed to peel your clothes off or else you’ll catch on fire. Simultaneously, you felt your core heat up, feeling yourself become wetter.
What’s going on with my body?
“Y/n…?” Kaveh asked as he softly touched your back.
You gasped, hurrying to cover your mouth with your hand as a moan escaped your lips. You felt yourself get even more wet, slick soaking through your panties at this point. Kaveh’s hand froze as his eyes widened, his breath halting as he processed what just happened.
You couldn’t take it anymore, your mind clouding as indecent thoughts replaced your sane ones. The hand that covered your mouth fell in between your legs while your other hand clutched at Kaveh’s shirt. You raised your head up to meet his eyes, and you called out to him.
“K-Kaveh…” your voice coming out as breathy and soft.
Kaveh stared at your flushed face, how perspiration appeared on your forehead while your chest heaved up and down as you attempted to control it. From this angle, Kaveh was able to see more of your chest as your sundress's bow at the top had come undone. He swallowed thickly as he pries his eyes from your chest to meet your hazy eyes.
“Leave…you have t-to leave….” you pleaded, clutching his shirt even more as you
“Leave? I can’t leave you here while you’re…hurting? In this state?” Kaveh said, his voice wavering slightly as he noticed your hand between your thighs to move slightly.
“N-no…I know how to solve this and…”
“And…?”
“It’s an aphrodisiac,” you said, sighing as your fingers relieved yourself of that tension by rubbing against your clothed heat. “Its purpose is to make people…sexually frustrated.”
“So you’re…”
“Yes!” you raised your voice, frustrated that Kaveh was making sure he understood everything in clear detail rather than getting the idea and leaving you to your devices. “Yes, so please leave! It’s already embarrassing as it is, but I’ll…take care of it myself.”
You let go of Kaveh as he got up, grateful he was finally making a move, so you started untying parts of your dress’s corset when your felt arms reached behind your back and picked you up.
You stifle another moan from coming out as you place your hands on Kaveh’s chest to steady yourself as he walks towards a room with you in his hands. You looked at his face watching how his eyes were set and how his lips were pursed. Your hand could feel his heartbeat quicken as he opened the door with his foot before closing it behind him.
You assumed he was taking you to the room so you could relieve yourself in there, so you didn’t speak up. But once he set you down and moved the blankets over, he moved your leg so he could sit between them
“What are you doing, Kaveh??” you asked as he sat between your legs, pausing when you placed your hand on his stomach so he couldn’t get closer to you.
“I’ll…help you.”
“No! You don’t have to! I can finish this myself and-”
Kaveh cuts you off by smashing his lips against yours, carefully placing his hand behind your head to deepen the kiss. Your eyes fluttered closed as all the confusion and embarrassment left your body.
You could feel yourself succumb to the pleasure as you wrapped your arms around Kaveh’s neck, allowing him to get closer to you and eventually hovering over your body.
His hands moved lower, squeezing and rubbing against your figure as your body responded with sighs and moans of pleasure. “Ka-...veh….” you whispered between kisses as you felt his hands grope your body.
Kaveh loved kissing you, the taste of the Bulle fruit still on your tongue. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking of proposing that you be his queen. You fit all of his marks. Someone who was righteous, hard working, not being friends with him for his position or money, and most of all…
He loved you.
He knew this wasn’t right. Having sex with you with the mindset of just ‘helping you out’ but he couldn’t help it. These past few weeks with how you were just so effortlessly beautiful in his eyes. Each and every one of your movements entranced him so much, he was beginning to wonder if these were the side effects of being in Vanarana’s dream-state-like forest.
If you were a dream, he never wanted to wake up.
Kaveh broke out of the kiss, a string of your mixed saliva breaking as he gained distance from you. He watched as your hair was splayed out on the pillow, chest rising and falling rapidly as you tried to regain your breath from the heated kiss.
“You’re so perfect, Y/n.” Kaveh praised as his head dipped down once more, placing a chaste kiss on your lips before moving down to your chin, then your neck.
A soft gasp fills the room as you feel his hands cup your breasts, kneading them in his hands while his lips sucked and kissed on the soft flesh of your neck.
Unconsciously, your hips grinded against his thigh that he brought up. You heard Kaveh moan as he felt your soaked panties come into contact with his pants that were getting rather tight on him. He moaned your name against your neck before his hands trailed down to reach your thighs.
Laying on the bed, your dress had already hiked up, easily allowing Kaveh to feel your ass and thighs. “Please, Kaveh…” you whined, half-lidded eyes looking at him. There was a glint in his eyes, the way a lion’s eyes would lock in on their prey before going in for the kill.
With one motion, Kaveh grabs a hold of your underwear before pulling them down, watching intently as he sees just how soaked you were from the drug.
He tosses the article of clothing to the side before taking his fingers and moving them between your folds. You moaned loudly as your head turned to the side, eyes shutting as you focused solely on the feeling of his fingers.
Kaveh cursed under his breath, relishing in the amount of slick you had as his other hand palmed at his erection. You noticed his movements and reached out to him. Kaveh looked at you and slowed his fingers, keeping the movements minimal so that you can actually voice out words rather than becoming a moaning mess.
“What is it, Y/n? Come on, you can tell me.” Kaveh inquired as his voice shaky, trying to keep himself contained.
You tugged on the collar of his shirt, pulling yourself up to meet his eyes. “I’ll…help you out, too.”
“What? But you’re the one who is- Y/n?!”
Getting impatient, you pushed Kaveh off of you and onto the mattress, his golden hair coming undone from its pins as you straddled his hips.
You commended Kaveh’s valiant effort in controlling himself to mainly help you relieve yourself, but it wasn’t enough. You were going to take matters into your own hands.
You turned your position on top of him, thighs on either side of his chest as he could only see your back. The skirt of your dress went down, pooling against his chest and torso, successfully covering your lower half from Kaveh’s heated gaze as he watched to see what you were going to do.
You didn’t care how the top half of your dress fell off of your shoulders, exposing your chest and back. You bowed down, chest flushed against Kaveh’s lower torso as you focused on taking off Kaveh’s belts and pants.
Kaveh snapped out of it as he felt your soft fingers wrap around his cock, pulling them from his pants and underwear. “Y/n- n!!”
His hands reached out to grab at your thighs that lay flat against him to ground himself. He couldn’t see what you were doing, but he knew. Your mouth felt hot and wet around him. He felt like his dick was going to melt as the texture of your tongue rubbed against his tip while your lips latched around the base of his cock.
With one arm over his eyes, Kaveh couldn’t do anything but focus on your mouth and hands and how it took everything in him to not cum into your mouth on the spot.
You mewled in content as you tasted his salty and slightly bitter precum, the liquid mixing with your sticky saliva as you sucked on his dick. The taste of him seemed to somehow relieve you a bit of your pain, but it wasn’t enough. You needed more.
You whined as you sucked on Kaveh’s length, unconsciously wiggling your hips above him. Kaveh moved your skirt up, exposing your heat to him and he thickly swallowed.
Kaveh adjusted you on top of him, drawing your hips closer to his mouth before his tongue darted out from his lips. He flattens his tongue as he caresses your folds with the appendage, his thumbs moving to spread your lips apart to gain better access.
You took his length from your mouth and let out a wanton moan as you reveled in the pleasure. Kaveh’s fingers moved to prod at your hole while his tongue bullied your clit, sending waves of pleasure to crash down onto you.
Your hands gripped at his erection, forcing yourself to keep stroking him as he offered you equal pleasure. Kaveh’s fingers delved deeper into your hole, signing as he felt your gummy walls squeeze and pulse around his deft fingers.
“K-Kaveh…!” you whined as he slowed his fingers, but continued to suck on your clit. He lets out a small hum, the vibrations making your knees weak as you force yourself off of him. Before he could protest, you sat over his erection, the tip rubbing against your soaked folds.
You grab hold of his fingers that were in you just moments ago and place your lips around them, sucking and using your tongue to caress his digits. “Please, I need you.”
Your voice sounded like heaven to Kaveh. The feeling of your lips sucking on his fingers and how your hips pressed against his erection– even the way your dress nearly hung off your elbows, a light sheen of sweat coating your body to make it even more enticing– his craving of you spilled over.
He pulls his fingers from your mouth, replacing it with his own tongue as he pulls you in for a kiss. He sits up, using his hands to pull you closer to his lap. Still in the kiss, he holds the base of his cock, lining it against your entrance before easing you down onto it.
Once the tip was in, he held onto your hips before slamming you down onto his length, his own hips coming up to meet yours halfway.
You broke from the kiss as you inhaled a gasp. Your arms quickly wrapped around his neck while your legs tightened around his torso. Your body jolted uncontrollably as Kaveh grunted, digging his fingers into your hips as you squeezed tightly around him, nearly pushing him over the edge.
“Shhh Y/n,” Kaveh whispers into your ears as he gently kisses them, realizing you came from him just inserting himself into you. You whimpered against his neck as he controlled his breathing.
His rough, calloused hands smooth over your back in a soothing manner as his hips began a slow pace, pulling out slightly before thrusting up into you. Seeing that you had just orgasmed, Kaveh used his own arm strength to pick you up and push you down onto his dick, giving you even more pleasure from the stimulation again.
You painted against Kaveh’s neck, moaning every time his tip brushed against your sweet spot. You called his name desperately, kissing and sucking on the skin of his neck to egg him on.
“Y/n-” Kaveh grunts, a vein popping out on his forehead. “You’re…fuck- playing a dangerous game here.”
Regaining your strength a bit, you temporarily stopped him, moving your legs so that you were kneeling on top of him, keeping his length within you still. You began moving on top of him yourself, going into a pace that was slightly faster than what he had earlier.
Kaveh groans out curses as he snaps his hips up to meet yours, completely fascinated by just how much you had him wrapped around your finger. You felt your climax building up again, but your legs started shaking from the way you were moving and how long you’ve kept it up.
Kaveh was close to coming too, that tension in his lower stomach and balls aching to release making his sensitivity rile up. Being close, he started noticing your pace become sloppy and how you started slowing down. Kaveh grabs the back of your neck and pulls you in for another kiss.
You moaned into the kiss and before you knew it, your back touched the bedsheets, Kaveh’s body on top of you. He separates from the kiss, slowing his pace into dragging his cock slowly in and out of you as he adjusts his position.
He places one of your legs over his shoulder while one hand goes to hold onto that leg’s thigh. His other hand grips onto your other leg, keeping your thigh in place so that you were spread open for him.
Kaveh pulled back until his tip was the only thing inside of you before shoving his whole length back inside. Your mouth opened into a silent scream, eyes seeing stars as Kaveh started a fast pace, relentless in his thrusts.
Your eyes looked up at him. His eyes were closed, eyebrows furrowed as perspiration dripped down his face. You felt every throb, pulse, and thrust of his cock inside of you. How could someone look so pretty while having sex?
Kaveh used a hand to rub against your sensitive clit, stimulating you to the point where you couldn’t hold off any longer. Your orgasm washed over you, flooding your veins, arteries, and nervous system. The rush of adrenaline and endorphins coursed through your body, causing tears to well up in your eyes from the indescribable amount of pleasure you felt.
You raised your hands out to him, fingertips brushing against his face, finally causing him to open his eyes. Kaveh opened his eyes and they widened upon seeing your expression with a tearful smile.
“K-Kaveh-! I love y/n-you! I love you so much!!” you said out loud to him.
That sentence alone made him go over the edge as his arms moved to embrace your smaller form. He quickly pulled himself out, spilling his seed over your tummy as he rubbed against your soft skin. He kisses you, a soft and emotional kiss rather than the hot and passionate ones he had given you previously.
“I love you, too, Y/n. So much.” Kaveh reciprocated your feelings. He was unsure if your sudden confession to him was still from the drug or what, but he knew he loved you. He was going to have you know just how much he loves you.