CH 308

Alexcent laughed. “Yes.”

“But how?” Amethyst looked around again, as if to check if she was dreaming.

“What do you mean?” Alexcent wrinkled his nose. “Have you forgotten who I am?”

Amethyst rolled her eyes at that. “Of course not,” she said. “But is it really okay for you to use your powers like this?”

Alexcent placed his hand on Amethyst’s shoulders and made her turn to look at the scenery. “It’s perfectly fine.”

Feeling the warmth of Alexcent’s hand on her, Amethyst sighed. “Thank you so much for this, Alec.”

The prince smiled. “Don’t mention it.”

Amethyst turned to look at him. “I was actually going to tell you that I planned on going to Hutchmoon.”

Alexcent’s brow knit together. “You weren’t planning on going alone, were you?”

“Well,” Amethyst avoided the prince’s eyes. “It’s pretty far and you’re busy preparing for the congress.”

“I’m glad I brought you here, then,” Alexcent said. “Because there is no way I would’ve let you go by yourself.”

Just as Amethyst was supposed to chuckle, her eyes grew wide at the sight of Alexcent’s light blond hair and red eyes. Anyone could tell who he was just by his looks—a pure descendant of the royal family.

“Will you be okay?” she asked worriedly. “If anyone sees us, they’ll recognize you immediately and… Pauline would be surprised.”

Alexcent shook his head. “Don’t worry about that,” he said. From his pocket he drew out the potion bottle. “I have this.”

Amethyst frowned. “What’s that?”

Without even answering her question, Alexcent pulled the stopper from the bottle and drank it all.

“Alec!” Amethyst exclaimed.

Before her, Alexcent began to change. His hair grew into the color of ash and his bright red eyes darkened into gray. Amethyst took a step back. Gray?

But, of course, he wasn’t Gray. He just looked a lot like him.

“What’s going on?” Amethyst asked.

Alexcent—now in disguise—smiled. “It’s a transformation potion.”

“Is it different from a simple transformation?” Amethyst prodded. “How long does it last?”

“Normal transformation potions are different from Belice’s magic,” Alexcent explained. “She uses the oblivion magic as well. Only Belice can undo her magic, but I can undo a magic potion whenever I want.”

“I see,” Amethyst nodded. “You look like a clumsy Gray.”

Alexcent scowled. “What?”

Amethyst let out a laugh. “You’re more handsome than him,” she assured him. “But you look more like a clumsy copy of him.”

“Just how do I look clumsy?” Alexcent demanded as Amethyst burst into another fit of giggles. The prince frowned. “What?”

Amethyst grinned. “Were you perhaps the black-haired man I met at the town festival in Mir City?” she asked. When the prince avoided her eyes and looked away, she smiled widely. “I knew it!” she said. “You were the man that kissed my hand!”

Turning to walk away from her, Alexcent ignored Amethyst’s accusations. “We don’t have much time,” he said. “Didn’t you want to see Pauline?”

Amethyst scoffed as she followed him. “Why are you changing the subject?”

“Well,” Alexcent said teasingly. “Who taught me to change the subject in the first place?”

“What?” Amethyst said. “Are you saying that I taught you?”

When the prince shrugged, she gaped. “I did not!”

“Did too.”

“Did not!”

“Did too.”

As their conversation devolved into laughter, they realized that all the stores they were heading towards were completely abandoned.

“What happened here?” Amethyst asked quietly.

Alexcent didn’t answer her as he looked around. He realized that the street they were in—a once busy place—was nearly deserted.

Things had definitely changed in those parts.

Pulling away from Alexcent, Amethyst scurried off to the café. Luckily, she found that it was still open.

Then, she heard something breaking inside. Then, bickering. Then, something breaking again.

Amethyst burst through the door, shocked by what she found inside. A table was tipped over and chairs were broken everywhere. There was broken glass and things strewn all over the floor.

And, in the corner, a man yelling at someone he was backing into a wall.

“You should’ve listened when I asked nicely!” the man said roughly.

The person screamed back, “I’m not selling this place! Get lost!”

The man growled. “Do you really not understand?”

As Amethyst drew closer, she realized that the person being cornered was Pauline.

“I think you’re the one that’s too stupid to understand!” Pauline bit back.

Just as the man was about to strike Pauline, a hand pulled his arm and twisted it back. Alexcent had managed to follow Amethyst into the café and knew that he had to put an end to the nonsense.

The man cried out as Amethyst stomped towards him angrily. “What is going on here?”

“None of your business!” the man snarled at her. “Who are you?”

“My friend owns this place,” Amethyst told him.

The man’s eyes grew wide, then he yelped as Alexcent’s grip on his arm tightened.

“Ash?” Alexcent called out, unsure of what to do next.

Amethyst glanced at him then back at the man. “Pick his pocket.”

Alexcent paled. “What?”

“Take his wallet,” Amethyst instructed. “He messed with the café. He can’t just walk off thinking that’s okay.”

Ignoring the man’s protests, Alexcent pinned him against the wall and reached into his pocket. He took the man’s wallet and handed it to Amethyst before pushing the man towards the door.

“What we’ve done is nowhere near enough,” Amethyst said, following closely behind them. “But I’ll let you go. Just don’t ever come back.”

Alexcent pushed the man off.

He scoffed. “You’ve made a big mistake,” he said threateningly.

Amethyst opened his wallet and took all the money inside, throwing the wallet back at him. “If you come back,” she said, glancing at Alexcent as she saw energy begin to radiate from him. “You’ll be sorry.”

The man took one look at Alexcent and couldn’t help but shudder in fear. Before he turned to walk away, he looked up at Amethyst hesitantly. “Wait,” he said, trying to sound confident. “I have something to tell the owner.”

From inside, Pauline yelled, “I don’t want to hear it!”

Amethyst shrugged and nodded for the man to leave. “You heard her.”

When the man simply stood there, stunned, Alexcent shoved him off. “If you want to live,” he hissed, “you’ll leave this place alone and never come back.”